As indicated in the previous post, it was a strong and good ride to Maggie Valley.  Hot yes, but enjoyable.  Encounted some good high speed sweepers.  Love the cruise control.  Just overall a great ride. 

​Unfortunately I did not take into consideration the dates of travel - July 4th weekend.  Lodging was not a problem, traffic was not a problem; but I was under orders to be home not later then the 3rd!  

Yes dear!

Maggie Valley and the riding in the area is wonderful.  If you are into the twisties continue through town and pop up and over the mountain to Cherokee. Be advised this is somewhat trecherous and often there are acciedents.  Still a fun ride.  Below is a video of the Chambers site.  You can see lots of activities in the area no matter the season.

I awoke to off and on light rain and theatening skies.   It was time for breakfast anyway.  Perhaps it would let up.  Right across the street from JOHNATHAN CREEK INN is a great palce for breakfast with a wonderful menu.

JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE as you can see has been the place to go since 1966.  Now under new owners, Roy and Sandra Milling, it still maintains the excellent reputation.  Better get there early because it is only open for breakfast closing at noon.  Additionally there can be a wait line - it is that good!

  
At the left is the TUSCAN OMELETTE, Italian Sausage, Chesse, Mushrooms, Red and Green Peppers and their special Hashbrowns - Chesse and Onion. That and a good cup of coffee I was ready to take on The Blue Ridge Parkway.

THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, billed as "Americas favoriate highway."   Certainly one  of the best and gets the ribbon for the longest at 468 miles;  but don't pass up Highway One from San Simion to Carmel, CA,  The Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton, Colorado, or Going To The Sun at Glacier NP.
Oh, but if you have the time to drive another "must do" is the ALCAN HIGHWAY.  If you d this I would recommend drive it one direction and take the ALASKAN INSIDE PASSAGE the other.

But back to this ride.  I have done Northern part of The Blue Ridge and was looking forward to this section; however the weather was not to coopororate.  Most of the ride was in  light rain or low clouds.  Still a great ride.

Nice thing about the overcast is it was a comfortable day with temperatue in the seventies.  Nice relaxing ride.  You are pressed to find a straight section more then a few hunered yards long; mostly nice sweapers.  A great motorcycle road!  Heed the warning about "gas Stations"  because you will not find any on the "Parkway"  Top off at the start and be aware were you can find a town closeby.

Although there were breaks in the cloud cover, most of the ride was in the overcast.  Find the beauty
​close up. 

                  

They had me on the road by 10 AM and off I went for a full day on the road.  Got home at 8PM.

So, as of this writting all the problems with Indian and Hannigan have been addressed.  Both have
stepped up and are, or will shortly fix the issues.  My love for the rig is slowing returning

It was a mid morning departure June 28, 2018 for the flight to Lexington and drive to HANNIGAN MOTORSPORTS in Murry, Kentucky.  It had been a month since it was shipped from Texas.  Really had not seen the Indian other then the brief moment I saw it at the dealership.  Looked at the BMW R1200GS and saw the Indian as well.  Retuned home and called the dealer buying the Indian.  Never have even ridden an
Indian.  Always been a BMW rider.  I guess in honor of my father, who rode Indians back in the 1920's; thought I'd give one a try.

.Arrived late morning at the HANNIGAN shop.  Was told  that a mishap had occured and a tool was dropped on the fender requiring to be repainted.  Well as they say "Stuff happens."  They were kind enough to put me up for the night in a hotel.  

Wasn't to bad at speed.  The wind keep it resonably "comfortable".  I headed out to the Kentucky "outback" and take the scenic roads to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

There was no BANG  or  BOOM  -  NOTHING!  In the middle of the road the bike just stopped! Dead!
Guess you can say it was a monumental WTF moment.    Wouldn't start.  

I pushed it to the side of the road.  At about 8:00 in the morning it was already HOT the HUMIDITY
stiffling!   It was to get worse.   After trying to assess the problem to no avail.  I called Indian Roadside Assistance.  The cell phone connection was sketchy; but was able to make contact.   Was told they would try to find a tow truck; had to be a roll off since it was a sidecar rig.

There are good people in the world.  Just so happened a lady that lived in the area was driving by and was kind to stop when I flagged her.  At this point I was already feeling the effects of the heat.  Indeed
the beginning stage of Heat Exhautstion was setting in.  She turned around and went back to her home
and within several minutes returned with chilled bottles of water and let me sit in her car - air conditioning!  I honestly think if it was not for her, I may have had a medical issue due to the exposure to the heat and the humidity.  Thank you Deb for your kindness!

  
I waited for "Indian Roadside Assistance"  to get back to me and found out through my own searching for a tow truck that a company named S&S Towing had indeed been contacted BUT Indian was shopping his rate!   Leaving me to sweat in the heat!  I told S&S that I'd pay for the tow.  POLARIS/INDIAN a four billion dollar company and they are shopping to save a couple of bucks!  Really?!   Hey Polaris  - I could have died out there!  Five long hours later the tow truck arrived and $350.00 later was dropped at JPM PERORMANCE POWERSPORTS in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  I had called these folks with updated arrival time and they assured me they would stay open to fix the problem.  What a great company!  Thank you!

Unbelievable the problem that left me stranded in the heat and humidity was due to a known problem
and yet Indian did nothing to elert the owners/dealers of the issue.  The part was the Volt Regulator.
As of this writing POLARIS INDIAN has yet to assume responsibility!   They are passing the buck to Hannigan.  This inexcusable!  The FAILURE IS AN INDIAN ISSUE!  If they don't step up and do what is right, well guess will have to litigate.

The honorable company is HANNIGAN.  In a conversation with Dave Haningan he has taken complete responsibility for the damages suffered while in their shop.  It is unfortunate that there were issues, but they are making it right.   Life (ride) goes on.

I was so tired and worn out, only got down the road about eight miles from JPM.  Checked into a hotel around 6PM.  Took a cold shower and crashed.  To beat the heat of the next day, left at 2:38  AM CST.

The drive to my jump off point for the Blue Ridge Parkway was Maggie Valley.  Bike ran strong and it was a great ride.  Got in  late afternoon found a great eatery and motel.   More on this and the Blue Ridge Parkway in the next post. 

Most of us started out on three wheels.  In motorcyclcing three wheels are best; well in many ways:
1.  In snow country you can ride all year.
2.  If out adventure riding, you can carry so much gear you will think you drove the pick up
3.  You won't drop it
4.  You will never have to pick it up if it did fall over, and we all have dropped our bikes.
5.  Hot days you can ride in shorts -  I mean, not like you will fall over!

So there I was on a business trip to Houston, Texas and stopped by a BMW INDIAN motorcycle dealership.  Have been riding BMW's for forty-two years.  Was looking to replace my 2005 BMW R1200GS.  Yikes, I have either shrunk or the seat height has gotten taller becausse it was difficult to swing my leg over or to get "flat footed" while on the bike.

Wondered around the dealership and saw this beauty above.  Darn, it was pretty.  Brand new 2017 Indian Vintage Chief and priced to sell.  I bought it!  

Since I love sidecars, had it shipped to HANNIGAN MOTORSPORTS  to have one of their classic sidecars built and painted to match.

Above left, is my first sidecar rig, 1966 BMW R60/2 with a Ural sidecar.  Right, my 2005 BMW R1200GS and a custom built sidecar by Claude Stanley at FREEDOM SIDECARS.  
​

As to the build, experiened some issues. Hopefully both INDIAN and HANNIGAN  will step up and make it right.  More on the problems later.  The next post will speak to the issues and how they were resolved.