B-Mac

I am heading down to Deals Gap area today for a week will be at the Iron Horse Lodge for the annual V-Strom rally for 4 day's. I will try to check out conditions but I will be into the dirty stuff most of the time except for a Dragon photo.😯

https://www.cyclegear.com/top-cases Under $150 Shad SH29 Top Case with Pad. $134 Givi E340NTA Tech 34L Monolock Top Case with pad. $190

Looks like someone it testing the ADV dark side. Is it meeting your street ride expectations? Your likes and followers will slowly diminish.

This is in the wrong place.😕

Thanks, I am Linked challenged. This should be good "No Dust and wet gravel" Charley Hawk Memorial Adventure Ride 5/5/201 What: A +/-80 mile adventure ride on the back roads of Southeast Ohio. Bikes, Side by Sides and vehicles can all access this ride. In memory of Charlie Hawk, a legendary short track racer and as seen on American Pickers- a unique individual. Come celebrate Cinco de Mayo like Charlie would have. Where: Start and Finish at Athens Motorcycle Club, 13426 Dutch Creek Road, Athens, OH 45701. Free primitive camping. When: Sunday May 5th, 2019. 1st rider out at 9:00 am, Last rider out by 10:00 am. Our adventure rides usually take about 4 hours if you ride the entire route. There are gas stations & places to eat along the ride. Cost: $30 entry includes Famous Alan's Breakfast. Concessions available all day. Admission is FREE. AMA membership is recommended but not required. Click the sign up tab above to pre-register.

Big Bike Friendly Ride this Sunday off SR550 near Amesville, OH. 😀 https://advrider.com/f/threads/adventure-in-ohio.28732/page-4175#post-37525687

I am planning on riding the Z1k one last time before I place it on the market for sale. Unless you are going to ride your ___________bike. I would like to split off 377 at 555S to 676 to Marietta and join back on 26. 550 is fun at the start of the turn but gets.............

Road 555 from 37/555 to the bottom rt7. The best section is Chester hill to the 676 Watertown turn. The rest has the repair patch work and asphalt wash outs. Not much fun on sport bike but a big adv with more suspension can be fun. It will keep your attention with all the hazards. GFT (Good Fucking Training)

Thanks for the info. I have passed (Birch Knob Dr,) Many times on the (KAT) route that passes that tower turn off. I will check it out next time, this spring. When I am ADV'ing without the wife I take 630(South Mountain road off 23br just north of Pound to White Oak Creek road just after you cross Bearpen Creek this will turn into Osbornes gap and make a left on Brush Gap, then left on S of the mountain rd. and go right by your turn off for the tower. then this turns into Blowing Rock road, then Bartlick rd to SR80 and into Elkhorn.

I am scheduled on Monday 04/29/19 to ride 555 from North to South. Starting at 555/37 A&B Carry out Gas Station down to 555/SR7 Little Hocking and then ride back home thru Amesville, Glouster and New Straitsville. I will most likely have video.

I concur with your assessment. There are far nicer asphalt golf cart path mining roads in the hills of KY. with better views.

I like the dirt section much more that the asphalt strip.

Shepard trail starts after leaving Harlan at 2.24 stops at shell gap (turns to dirt) south on 2010--522 to Cumberland then down 160s to Black Mountain, Highest point in KY. 23 to pound then 197 to the Breaks state park. then to Pikeville, KY. - 119-49 to Historical Matwan (Hatfield/McCoy) all great roads. This is the video I wanted to post. https://youtu.be/j66aXtHaSVM

All the KY. State park lodges are nice and priced reasonable. They have food and drinks avail. Harlan, KY. #1. https://www.thelittleinnofharlan.net Restaurant walking distance from the Inn- The Portal, 101 N Main St, Harlan, KY 4083 #2 Choice: Quality Inn 2608 South Highway 421, Harlan, KY 40831 Nasty: Mount Aire Motel, Dirty, small ass rooms. Places: Kingdom Come State Park in 502 Park Rd, Cumberland, KY 40823 Black Mountain Kentucky 40843 Breaks Interstate Park 627 Commission Cir, Breaks, VA 24607 https://youtu.be/M0ADXDaKdWs

Weather is a big factor. Also lodging may be a factor for you. Two of us from "AIO" have advance reservation in the town of Williamson, WV. this is about 15 min from the Pig event. There are two Moto events taking place in that area "Dirt Day's" in Williamson and "Stolen Pig" in Matwan / McCarr. These are annual events that draw LARGE groups of off road types. Have you ridden Hatfield-McCoy area? Our Saturday Route and this off-asphalt area in general can be quite challenging for large ADV bikes at times so bring aggressive tires and your big boy pants if you decide to come down. We are tentatively scheduled to meet Saturday morning at the Haunted McCoy Manor in the event town of McCarr. We are scheduled to ride some parts of Main 4 KAT with the Hard 9 section if it's dry. Think about it. It's always nice to have additional riders. B.

