Time To Ride…Again

As I anxiously await my departure for another week in motorcycle paradise, one of my primary reasons for creating sportbikes4hire.com is reaffirmed: it offers me the opportunity to introduce the area to other motorcycle fanatics like me.  This trip will be particularly fun as two of my riding buddies from SoCal will be coming along with me. I’m looking forward to seeing the looks on their faces when the helmets come off after their first pass on The Dragon. I fully expect them to be sporting big grins as they shake their heads in amazement. It happens every time.  It  still happens to me even after several hundred passes…every time.

The riding season is now in full swing. US 129, closed for 4 months due to a major rockslide, is now open. So, full access to the Deal’s Gap area has been restored. It’s time now to get out here and make up for the lost time. Area businesses, hurt by the slide, are anxious for the diehards to return, as they always do this time of year. If you delayed your plans for your annual visit, it’s time to hit the reset button and get out here. If you’ve never been here before, it’s time change that. The Dragon, The Cherohala Skyway, Hwy 28 and all the other great roads are waiting for you. As always, traffic is light and the sun is out, save the occasional thundershower that keeps the scenery as green and  beautiful as always.

Our fleet at Sportbikes4hire.com is available to make your next trip the best one ever. We feature Yamaha R1, Aprilia Mille, Kawasaki ZX6R and Suzuki SV650 motorcycles at surprisingly affordable prices, delivered to your lodging establishment free of charge to most Smoky Mountain locations. Our customers rave about our bikes and our service, all promising to return with their friends to rent from us on their next trip. Many of them, who discover us once they get here after grueling drives from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, New York and other far off locations, have already decided to fly in on their next trip to the area and rent from us. They realize that doing so  saves time, hassle, tires and the odometer on their own bikes. We hope that you check out our operation and consider our services soon. We will do everything we can to make your trip using us your most memorable. See you here. Ride safe.

US 129 Set To Open This Weekend

Several sources are reporting that US129 near The Tail of the Dragon will reopen this weekend. Time  to get out here, folks! More to follow as details become available.

Florida Riders…It’s Your Lucky Day!

If you are a sportbike rider from Florida who enjoys riding America’s best roads in the Great Smoky Mountains, you are in luck. Allegiant Air, a regional carrier that services most of Florida’s major cities, has some incredible fares to Knoxville right now. Believe it or not, one way fares start at $9.99! That’s not a typo. $10 each way! Add in airport fees and some of Allegiant’s add-ons and you can still fly roundtrip to sportbike heaven for under $100, round trip! Add a rental car (starting at $20 per day), a room at Deal’s Gap ($59 per day) and one of our sportbikes (from $135 per day), and you can do a 4 ride-day trip for under $1,000, all-in. Compared to trailering your bike 20+ hours, burning through a set of your own tires, adding miles to your odometer, pouring gas into your truck and missing another 2 days of work, it’s a bargain that seems too good to be true. Check out www.allegiantair.com and www.sportbikes4hire.com to see for yourself. And by the way, we deliver your sportbike, free of charge  to most Smoky Mountain lodging locations. This is your chance to go on a hassle free sportbike adventure to a ground-zero motorcycle destination. Call us to discuss. We will do everything we can to help you plan your trip. Ride safe. Ride smart.

Sportbikes4hire.com and the R1/R6 Forum

We are pleased to have been a part of the recent R1/R6 Forum event at Fontana Village in the Great Smoky Mountains. A great time was had by all and we even got some great press courtesy of  www.motorcycle.com. Jeff Cobb, one of the lead writers for the internet motorcycle site, was our guest at the event, riding one of our Anniversary Edition R1′s to roll with the group on several organized rides, including a fast-paced run over the Cherohala Skyway and a 400 miler to Atlanta and back via Blood Mountain to connect up with Chuck Graves, the special guest at Saturday night’s Yamaha Dinner. I had the opportunity to fly through the Cherohala sweepers on my friend’s Desmosidici. The sound, look and feel of that bike was intoxicating. If you ever get a chance to ride one, do it. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience. I must admit to being a bit puckered up, as trying to calculate the cost of even the most minor incident was a significant distraction . Greg rode it on the way back, and shared the same concern. What a ride!

