Maggie Valley NC, Kiwi Mike

Last nights stay at the Two Wheel Inn was way cool and since it’s with fellow motorcyclists there's instant camaraderie. They have 18 units plus 2 cabins however I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone but in the busy season you had better book ahead as Barry said it rapidly fills up.


1st off we have to gets Greg's shifter altered as it’s in the way of his leg when he rides. Barry the owner of the Two Wheel Inn made a call to his mate Dave who owns Automotive Boat and Repair in town. We roll in and he throws over a heat resistant blanket behind the shift lever, fires up the torch and here we go. Perfect.

10.30 Breakfast at Pa and Nanna's. Real cool joint with 5 little tables tightly squeezed together. Good cooking, great atmosphere too. Our waitress was a 7-8 year old little girl, presumably her grand daughter. Loved it.

The route changed a bit/a lot for the day as Greg got the low down from the locals on some highly suggested roads many others don’t know about.

1st stop was the Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee river. We were told it was the 2nd largest dam to the Hoover dam but the cool part about this dam is that you can walk to almost any part of it and enjoy it unlike most others out west that have so many security restrictions.

Todays riding was absolutely off the charts and in all honesty too much to comprehend or even begin to put it into words.

We attacked the Dragons Tail which was pretty cool. It’s something like 318 turns in 11 miles and it’s pretty full on. One of the bikers staying at the Inn showed us a car wreck the day before so we not only did we have to concern ourselves with crotch rocket motorcyclists but also idiot 4 wheelers. Greg was pretty beat up after it or maybe stressed out as he’s mostly a flat lander kinda guy from Minnesota. Me, well coming from New Zealand you have to be used to twisty, windy, hilly, mountainous and narrow roads. A lot of my riding was also on loose gravel roads which really spices up the ride. It’s an intense piece of road all the same and you have to be paying attention all the time. The 1945 handled it extremely well and it was doing it so well in fact that I did at least half of it with just 1 hand on the handlebar with the other one taking a video and taking pics. This bike is just so awesome and kicks butt in the twisties. I wish I knew how to upload the video for everyone to see. I was getting dizzy just looking at it on my laptop. I hope Greg covered where we went as it seemed like we were all over the place. We ended up by accident in a National Park loop on Cadez loop or something another. It wasn’t where we were to be and it became a 1 way 11 mile loop. People would stop and others would just pull out and do 1 mph. They had no concept of anyone else sharing the road. And if there was a motorhome, oh boy, they were king and owned the road. We found an escape route and ended up on a gravel road that ran though the creek bed and low and behold there was a bear cub on the middle of the road. So where there is a cub there is a mama bear and ya don’t want to get between her and her cub. We just sit tight if there is such a thing on a motorcycle (no protective cage like a car) and here comes mama bear with a few other cubs. Quite a sight to see indeed. We also saw a little deer and a wild turkey along the way. Still had to fight traffic to get out of there, stop/go, 1st gear, clutch in and out. We want out!!! It was about a 2 hour mess up but cool all the same.

All of the roads here are off the charts and there is no doubt I will be back for more. We must have done over 5000 curves today as there was not a straight piece of road anywhere to be found.

We finally got into Maggie Valley at 6pm and check into the Holiday Motel. Rob and Gabbi own the place and are 2 super nice folks. It’s a very cool place. Then we are off to Wheels Through Time Museum which Dale has done an amazing Job at assembling one fine collection of bikes and memorabilia over his career. What amazes me is his infinite knowledge of old stuff. You can find guys who specialize in certain bikes but he has so much knowledge all jammed into 1 guy. I know what it takes to assemble knowledge on bikes and mine is pretty narrow focused on Indians compared to his knowledge on everything early. Dale put on a nice hamburger and hot dog dinner for us all who were on Buzz Kanters American Iron sponsored Kickstart Classic ride. I caught up with many guys from all over the US, Kansas, NJ, Fl, MI and so on. And always colorful and in true form, Bert Baker of Baker Drivetrain. He is certified crazy.

Mon nights dinner still has some carry over residual effects. All I ate for dinner was vegetables as in turnip greens, green beans and pinto beans. Everything was so good that I went back for 2nds and more on the pinto beans. The down side is Greg wakes up to me playing musical tunes and I’ve mastered some fine ones at that. He knows when I’m awake. It’s a skill I have mastered over a lifetime.

Tomorrow there are no Waffle Houses (Awful House) on the route so I get another free pass.