Tonik

I've done that once in BFE. I try fill-up before 110 now.

Yea, 120 is always my number on this bike. I just plain forgot as I left work for the weekend....till the yellow light came on..then I remembered.

Same rock slide. More rocks. There was a boulder over hanging after the rock slide. They purposely brought it down.

Ok, my contact got back to me. The TN governor has been 'closing' the dragon for years and it has never happened. This is a big stink about nothing in his opinion and it will be open in a few weeks when they clean it up. He rides, he is a dragon fanatic and is part of a big group I go down there with...we are going again in July, so I trust his opinion.

Your a nut! LOL

I kid you not, that is the second time I have done that exact same thing in my lifetime. 20 or so years ago in a car going to Toledo...I forgot to get gas and was hammering away in the left lane when the car coughed...I was RIGHT at the 100 mile post service plaza...jammed the brakes to get over and make the ramp and coasted right up to the pumps.

That is how many miles I can go, if I have been pushing the bike hard, before I run out of gas on the turnpike. I knew I was in trouble when the yellow light came on right after I got on.......it coughed 1/4 mile from the next service plaza. I just pulled in the clutch and coasted up to the pumps cool as a cucumber.

Let's not panic yet. There was another rock slide it appears. This very well might be a temporary closing until the get them all cleaned up and made safe again. The TDOT website talks about working on a plan to stabilize the area.....

I know two people that live there. I am contacting them now to try and get more info.

Or ya take the Cade's Cove road(Parson's Branch)

Parson's Branch road?!? You mean this road. I took a bike down that last summer. I am not exaggerating when I say it was the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life. It is not a road. It is a wide path cut straight up the side of the mountain then straight back down the other side. The river criss crosses it about 8 times on the way down and there is no bridges...the road just goes through the bottom of the river bed. Yes, you forge the stream on your bike.

Seriously, unless you are dual sporting it you can't do that road safely on a bike. Stupidest thing I have ever done.

And Happy Valley does not get you there. That hits 129 right by Foothills Parkway. The blockage is south of that spot, you would still be on the wrong side of the landslide.

A small rock slide that'll close the road about 3 miles north of Deal's Gap for a day or so. Not a big deal at all. Easy to get around, etc.

It will be back open on Saturday March 20th, so only two more days. But no easy way around it to the dragon from the north. You either go all the way around through Telico and the Skyway or you take 411 through the Smokey Mountain National Park and go around the other way. Ok, I will give you easy...it is easy..but it is a very long way around...

Here are all my flikr sets. You should be able to figure out which are motorcycle related.

See one you like, then click on 'all sizes' then click on 'original'. Those should be high res enough. If you need them higher or you want them retouched let me know. I usually blow through the retouch on shots like that and don't do a great job.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimkennedy/sets/

I do have a demo set that you can come down to the store and i can go over them with you.

I am going to take you up on that offer, appreciate it. Wife and I have been talking about a road trip to your store already anyway, she needs a few items for our upcoming Lake Superior Circle Tour.

Example the rider is paired with his passenger, he can also be paired to a GPS , and his cell phone.

i just sold 2 of these XBi2 units on saturday, I told them to let me know what they think as soon as they use them. The guy just bought the new red Voyager....

Correct me if I am wrong, but that bike has built in comm's doesn't it? U just need the cable and mic/speaker set from Ma Kaw. Any experiance with the Scala units, they have a new G4 system out too simular to the chatterbox. They have built in FM but will only pair with one blue tooth item at a time.

I guess Toyota wants everyone to experience driving their cars first hand.

http://toyotasimulator.com/

Ok guys, sorry to ask this. But where is the gap?

Deal's Gap is actually a business, it is a motorcycle 'resort'. Some hotel rooms, restaurant and t-shirt shop and gas. Deals Gap is located on the southern end of 'The Tail of the Dragon' which is highway 129 that basically goes south out of Knoxville TN across the Smokey Mountains into NC. It is right where 129 and 28 intersect. The section through the mountains is know as the dragon. 318 curves in 11 miles. It is a motorcycle mecca. This video tells you everything you need to know about the road and why everyone goes there, but in reality the road is more intense than even the video shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nrMQ3QwyPo

Link to the 'resort': http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

don't mean to hijack, but I'm going in late April or mid-May. Are the Troopers,SO, etc still really bad down there? I didn't go the last 2 years because I was told by multiple people that it isn't worth it anymore. It sounds and looks (youtube) like a nightmare on the weekends.

