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13th annual Men's Fall Trip

the Ferret

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Every year for the last 13 years male members of our family have taken a week long fall motorcycle trip together. We have been to the UP of Michigan, SW and SE Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Virginia, Tenn ,Ga, N Carolina, and S Carolina... This year we decided to go back to south Central Kentucky and ride the curvy roads in the Daniel Boone Natl Forest and surrounding area. My first trip on my 2021 NC 750X DCT. Also on the trip were my younger brother (T-120 Bonneville) my son (Yamaha MT-10) my nephew (Honda CB 1100) and my son's FIL (Honda NC 750X). Here's some pics from the ride.

Map of routes..red circle was our base and we rode out on different colored loops from there each day
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Bikes at hotel in Berea Kentucky (our base for the week)
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Old and new in horse country south of Paris Kentucky on Rt 627..dry stack wall on left, board fence on right

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Some riding pics

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Rt 66 a great road from 421 south to 25E @ Pineville

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Kudzu an invasive plant that is taking over the area, sometimes covering barns and houses or anything parked in the yard for any length of time

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a stop at the Rattlesnake Souvenir Shack on Ky 192 "The Rattlesnake" between London and Somerset

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My "map case" worked even in the rain lol

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Riding thru Big Hill, Kentucky on Rt 421 north

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Our traditional stop at Skyline Chili on our way home in celebration of a great trip

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and back on "our side' of the mighty Ohio on Rt 52 Ohio River Scenic Byway on the way home. Ohio on the left, Kentucky on the right.

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My thoughts on the how the bike performed as a tourer in a few minutes.
 
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So...how did the NC perform as a touring bike? It was a joy riding solo on the backroads of Kentucky. From years of touring I have learned how to pack really light, so everything I needed was carried in an old Tourmaster Tailpack (which they no longer make) on the passenger seat. When I weighed the loaded bag it weighed 12 pounds. Came with a rain cover which came in handy on this trip.

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I loved how light the bike felt, how well the bike handled the curvy roads. I thought the brakes were excellent. The DCT made life easy, as all I had to do was throttle and brake and let the DCT worry about shifting. The throttle by wire is very light and easy to pull and maintain. The seat is not the best I've ever ridden on but not the worst either. After an hour in the saddle I could either stand on the pegs for 5 seconds and then be good for another hour, or find some place to pull over for a 10 minute break as the rest of the guys were ready for a butt break too. The 270 degree firing throb still irritates me, especially when pulling up a hill. A quick push on the - button drops it a gear and diminishes the throbbing. I was amazed that I was averaging 80 mpg while riding the curvy backroads. It also the only bike I've had recently that I can back up without getting off and pushing on the seat. That is really nice.

When we were on the freeway part of the way there and back, I wished the bike was larger, had better wind protection, and wished it had more power. (It's certainly no FJR..my last bike.. in that regard.) I also missed having the cruise control on the freeway. On the backroads the bike was great, but on the freeway the bike was just OK. It would not be my first choice for a tour like I took from Ohio to California and back in 11 days I took in 2014, or any of the tours where my wife went with me, like to Bar Harbor Maine, the Florida Keys, or touring Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming. I just can't imagine touring 2 up on it.

But as a solo back roads tourer, it does a yeoman's job. That's what I bought it for and I'm happy with it in that respect.
 
Dang Ferret, if I knew when you were going to be down there, I could have ridden over and joined you guys some....with another NC700x...Berea is only 2-2.5 hours riding from my house in Scottsburg Indiana.... Got my IronButt badge on the NC700x a few years ago (1054 miles in 17 hours-dont know if I could do that now though)...I have ridden most of those roads over in KY you posted, if not all...the rattlesnake is slightly over-rated...I have better country roads 5 minutes from my house in Southern Indiana (with better views)...but it is a nice change of pace..May get the NC700 out and ride some this weekend,,,,the nice weather wont be with us for much longer....but archery season for deer starts on Friday...so....think I wont get much done around the house this weekend....hunting and riding....
 
Dang Ferret, if I knew when you were going to be down there, I could have ridden over and joined you guys some....with another NC700x...Berea is only 2-2.5 hours riding from my house in Scottsburg Indiana.... Got my IronButt badge on the NC700x a few years ago (1054 miles in 17 hours-dont know if I could do that now though)...I have ridden most of those roads over in KY you posted, if not all...the rattlesnake is slightly over-rated...I have better country roads 5 minutes from my house in Southern Indiana (with better views)...but it is a nice change of pace..May get the NC700 out and ride some this weekend,,,,the nice weather wont be with us for much longer....but archery season for deer starts on Friday...so....think I wont get much done around the house this weekend....hunting and riding....

Yea the Rattlesnake is over rated but it's like the Dragon, also over rated but ya got to ride it when you are in the area lol.

As a body of roads 421, 30, 11, 89, 92, 66, 52, 192, 39 in one area is not too shabby a place to spend a week riding.

Next year we will go somewhere else. Most likely West Virginia.

Hunting and riding. A great combo! Good luck deer hunting. Maybe sometime I'll post up a pic of the buck I got in 95. #1 in the state that year with any weapon (I used a bow) and it was # 5 all time in Ohio for non-typical's at 206 7/8".
 
Yea the Rattlesnake is over rated but it's like the Dragon, also over rated but ya got to ride it when you are in the area lol.

As a body of roads 421, 30, 11, 89, 92, 66, 52, 192, 39 in one area is not too shabby a place to spend a week riding.

Next year we will go somewhere else. Most likely West Virginia.

Hunting and riding. A great combo! Good luck deer hunting. Maybe sometime I'll post up a pic of the buck I got in 95. #1 in the state that year with any weapon (I used a bow) and it was # 5 all time in Ohio for non-typical's at 206 7/8".
We live in Florida and our son went to college in Indianapolis. When we drove up there to see him I always got off the interstate east of Louisville and cut across northern KY to cross the Ohio River east of I-65. Twice on the ST1300 I made that trip and crossed the OH at Madison, I think that was 421. Nice riding on those roads in that part of KY and southern IN. Not much of IN seems to be wooded and hilly like that southern part of the state. On the way home we got off the west side of I-65 and crossed the OH at one of the bridges west of Louisville. Leavenworth or something like.

West Virginia remains my favorite riding area. Great roads and very little traffic. I did a 3600 mile trip on the 2012 NC up there and it was my longest tour on the NC.
 
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