Sportbikes4hire is chugging right along despite the light visitor traffic due to a very stubborn rockslide that still has the 129 closed from the Tennessee side. Progress is being made, but we are still a few weeks away from the project’s completion. Once you’re on the North Carolina side, it’s all good. So, don’t let it stop you from coming out to enjoy the best roads in America.

Check out the great write-up on the R1/R6 Forum at http://www.motorcycle.com/events/2010-yamaha-r1r6-forum-convention-at-deals-gap-89669.html. Ride safe. Ride smart.

Good Time Preserved

Nothing’s worse than anticipating a trip with your riding buddies, doing all the planning, spending all the time to get ready and then suffer a mechanical failure on your way here. Well, that’s exactly what happened to Mike, a police officer from Pennsylvania. Riding at night, his bike suffered an electrical failure that left him on the side of the road. He and his friends, determined to reach Robbinsville that night, towed Mike 180 miles with another bike with a 12 foot length of parachute cord unraveled from a survival bracelet.  Not a procedure we would generally recommend, but it worked, at least to get them here.  His bike was still down.

Greg and I just happened to be at Wheeler’s checking in one of our bikes, the new ZX6R. I asked the guys where they were from and they told me their story. I told them that it was Mike’s lucky day. 30 minutes later, Mike was on our bike, heading to the Cherohala Skyway with his friends, happy and amazed that he was able to rent a sportbike and save his riding time with his friends.

For us, we were glad to help. Though, we would rather not rent our bikes because of others breaking down, at least we were there to preserve a good time.  Mike and his friends have already decided that it would have been easier just to fly to Knoxville and rent our bikes next time they visit. The time, tire wear and maintenence costs saved will probably cover the cost of the rental bike, and they won’t have to tow Mike with another parachute cord. Ride safe.

The Cherohala Skyway…Sweeper Heaven

Though The Dragon at Deal’s Gap gets most of the headlines, the Cherohala Skyway is the other big ride in the area that most everyone hits while visiting the Smokies. The Dragon is an action-packed roller coaster ride that will work you into a sweat in half a pass. It’s knee-to-knee transitions, one after the other, are challenging and require maximum focus to navigate in the right riding line. The Cherohala Skyway, over 50 miles long, is a seemingly endless chain of sweepers, with the occasional short straight just for contrast. If you love sweepers, this is your ride. And, if you love forever views of untouched forest, then you’ll enjoy it even more. East to west, the road starts in Tellico Plains, Tennnessee and ends near Robbinsville, North Carolina. The Cherohala tops out at about 5,400 feet in elevation,  making it a great place to go on a hot and humid day to cool off. Temperature drops, bottom to top of 20 degrees are common. So, if you work up a good sweat on the Dragon and want to cool down, just stay on 129 south from The Dragon, cruise along a rushing river to 143, turn right and access the Skyway from the west. Grab a bite in Tellico Plains and head on back the way you came. In reverse, it seems like a whole new ride. Bring a camera. You will be using it at one of the dozens of scenic turnouts. The views are endless and the pavement is virtually seamless, especially on the Tennessee portion of the ride.

So, don’t forget this wonderful ride when you come out to visit. I do it once a day, every day I’m in the area. It amazes me and puts a smile on my face every time. Enjoy and ride safe.

Cell Service Comes to Fontana Village

Yesterday, I got a call from my partner, Greg. That, in itself, is routine, as we generally connect several times a day. The significance of this particular call is that it was made from the gas station at Fontana Village, an area previously devoid of cell service.  This is big news for regulars and visitors in the area, as the 20+ mile drive to Robbinsville to make a call is now unnecessary. Greg even got a good broadband connection for the laptop, which will make it easier for us to provide service to our customers. Just another reason  for you to come visit the Smokies. Ride safe.