Vintage Motorcycle Ride in Show @ Hollerpalooza Saturday, Sept 14th

There is a Vintage Motorcycle Ride in Show as part of the Happy Hollerpalooza Street Fair on North Central  this Saturday, September 14th. Everyone who brings in a bike that is at least 25 years old will be eligible. Over $250 in prizes will be given out. The Street Fair starts at 12:00 and last till 5:00. Riders should show up by 11:30, but late arrivals are OK. Bikes will park on Anderson Street. There is no charge to enter. Get that old iron out! No one can see it in your garage!

Places to camp and ride in East Tennessee - Brimstone Recreation Area

The Brimstone Recreation Area is located in Huntsville Tn, and over the past 10 years has evolved into one of the more popular riding areas in the East. The Brimstone riding area is privately leased land, with over 300 miles of trails. The trails on the Brimestone area also connect to adjacent lands, some of which are public gravel roads, and some that are part of the TWRA Wildlife management area (which requires a seperate permit).
Brimstone recently opened up not just a campground, with full hookups, but also rental cabins and campers. All of which are located at the start of the trail system.
Reservations are recommended.Their website is www.brimstonerecreation.com

Places to camp and ride in East Tennessee - Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground

Located in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, the Cherohala Mountain Trails campground caters to the motorcycle rider, as well as everyone else. They even advertise having boot and glove dryers in each cabin. How cool is that!  It was opened under another name a few years ago, was closed briefly, and now is thriving again. It is located just outside of town, and is just a few miles from great paved roads as well as some really great dual sport routes.

They have seven air conditioned cabins, an on site store, and 6 acres of tent camping. There is a pavilion for group functions, and a both community and private fire pits. Their location makes them a great spot for a base camp for street bike rides along the Cherohala and into Northern Georgia.
 For more info visit their website www.cycleresort.com

Tenn KnockOut Extreme Enduro this Sunday

This weekend is the "Tennessee Knock Out" Extreme Enduro at the Trials Training Center in Sequatchie Tennessee, just west of Chattanooga. The "knock out" format has two amateur races on Saturday, with the fastest 60 from the first race qualifiying for the second races, and the fastest 30 from the second amateur race qualify for the Expert Race on Sunday.
The pre-qualified expert field (along with the amatuers who made it from saturday) run a 13 mile race Sunday morning, and only the top 15 make it to the final.
The Final Race is 10 laps on the "Short Course" which is directly behind the main pit area. It uses much of the same terrain used for the World Trials championship, and has some  very good locations to spectate from.
The cost to watch is only $20 for the weekend, and camping is only $15. If you are a fan of Extreme Off Road racing his is one of the absolute best events you can go see. The location is beautiful, and you can stand right next to the action.
The per-qualified Expert field includes all the big names in Extreme Enduro such as Taddy Blazusiak, Mike Brown, Cody Webb, and Kurt Caselli
For all the details go to www.tennesseeknockoutenduro.com

Ride for Kids, Sunday July 28th - Benefits Pediatric Brain Tumor Association

I rode in this Ride for the first time last year, and I will continue to Ride in it every year I can. There are lots of rides out there for good causes, and this is one of them. At the end of the ride they have some of the children who have, or have had, brain tumors tell their story, and it really brings what you are raising money for into focus. These are kids, just like your kids, or grandkids, who weren't delt the life cards of good health and no problems. They tell their story of what they want, and what they like to do, and what they dream of doing, and its just what every other kid wants. They want to go to the Prom, drive a car, go to school, have friends, and just live a normal life. Donating a few bucks and going for a ride seems like a very small thing to do to contribute.
The ride starts and ends at Pellissippi State Community College. Registration starts at 8:00am and closes at 9:30. Kickstands go up at 10:00am sharp, rain or shine. Registration is $50 and includes a light breakfast, beverages, lunch, and puts you in the drawing for a Free Honda motorcycle which will be given away at the event. More info at rideforkids.org

Custom Seats for Dual Sport and Touring Bikes

My old 400 KTM is a pretty versatile bike, great on the trails, and after adding some dual sport tires and some lighting, a street legal  dual sport bike that gets 55mpg and has a 150+ mile range. The one thing about it that did NOT work was the stock KTM seat. Not so good. Actually, it sort of sucks.
Oh, but a solution was just up the road at Dual Sport Touring in Friendsville, Tn. They can take your existing seat and build it just the way you want it. What I did was pick up an old seat on e-bay for $15 bucks, and let them use the stock seat pan to rebuild from scratch something that was wider and flatter. Basically something that you could sit on all day while riding back roads. 

 Francois and Megan delivered my new seat to me just before we started what was to be a 161 mile day of riding forest service roads, along with some asphalt sections. The difference between my new seat and the stock butt punisher was immeasurable. The only way I could have ridden 161 miles on the stock seat would be if I stood up for 100 miles. The key is the increased width. As you can see in the pictures, the "Sitting area" was increased from 4 1/2" to 9 1/2".

 The fit and craftsmanship are excellent. I've had higher priced seats  before, and they weren't any better than this. They can also do custom colors and different textures, I chose solid black with the carbon fiber look on top, but KTM orange was available. I really like the way it looks, but the side panels in orange would look pretty sweet too. Total cost was $175, and I had it back within a week!  The good folks at Dual Sport Touring picked it up in Knoxville on Tuesday, and brought it to me on Sunday. No shipping cost. Heck, I bet Francois would have put it on for me if I had asked!

If you're interested in getting a seat made just the way you want it, give Dual Sport Touring a call  865-995-9505

Thanks to all that Supported 2 Wheels for Meals

Thanks to all the people who helped make the 2 Wheels for Meal fundraiser a success. Over $1500 was raised for the Mobile Meals program, and some money is still coming in.  Pretty good for an event that was planned in three weeks! We had a lot of non-riding folks who came out to support the event, and while the numbers from the motorcycling community weren't what we were expecting, the people who did come were VERY generous with their contributions.
Thank you to everyone!