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Touring the South

T

The toff

Tricycle
I have just bought a 2010 Concours which I intend to keep in St Petes Florida. On 25 March I start a 2 week tour riding to Gainesville - Savannah- Athens - Gatlinburg - Nashville - Montgomery (AL) - Panama City and then back to St Petes. I have picked scenic routes where possible and avoided Interstates like the plague. However I am concerned about bike security when I am staying at Motels. Is bike theft common over there or will my bike be safe with just a disc lock. Are there any other precautions I should take. Any help you can give will be appreciated as well as suggestions for decent motels along my route - preferably under $100 per night. Thanks guys.
 
Adrian, Many motels will let you park up front near the office if you ask. Fortunately, the Concours does not seem to be a high value target. A disk lock is not a bad idea as is a cover. If the bike is covered, a thief may not want to take the time to investigate what it is. As far as motels, if you are an AMA or AAA member, quite a few chains offer discounts. Another choice is mom-and-pop hotels but they are somewhat harder to check out online. Many of them are clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. I stayed at one in Dodge City, KS on the way back from Colorado in 2008 and it was only $35 for the night. My suggestion would be to do searches along your proposed routes and see what comes up. A resource for the smaller motels is Mom and Pop Motels Good luck. Eddie COG Marketing Asst. Sanford, FL 2005 Concours 1969 Triumph Bonneville AMA# 686667 COG# 7073 CDA# 0136 http://picasaweb.google.com/Eddie753
 
Adrian: One nice route would be highway 441. You can pick it up at Lake City, Fl and take it to Athens, Ga. This takes you through Madison, Ga before you get to Athens, a nice historic city. From Athens, take highway 129 to Gainesville, then from Gainesville take highway 60 to Suches, GA. From Suches take highway 180 (very curvy, home of RWTW) back to highway 129. At that point you can go north or south. If you go north, Blairsville, then 76 east to Hiawassee, a very picturesque city that sets on a lake between the mountains. From there take 17 and 75 south which will tie back into 129. If you so south, well you head back to Athens. From there you can take 441 south to highway 15 south (Watkinsville), heading toward Savannah. That would also take you right through the little town I live in. Now 15 would take you to Wrightsville where you can pick up highway 57, then take it to Swainsboro and pick up highway 80 that will take you on into Savannah. As for Savannah, well you need several days to take it all in as there is a lot to see. Do check out the riverfront. As for theft, Eddie got it right, get a cover and disk lock. I've never had a problem in any motel/hotel, but have had things taken off my bike at some events, but not a COG event. hth, tcars John
 
Thanks for the useful info. I should have mentioned in my first post that I am British living in England and thats why I am unfamiliar about leaving a bike at a motel. This is a first for me, hopefully followed by many more. Thanks again and good biking.
 
IF you choose to use a disc lock be sure to put some kind of device on it to remind you it's there. Nothing good happens if you forget to remove it. FWIW, Aerostitch sells a lock theat fits on the handlebar and can hold the brake or clutch lever (I suggest the brake) That requires the thief to pick up the whole bike as he/she can't just remove the front wheel. Like Eddie said tho, Concours don't seem to be high on the theft list. The cover is a great idea too. I wouldn't obsess over it too much. I've ridden all over the USA, parked the bike both covered and uncovered with no issues. Besides, that's why they sell insurance, isn't it? :)
 
I've ridden round some (see map) & have no worries re security. Mebbe cover it but skip the disc lock, if you forget it's there...D'OH! Try http://www.tripadvisor.com/ for motel opinions 01 Conc, Mijami Floriduh OTP 06: http://tinyurl.com/2vk9o2 route map: http://tinyurl.com/4p7pmd
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