On a Wing and a Prayer...

Well, it finally happened. After months of planning and researching I finally pulled the trigger and purchased a new bike. I'm now the proud poppa of a 2007 Honda GL1800, a.k.a. a Goldwing. What? You don't think I'm old enough for a 'Wing? Ha! I'm not so sure I'm young enough for it.

After picking her up from the dealer I took a 60 miles run into the countryside as a shakedown trip. Nothing fell off and I didn't run her into a ditch so I thought she'd be fine for a Saturday first ride.

Saturday's Plan...

I left home after waiting for the morning sun to burn off an overcast sky. Rolling on the throttle, a quick trip up Interstate 575 to Tate, GA, led me to the first of the day's twisties. ("1" on map above). My route took me from Tate, which once had a premiere marble quarry, east to Amicalola Falls, which claims to have the tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississippi. (See "2" on above map).


A chilly morning yeilded to a warm afternoon of riding.

From Amicalola I knew I'd be heading towards either Dahlonega or Helen, GA, but since I hadn't ridden this road in some time I wasn't really sure where I'd stop.

A half hour later I saw the Dahlonega city limits sign and stopped for a break at Charlie's Grocery, a nice Gas Station/Seafood/Butcher Shop. Odd combination, huh? The restaurant next door, Cafe 9, looked interesting enough for a future breakfast or lunch stop but I think I'll buy my meats and seafood closer to home. (See "3" on above map).

After leaving Charlie's I headed north pass the stone pile ("4" on above map) towards Woody Gap. Leaving the stone pile I got a quick reminder to check my speed. A truck ahead of me was entering a right hand turn as a sportbike was exiting, heading towards us. The bike rider was exiting the curve too hot and crossed a foot into our lane. No wonder folks complain about bikers in the mountains.

Never assume a road sign will be visible. High winds
and vandals can make warnings meaningless.

Nearing Woody's gap I got another reminder of the dangers of mountain travel. This area was recently burned in a forest fire and though it was a likely a controlled burn by the U.S. Forest Service the ground cover is gone and a hard rain will likely deposit mud on the road. While a nuisance on the straight sections a mud slide end a good day of riding if it occurs in a curve.

Stopped for a quick pic.

I've been asked before about my strategy for mixing motorcycles and photography. It's really quiet simple; you stop a lot and run around with a helmet on taking a bunch of pictures. The stops are often in dangerous locations and it gets hot as hell running around wearing a helmet in the middle of the summer. However, the pics are worth the trouble to me so I don't mind it too much.

The Goldwing's trunk is large enough to allow easy access to a dedicated camera bag.

A creekside stop in the mountains.

After passing over Woody Gap and through Suches, GA, I found my way to Cooper's Creek Store. (See "5" on the map above). A biker friendly establishment, Cooper's Creek is run by Calvin (call him "Cal" and you'll have a friend for life) and his wife, both avid riders. I chatted with Cal for a while after my picture taking caught his curiosity. That's his Honda ST1300 next to my bike in the picture above.

From cruisers to sport bikes, there were quite a few bikes on the road today and Cooper's Creek Store is a good place to see them all.

The right side of the store is home to Cal's sandwhich shop, Fat Boyz. Cal invited me back this spring for BBQ and I intend to take him up on it!

Until then I'll just have a big bag of...

Leaving Cooper's Creek Store I decided to test out the new GPS Navigation System aboard the 'Wing. Garmin manufactured the unit but Honda America required many of Garmin's best features be locked out from the units. Consequently most controls cannot be access while the bike is in motion and users are not able to route their trips on a computer and then update the bike's GPS.

My next destination was a Trike Shop owned by friends of a friend and is located in Jasper, GA. ("6" on map above). I've previously researched the roads south of Cooper's Creek and hadn't seen anything that appeared to be paved. However, I thought I'd give the Nav System a try. With a route programmed to Jasper I lifted my sidestand and turned south.

Did I mention I thought most of the roads between Cooper's and Jasper were gravel?



I was right.

At least I got some good gravel road riding experience. Keeping my speed between 15 and 20 miles per hour on a steady throttle and adding a little rear brake allowed a quick passage for a mile or two but I decided to turn around when there was no sign of pavement ahead.

Back on the hardtop I quickly made my way to Jasper while giving the engine a chance to breath on the super slab. Arriving shortly before closing time, I was happy to see the Trike Shop also carries Goldwing accessories and I had my eyes on some highway pegs that will be helpful for an upcoming road trip.

After loading up the pegs (and a single piece of vanity chrome I picked out months ago) I made my way home. It was a great first day on the bike and the first of many more planned...and unplanned. The beautiful thing about the 'Wing is she has enough cargo space to toss in some sundrys and hit the road.