Trip Report

[Alan_nc]

The GS and I went to the NC Mountains for the weekend. Temps were a bit cold (36 f in the morning to 55 f mid-day).  Rode some on the Blue Ridge Parkway, visited Blowing Rock, Boone, Mountain City TN,  Demascus VA, and a lot of points in between.  Rode the "Snake" in TN (longer and more turns than the Dragon) several times.  The GS did great here.  Power comes on good in the 7 to 8,000 range, shifting is easy and you can throw it into the curves.  Really glad I put new tires on about two weeks ago.

GS never missed a beat in the Mountains or on the freeway at 70 mph.

[dinkydonuts]

What luggage are you using?

[Alan_nc]

Nothing that matches.  The tank bag I've had for years and used on several bikes(just your standard magnetic with several pockets all of which are expandable).  The saddle bags are just canvas throw overs.  I picked them up on Ebay a long time ago.  The top bag is just a  gym bag.  There is a net with hooks holding my shoes on the back.  I'm not much into how things look.  I carry heavy duty garbage bags to put everything into (and then strap down) if it rains.

Although it was a bit cool I/we were luck this time that we never got rained on.

[AnonRider]

nice! you didn't feel yourself wanting a windscreen?

[Alan_nc]

Did not miss a windscreen in any of the mountain riding.  Might have been nice on a two hour ride on the freeway at 70.  It's not really on my list of things I want.  Like the looks of the bike with out a screen.

[gsJack]

Mountains look the same as they did 10 years ago and your pics make me wish I could do it once more.     We were down there in 01-02-03-04 to meet a group from another forum and play in the mountains for a few days.  We did 400 mile first and last days down I-77 to Wythesville VA (sp?) from NE OH to get there and back and then on to Maggie Valley the second day to stay and ride around a couple more days.

My 97 and 02 stock GSs were happy screaming thru the mountain twisties at 7-9k rpm for hours on end.  The 11k redline is meaningless on a stock GS with power peak at 8500, shifting at 9k drops it to top of torque curve at 7k.

I used a big Plexi 2 shield on my old Hondas but went to a smaller Spitfire for the mountain trips on the GSs, just enough shield for comfortable freeway travel at 75-80 mph indicated and not too much for mountain riding.  Never hit the Blue Ridge without at least one monsoon like rain.

I fought the battle with the elements with soft luggage and plastic bags for years and finally put a small 33L Givi trunk on for the last trip to the mountains in 04 and it held all clothes for a week and has been on the bike for 10 years now and never leaked a drop.  Best $90 I ever spent on riding gear.  A large tank bag carried the rest of my gear.

Have fun with your NC mountains, it must be great to have them in your own state.   

[Alan_nc]

Had hard bags and windshield on my Vstrom that I took up to this ride for the past two years.  It did work great and was fun in the twisties.  Yes it was more comfortable on the slab.  If I find that I am going to be doing more long distance riding I will probably think about picking up another bike.

Right now I find the GS to be perfect for my needs.

Oh....and yes it is nice to have this type of riding available within a couple of hours.  Usually make a day trip to the mountains every 4 to 6 weeks.