Three friends and I decided to attend the BMW-RA motorcycle rally at Barber Motorsports Park In Leeds, Alabama near Birmingham. We are all current or former (me) owners of BMWS and all members of the RA. Two of us rode Burgman 650s and the others rode late model BMWS. The ride from Southwestern Virginia to Birmingham is only 410 miles if you take the boring interstates. However, we went in a little different direction and got there through the backroads, hills and mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. We spent two days riding through our wonderful country to get there and two days riding back. We spent a day in the largest motorcycle and Lotus car museum in the world at the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum (http://barbermuseum.org/). We rode about 300 miles per day through a couple of dozen or two of rain showers and temperatures between 88 and 57 degrees. The Burgmans proved to be the superior ride through the rain an cold. I didn't get wet unless I stopped to let the BMW riders put on their rain gear and I didn't get nearly as cold as they did. They handled the curves and speed as well as the BMWs. We rode through the Tail of the Dragon and the Cheroheyla Skyway but we rode on many roads far better than either with far more interesting views. The interstate highway system allows us to cross the entire country and never really see it. Our 1,200 ride shows that you can see our amazing country that is hidden from the folks who are in a hurry to get from place to place. I averaged 51.5 MPG for the entire trip and our moving average speed was 45.6 MPH (I said there were curves).
My little 1200 mile ride through the South
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I thought I knew the roads until I followed a real expert through the mountains. He found smooth crooked mountain roads that we normal folks would never find. The extra 400 miles we traveled were the best part of the trip. We ate all but two of our meals at some of the best Mom and Pop restaurants in the country. I don't know how he found them but he did. The two chain restaurants were very forgettable.
It might have helped but the previous experience of our leader was a sure thing.
By the way, I just attended a seminar at the BMW-RA Rally in Birmingham about the newest Garmin for BMW. It now has a crooked road option in addition to fastest and shortest choices for trips.
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