2006 R1 / R6 Convention - June 10 - 18
packed up and ready to roll. the blue 2001 yamaha r1 is mine. my buddy bill was on the 96-97 suzuki rf900. we were hauling with a 97 ford explorer. what a trip. that old truck actually held up the entire way! the 'check engine' light did come on a few times...like when bill used the cruise control, which he didn't seem to learn since he kept retrying the cruise control throughout most of the ride down there. we took interstate 81 down most of the way which is a pretty hilly highway. on the downhills, we'd try to gain as much momentum as possible getting to about 85 at the bottom and then coast up the hill to the crest, where we'd slow down to about 65! those truckers we passed on the downhill, who often passed on the uphill must've thought - wtf is up with those idiots with the ninjas?!? lol. also, we didn't use the AC at all on the way down. that was brutal. i drank and drank throughout the entire ride but only took a piss a couple times only. i must've sweated the rest of it out!
ah...good 'ol waffle house. i missed those days in atlanta. i had my traditional pork chops and eggs with hashbrowns scrambled. yummy.
the overlook at deal's gap...not quite the end...there are a few more curves left of the 318 but this the popular stop area with great views.
we also hit up the cherahala skyway. what a great ride, awesome sweepers everywhere, and the views are prett good too. on some right handers, i found it distracting when my knee would feel the light flicker of tall grass growing close to the edges of the road. i kept thinking - don't look down! it's just grass!
another shot of the many curves on the skyway.
these signs were everywhere....
i took a ride with some local philly and allentown area guys. they were really cool. i need to get some more rides with these guys.
this is on 28 shortly before fontana village, where we stayed for the week. the fog rolls in quick! i got caught in it one night coming back from the gap. damn, my headlight was useless!!
on this area of 28, we passed the red SBA suv! it's hard to miss that huge SBA decal on the back window! i waved as i went by...not sure if you noticed me and my NJ plate.
one of the mccoy motorsports show bikes. that's sweeeeet.
oh yea, deal's gap 2006. this has quickly become an annual ritual. i can't wait for 2007!
we took a break in the middle of the hot week to go swimming and swinging off this branch into the cool lake. it was a nice way to cool off.
we also did a fair amounting drinking during the week (mostly at night). on one night, the organizers of the convention rented a houseboat on the lake. many good memories were made. and many embarrassing photos were taken to record them.
the house boat.
we took another day to relax most of the day on the lake. we rented a little ski boat and a jet ski. we took turns getting thrown off the tube...lol, that was fun. by the time we got launched off the tube, we gained so much speed that we'd tumble and literally skip over the water like a skipping stone! lol.
this is one of the allentown guys taking a spin on the jetski. i tried it for the first time - it was pretty badass. i'm not sure if i'd want to buy one though. it seems to be a fun thing to do every once in awhile. i'd probably lean towards getting a fast boat before a jetski. and before that, i'd rather get a trackbike.
friday night, mccoys brought out all their toys.. i'm liking that wheel chock too. i'm planning to get one or two of them soon. it's cool bc you can ride the bike right into it and it self locks in place. then you put in a locking pin. it should be useful for trackdays and in the garage.
the spiderman bike. awesome.. a thing of beauty. i'm not into drag bikes, but damn, these are some fine works of art!
there is some major wrench time in these bikes.. awesome.
mccoys made a custom bike for yamaha and they revealed it for the first time at the convention. yamaha corp people were there to accept the bike. the whole thing was covered by speedtv's host of the new show - superbikes.
yamaha was gracious enough to cater a steak dinner for all of us, free! woohoo!
sooooooo many beautiful roads to ride, yet so little time!
saturday, we all gathered at the bottom of deal's gap for a group ride up to the overlook. not everyone has made it up yet!
saturday group photo at the overlook at deal's gap. what a great way to end the week.
a professional photographer was hired while we were there. she got me going up to the gap. i'm not riding as hard as some of the dudes there. some of them are just insane.
this is the limited edition! not all LE's are sitting pretty in some decked out garage. as you can see, this guy is riding this one the way it was built to.
these guys on the super motards are insane!
it was sad to pack up my stuff in the cabin getting ready to go home.. but, there's always next year!
the long road home....
r1/r6 convention at deal's gap
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