Heading south to Deals Gap - Tail of the Dragon

[pdksh]

My Uly is working so good, thanks to your endless support, its time to use her for what she's made for!

This may or may not be the correct forum to post on but I'm looking for suggestions, especially from Ulysses riders. Im heading from Toronto Canada (Kingston) to Deals Gap and I will be heading south from the Syracuse, NY area. I plan on crossing over to the USA at Alexandra Bay and going straight south. I'm looking for scenic recommendations and must see roads!

I'd rather not cook down a Highway toll rout for 16 hours, again I don't need to take 2 months on 30MPH dirt roads. I ride a XB12XT so I prefer pavement. Twisty mountain roads that are challenging for an experienced rider. I would like to take 3 days to ride south, approximately 10 to 12 hours a day, between 500 and 600 miles a day.

Let me know your must ride before you die roads and hopefully I can explore all of them!

Thanks!

 

[njloco]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_301

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/733/New-York/Mohawk-Towpath-Scenic-Byway.html#sthash.pltwuUyn.dpbs

visitadirondacks.com

I could do this all day or, you could just Google it. There are tons of good biker roads between you and your destination many that will keep you close to your travel direction. You don't say when you'll be going but if I were you, I would wait until the leaves start to change color, just a suggestion..

 

[pdksh]

September 8 to September 21, at least that’s when my holidays are booked

Thank You

 

[GregoXB]

I just got back from Nova Scotia. About 2600 miles round trip. If I may make a suggestion to you, don't do that many miles and that many hours per day. It becomes a real chore and you won't have anytime to enjoy yourself. We kept it to about 8 hours and ~300 miles per day and that was PLENTY.

 

[tleighbell]

Here is a list of links I put together for the navigators in my group. We are going down to Virginia September 16-23 from various points in Ontario.

https://www.motorcyclenerd.com/post/travel-5-unmissable-motorcycle-routes-in-virginia

https://ridermagazine.com/2014/04/01/motorcycle-touring-in-west-virginia-and-a-bit-of-virginia/

http://www.openroadjourney.com/rides-and-roads/virginia

https://blog.virginia.org/2016/10/11-virginias-scenic-motorcycle-drives-fall

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/Routes/Virginia_122.html

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...-rides-in-united-states-/virginia-_-6164.html

https://www.appalachianbackroads.com/

https://www.motowhere.com/rides/in/Virginia,United+States

https://www.joyneslaw.com/top-five-scenic-motorcycle-rides-in-virginia

This should get you started. I think the second article has a lot of credibility: author rides a Uly. Some of these sites provide downloadable/printable maps.

 

[Outlaw]

After you do the dragon hit the skyway. It's right there. You will love it.

 

[richf62]

Hi GregoXB , I'm leaving for Nova Scotia tomorrow. Do you have any tips for me. How were the roads? Speed limits enforced? Is 5-10 km over posted ok? Thanks

 

[user_deleted]

i know he had a wonderful trip. i rode NS last july. my thoughts and answers:
roads were wonderful. minor road work on cabot trail.
5-10 over no problem at all.
never saw one single speed check/trap the entire ride thru NS.
canucks wonderful people and extremely friendly. they love riders.
take passport/drivers license/financial liability card for your bike.
customs guys at Halifax port-o-call are pricks and randomly tear a bike apart to check for dope.
don't make the mistake i did and have a piece on you. you'll have to break it down, leave it, and pick it up when you exit NS.
fuel up and take a break in port hawkesbury before crossing over the bridge into cape breton/scottish highlands. cool little town and fuel a bit cheaper there.
debates rage on as to which direction is the best to ride the Cabot Trail. i always prefer counter-clockwise and have done it 4X now. but that's just me.
prepare yourself for rapid and dramatic temperature changes along the way. challenging but i loved it.
IRVING fuel stations had the best $ exchange rate that i found.

 

[njloco]

Never leave home without your piece ! Just kidding.
Generally, the cops usually will give 10 over the speed limit but not necessarily in construction areas, as long as your going about the same speed as traffic or slightly more you should be fine.

 

[GregoXB]

Hi GregoXB , I'm leaving for Nova Scotia tomorrow. Do you have any tips for me. How were the roads? Speed limits enforced? Is 5-10 km over posted ok? Thanks

There were nine points of large scale construction on the best parts of Cabot Trail last month. Give them a call and ask them where they are at with that. If you can, go at a time when the construction is done or almost complete.
I did not see a single cop in NS, we might have been lucky though. Mostly 80km-100km posted speed limits, but we were doing 80mph :stupid:

 

[richf62]

Thanks to everyone for the reply's!!

 

[Outlaw]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who carries while traveling.

 

[njloco]

If you have any problems while going through lower NY and all through NJ, post up here and I'll do my best to help you out.

 

[richf62]

Hey njloco I'm in north NJ , Bloomfield. Just got back from Nova Scotia. I made a stop at the Wharf Rat Rally lots of bikes but I only saw 1 Buell

 

[njloco]

Sounds like you had fun, I'm in Old Bridge, a few of us talked about going to Nova Scotia this season but it never seemed to work out.

 

[pdksh]

Wow, someone should have mentioned the Skyway Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway! I’m in NC getting a new rear tire, just smoked my tire off!

 

[djs2k2]

Will this be your first time on the dragon?

 

[njloco]

Brother Bueller, GET OUT of there ASAP, Florence is going to screw up everything down there. I would head west or Northwest. The weather here in N.J. usually goes from West to East, right now it's going from East to West !

It was mentioned .

 

[njloco]

I

 

[submax]

Always wanted to ride the Tail of the Dragon. On my bucket list of rides!