I am heading down on the V-Strom to the Hatfield/McCoy next weekend for the "Stolen Pig Rally" http://www.therealmccoytrails.com/stolen-pig-rally-april-2019.html Sometimes that place gets soooo wet and muddy. I hope it's dry this time then I can bitch about the dust and bugs. "Big Bike Boogie Time" Crane Technique by

I will be at the Bob Evans 3min away at 0800 eating breakfast with Moto friends. Don't think I can hang till 1830 for dinner. Sounds like a great deal. I may stop by and check out the Motor Sports shop that has dinners before I warp speed home like a great deal.

Knock off a oil/filter change today while watching the intermittent rain showers. 04.2019 Service

It not looking like a large group so far. I guess that means my donuts for the attendees. This is 2017 epic ride video. It was crowed at first but thinned out to be the old guy group. https://youtu.be/AWt7zjdlSBA

I am not sure what bike you are even riding this month so I will guess it's primary street orientated.😉 Your rim size will most likely limit your choice. The 90/10 tires are surprising well suited to gravel and dry two track off asphalt roads. I ran the Standard Metzler Tourance tire on my 04 VS for 8 years in sand, mud, desert and loved them. The Bridgestone Battle Wings are my 90/10 choice now and I have chased Jschaf & Durk around the curvature of SE Ohio asphalt with no Issues. Pirelli Scorpion also makes a good 90/10. If you feel more off road capabilities are needed then I recommend a additional bike is a must. More aggressive off road tire will bring your speed and confidence level up off road but then you will be limited by suspension and ground clearance. On asphalt the 50/50 tires and to some extent the 80/20's I have tried "fall in" quickly on asphalt corners and may require a adjustment to your style. The Metzlers and Bridgestone are very forgiving and provide solid feedback when pushed to there on asphalt. Good luck in your quest.👴 (YMMV)

You are not railing shit standing up on asphalt like a European Poofter. What, are you trying to make the front cover of Adv Moto? Can I get a signed copy for my garage art? Enjoy your trip and stay safe friend.

Not mandatory but if there has been a recent rain event you can run into sections that failed to drain off and can be slick. No deep mud bogs or deep rutted jeep trails. Water crossings are not bad when water level is low/calm. They can be by-passed easily. The Cherokee Challenge route is fun and not to difficult. Just slow and pick your line maintain pace for balance and don't over work your street suspension and ground clearance will not be an issue. Also I have connected some of the Smoky Mountain 5oo to depart Fontana down to Murphy and return to Fontana on forest roads or asphalt if the happy hour horn is blowing back at camp. If anyone wants to rent a DR650 or 400 or anything check with Dan. https://gsmmotorent.com/ I rented a DR650 for a few days and had a blast screwing with the big bikes in our group. This is what can be expcted. 1. video is the Cherokee route parts of this will be used on my loop. https://youtu.be/neR1SzHibnk 2. Video is parts of the SM500 also used https://youtu.be/sfxI4PRIo5o https://youtu.be/4sCJZVNJ6F8

I will most likely have the BW's mounted also. My Mitas E07's will be finished by then and this year I am going back to a more street tire this year. "Relatively dry with a Moderate Pace" is my 2019 Moto-Mantra😤

Got a chance to enjoy a nice curvy asphalt Z1K ride with the wife & Spyder out to "Boondocks BBQ" in McConnelsville and back home in Hocking Hills. Weather was great and the spring vews into the wood line with the lite green color starting to bud out was just right. Still have to watch for the winter gravel in corners but the best part was that "Max Power" and his wife "Mid Range" were test riding my Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom the entire day and seemed to enjoy a well sorted bike on a mixture of roads. 100 mile lunch ride. 78, 555, 669, 216, 595, all in great shape

Nice set-up, What tire are you going with? Also are you interested in doing some back country gravel and golf cart path style asphalt with elevation changes during the epic event?