The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

A few things we should discuss that was brought up to my attention as a group prior to planning Warriorfest IV.

1) Location? Should we continue the Fest in The Smokey Mountains of North Carolina / Tennessee

or

2) Change States all together to change things up a bit ? and what State? Suggestions ? Thoughts ? Comments ? I have heard positive comments on West Virginia.

or

3) Move closer / deeper into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia / North Carolina ?

Prior to posting up a new topic covering Warrior Fest IV we need to take into consideration some changes to make the Fest another great success, but in the same breath we need to keep it interesting and exciting. New Roads led to New Adventures. Think about it for a few folks, research and type up your suggestions, thoughts and comments, area's of interest etc......

Arkansa was brought up as a trip next year or this year. I forgot the name of the area but quite a few were talking about it.. Lets try a city that sells Yager too...lol..

I say if it is not broke, let's not fix it.  I like the area of the current location of WarriorFest.

I would recommend having a tech/mod day(s) to teach us less learned riders how to maintain our beast.  Maybe some entertainment and a planned schedule of rides with noob to CruiseMissile paces.  The lack of scheduled rides is what I hear the most complaints about the last two years.

Where ever WFIV is held, we should consider getting a nurse with a x-ray machine next year.

Mr Noize II

Thats a tuff decision. I like the tradition that we have started....granted it's not Sturgis or Daytona bike week (and never will be)but those things started as small gatherings too. I'm not a big fan of change. The current location has great riding and scenery.

One thing to consider is keeping it sort of located so that the north and south don't have to travel tooo far. And we need a campground that is Warrior friendly with other ammenities nearby.  It's not easy finding the perfect location.

 Staying a couple miles from the campground  at a place that has great accomodations for about the same price as camping has made the fest even more enjoyable for me and the Mrs.

I've heard of good things in W.V. but I have no first hand knowledge. I do know that the N.C , TN. Va. border areas have great riding in every direction. Lots and lots of things to think about if we move it.

As long as Warrior Fest survives  and continues to offer great riding with great people and Dwight I'm in.

what dates are you getting together?

I would also say if It ain't broke don't fix it WF should prolly stay in that area.Would ya move Sturgis to Alaska and call it Sturgis? But all in all it's the qaulity of people that make it what it is!!!

This was my first time and it was great. However, it would be nice to be based somewhere that is not a dry county! That was a real surprise! Maybe somewhere closer to Asheville? There is a great stretch of road (Hwy 74A) southeast of Asheville that is as nice as the Dragon, exept that it has houses on it. But, I'm planning to be there wherever it is, and for the full week this time!

Can travel, have a bike & a home equity loan for gasoline purchases. Whatever you guys plan is fine for me.

 well...one thing is for sure....I WILL NOT STAY IN THAT CAMPGROUND EVER AGAIN....*** MO AND HER WHOLE FAMILY....THE *** NEEDS A LESSON IN CUSTOMER SERVICE.....now that thats done....i dont mind the area at all but there is definately more to see around there...WV is beautiful and centrally located where all the riding is...I'll do a little lookin around and see....The Ozark Mountains is where we were talking about there MIke....donw in Arkansas...i did a45 day stint down there with my Uncle Sam at JRTC and was HOTTTT.....an air cooled bike wouldnt fair so well there any time between may and september...like Africa Hot....at any rate...I'll be going where ever Mikes goin cause i dont have a bike right now and follow him like a lost dog...so these are mearly suggestions =)

