THe BMW has electrical issues, so I'll go with the "Prince Of Darkness" instead.

[norton73]

Last Week I dropped the GS in a huge mud hole, causing several electrical issues. I was planning on riding it up to Hendersonville NC for the Vintage Meltdown, but the replacement handlebar switch hadn't arrived, so I decided to go with plan "N".

Mounted a new front tire, looked the bike over, and packed it up for an early Friday departure.



Slabbed it from Springville to Gadsden, then jumped on 411 to Leesburg,



then up 275 to Menlo GA where I picked up 337 North to Lafayette, GA.

From there I went east on 136 to 382 into Ellijay. I got on 515/76 planning on going to Clayton. But I got tired of the traffic and tuned North on 325.

I took it till it ended at 129, but as I didn't want to ride 19 east, I kept going on an unknown road, winding around to the east side of Murphy, passing farms, lake views, and just enjoying the road. It finally came out on Old 64W, which I took to Hayesville NC where I got on 64

[norton73]

Forgot a little detail from when I was leaving Lafayette. I got stuck behind a truck on the way out of town. As we turned to go up the mountain, the truck was barely moving going up hill, so I decided it was a good time to make a double yellow pass  :)

Fortunately, I checked my mirrors before I went, only to discover a state trooper had caught up to us too!  :o

In about half a mile a passing lane appeared, so I eased around the truck and slowly speed up till I lost the trooper and then could attack the fun turns over the mountain.

anyway, back to Hayesville and Rt 64,

I went east on 64 and in about a mile out of town, the road was down to one lane for repair. There was a temporary traffic light set up. As I came around the corner, there was about 10-12 cars, trucks, and a couple trucks pulling boats  :'( 

But at the head of the line was a bike! A new Triumph Rocket Three with a young rider on it. I passed all the stopped cars and pulled up next to him just before the light turned. We then had a great time flying up and over the mountain  through some great fast sweepers and had the road all to ourselves all the way to Franklin NC. He continued on 64 and I turned north on 441/23 towards Sylva. 441 headed north is 4 lanes of high speed sweepers and I was cranking around slower moving cars at 75+ dragging hardware and the toes of my boots in a 55 zone  :)  About halfway through, there was a Sherriff's car going the other way, he flashed his lights at me, but I never saw him turn around.

I then headed east on 74 to Waynesville, where I stopped to fill the bike with gas and get supplies for camping (beer). I then headed up 276 to the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground http://www.blueridgemotorcyclecamp.com/  where I found a party going on.

[norton73]

Saturday, it was cloudy and not looking too great, so after a great breakfast served by the campground owners, I hung around for a while visiting with friends and admiring a new Triumph 800 Tiger.
Mike lives in Knoxville, and started the day on a BMW R1200GS. He stopped at Pandora's on the way and ended up riding out on a new Triumph.



About 10ish I headed over the Mountain to Hendersonville for the Meltdown  http://www.meltdownvintage.com/

I rode down 276 towards Canton, where I picked up 215 over the Mountain and down the other side to 64 just west of Brevard. I stopped in Walnut Grove at a little store to get a drink and stretch. While I was there a group of about 8-10 Ducati Hypermotards pulled in, the leader being a very nice looking young lady in full leathers. I talked with them for a few minutes, they were from Miami and up for the week to ride some real curves.

About the time i was getting ready to leave, two guys pulled in, one on a Yamaha FZR400 and the other on a Triumph 675. They were both close to my age and wanted to talk about the Norton. The guy on the Yamaha even had a Norton that a friend had left him and he was looking for info on parts, etc.

As I started to leave, he said, "I guess riding a Norton makes all the pretty women come running up to talk to you.?"

"No," I replied, "just old guys like us".

[norton73]

I rode 64 through Brevard till I got to the location for the Meltdown and pulled up and parked



As I was taking my helmet off, I felt someone squeezing my ass! I turned around to find myself looking at a rather good looking redhead, Jane, who I had meet the year before at the Norton Owner's Rally in Asheville. Gee, maybe I was wrong about wimmin and Nortons  :)

She introduced me to her latest boyfriend and we wandered around looking at bikes;

[norton73]

After a while, we decided to get something to eat and a beer, so went inside. Ran into a couple other folks I knew. One of them is Mark, who was on a trip out west a couple years ago on a BMW R100R. While In AZ, the driveshaft failed. This was when I had my GS apart for the top end, so I removed the driveshaft and overnighted it out to him so he could continue his trip. Now, anytime I see him, I cannot buy a beer.

