• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

Rode the BRP

cragantler

Member
Member
Been living and working in Hendersonville NC for the past year and a half. Finally got a week off from the hospital after all this time. Took off Monday and jumped onto the BRP in Asheville. Been on it before but never past Little Switzerland. Parkway has been repaved in spots. Traffic was light and weather was good.
Stopped every hour for stretch, water and pics. Speed limit for the most part was 45mph.
Connie just motored along quite well and had a blast. Rode up to the Virginia State line for a pic and started home. About 400 miles total
Was thinking on doing the Dragon instead but glad I took this route. If I do the Dragon it’ll be later on when cooler weather gets back.
Sun came out for the ride home and with my ceramic coated headers, the temp gauge never moved above 1/4. Well except when I was stuck at a construction site at the beginning of the trip :??:
If you get a chance, take it all the way :)
 

Attachments

  • 4D4A6AB1-4390-419E-BD6F-243F066E0261.jpeg
    4D4A6AB1-4390-419E-BD6F-243F066E0261.jpeg
    28.2 KB · Views: 148
  • 08EC4312-6A4C-492C-B050-6C2FB7E6D95E.jpeg
    08EC4312-6A4C-492C-B050-6C2FB7E6D95E.jpeg
    35.8 KB · Views: 146
  • 07BCF305-75E5-497D-B81B-F7898362E6CB.jpeg
    07BCF305-75E5-497D-B81B-F7898362E6CB.jpeg
    40.7 KB · Views: 134
crag antler said:
Been living and working in Hendersonville NC for the past year and a half. Finally got a week off from the hospital after all this time. Took off Monday and jumped onto the BRP in Asheville. Been on it before but never past Little Switzerland. Parkway has been repaved in spots. Traffic was light and weather was good.
Stopped every hour for stretch, water and pics. Speed limit for the most part was 45mph.
Connie just motored along quite well and had a blast. Rode up to the Virginia State line for a pic and started home. About 400 miles total
Was thinking on doing the Dragon instead but glad I took this route. If I do the Dragon it’ll be later on when cooler weather gets back.
Sun came out for the ride home and with my ceramic coated headers, the temp gauge never moved above 1/4. Well except when I was stuck at a construction site at the beginning of the trip :??:
If you get a chance, take it all the way :)

+1; I have, from Cherokee all the way up and to the end of Skyline Drive (Shenandoah Park). Beautiful trek, but have to be wary of the deer along the side of and possibly in the road in evening time. We'll be back.
 
A few years ago my Dad & I Started on the BRP in Cherokee & rode all the way to the end of the Skyline Parkway. Then we did it all in reverse. Took 4 days  :beerchug:
, T
 
Zarticus said:
A few years ago my Dad & I Started on the BRP in Cherokee & rode all the way to the end of the Skyline Parkway. Then we did it all in reverse. Took 4 days  :beerchug:
, T

That's awesome!
 
This might be a great time to ride the BRP - Recreational vehicle traffic might be lighter with the current restrictions on travel. We got a predawn start on the BRP from our hotel in Asheville. No traffic at all - it was just us and the deer. As the day wore on it got busier and slower.
 
Beautiful Mountain Range, good pics. Mountains always look nicer when you place a Connie in front of them. :great:
 
Past two years we have round-tripped Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway in their entirety twice.  Something very appealing of 575 miles of near zero traffic and awesome roads.  Mid Sept. in 18’ and mid Oct. in 19’.  East coast you can’t beat this ride.

Looking at Wyoming, Montana, Idaho - late Aug. / early Sept.

 
2andBlue said:
Past two years we have round-tripped Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway in their entirety twice.  Something very appealing of 575 miles of near zero traffic and awesome roads.  Mid Sept. in 18’ and mid Oct. in 19’.  East coast you can’t beat this ride.

Looking at Wyoming, Montana, Idaho - late Aug. / early Sept.
For sure!. I can't wait until my wife and I can do it again ...
 
Wow Hendersonville. I grew up in Hendersonville and my family had a business there for 90 years (Mac's Men's Wear on Main Street).  We closed it after my Dad passed in 2009.  For a while there was a motorcycle rental store in lower part of the building. When I was in high school, I had a Kawasaki 175 Enduro and used to ride all day long on trails and fire roads throughout the Blue Ridge mountains.  I was on the BRP many times - beautiful.  The last time in a rental car about 15 years ago - went from Asheville to Gatlinburg and back.  I  moved to California in 1986 - had a 1982 Yamaha 650 Maxim then and bought the C10 in 2005.  :great:
 
I too have done the round-trip. After the northern trip, I went to Manassas to participate in the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Civil War battle there. Both days the heat index was 120!!!! :truce:  On a friend's advice, instead of taking Skyline, I went west and got a motel room (with pool!) :great: at Front Royal for a couple daysl. I took in a couple local museums and nearby Luray Caverns before heading south on 11 -- the Shenandoah Valley pike -- and then cutting back east to take the BRP south again.

Skyline and the Dragon are still on my to-do list, but I can highly recommend the Valley Pike. Lots of historic small towns and great views of the mountains in the background from the west side. If you go to the covered bridge that I visited, beware the wheel ruts for cars!!!

While on the BRP, I stayed at a few of the BRP campgrounds, which are cheap and uncrowded since they were built ages ago and don't easily accommodate modern RVs. There are bath-houses but no showers. And you aren't supposed to bathe in the creeks either, but the rangers looked the other way when I was there.

I also recommend Blue Ridge MC Campground near Cruso, NC, and Willville MC Camp in Meadows of Dan, Va. Both are just off the parkway and cater to motorcycles ONLY. You can bring a cage and/or trailer but have to park OUTSIDE the camping area. Another cool spot right off the BRP is Laurel Springs, NC. I stayed at Wild Woody's campground, camped by a creek, and woke to a misty mountainside covered with Christmas trees. There's a bikerish bar next door and a couple motels that welcome those on 2 wheels.

The Park Service offers lots of free info online and in print to help you plan your trip. There are lots of cool things to see and do along the way.  ;D ;D ;D
 
Top