Mary#17

That's actually a thought. We could always end Day 2 down there. I'll have to check it out. Thanks. 

I have never experienced much of any other traffic or sightseers on the smoke hole route, but it is a very narrow road when you get up into the mountainside and out of the canyon. When we mountainted biked (bicycles) up there, I really had to lecture my friend driving his truck through the extremely twisty Park, as he was very prone to going to the center of the road around the tight turns, as I caution him about the severity of that move with motorcycle riders potentially racing through there recklessly and accidentally going left of center while deep into a sharp blind curve... now he's gotten his first bike, an old Kawasaki cafe racer, so hopefully that will open his eyes at least.

Point being, in tight turns on narrow roads, always expect the need to hug the inside and be cautious, for fear of cages hogging the middle of the road when barely 2 medium sized cars can pass each other...

Those words of caution were something I copied and pasted from a blog or another website, not my words, but I agreed. I, too, am often guilty of hot rodding around, although I try to keep it safe and manageable. We all (should) know the risks of such.

I usually give people a similar warning about Clear Creek Rd in Hocking. Half of it is new pavement, half is horrible, so that slows the throttle-eager riders down, but this is another amazingly beautiful scenic route that you will appreciate at least as much at a moderate speed as you would racing it. LOTS of foot traffic there. With all good pavement and no traffic/pedestrians, it would be a very fun medium speed road, but otheewise, proceed with caution.

and, that answers my narrow question. Thanks. 

 

 

 

 

Avoid the Days Inn in Elkins.  Seriously.    

 

Take a look at this route.  It includes Smoke Hole Rd.

 

http://www.motoroads.net/routes/DadsRun/DadsRun.htm

 

btw, occasionally I see your Duc in Ridgeville, near 83.

 

Thank you! Yeah, I have reservations for the Holiday Inn. Any recommendations for restaurants there? We tried CJ Maggies and it was meh...

We are probably heading to get gas at 83 and 82. My husband's Monster gets like 85 miles before we have to get gas. Makes for some interesting road trips. 

Smoke hole looks super narrow in some of the videos. Is that just a skewed view?

We are doing 3 days. Looking to use Elkins as a base camp.  Any good roads east of 33? I'd like to do some kind of loop that takes us back to the hotel.  Trying to keep at about 250 miles a day give or take. 

PS - we trailer to near Marietta and then ride from there. 

Oops! Sorry, just saw the post about 15. Might have to try that one. 

Looks like the weather is finally going to work and hope to head to WV this week.  I'm planning my route now. Any thoughts on Route 5 and Route 15?  Anybody ridden lately and know the road conditions? Thanks. 

Unfortunately they ended the new pavement on 56 at 374, the best best stretch of 56 from 374 to South Bloomingville was still in decent shape though, as long as nothing too bad happened to it during the likely flooding

Man, I would love to see this section paved. 

56 was repaved from 278 to 328 for sure. We rode that last week. And 278 north of 56 to about the wooded area is also paved. Unfortunately, they did not do the whole wooded section but they did hit the really bad area. Sadly, it was raining (shocker there right?) so we had to take it way slow but it would've have been great without the rain. The part they didn't pave isn't in bad shape so 278 from 50 to 32 is actually in really good shape. 

I just noticed that you thought your old 675's were not the best for street riding. The Ducati is a not a traffic/commute friendly bike. I haven't ridden the 899 but my 1098 is awful for around the town trips. 50 miles of putz commuting is like 300+ miles of back road twisties in terms of comfort. The bike doesn't like to go slow and makes you feel it. 

is the duc dry clutch? is there much of a difference between operating a dry/wet clutch bike?

Wet.  Operating it, really no difference.  I'm old school though and would have a hard time giving up the dry clutch but the smaller Ducs 848/899 etc never had the dry clutch anyway. I'd pick the Ducati over the Triumph even though I really like the 675 but both bikes are great. 

It's illegal to plug both ear holes. That's why the Starboyz always had "FTP" on their jackets. It was for earplug awareness. They're just misunderstood.

 LOL.

I'm up north. Cleveland suburbs. We do most of our rides in southern Ohio but they are almost always last minute and over night trips. Those links above might be a good starting point for you.  Finding a group of just female sport bike riders might be tough. I almost always ride with my husband (it's our "date night") or in small groups.  Hope you find what you are looking for!

Mary

Congrats! C-sections suck. I've had two.  She's a cutie!

Mary

Welcome. 

Maybe not a good road to be on right now,but that's good news.I hope they pave it all the way from 664 to 691.

Thanks for the info.

Wow! wouldn't that be nice. 

Not to mention, it goes on record. Somebody else might file a complaint as well. Enough of them get filed and some action might happen. 

Mary

Welcome to the forum. Happy riding!

Mary

Congrats!  You will love the bike.  See you around!

Mary

We went on a ride yesterday and stopped to get smoothies at Robeks.  It's next to a Starbucks.  Just doing my part to keep the stereotype going.........................

Mary

any word on when 60 (or is it 62?) will be open? That closure screws up all my routes for that area. 

Got pulled over in Lancaster a couple of years ago for doing 57 in a 55.  I asked the cop if he was serious and he said "he figured we would run". My husband said "sorry to disappoint".  State trooper. Actually wrote me a warning. 

Got pulled over on 71 near Ashland about 4 years ago. Part where the trees divide the highway. I won't even mention how fast we were going.  I think the officer was surprised to be pulling over a 1. Female  2.  2 forty year olds.  He was very very very nice. Said he rides and gets it but we can't be doing stuff like that. We agreed, apologized profusely and he let us go.  We try to avoid highways if we can..............

We are always respectful even with the Lancaster cop who was just fishing for a chase.  Many motorcyclists (and drivers in general) are jerks so I can't blame cops for being a pain on occasion. Most have been quite nice and normal. 

Anybody using armored shorts (undershorts) out there?  I'm considering some to go under our Kevlar jeans. The jeans have knee armor but only offer slight hip padding. Thanks in advance for any recommendations. 

Mary

I was considering these. 

https://www.ridersdiscount.com/motorcycle-armor-protection/shorts/icon-stryker-shorts-121083

I have a kids helmet.  Let me find it tonight and see if it would work. Might be too small for you as my kids couldn't fit but they have big heads.   I'll let you know. 

Mary

Sorry to go off topic... How did your wife like it? Had she ridden before? I'd like to look into one of these for my gf, but not sure if they're beginner friendly or not

Steve, Monsters are very rider friendly especially the lower HP versions like this one.  My husband has an S4RS and it is ridiculously fun to ride and probably one of the most confidence inspiring bikes I've ever ridden. The only thing that might be an issue is the clutch. Most Ducs have very heavy clutch pulls (can't think of a better way to describe it) and people with smaller hands can have issues with it. I put an aftermarket slave on mine and it made a world of difference. Not sure if that is as big of deal on this bike though. 

Mary

We've had multiple people accuse of trying to scam them because our bikes are clean and well taken care of. Go figure.....

It's a great way to sell stuff even though it's beyond annoying at times.