Opening Day(@ Deal's Gap) or 1100 or so miles on a 34 year old Honda
Me & my old buddy Dave from MI were running the Dragon on Monday when it finally re-opened. The CB400F was amazing. All 255 lbs. of me, 50 or so lbs. of luggage and it still made it there & back with little to no complaining. Believe it or not, blasting across the Cherohala I had a hard time distinguishing its handling and stability from a modern sportbike.
The Dragon is open from 8AM to 8PM everyday now. You can only get to it from the south. Monday it was pretty dead. Even though TN has handed emergency care over to NC, the TN State patrol had two cars working their portion of the Gap when we were there. Great time to go IMHO. No thru traffic is really nice.
Cincinnati to Tellico Plains, TN - across the Cherohala Skyway over to Deal's Gap, back across the Cherohala to Tellico Plains. On to Mammoth Cave, KY, then on to Rabbit Hash, KY & home to Cincinnati - 1100 miles.
Pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/casanewt1100/GapTripOpeningDayApril2010#