Meeting Recap--October 28, 2017

Eight of us met this rainy Saturday to discuss upcoming events and mull over various motorcycle topics..

First on the agenda was the planned ride to Tallulah Gorge to witness the kayak action during one of the major water releases by Georgia Power. We plan to ride there on Saturday, November 11th. We will meet at the Shell Station on the corner of East Cherokee Road and Highway 140 in Hickory Flat ready to ride at 8:30 am ( this is the first Saturday of Standard Time). A planned route can be found at   https://www.plotaroute.com/route/518065

The return route is dependent on how many hours are spent at the gorge (there's more to see and do than the water release). Additional ride details will be posted as the ride date approaches.Never been there? Take a look https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&p=tallulah+gorge+state+park+tallulah+falls+ga#id=1&vid=938d47a652c4db2027949a1355879c40&action=click

We took a look at David Petersen's (BestRest Products) idea that that the usual way that two riders stagger their lane position way be all wrong

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Interesting (but not everyone signed up)

Next we tried to discern the cause of various motorcycle mishaps depicted in video clips. In addition we tried to work our way through Virginia Tech's report on Why and How motorcycle's crash, but gave up as the format didn't lend itself to a group discussion. We'll try again when their info is in bullet form.

The group took a few minutes to see again Half-Throttle's attempt to ride his KLR up a muddy hill in Panama. Some rides just don't go well.

MC Garage put out a video that answered the question...does shifting without the clutch damage a motorcycle's transmission? The answer...No...was not a surprise to many in the room as it is more or less common practice for up shifting to a higher gear (not so common downshifting).

We viewed a few interesting, but not motorcycle videos, and before we knew it, it was 11 o'clock and we adjourned.

The next meeting will be on Saturday November 25th, same time, same place

 

 

 

Meeting Recap--September 23, 2017

Three of us (Dave, Richard and yours truly) met for this rescheduled September meeting. Many others sent their regrets as they had prior commitments

While we discussed many topics, asked and answered many questions of each other, the question of what to do with the canceled Cherohala Skyway Ride.dominated. Our conclusion was that the Skyway ride should be slotted for mid-October when the leaf colors are often at their height, in place of the Cloudland Ride currently scheduled. Take a look at this clip from a previous Cherohala ride:

We adjourned the meeting a little early to get to other activities, including Dave's officiating at races up at Fort Mountain State Park.

 

Meeting Recap--August 26, 2017

Eight of us took advantage of a fine day to come over to Timothy for our monthly meeting, seven on bikes and one, Dan, in a classic Mustang convertible.

After a look at a vintage Baloney Shop video from LHM we moved on to see what Dave and Larry had going for them on Eclipse Day. The two of them narrated a video Dave had taken of their ride up to Buck Bald in southern Tennessee, a spot of anticipated "totality". It looked as if they had an enjoyable, and memorable experience and are probably looking forward to a repeat, in Texas, in seven years ;-)

September's ride to the Cherohala Skyway and the plotted route was discussed. https://www.plotaroute.com/route/484045 It was agreed that the 253 mile loop route as shown may need to be modified during the ride as conditions in the mountains dictate. Additional details will be available as the ride date, September 16th approaches.

As mentioned at our meeting last month, TWO is planning a "Vintage and 2-Stroke" weekend September 1-4. http://twowheelsofsuches.com/ A few riders indicated interest in going there on Saturday, September 2nd, to see what it is all about. An e-mail will go out in a few days to see who'd like to join in.

The group viewed a video of a newscast the featured "Harley Davidson's Death Wobble",a supposed defect in the larger Harleys that can result in total loss of control on the highway. To the group it looked more like a "tank slapper" that we've seen in race bikes and discussed before. As a result we took a look at various steering dampers that have been shown to mitigate "slappers" on sport bikes and some large dual sports. These are rarely seen on cruisers.

A handful of short videos were viewed in the meeting time left, some motorcycle related others not. One non motorcycle video that all in the room could relate to can be found at

After the meeting Dennis, Larry, Mel and Bob S. rode over to Sylvia's at the top of Sugar Pike for hamburgers in the shade of an old, old tree. A pleasant spot.

Our next meeting will be on September 30th, same time, same place

 

 

Meeting Recap--July 29, 2017

Nine of us met this day to discuss rides that could be scheduled for the upcoming months. This is what we settled on:

August 12th ride north to the Fox Fire Outdoor Museum in Mountain City,

September 16th  ride the Cherohala Skyway

October 14th ride west to Cloudland Canyon State Park

November 11th witness the dam release at Tallulah Gorge State Park

Details on these rides will be posted as their dates approach

While no club ride was scheduled for the Labor Day "Vintage and 2-Stroke Weekend" at TWO a few riders indicated they may take a ride up there on Sunday September 3rd. Let the group know by e-mail if you're interested.

Similarly there was interest by at least Larry and Dave in riding up to Buck Bald, or vicinity, to view what should be a total eclipse on August 21st. Let Larry or Dave know if you'd like to join them.

We discussed the view many motorcycle pundits have that we can expect dual sport bikes 250cc - 650cc class to slowly disappear from the market while manufacturers concentrate on the higher margin "Adventure" bikes and the high volume sub-250cc market in third world countries. Additionally tighter emission standards here and in Europe are expected to be difficult for large 1-cylinder engines to achieve.

Our next meeting will be on August 26th. Mark your calendar.