We hung around a awhile, and then waited for the drawings, including one for a BSA. As they were doing the build up to the drawing, the sky kept getting darker and darker. Just as they pulled the ticket, the heavens opened up and it poured! I started to head out, but it was raining so hard I would have been soaked by the time I got my stuff out of the saddlebags. Right behind my parking spot was a guy selling jewelry with a pop up, so I joined him out of the rain. James turned out to be an interesting guy, he had just retired from working for the UN after 25 years of traveling all over the world working on human trafficking issues, including Somalia, Kosovo, and other places. When the rain stopped, I helped him pack up all his tables, pop up etc, and then he insisted we had to go back into the brewery for another beer.

Afterwards, I got ready to leave, and just as I hit Brevard, it started to rain again. I was passing a Mexican Restaurant, so decided it was time to get dinner. It was still raining when I came out, so I ended up riding up over the Blue Ridge in the dark and the rain. When i got back to the campground, everyone was sitting on the front porch of the lodge, so after I dumped my wet gear, I joined them, solving the world's problems.

[norton73]

It rained all night, sometimes really heavy. In the daylight, I discovered my tent was leaking a little;



It had stopped raining, so I went an got some coffee, then started loading soggy gear into my bags. By the time I was done, the campground was serving breakfast, and it was starting to clear.
After my good byes, I rode up 276 to the BRP, then south to 215.







Down 215 to 64 which i took west through Cashiers and up to Highlands. Just short of Highlands, I saw a sign and had to go back for a picture;

[norton73]

Oops, forgot another incident that happened while I was at the Meltdown.

I was standing in line to use the bathroom, when a couple guys were talking behind me. One was giving the other a hard time about his new bike, a Triumph Rocket Three because it was a modern bike. I turned around and said, " Yeah, but it's got a ton of bottom end torque judging by how one was pulling away from me yesterday just outside Hayesville."


The guy looked at me and asked if that was me on the Norton that chased him over the mountain. He said he figured this was where I was headed. We ended up talking for awhile, he was from England originally.

[norton73]

At Highlands, I hit 28 south. It had recently rained and the road was wet, so I thought I was taking it easy. Once I got into the rhythm of the road, next thing I knew I was dragging toes and hardware!
The sun came out and the road dried just as I hit Warwoman road. I stopped to take off a layer or two. Continued into Clayton, where I started down 76. I had planned to head south and pick up 53, but there were dark clouds to the south and as I went though Hiawassee I caught just the edge of a storm, just a few drops, not enough to make me pull over and add the waterproof liner to my mesh jacket, but enough to keep me headed west on 76 instead of turning south.

I stayed on 76 to Ellijay, where I picked up 382 again and just repeated my ride from Friday in reverse. It was overcast, but I didn't hit any rain till I got to Asheville AL, just 10 miles from home.

All in all, it was a good trip. Did 836 miles in three days, the only things I did to the Norton was check the oil, lube the chain, check for loose bolts and nuts, and tightened the left exhaust header nut just outside Highlands on the way home Sunday.

[kdtrull]

Very nice story-telling.  Thanks for sharing it.
Sounds like you have a real knack for meeting folks and making friends.....picked a great place to do it too.  I've never been to the Blue Ridge Campground....looks nice.

[norton73]

Thanks.

Blue Ridge MC Camp is owned these days by a couple that are from Gadsden. Phil and Leslie are great hosts and the restaurant onsite has great food. It's worth going there just as a destination.

[kdtrull]

Thanks.

Blue Ridge MC Camp is owned these days by a couple that are from Gadsden. Phil and Leslie are great hosts and the restaurant onsite has great food. It's worth going there just as a destination.

That sounds good.  Maybe you can teach me what to say that makes girls sneak up and grab your butt years later before I go.  ;D

[norton73]

You just need to get a Norton.  ;)

That sounds good.  Maybe you can teach me what to say that makes girls sneak up and grab your butt years later before I go.  ;D

[01YZF6]

Mountain rides, wet tents, cold beer, and ass grabbing!

Nice trip report!

[klaviator]

This sounds like it was an awesome weekend.  You did a great job writing it up and taking pics.

[lazeebum]

Great trip and write up.