We arrived in Kodak at 8 and went to Eaglerider. No sign on the building, only a few bikes and boats stored inside. ?????
Acroos the parking lot was a Honda dealer and a friendly lady told us they moved just a few blocks from where they were.
Her explanation was excellent and we found Eaglerider.
Too early, nobody there, so a good time to buy breakfast at the local deli.
When we went back, Randy was in his new building. He was proud of it!
We saw the ST's and Marc did the first inspection. He did not like the front tire of the gray ST and asked if that could last 3000 miles. For Randy no problem, but Marc was not convinced.
Then the surprise....
Marc went to the counter and whispered something to Randy.
Randy replied that he would check something.
He checked and it was OK.
So Marc changed his plan, cancelled the ST and rented a black standard Goldwing 1800.
Everybody who takes a ride on a GW is always looking for an excuse to eplain family and friends why he rides a Goldwing. Marc excuse will be valid here. He says he can ride the ST every day in Belgium, so why should I ride a ST here. Hummm, OK, Marc! Go for it!
We started on a cloudy, chilly day at 10, heading for Pigeon Forge.
Goal was visiting a motocycle museum.
We rode on great roads, nice curves, but the rain increased and temperature dropped as we came closer to Smoky Mountains.
The GW does not have heated grips, so Marc suffered a little bit.
Garmin missed the good position of the museum, so we ended in the Elvis Presley museum. Not as big as Graceland, but very nice to see.
We left Pigeon Forge and made a great loop through a part of Smoky Mountains to have lunch in Gattlingburg.
I advised the guys to eat pulled pork and they loved it!
As soon as the gloves were heated at the fireplace I needed to score a pin. Found one in the visitors centre of Smoky Mountains. We asked for the road conditions of US 441. It was open, but a lot of fog and temp should be 32º F. (We did not get lower than 37ºF). Watch for icy spots and forget scenic views, for the rest you can do it.
Very nice, cold and wet ride, but on the south side of the mountain rain stopped and temp went up to 64º F.
We visited Cherokee Museum ( 2nd pin!!) which was beautiful.
Blue Ridge Parkway was closed at the entrance, so we had to take another route. US19 brought us to Maggie Valley, were we stopped, have a great diner in J. Arthurs Strakkhouse and we walked back and looked through the windows of Wheel through Time, a very nice motorcycle museum.
The tracklog:
Statistics:
Lowest temp : 37º F
Highest temp: 64º F
Distance 210 miles
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