Hi Folks,
On Saturday morning I started riding the Blue Ridge Parkway from the top (Afton Mountain, VA) with the intent of riding all the way to Cherokee, NC, the southern terminus.
I had my tent and dry bag strapped down with Roc straps and was ready for a good long ride. Beautiful weather, cool and sunny.
There wasn't much traffic, so I settled into that blissful steady riding at 45-55 mph, running through the turns at speed, scraping my boot sides on occasion. The NT just purrs along at 3500-4000 rpm with such great torque that you can ride in 5th gear almost continuously.
I made it to milepost 239 by mid afternoon and camped out in the Doughton, NC campground. There were a couple of other motorcyclists camping there and we told long stories of our exploits. Both were on Triumphs, one a twin retro (even has fake carbs), one a three cylinder ADV style.
The next day (Sunday) I headed south intending to get all the way to the end (Cherokee, NC), but everyone in NC and their cousins were on the BRP that day. I spent most of my time passing Subaru Foresters going 10 under. Slow going, and not very blissful. But the scenery was great. In NC, you are riding more on a plateau than in VA, so there are farms right along side the road. I kept climbing until I got to the highest point on the East Coast in Pisgah State Forest.
I was just north of Asheville by around 1pm, having passed the highest point on the East Coast (around 5000 feet - not much for Westerners) and decided I had to turn around to make it back to Doughton to my campsite. Traffic got even heavier, and I was passing cars constantly. I'd get clean air in front of me for a mile or so, then come up on another Subaru doing 10 under. Argg... My advice, don't ride on the BRP during the weekend.
I actually saw two 'kids' in their car hugging and taking a selfie while one was driving. They were way over the double yellow line.
More advice, keep to the outside of your lane, especially on turns. There were two instances where I was carving through a turn and a car coming the other way was across the double yellow (driver holding cellphone), missing me by not much. After that I stayed off to the right side of the lane even in turns.
I made in back to Doughton just as the restaurant closed at 5pm, so I had to eat sardines and peanut butter crackers for dinner. Bummer. About 260 miles in heavy traffic. I was beat.
The next day, Monday, I was up on the bike by 9am and heading north to Virginia. Not a soul on the road. Utter bliss, the NT just humming along, seeming to sense the turns by itself, keeping a steady 50-55 mph, carving through the curves smoothly, pure joy. I did 240 miles and was back at the start of the road by around 4pm. A really great day of riding.
The load was cinched down with Roc straps connecting to the eyebolts I added. That worked really well and I never even felt the load behind me. I dialed up the rear shock to around the midpoint (20 clicks) which felt comfortable.
The total mileage including the ride to/from home was 780 miles.
Now in my last trip report, I stated the average miles per gallon for the trip, which elicited the most comments. So I'm going to qualify this trip's MPG by stating:
1) it is based on the average MPG reading on the display, not an intermittent MPG rating, which was reset at the start of the trip
2) the accounting firm of HarryHendo HarryHendo (me) verified the reading at each gas fillup
3) filled up with regular 87 octane ethanol gasoline
4) readers should consider that mileage should be excellent if doing 3500-4000 rpm in 4th and 5th gear (except when passing Subaru Foresters)
OK, so the MPG figure for the trip was 71.3 MPG.
All in all, this was a great ride. The NT excels at this type of sport touring and was a real joy to ride.
On Saturday morning I started riding the Blue Ridge Parkway from the top (Afton Mountain, VA) with the intent of riding all the way to Cherokee, NC, the southern terminus.
I had my tent and dry bag strapped down with Roc straps and was ready for a good long ride. Beautiful weather, cool and sunny.
There wasn't much traffic, so I settled into that blissful steady riding at 45-55 mph, running through the turns at speed, scraping my boot sides on occasion. The NT just purrs along at 3500-4000 rpm with such great torque that you can ride in 5th gear almost continuously.
I made it to milepost 239 by mid afternoon and camped out in the Doughton, NC campground. There were a couple of other motorcyclists camping there and we told long stories of our exploits. Both were on Triumphs, one a twin retro (even has fake carbs), one a three cylinder ADV style.
The next day (Sunday) I headed south intending to get all the way to the end (Cherokee, NC), but everyone in NC and their cousins were on the BRP that day. I spent most of my time passing Subaru Foresters going 10 under. Slow going, and not very blissful. But the scenery was great. In NC, you are riding more on a plateau than in VA, so there are farms right along side the road. I kept climbing until I got to the highest point on the East Coast in Pisgah State Forest.
I was just north of Asheville by around 1pm, having passed the highest point on the East Coast (around 5000 feet - not much for Westerners) and decided I had to turn around to make it back to Doughton to my campsite. Traffic got even heavier, and I was passing cars constantly. I'd get clean air in front of me for a mile or so, then come up on another Subaru doing 10 under. Argg... My advice, don't ride on the BRP during the weekend.
I actually saw two 'kids' in their car hugging and taking a selfie while one was driving. They were way over the double yellow line.
More advice, keep to the outside of your lane, especially on turns. There were two instances where I was carving through a turn and a car coming the other way was across the double yellow (driver holding cellphone), missing me by not much. After that I stayed off to the right side of the lane even in turns.
I made in back to Doughton just as the restaurant closed at 5pm, so I had to eat sardines and peanut butter crackers for dinner. Bummer. About 260 miles in heavy traffic. I was beat.
The next day, Monday, I was up on the bike by 9am and heading north to Virginia. Not a soul on the road. Utter bliss, the NT just humming along, seeming to sense the turns by itself, keeping a steady 50-55 mph, carving through the curves smoothly, pure joy. I did 240 miles and was back at the start of the road by around 4pm. A really great day of riding.
The load was cinched down with Roc straps connecting to the eyebolts I added. That worked really well and I never even felt the load behind me. I dialed up the rear shock to around the midpoint (20 clicks) which felt comfortable.
The total mileage including the ride to/from home was 780 miles.
Now in my last trip report, I stated the average miles per gallon for the trip, which elicited the most comments. So I'm going to qualify this trip's MPG by stating:
1) it is based on the average MPG reading on the display, not an intermittent MPG rating, which was reset at the start of the trip
2) the accounting firm of HarryHendo HarryHendo (me) verified the reading at each gas fillup
3) filled up with regular 87 octane ethanol gasoline
4) readers should consider that mileage should be excellent if doing 3500-4000 rpm in 4th and 5th gear (except when passing Subaru Foresters)
OK, so the MPG figure for the trip was 71.3 MPG.
All in all, this was a great ride. The NT excels at this type of sport touring and was a real joy to ride.
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