Tail of the Dragon at the Smoky Mountain Mansion
March 22-24 and March 29-April 2, 2002
click on picture for larger image

Aprilias at the Mansion
photo by Scott Odell

photo by Scott Odell

Mansion digs
photo by Scott Odell

Mille at the Mansion
photo by Scott Odell

CapoNord on the Cherohala
photo by Scott Odell
A few months ago we were approached by Peter Covert to create a website for his new exclusive rental property the "Smoky Mountain Mansion." Little did we know where this would lead us. The more we got to know Peter, the more he became intrigued with motorcycles and attracting motorcyclists to the Mansion and to the area. He came to us with the idea of inviting editors and writers from various motorcycle related media to a free weekend at the Mansion. At first we had our doubts about such a venture, but after a few weeks Peter informed us that he had an overwhelming response. With two weekends in late March booked, we were ready to roll. The invitees included tour operators, magazine writers, freelance writers, photographers, and even some Miata enthusiasts.

The first weekend we met Mandy a freelance writer from Atlanta, Peter Spoto of Street Eagle, Bill from Mountain Thunder Tours in WV, Paul who was opening a new Harley rental business in Atlanta, and Rich who was representing Miata Magazine.

The second weekend included writer Neale Bayley and photographer Scott Odell from motorcyclejournal.net, Frank from Blueridge Moto Ventures, Judy from Boss Hoss Country, Don from Motorcycle Consumer News, and Leonard from Trail Rider.

The guests enjoyed the many luxuries of the seven-bedroom Mansion. We had buffet dinners and cocktail parties. We had use of the pool table, Dragon videos, bathrooms with Jacuzzis, an outdoor hot-tub, and even a stretch limousine.

The entire crew was treated to a great weekend in Graham County. We toured the Cherohala Skyway, the Fontana area, the Nantahala Gorge (whitewater rafting), and of course the Dragon. We were treated to lunch at Papa's Pizza in Robbinsville, which even features special motorcycle parking with metal kickstand plates. The Tapoco Lodge hosted a steak dinner on Saturday night.

On the second weekend we had the priviledge of 4 demo bikes from Aprilia USA. We had the use of a 2002 Mille, Falco, Futura, and Capo Nord for 4 days. Neale Bayley and Scott Odell took advantage of the Aprilia demo as a great photo opportunity and subject for some upcoming articles.

After the guests departed on Monday, we took the Mille and Falco to the Dragon for an entire day - it was a rough job, but somebody had to do it!! After a couple of tentative runs, we became familiar with the bikes and turned it up a notch, or two. After 12 runs on the Dragon, we had become accustomed to these incredible machines.

APRILIAS ON THE DRAGON

The following are our personal comments on each of these motorcycles. Please remember that although we log some ten thousand miles on our motorcycles each year, we're not technical experts. We are just presenting our humble opinion on these awesome machines.

Mille: This is one smooth ride with plenty of power and absolutely superb handling in the corners (it seemed to know the line and took us along for the ride). The engine breaking was much smoother than other v-twins we have ridden and enabled us to make a complete run without using our brakes, except to scrub off a couple mph in the tighter curves. You could run the entire Dragon in first gear, but we found second to be a more comfortable ride. It did take some getting used to the engine sound, a low rumble compared to our whisper quiet FZ1's. The radical seating position was a bit uncomfortable but for short rides, but it really wasn't that bad - we wouldn't want to do a 300 mile day on one of these. Ron really thought this was "The ultimate Dragon Bike." but it seemed a little too big for Nancy. We really liked the design and the excellent quality of the bike. The LCD dashboard was hard to understand, but something we could live with. In fact we could live with two Mille's very easily.

Falco: This is also a v-twin 1000cc bike and kind of a "Mille Lite". This bike also performed well on the Dragon, but lacked the smoothness and the power of the Mille. Ron found it less comfortable than the Mille. Nancy really liked this bike and spent most of the weekend riding it. It was a fun bike to ride, easy to handle, lots of spirit, and it loved the twisties. The bike wasn't as heavy as Nancy's FZ1 and it was a relief not to be worried about "where am I going to stop and can I hold this thing up" for a change. You just might see Nancy with a Falco some day, in fact she would like two Falcos please.

CapoNord: This is a huge bike !! At first Nancy was intimidated by the size of the Capo Nord, but it proved to be easy for her to handle both on the road and in close quarters at low speed (turning around on the Dragon). There was some difficulty maneuvering the bike at a stop (the weight of the bike plus seat height). As long as she kept the bike moving and kept her feet on the pegs, it was easy to make tight turns and maneuver around obstacles at very low speed. On the road the bike was extremely comfortable. Perfect for 500-mile days. It was very responsive in acceleration and down shifting. Braking was adequate, but the rear brake could have been better. We felt in control, even on wet roads and gravel.

The wide handlebars were comfortable, which surprised us because they looked extremely wide compared to other bikes. The mirrors were the best we've ever seen on a bike. They allowed a steady, distortion free, full rear view (helped by the wide handle bars). The bike handled extremely well in the twisties. Nancy even managed to scrape the pegs a few times on the Dragon. The LCD dashboard was high tech and somewhat confusing... we never did figure out how the gas gauge worked... but this was a European model. It was a bit scary looking down and seeing your doing 120, but then realizing it's KPH. The luggage offered enough room for a cross-country tour but made the bike look bulky and detracted from its overall appearance. We'll take two Capo Nord's.

Futura: We were not impressed with the Futura, but this might have been a mechanical or computer chip issue. It didn't want to corner and once in a corner it didn't want to come out. The engine didn't seem balanced with the suspension. The bike was OK on the highway back to Atlanta, but didn't perform well on the twisties. We'll pass on the Futuras.

The Smoky Mountain Mansion is a very special place for a large group. Bring your gang for the ultimate motorcycle vacation.

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photo by Scott Odell
This is as far as photographer Scott Odell got on the Mille.

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