Breaking out of the lockdown, Georgia mountain riding on my Like

[TBR125]

Would you mind if I joined on a ride. I live right there.

[leomagnus]

Klav, you have some beautiful scenery down there. Its going to be about 70 here in RI today and I can finally get out snd ride to the stae park and beaches, since our militaristic governor just opened them back up again. BTW what are you using to post your pics on here? I have some beach/ocean photos to post. Thanks


Dean

[klaviator]

Would you mind if I joined on a ride. I live right there.

It's open to anyone who wants to come.  I recommend registering on ADV and joining the discussion but that's not a requirement. 

[klaviator]

Klav, you have some beautiful scenery down there. Its going to be about 70 here in RI today and I can finally get out snd ride to the stae park and beaches, since our militaristic governor just opened them back up again. BTW what are you using to post your pics on here? I have some beach/ocean photos to post. Thanks


Dean

I use SmugMug to for 99% of the pics I post on forums.  Occasionally I will post pics directly from my phone to ADV but I don't know if that is possible on this forum.  There are many other photo hosting sites out there.  SmugMug is not free, I think around $45 per year but I post thousands of pics every year so it's worth it to me.

[klaviator]

Continueing with my ride report, my destination:



I realize the sign does say "MOTORCYCLE PARKING ONLY" but so far no one has said anything about me parking my scooter there

My Like was not the only scooter there.



It's a 2009 Piaggio BV250 that the owner picked up recently with very low miles on it.  It looked pretty much new.

Since it was cold the crowd at TWoS was much smaller than it would have been on a warm Saturday.




They were serving lunch but no inside dining. No problem there were plenty of picnic tables outside, properly spaced of course.

The view from the porch.

[klaviator]

After hanging out a while and talking to various people it was time to ride some more. I rode a short distance and took a pic of Woody Lake.



hen I was off to ride the "cooler run". This is a 36 mile loop that goes south on 60, left on 19, left on 129 over Blood Mountain and left on 180 back to TWoS. This is about as good of 36 miles of twisties as you will find anywhere. 60 had been repaved in the last year or two as was 19. Then it was 129 up Blood mountain. This is the same US129 that runs through Deal's Gap and is known as the dragon. As 129 twists and turns its way up Blood mountain it has two lanes going up much of the time. This makes for an awesome ride and allows for easy passing of slower traffic. Even though I was on a 150cc scooter and going uphill the whole way, I took advantage of that extra lane as the car traffic was all going slower than I was.  I was having too much fun to take a lot of pics and only got one.




I stopped at the store on top and talked a bit with an ST1300 rider. I tried real hard to infect him with the scooter virus

I rode down the mountain and stopped to get a pic of the lake at Vogel State Park.




Then I rode up 180. There wasn't much traffic and I only had to pass one car. I was also passed by one GS rider.

I stopped to take some pics and happened to catch some cars coming by. This area, like the area around Deal's Gap had become a playground for fast cars.



The reason I stopped.



Just across the road, Lake Winfield Scott.

[Neil955i]

Wonderful pictures there. Thanks for sharing.


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[klaviator]

Wonderful pictures there. Thanks for sharing.


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Thanks.  I have a few more to go.

I stopped again at TWoS. There weren't very many people there. I got a pic of Suches Creek.



The picnic tables with social distancing signs.



Then I headed North on 60. This road has been one of my favorites since I first rode in in 1990. The combination of almost non stop curves, some tight and some easy sweepers, combined with peaceful scenery make this road a joy to ride.



.



.



Everything is such a bright green this time of year.



Eventually I turned off of 60. I was nearing Steve's place when I saw him riding the other way on his Vespa. He was doing a test ride to make sure the belt change was successful. He said it made a big difference in accelleration and was smoother. We rode a few miles and then swapped bikes. This was my first time riding a Vespa. The riding position of the Vespa was much roomier than the Like. I think the typical NBA player could probably fit on a Vespa. The seat was comfortable. Being a 250 it was of course much faster than the Like. The ride was much smoother. What surprised me was that the steering was also much lighter. It felt twitchy although the scooter handled fine. I think it's something that would feel normal once I got used to it.

We stopped for dinner.



Country Fried Steak, Mashed taters and veggies!

After dinner we headed for Steve's place stopping by the Toccoa river for a few last pics.



.



The next morning I loaded up and drove home. I'm glad I got away for a bit. I was starting to go stir crazy from the Covid lockdown. It was good to see life starting to turn towards normal.

[de dee]

perfect riding weather and I find out two people upstairs got the virus, the house is in lock down ,  no riding till 11 june, got to wear a mask outside ,. even in the garage,   prison with out bars,

[Neil955i]

perfect riding weather and I find out two people upstairs got the virus, the house is in lock down ,  no riding till 11 june, got to wear a mask outside ,. even in the garage,   prison with out bars,

Well good for you De Dee, at least you’re sticking to the rules!  Hope you can find enough fettling to do to keep sane.


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[john grinsel]

Too bad this ride started with bike in a truck

[dan v.]

Win - what were your impressions of the Morphous?  Take it on any of the curvy stuff?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Too bad this ride started with bike in a truck

perfect riding weather and I find out two people upstairs got the virus, the house is in lock down ,  no riding till 11 june, got to wear a mask outside ,. even in the garage,   prison with out bars,

Ah geez de dee!

perfect riding weather and I find out two people upstairs got the virus, the house is in lock down ,  no riding till 11 june, got to wear a mask outside ,. even in the garage,   prison with out bars,

So sorry de dee.
Maybe pretend it's January again.
Hang in there.
Major Tom

[klaviator]

Win - what were your impressions of the Morphous?  Take it on any of the curvy stuff?

I did ride it on a curvy section of road but took it easy.  Steve said it had limited cornering clearance and had not been able to stay with us when it really got curvy.  I didn't want to find the limits on a bike that didn't belong to me.  It had a softer suspension and just felt "looser" than either of my scooters but to be fair, it had something like 40 or 50 thousand miles on it so the suspension was not exactly new.  I would describe it as more of a plush cruiser than a sport scooter.  It was also fairly heavy.  I think Steve said it was 410 pounds.  It would be a good scooter for relaxed riding and also for getting attention at stops.

[klaviator]

Too bad this ride started with bike in a truck

I was glad that it did since the weather would have sucked for riding.