Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Latest Appalachian Motorcycle Trip...

I didn't get a lot of scenic shots, because we were all busy hauling ass through some of the best roads in the country.

A bunch of my buddies used to go to Stecoah Valley every year and we had a big Triumph motorcycle rally... Well Triumph quite supporting all of us, so we didn't have the rally for a few years and we all missed the riding and the comradery. Well, this year a bunch of us, through a big group text decided to get together for some kick ass riding, eating some good food, and drinkin', lyin' and telling stories around a camp fire in the evenings.

Loaded up and ready to ride to North Carolina...




Nice place to spend the week...




I love that the lodge has a fire after dinner every night...




Gas stop. My Tiger on the right and my buddy Dennis' Tiger on the left. His is 10 years newer than mine...




Stopping for a rest and to make sure our wives have the latest copy of the Last Will and Testament...




I love taking turns leading the fast company. You can see the tiny "chicken strips" on the back tire of my Tiger. I spent a lot of time scraping the sides of my boots on the pavement in the tight switchbacks...




We have a diverse group of riders from Michigan, Western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama. We all look like a bunch of old farts, but I'm telling you these guys and gals can ride like the wind. We have sport bike riders trying to catch up with us, and get pissed when they find out we are a bunch of 50 and 60 year old's on adventure bikes. I think we polished off a little bourbon that night...




The last day Dennis and I split off from the group and found some forest service roads so we could trail ride in the National Forest for a while...

Looks good me like some good times and fun riding!

Brother - You are living the life!!!!! There are probably plenty of us that live vicariously through you.

Thanks... You are very kind. I'm just trying to do the things I can while I can.

There's a lot of stuff that you guys do that I admire. When I finally retire, I hope to hunt and fish more.

PS: My bike is an 800cc Triple that makes 95 horsepower and even ringing it out every day I still managed 47.6 mpg average for the whole trip. Pretty damned decent fuel economy. If I rode it like a decent human being I should easily be able to get more than 50 mpg.

Looks like y’all had a great time Irish. Glad all went safely.

Looks like an awesome trip, glad you enjoyed it.

Got info on the lodge?

Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge

Thank you, Sir.

2nd best post on aldeer after your motorcycle trip last year still holds the number one spot. That lodge looks pretty cool. Did y’all sleep in the covered wagons? That pretty damn cool. Safe travels

Awesome! I miss my V-Strom.

Looks like a great trip

I'd love to do this trip. More info on the covered wagons please.

No. No bathrooms in the wagons. You have to go to a shared bathroom/bathhouse if you stay in those.

They have:

Primitive camping
RV camping hook-ups
A bunkhouse (Big "No Thankyou" for me.)
The Wagons
Individual rooms
Cabins
Lodges with multiple rooms

Most of us usually stay in the individual rooms. Most of them are 4 rooms to a cabin with separate bathrooms.

V-Strom's are great bikes. I used to have an SV650. Same motor. I really like the new ones with the vertical twin that replaces the V-Twin. I like the Yamaha Tenere' 700 too.

I couldn't say no to the Triumph. I picked it up for only $5k and it only had 11k miles on her and she came with over $2000 in added accessories.

I think I've finally found the perfect bike for me in the Triumph Tiger 800. It's like a big dirt bike on the forest service roads, like a mid-sized sport touring bike on the open road, and it handles like an upright sport bike in the twisties. Did I say it has a lot of power and torque? It hauls ass for what it is. Even with a bunch of luggage, and the luggage space is amazing. I'm looking forward to doing some motorcycle camping on the bike. I may even take a little camping trip in the fall. It's going to be the bike I take cross country. Hopefully next year...




It was a great trip and some good fellowship with a bunch of old, close friends and some new friends.

All the guys wanted me to go with them to another rally in West Virginia the first week of August, but we will be in Seattle. I think a bunch of the guys are coming down to Birmingham for the Triumph Vintage Festival this year, so that should be a good time too. A bunch of us have been doing that for years.

I dont comment on her much but I do read a lot of post and lurk around here. Now I would like opinions about what you and others think is the most comfortable bike for a old 67 years old fat guy for short to medium length rides around Alabama .I will be looking for a good used bike soon.And do not like the Goldwing so rule it out now.Any advice is welcome and I also have enjoyed reading your post .Keep enjoying life and retire as soon as you can it is the best time of life. Also I have been riding motorcycles since I was 10 years old and just sold my uncomfortable Honda vtx about a month ago.

I'd suggest to sit on all different bikes to see what suits u best. I know one guy that will go to a dealership and sit on a bike for hours to see if he likes them. Once u find one that seems pretty comfy and u get it, the next big investment should be custom seat for your height and weight. preferably with a back rest if you could get it!! I had an 03 vtx 1800 that i put a ultimate X seat with back rest and it was the most comfy bike I've had to date!! I now have an 06 vstrom 1000 with terry's custom seat(guy died not long ago). I finally got it pretty comfy, changed risers as well, but I hardly have time to ride right now.

After a while I got tired of "just riding around" on the same roads weekend after weekend, and now all I want to do is to go on trips and go and see places and ride roads that I have never been on.

I have had everything from cruisers, to dirt bikes, to sport bikes, to dual sport bikes, to touring bikes to sport touring bikes and I have finally come around to "Adventure bikes." With an adventure bike you get the best of all worlds, you can ride the twisty mountain roads and have fun, you can cruise for hours on the interstate if you need to make up time on a trip, you can leisurely ride the back roads and see the sights, or if you see an interesting gravel road you can turn off there and a ride until you hear banjos playing.

Adventure bikes like mine are very comfortable and offer pretty decent protection with the right wind screen, plus they offer lots of luggage options, so you can make a beer run, a cross country trip, or a trip to the grocery store.

I personally can't stand the cruiser seating position with your feet out front like a Barcalounger it puts a lot of pressure on your spinal chord and gets really old really quick. I can't stand the sport bike riding position either, with all your weight forward and on your wrists. You have to ride fast just to get enough wind plast to get the pressure off your forearms.

With an adventure bike you have a very neutral, upright riding position like you do on a standard bike. Both of those style bikes are very comfortable.

So if I were you and I wasn't going to go on any longer adventures, I would get a Triumph Bonneville or Scrambler. Used ones can be bought for around $5k in great condition. They look great, handle great and the biggest problem with them is every time you stop to get gas someone is going to strike up a conversation with you about how they used to have one back in the day. Mrs. Irish and I have both owned several and they were all bullet proof reliable and super fun to own and ride.

Not saying that you couldn't take a Bonneville across the country... I have a buddy "Dog" that rode a Bonneville from Key West, Florida to Deadhorse, Alaska. Pulling a trailer behind the damned thing! He's back in Australia now, but he was a crazy son of a bitch.

My favorite old Bonneville "Black Betty."

Awesome pics but I think the best one is your driveway. Beautiful view

The early 2000's Bonneville's are the 1956 Corvette's of motorcycles. Just plain damn good looking bikes.

I have the Bonneville's Japanese twin sister in the cabin basement waiting for me to finish putting her back together. In this pic the Triumph Bonneville is on the right and the Kawasaki W650 is on the left. they are like twin son's of different mothers. What is beautiful about the Kawasaki is the really neat bevel shaft cam drive on the right side of the engine. One of the best looking motorcycle engines ever made...