Holy cow has my little county been invaded!

Bikes, bikes, and more bikes of every kind and description as Hog Weekend kicked offed last night with three free concerts. Knoxville hosts the rally in the AM with bike show and of course rides, vendors, food, bike stunt shows, and free motorcycle try outs. It climaxes just about 3 miles from my house at Smokey Mountain Harley with a massive burnout and free concert by The Kentucky Headhunters.

I think they're going to beat the Goldwingers Gatlinburg rally which is typically 16,000 strong. Projections are Harley will top 17,000. I haven't seen this many bikes around here in 15 years. Even my little country store, 1/4 mile away, has bikes lined all around it. It has a deli/grill, but wow off the beaten path.

The media of course is covering such an event first with a nice positive story then followed by "How Loud is Too Loud." Same crap you read in Daytona during Bike Week.

The tags are from all over the country and they're expected to spend $10,000,000 in one weekend.

My buddy is showing his shovel head American flag Easy Rider chopper tomorrow and will jump on any offer over $10,000. His back is too bad and he wants a DynaGlide. I've been helping him detail the old girl this week. Always had a soft touch for Easy Rider and will miss this bike if he sells it. There's always the chance he'll change his mind. He rides in most the parades etc. here but no joy riding.

Man Janitor are you missing it. If you ever wanted to know how popular your bike is, this is it. At least 2 out of 3 Harleys out there look like yours.

Man, this is fun as hell and I haven't done a thing yet!

Tj

Now that sounds like good humor!

Hmmm - "popular" / "common" - Take yer pick - yea - mine's that one. I'd say out of the 6-8 guys I ride with the most, all but about 2 of them look like mine. Or, like mine with even more doo-dah's on them. We Harly riders like doo-dah's and such.

"OOooh - Look! A shiny object!"

That sounds like a good time out there TJ. Though - navigating in such a large crowd (17k!!!) isn't really all that big a blast. Still though ... it could be good humor for a while.

Your friend's chopper sounds cool. From the description it sounds like an old school build? I love that stuff - hate like hell to ride them for all the obvious reasons, but I really like they way they look. The last time I sat on a chopper the guy who owns the HD shop next door walked by and said I looked like I was sitting on my sons bike. Good luck to him selling it - I hope he gets what he wants for it. I wouldn't think it would be that large a problem in a crowd like that. The right shovel build going to the right guy should hit $10K I'd imagine. With that many riders you'd think he'd stand a chance on finding that right guy.

Well - I hope you live far enough out on the periphery that you can get away from the whole thing if you like. I heard on the news once that those parties are kinda loud.

Went out tonight after it cooled some. It was really neat as at least 50% of the vehicles on US129 heading south from Knoxville were motorcycles. Heading home I guess.

Tomorrow they will be out here in my county. I have no Earthly idea how they plan to get that many people where they are having Kentucky Headhunters.

Yeah, you'd like the chopper. I can't remember the year but its a hardtail with long raked forks, ape bars, chrome everywhere, and an identical paint job to the movie.

My bet is he won't sell it. After a few dozen people drool over it, he'll give in and keep it.

BTW, Last couple of days if I ever buy an FLH, I'm buying white or red. I don't like the new gold. The black is awfully popular.

Tj

I'll bet you're right about your friend and his bike. One of my friends had his restored panhead out on the street down at Laughlin a couple years ago. He had intended to sell it, then when he saw the intense interest he appreciated it more. It sounds nice - I'd love to see a photo.

I like black, just because it's your basic "motorcycle" color - not too worried about keeping it pretty. If I were good at cleaning/polishing/never scratching it, etc - I'd shoot for white. Better yet - I'd have one painted creme color - very classic stuff. '60s I believe.

Red's good too. They issued a Fire Engine red dresser as a dedication bike a few years back. Very nice.

I don't care much for the gold either. Have you seen the 'Black Cherry'?

This post has been edited by Janitor: August 25th 2007 4:50 AM

Yep, I really like it especially how it kind of blends the logo but still makes it noticible. Its just different enough to make the bike stand out as little different.

I really like the mettalic blue on the Dyna and Softails not on the FLH of course.

Since 90% of my riding is twisty curvies, I prefer a mid-size bike. Due to my age and medical conditon (vibration cuts down on my riding time alot), that's pretty much why I ride a metric. The Sporsters and Dyna's are simply too much vibration and though I down right love the Softtails, the $10,000 cost delta was a major deterrant.

For that reason, if I ever buy Harley now, other than own one for short cruises and show, it will probably be a FLH.

First and foremost, I'm a rider not a brand enthusiast. Since June, I've put 3,000 miles on this bike. A little more vibration either lower or higher like an inline four and it would be probably half that many miles.

I'll call Ronnie tomorrow and if he didn't sell the old girl, pop by and take a pic while its all spruced up.

Tj

Well I just got back from the concert.

The crowd was way larger than anyone expected. One lane of 321 was blocked and nothing but motorcycles parked side by side and two or three deep for miles. We got there just before the burnout but the firemarshall had closed the entrance. Undeterred and knowing I most likely will know the cops at the gate, we decide to go ahead and walk to the gate. Man, what fine bikes. The walk was a blast. It was like a giant bike show.

Harleys everwhere but in their midst metrics with Vulcans the overwhelming majority of the metrics.

Just as we get to the gate, the burnout is over and a crowd is leaving. They open the gates up. I mean we did not have to wait a single minute.

We decide to cool off a little in the Harley shop. Just as I walk in the door, theres my buddy Ronnie wearing his old Harley patch badge vest beaming a wide grin. His bike, Easy Rider, had taken 2nd place in the ralley bike show. Hes not selling. I knew it. Anyway he shows us a short cut to the stage and there we were center stage just a few feet away.

The Kentucky Headhunters rocked the house. It was fantatic as everyone clapped, yelled, danced, and sang along.

Man what a great bunch of folks. Everyone talked to everyone. We met people from about every state and as far away as Oregon. Ah there was a smidgen of low lifes but only a smidgen. Although the beer flowed like water, I did not see blue lights or even one my LEOs with a dirty uniform as they mixed with the crowd as easy as anyone else.

Man I had a blast!

Tj

sounds like a good time!

Sounds to me like you've got the perfect bike for the area you live and the way you feel like riding. Trust me - I've got no problem with metric bikes. I've owned my share - just not many Japanese bikes.

This wouldn't be the perfect machine for me if I didn't rely on it to do such long days. I've done the sport touring thing on a BMW for 20 years. Rode mine 6K miles in just under 2 weeks once, so I think I gave it a fair shake. It rode like you describe yours, with the exception of it wasn't nearly as smooth as I imagine yours is. They're comfortable, but not enough for an old fart doing long days - I like my rolling barco lounger. But the Beemer kicked it's ass in the twisties. Badly.

I love how sociable a rally like that can be. It's not exclusive to HD - I think it's the touring crowd. I've been to lots of BMW & several Gold Wing rallys before (yea - they make me register as riding a "Brand X" bike ) Always huge fun, virtually never a problem.

hey janitor.... was this you??
(he asks...with a smile on his face)

No. But it should be.

Wonder if that thing will do highway speeds?