In June 2025 I drove a nice loop through Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee for 14 days. The main purpose was to get to the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America (BMWMOA) National Rally in Lebanon, Tennessee. I pretty much drove straight down, but took my time coming back, including a visit with my one brother and his wife.
I left 2 days before the rally, which would give me plenty of time to get down there. However, it was pretty much just driving all day. The day I left was threatening thunderstorms. I wanted to leave mid-day so I could avoid most of the city traffic. That worked out pretty well, and surprisingly there was no rain for me the first day to get to Indianapolis, Indiana. But, the trip is just starting....
The next day, I was going to be driving to the hotel near the rally. Again, a day where I was really just going to drive to get down there. Unfortunately, it started raining shortly after I left the hotel in Indianapolis and continued until the Tennessee border. But, at the border there was a delightful batch of sunshine. It was warm and sunny, and I stopped at a Buc-ee's truck stop for lunch. If you aren't aware of what a Buc-ee's is, it is a giant travel center that has everything for travelers. I wandered around there for a while after I finished my lunch, and by then the roads were dry. Fortunately, this gave me the opportunity to get off the Interstate and take some nice 2 lane back roads to the rally hotel in Lebanon, Tennessee. Unfortunately for those camping at the rally, it rained really hard that night. I was nice and dry in my hotel and I was even able to park the motorcycle under a canopy, nice.
At last, I arrived at the rally. For most of the rally weekend the weather held up during the day. But, there were a couple nights of rain, luckily I was always back to my hotel before any rain. Almost. There was one afternoon where there was a heavy but short downpour. I thought I was fine. That was until I got back to my bike. I found out my helmet had tipped over and the inside of my whole helmet was soaked. Well, it's only water...
But enough about the weather. The BMWMOA National Rally is really a massive event. BMW motorcycles from all over come together for this weekend. They have antique and vintage bikes on display, they have seminars, they have food, they have vendors, and they have a lot of nice people. There are always over 5,000 people that attend and almost as many BMW and other brand motorcycles. I attended several seminars about travel, restoration, Airhead Q&A, and new products. I really spend most of my time walking the grounds and looking at the bikes and talking to the people. I even met several people from the Chicago area that I know. I also met up with my bike's previous owner. He now lives not too far away from where the rally was being held. He recently bought a monoshock Airhead because he missed the bike I bought from him (also a monoshock). This year, the BMW Airhead club had a really nice and air-conditioned log cabin on the fairgrounds to make base in. Periodically throughout the day I would stop in, grab some lemonade, cool off, meet up with people, and see what work was being done on any Airheads that were there.
Before the rally, I had contacted the Nashville BMW dealer that was going to be one of the vendors there. They were going to be installing tires and I thought it might be a good idea to get a new set of tires while I was there. Long story short - what should have been an hour or so of work turned into hours. Since my bike is older, they didn't have the expertise to replace the tires efficiently. For the front tire, they removed a lot more components from the bike than they needed to. I was concerned this might impact my front-end fork alignment. I was right. I now have a front-end hop at about 40 miles per hour; this will require me to take it apart and undo what was done to the fork alignment. When he installed the rear tire, I specifically asked him if he torqued it to 77-foot pounds. He assured me he did. He didn't. Within 300 miles, while driving on some nice twisty back roads, I felt a wobble and thought I had a flat tire. When I looked, my 4 rear wheel lug nuts were all loose and my rear wheel was wobbling. Fortunately, this was an easy fix and I tightened them on the side of the road (eventually I was able to torque them myself once I got a torque wrench). Fortunately, I was not driving very fast on those twisty roads. You also have an instinct when something just doesn't feel right. At home I have everything I need to remove, install, and balance new tires, so I guess that is my lesson learned to install my own tires on my bike.
After the rally, I drove all back roads east to the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park area for a few days in Tennessee. I was in this area back in 2019 and 2021 when I went to a couple other BMW motorcycle rallies. But, there's a reason there are rallies in this area, nice roads and beautiful scenery. Gatlinburg is nice, but it is very touristy. In Pigeon Forge, I enjoyed a couple shows while I was there ('Dolly Parton's Stampede' dinner show and the 'Comedy Barn Theater' show). Both shows were very entertaining, worth the time and money, with the Stampede dinner being very good.
Before going to my brother and his wife's house for a few days, I made a couple more stops. I inadvertently ran into the Bush's beans factory and museum in Chestnut Hills, Tennessee. I had no idea it was there. I was amazed to find out they cook the beans inside the tin cans they sell them in. Another unexpected surprise was to see a sign about the home of Andrew Johnson in Greeneville, Tennessee. Although not born here, this is where he called home and eventually became the 17th President of The United States.
I spent several days visiting with one of my brother's and his wife in their new home in Kingsport, Tennessee. This was the first time I had been down there. He showed me around the area and went to the downtown area to see the old Kingsport. Everything is a short drive away and there's not many traffic lights in the area. I helped him get his garage shop in order and he cooked some great meat in his smoker. They have an incredible house and yard, and he even enjoys cutting the grass on his new riding lawn mower. They have great views of the surrounding mountains from their front and back porches.
When I left my one brother and his wife's house, I ended up driving through the east corner of Virginia. This part of the state is very scenic and I stayed on back roads. I made a lunch stop in the small town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia since you have to stop just because the name is so cool. I eventually spent the night in downtown Lexington, Kentucky and walked around the historic center. I saw the Mary Todd Lincoln house where she was born and raised, eventually she was the 16th First Lady.
Leaving Lexington, Kentucky the landscape flattened out and it turned into horse ranch country. I stopped in Maysville, Kentucky which is the town Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002) was born and raised. There is a short street named after her that goes down toward the Ohio River near the train station, and she is buried in the St. Patrick's Cemetery in town. Not far from Maysville and still along the Ohio River is the small town of Augusta, Kentucky. This is where she lived the remainder of her life. She had a nice house on the Ohio River that is now a museum with many items from her career and life. Many of her family still lives in the area or have homes there. When I entered her home, the guide was just finishing up with a couple people, so I had a private tour of her home. They have a number of outfits from many of her movies, with an entire room devoted to the 1954 classic 'White Christmas'. It was amazing to see these items in person.
I thought it best to not drive home during the Sunday night rush, so I drove and stopped about 180 miles from home. Then on Monday morning I drove home the rest of the way during the mid-day. I was surprised it was pretty good traffic all the way home, almost. I ran into about a 15-minute backup on the tollway because we were down to 2 lanes of traffic. When I got to the source of the backup, I saw about 30 cars on the side of the road, most of them with flat tires. I found out when I got home that the road had buckled and took out all those vehicles. I figured it was better to have been stuck in the traffic than to have hit that road buckle.
So, except for almost losing my rear wheel and the hop in the front wheel, not to mention some rain, the trip was really nice. The total mileage for this trip was 1,606 miles (1,941 kilometres).
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