Ed, One evening some of us were sitting around and discussing this very topic. I The cops and weekend crowds are making the Dragon a Parking lot on Fridays, Saturdays, and till late afternoon Sundays.  I am not going to speak for anyone but myself but I would love to see us hold our gathering  somewhere new.   New location but same great people in attendance.  If we can't get people to come then moving  away from the dragon is pointless.I remembered that Bill (DFW warrior) had posted that some of the best ridding that he had ever done was in the Ozark Mountains.  I looked into this some and indeed there are web sites that give info on the area.  Another idea that we discussed is joining our west coast brothers in Tahoe!   I also remembered that Hwy421 between Boone NC and some Tenn. city can't remember the name right now there is supposed to be great ridding.  It's called the Snake or striped snake supposed to be some 489 curves within a 12 mile radius of this Place called Shady Valley Tenn.    Google Shady Valley Country Store.  This webb site www.cruisetheozarks  . to get an idea of what each area has to offer.  I was talking to Randy about the area of Nc and Va where my mother lives Near Mouth of Wilson Va. He said that he had ridden in that area and it was very nice. In fact that area is covered or could be ridden out of the Shady Valley  Nc 421 Area.   Va and West Va must have some great riddin. Thanks for the Open Discussion on this Topic.

I've got to say, I've been to the Dragon 3 times since 2003 and I really do love the area.  Yeah, the cops and the crowds are a hassle on the weekends, but it is centrally located and most of us leave by the weekend anyway.  It seems to work well, as others have said, and we all know where it is and when it is.  That being said, I wouldn't be completely against changing venues.  As long as I can ride to it in a day, I should be there.  I would love to ride on the west coast someday, but I just don't have the vacation time to go that far.

 Maybe it should be somewhere in the S.E. Kentucky, E. Tenn, Southern Va or W Va, Western N Carolina areas(Mountains for sure). Asheville sounds good.  Maybe it should be moved each year to a new location.   Around the first of May or end of April.  Campground definantly needs to be a place we can get a little rowdy and still be welcomed back to.  The campground still needs to be close enough to motel accomodations for the non campers.

Deals Gap is a great place (legendary) but with all the LEO's on patrol, I think we need to take our toys and go play somewhere else that we are less noticeable.

Like Noize said.  Schedule some rides for every day kind of like this year.  I was looking forward to every ride and glad to wake up each day knowing where I was going and what time I had to be ready.  We could safely do this and still not appear to be a parade,  with 3 - 4 ride captains and smaller groups.  One group could go one way and two could go on the same ride  whatever.  Maybe have  each group consist of more equally skilled riders so I don't get in CruiseMissile's way.   

anyone thought about renting the WHOLE CROT hotel? and be right at the gap.  im up for whatever.  im with you crusty on the KSL, have not cared for mo much after the way she treated Tiny last year. and that "tip jar" thing cracks me up, esp last year (or before) when she sold the BBQ mikey brought, yet tried to charge mikey to eat it.. if it goes out of state, i'll be on the sprint with hard bags instead of the warrior though. im like a duck, feet in the mud and dont give a flock .  oh yeah, all the talk about the LEOs @ the gap, but JP was the only one with a "warning" ticket. the good thing about the gap, is you can find out if there is a cop there. beats blazing down a road in ashville or VA to get busted big time. just a thought.

Just a thought, if you have WF IV in Virginia, please start a bail fund.  Several of us will require assistance.  Virginia is not a great place/state for the type of riding that we have done at previous WarriorFest.  At least Tenn. troopers will allow you to come back; I doubt that VA will stop short of getting your finger prints and providing overnight accommodations

So where else can we rent a dragstrip for the day, cheap?

Where else can we get great photos of us riding through the twisties?

And with all the great roads in this area, we can always go away from the heavy patroled Dragon.

Well I have never been to Warrior Fest but here is my 2 cents anyhow....I do plan on attending next year

I think that keeping the WF in the Southeast area makes the most sense. I understand that it is meant to be a Rally for evryone but it is still a long journey for alot of us. It seems that the masses that attended were from the central/southern part of the coast. But there are the exceptions that make the long journey.

It seems that beeing at the Dragon has become part of the WF tradition. I think it should stay there.

Darkstar and some others have created a Northeast Warrior Rumble to start this summer in Vermont.( All are welcome to come join us.) Maybe this is what we need to do, have numerous rallies in different locations at different times of the year so people can decide where they want to go and when they want to go.