On Nov. 13, 2014 my bike, Sweet Thang, got rear-ended by a fellow biker. After much haggling with insurance companies I settled with my company and bought the bike back. I immediately started listing needed parts and with my usual dealer ordered them. They came in rather quickly and I had the dealer to install the new front fender and tire. While doing that they found that one of the new brake rotors I had just installed was bent so they ordered a new one.
What you find out about a motorcycle is that it is somewhere between having a nuclear power plant and an airplane. Every part, large or small, is expensive. The pic to the left shows the rightside saddlebag, replacement cost, approx. $1600 for the box, lid and chrome supports that hold it in place. Chrome guardrails, another $230. No labor charges.
This red panel is about $250 and it's plastic. The good thing about the parts as they are already painted so no having to match colors at a body shop.
The front fender is $735. You can buy a car fender for less. Tire is another $160, new rotor $195. Then you toss in about $500 labor for just doing the front end work and checking for alignment. The saddlebag and guardrails along with all support materials I put on myself. Two full days and a lot of getting up and down on the garage floor.
At 5:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon I pushed her out of the garage and took a spin around the neighborhood. To my knowledge nothing fell off. So Thursday I put my normal amount of stuff back in the saddlebags, strapped the right lid down with a bungie cord, put the heated gloves back on the bike and re-set the palm throttle (a little device attached to the end of the right handle bar grip so take some strain off your fingers when riding).
Friday morning, Dec. 19, 2014, temp at 8 a.m., 34. Sky, clear and blue, chances for rain today 0%. A good day for a ride. So I backed out of the garage and headed to Hardee's to have coffee with the Elderlies. After coffee I rode to the bank and back to my local grocery to gas up. And on Friday's the points from buying groceries allows you to get $00.30 off a gallon of gas, $1.99 today. I filled up the tank and headed to Mountain Motorsports, my bike dealer to thank them for the work done and the speed they helped me get back on the road.
After a quick visit I hit Interstate 40 eastward. Wanted to run it good for a while since it had been sitting up for a month. A good way to clear the carb jets. The air was brisk and my heated gloves felt wonderful. All suited up made the ride very comfortable, even at interstate speeds.
After some gray days the blue sky made you feel so much happier. The traffic was light and with 3 lanes to ride in made riding even more enjoyable. Good conditions for carburetor jet cleaning. And clean we did. Sweet Thang has an alto voice when the air is cold and she was just humming along.
A few miles up the road you cross some finger lakes from Douglas Lake, a TVA lake that generates the electric power for my area.
After Douglas Lake you start to see the mountains way off in the distance. A site to behold for sure.
By the time you start getting near the city of Newport, TN the mountains are looming larger on the horizon. At the junction of U.S. 321 and I-40 I peeled off onto the off ramp heading for Cosby, TN. This was the same highway where the wreck occurred. I pulled over into a large store parking lot and did a quick wrench adjustment to my left mirror and then struck out for Cosby. This area, Newport and Cosby are well known for making "Moonshine Whiskey".
Cosby is really just a long highway/street. You would definitely consider the area rural, not urban.
The highway runs along beside a stream and it does have a couple of small motels and businesses. Most people go to Newport for purchasing things.
On the way into Cosby you will pass Carver's Apple Orchard along with their restaurant/gift shop/market. It is an old orchard and they have some competition as there are a couple more orchards in the general area.
After a few miles of rolling hills and wooded sides you come into Gatlinburg where 321 connects with 441.
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge really go out for the tourists and locals with decorations applied based on the season. Lots of lights and lighted objects. It is really pretty to drive through the areas at night just to see the lights.
Notice the different colored Christmas trees at the intersection of 441 and River Road (to the right).
The main drag through Gatlinburg. Lots of gift shops, restaurants, arcades, etc. Great family oriented area of TN. Believe me, the amount of traffic you see here is absolutely not the norm. In summer it is bumper to bumper and the cross walks have the right of way.
At the end of Gatlinburg a short distance from the last traffic light you start to enter the Great Smoky Mtn. National Park. I would say they have had a billion pictures taken at this particular location.
A couple of miles later you can either go over the mountain to Cherokee, NC or make a right turn at Sugarlands Visitor Center and run along the park to Townsend. This is what I did. In the winter everything seems to turn to shades of gray with an occasional evergreen tree thrown in. A beautiful drive.
Since the road was once a railroad and follows the Little Pigeon River it is rather curvy with some of them being really tight. As you can see, not much traffic to deal with today.
The river is ever changing. This time of year the water will be really low unless right after a rain. During the Spring a lot of the rocks you now see are under water.
This is probably one of the most photographed waterfalls in the park. During the Spring the water will be from the left as shown all the way across to the right side. I even know a couple of crazy people that waded across the cold water just to go see the falls up close and then waded the water back to the highway side of the river. Some LSU kids. Duh!!!
It is nice to stop along the way and just listen to the water swirling around and over the rocks. Very peaceful. You often see people with their lawn chair set up and reading.
You can tell it stays pretty damp in this area as that light green stuff on the rocks is moss type vegetation. Looks a little spooky with that overhang. Don't believe I'd travel under it for fear it would fall in.
This area is the turn off for Townsend. If you go straight it goes to Cades Cove which is just a wonderful peaceful place. Old farm homesteads, a couple of churches and very often numerous deer and turkey along the 12 mile one-way loop road. If you're lucky you may even see a Black Bear.
There's at least one person that reads this forum that will know immediately what this meal is and where it is being eaten. I donate this fine meal to that person who has eaten several of them.
After lunch I caught 321 through Wear's Valley and on to Pigeon Forge. The Valley is growing with several new business places. A lot of people have summer cabins here.
And now back in Pigeon Forge which makes Veterans Hwy. in Metairie and Lapalco Blvd. on the Westbank look like restful neighborhoods during the summer and Fall. Today, not so busy which made it nice not having to negotiate 3 lanes of traffic with people from out of state not knowing where they're going. Famous expression, "Turn here now". Bam.
Rode by one of my son's house but didn't take the time to count the number of leaves on the ground. It's easier to measure them, now about 4". This was taken from one of his neighbor's front yard where I stopped in for some hot coffee and a hand full of fresh baked cookies.
It was a great day to ride. Very little traffic to contend with, brisk temperature and slow enough to just sit back and take it all in. Since I had worked really hard for 4 days it was nice to have a R&R day. Next ride I hope to take to Cade's Cove to capture some winter scenes and maybe get a few pictures of wild animals, four-legged ones.
Total mileage today, 152. Experiences, to many to count. So until the next adventure, ride safe, enjoy life and have a very Merry Christmas.
