Smokey Mountain Road Trip

[thisisbenji]

I recently took a vacation down to the Smokey Mountains and figured I would get some riding in. Rather than tow my beloved 2009 FZ6 I set about figuring out what I could rent.

After a very brief period of research I settled on this 2012 Triumph Street Triple R from Sportbikes4Hire. I picked it up from their location right of US129 in Tennessee where I immediately made my way to the Tail of the Dragon to see what the fuss is about.

While the Tail was amazing, I can honestly say I preferred the surrounding roads a bit more. The Cherohala Skyway was especially fun to ride, corners were not as tight, but the views were much better.

I put close to 150 miles on the bike, but honestly, the mileage doesn’t do the ride justice.

There's so much I could write, but I'll just let the photos do the talking.

Needless to say, I’ve spent the last couple weeks searching for a used STR to add to my garage.

 

[Ohendo]

Great pics!
A buddy (and fellow forum member) and I did that area two years ago [MENTION]lgtmgr[/MENTION].
We were lucky that traffic on the Tail was extremely light, ran it a few times and it was superb. Also took an amazing tour through the Smokies.
Like you, my favorite was the Cherohala Skyway. Breathtaking views with wide, banked sweepers that seem like they were built for bikes.

Thanks for posting!

 

[thisisbenji]

I actually got pretty lucky with the traffic as well, we went through around 10 am on a Tuesday. I was surprised that I didn't really get held up by cars at all. I actually have a few photos from the Skyway overlooks as well, maybe I'll post those a bit later.

 

[thisisbenji]

So I did a thing today...

 

[Eagletalon]

They run like a scolded dog! That 3 cylinder engine is top of the class

Later
Jon

 

[raja777m]

So I did a thing today...

So, you rode a 1050 and got a 675? Congrats on the new wheels
Glad you liked the TOD, and yes, the surrounding roads are much better than TOD.