I went there three times last year. In the general area of the dragon I only saw one cop, and that was inside deals gap drinking coffee. I hit it once on a weekend on a Saturday morning, it was no big deal. The other two trips were on Fridays and it was empty. There were people there but it was not a nightmare or anything.

And you are going early enough in the season that you will not have any crowds.

I vote not July 14-18. That is The Spirit World's meet at the dragon which I will be at.

if it was the battery, wouldnt it just crank over real slow and not start, and then eventually not even crank over?

Bad batteries in bikes do some really crazy stuff. Very crazy. It could be that it is not strong enough to spin the starter fast enough to engage the starter clutch. That is a very real possibility. Whenever you have electrical problems on a bike you always check the battery. If it isn't the battery then you check the battery again.

Never rode before so it'll be my lil 250cc probably.

Take the MSF course. You practice in a lot with their bike, it will be a little 250. It is an outstanding course that will build the foundation for years of safe riding. It is only 25 bucks, the state pays the rest. Just make sure you follow the rules...be on time, have the gear that they require and your temps. The do not allow any variance from the rules.

Here are the locations for Ohio. Sign up NOW, the classes fill fast. You want the BRC...the Basic Rider Course.

http://nm.msf-usa.org/msf/ridercourses.aspx?state=OH

Apparently a "full" obit is going in probably tomorrow.

We get the paper here at work, I am looking at today's...Monday's. There is no mention of him in the obit section.

Drop RFM a PM. He works at Cord Camera in Columbus.

from charleston WV, i dig taking I-77 to fancy gap. next, BRP to cherokee and onto tail of the dragon. finally, by way of maryville, knoxville, I-75 back to ohio. about 1150mi. loop.

I have done it that way also, more or less. You need to work HWY 421 aka 'The Snake' into that loop. It is just south east of Bristol TN. Maybe come across 81 to Bristol then back SE to BRP near Boone. The Snake is very similar to The Dragon. There are two sections to it, each about 10 miles long with a cool valley and store in the middle. All the roads around there are awesome.

Here is a link to the store. http://www.shadyvalleycountrystore.com/

The Snake is not as extreme or as technical as the Dragon but it is darn close.

will do. where is that?

As you continue down 129 (the dragon) past Deal's Gap (the little motorcycle 'resort') at the end of The Dragon towards Robbinsville, NC it is a right turn just before town. The suggestion that you take it is a good one for a couple of reasons. One it is an awesome road, big sweepers with a stunning view and two it will take you back over to 75 more or less if you want to get back on the freeway for your Florida run.

Word of advice, if you are on your Spirit fill up with gas either at Deals Gap or in Robbinsville before you hit the skyway. It is a ways across it to Telico befoer you see gas again. I recall when I did that on my old Spirit that I was ok but I was a bit nervous near the end. However I had not gotten gas since the hotel in Alcoa.

23 is pretty boring until you get out of Ohio..

I really like 62 from just south of Columbus to Lexington. Get to see all the big horse farms. Then slab it the rest of the way down is how I usually go. Only adds about 20 minutes to the total drive time vs freeway the whole way.

My point is that the OP said this was supposed to 'change', implying that Obama was going back on his word. And yes, maybe it's splitting hairs in a sense, but this is clearly two different techniques we're talking about.

Obama was all over Bush about privacy issues during the campaign. And while I don't recall (and do not believe) that he said 'warrant-less gps tracking' specifically he even took time in his inaguration speech to slam Bush over the attacks on our privacy and freedoms.

"“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations."

And here we are, the administration is defending f'ing GPS tracking AMERICAN CITIZENS and you want to split hairs. He has taken up all the lawsuits that the ACLU and everyone else filed against Bush and is defending them big time. He hasn't gotten rid of the patriot act, or gitmo.

The man totally lied to us, and you debate my choice word choices.

<sigh>

You're confusing wiretapping with tracking (per the article), which are two different issues - they're both pivacy related, but that's about the extent.

I am also confusing Obama with Bush.

I thought this stuff was supposed to 'Change'.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10451518-38.html

Can we expect a documentary about this from Micheal Moore? Or the Dems to make it an election issue? I won't hold my breath.

The more and more I play with it, the more and more I really don't like it.

What exactly don't you like? From this side of the screen it works very well. One of the easiest and fastest forums I use with regularity. Remember the three golden rules of software/computers.

1) If it ain't broke don't fix it.

2) No matter what you buy you will find things you don't like. There are no perfect solutions.

3) No matter how big you build it and how fast you make it sooner or later the users will flood it and bog it down.