My Lamont's BBQ and MV Owner's Event 2011 Experience

[SpyderWolf]

Wednesday night, June 15, I was posting on the forum when severe thunderstorms rolled through. I went to bed hoping they would pass before I woke up to head towards TN. When I awoke at 4 AM, it was still raining, but didn't seem to be that bad. I got cleaned up, packed my gear on, and in, the Spyder, and headed down the road at 5:50 AM. It had actually stopped raining about 5 minutes before I left the house, so the roads were wet but it was nice and cool which was a refreshing change.

I made it to Hendersonville, NC, to meet up with Schultzi about 9:40 AM. I was wiping some of the road grime off my Spyder when he pulled in. We ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, and then set off for Lamont's. We had to pull over a couple of times. His IPhone lost signal so he switched to a different GPS. Then we turned right onto 321 and the GPS said we were not on a road, so he pulled out his IPad. We rolled into Lamont's right about 1:00 PM.

This is what the front yard looked like after we parked our Spyders:









We then made our way up to the house to mingle with old friends, and to meet a lot of new ones. The turnout was great and I really enjoyed seeing so many of you again, and meeting many more for the first time. Then it was time for the BBQ to be served.

There were 2 serving lines, and people got busy making their sandwiches and finding a place to eat:









Later in the day the yard was filled with even more Spyders:



I did a lot of walking and talking to various people at the event, and checked out a lot of the Spyders as well. It was good to see Mr. Orange there, and I had to take pictures of JOESPY's Spyder to show my wife.

This is Joe's Spyder, which ended up winning the Best Overall Customization Contest later on:









After the door prize drawings I met 2 sisters, Anita and Gina, who got lost on the way to Lamont's. They were looking for someone to follow to Maggie Valley, and it turned out they were staying at the same hotel we were. So, our little party grew from 2 to 4 Spyders on the ryde to the Ramada Limited in Maggie Valley.

After getting settled into the hotel, Schultzi and I went to eat at the Moonshine Grill where we ran into WackyDan and Musicarcade. The food was good there as well, and the company was even better.

It was a long day, but a good one at the same time.

[SpyderWolf]

Friday morning we woke up and headed to breakfast at Joey's Pancake House. I make it a point to eat breakfast there at least 1 morning on every trip to Maggie Valley. We then headed back to the hotel so Schultzi could install one of his new exhausts on SpyderDuck's RS.

This was the Ramada Limited we were staying at:



A shot down the street:



And another one straight out of the parking lot:



While we were in the parking lot, people were walking up off the street, pulling in with their cages, and rolling in on their Spyders to talk, ask questions, and take pictures.

Here is one guy we met from Maine with a very neat paint theme on his Spyder:









This is Catniption's pink Spyder:






This is Schultzi's RT:



This is SpyderDuck's RS with the new exhaust installed:






Another RT owner came over and was talking to our small group, then decided to give Schultzi's exhaust a try on his Spyder. So, another installation took place in the hotel parking lot. We left the parking lot at 2:30 to head over the mountain into Cherokee to visit the casino for a bit before heading over to the Festival Grounds for the Owner's Event.

[CyncySpyder]

Great pics & captions to go along

Ya just gotta love a good time with good & new friends

[SpyderAnn01]

Two years in a row and we have pulled over on 321 to be sure we were going to the right place. Maybe next year the new road will be on GPS maps!

[Lamonster]

Great blog Bro. Glad you could make it.

[Boriken]

Great pics & captions to go along

Ya just gotta love a good time with good & new friends

Thanks for sharing

[MickeyFisher]

Love it, and I missed that pancake place. Gonna have to put that on the list for next time!

[musicarcade]

Great post Michael! Good to see you again
...and I'll be seeing you soon!

[SpyderWolf]

Great pics & captions to go along

Ya just gotta love a good time with good & new friends

Definitely had a good time with good friends. It was great meeting you and Teddy as well, and I was glad to see him walking around.

Great blog Bro. Glad you could make it.

Thanks, it was good to see you again as well.

Love it, and I missed that pancake place. Gonna have to put that on the list for next time!

Definitely put it on your list. They are the only place I have been to so far that has Reeses Peanut Butter Cup pancakes.

Great post Michael! Good to see you again
...and I'll be seeing you soon!

It was good seeing you again as well Tom. Just give me a call when you are ready for help with that oil change and we will get it done.

[SpyderWolf]

So, after losing my allocated budget money at the casino we headed back over the mountain into Maggie Valley. I was leading our foursome, and we were stuck behind 2 SUVs for a while. For those that have ridden on that road, you know the passing zone could not come soon enough. We finally got there, blasted around them, and Shultzi posted a video clip of that section of the ryde.

We arrived at the Festival Grounds before 5:00, and there were others already there and waiting to get in. I was surprised they had the gates closed and wouldn't let us in early, but at least they were sticking to some type of a schedule. We parked next to everyone else and waited for them to open the gates.

Here are pictures of some of the other early arrivals.


































The black and white Spyder, which eventually won best of show, arrived and as you can see the ryder was wearing HD leather apparel. Part of me wonders if BRP selected her Spyder as the winner hoping she would use some of the $1500 gift certificates to buy some BRP clothing.









When they opened the gates, we fired up the Spyders and proceeded in a nice orderly fashion to invade the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.

[SpyderWolf]

BRP had set out 3 red carpets, 1 for each of the classes, for the customization contest. As I rode through the gates I was told to go ahead and park on the red carpet for the class I was entered in. Other Spyders followed suit and the polishing, visiting, answering questions, and having a good time for the night began.

Show and Shine Class

Schultzi's Spyder:



I don't know who owns it, but it ended up winning this class:



ReggyTan's Spyder, with his TricLED lighting on display he was busy all night:









Best Overall Customization Class

Mr. Orange's Spyder:






JOESPY's Spyder and the winner of this class:



Catniption's Spyder:






Docdoru's Spyder:



Burg650's Spyder:



For some strange reason, I didn't actually take any pictures of my own Spyder in this class. I figure it is alright though, as you all already know what it looks like.

Best Paint / Graphics Class:

This Spyder ended up winning Best in Show:


















These pictures are of the Spyder that won the Best Paint/Graphics Class. In case you are wondering, this is paint and not a wrap:












The Friday before heading to Maggie Valley, my Spyder would not start. I checked the voltage on my battery and it was reading 12.67 volts, so I figured everything was okay with it especially since it was the Scorpion battery I only had installed for a couple of months or so. In a panic, I pushed my Spyder onto the trailer and was planning on taking it to the dealer first thing Saturday morning, and hoping beyond hope they could fix it. I was talking to a couple of people about it, and they suggested putting my old stock battery back in to see what happens. When I pulled the Scorpion out I found fluid on the case near the negative battery terminal. Since this is an AGM battery there is no way it should have been leaking. I put the old battery, that was sitting out in my carport all this time, back in the Spyder and it started right up. I was happy that a trip to the dealer for something like this was avoided.

However, for some strange reason I did not think about the implications of running this old battery to the Owner's Event. During the customization show I was showing my lights to some people and they all went out. Luckily ReggyTan had his jump pack with him and let me use it to get my Spyder started again. I apologize to all those that did not like the noise or the smell during the contest, but I had to try to get some kind of a charge on that battery. I ended up having to jump it off again before heading to the hotel for the night. Needless to say I was very frustrated, and worried, about having to try to find a new battery the next day.

I talked to tons of Spyder Owners, and many fellow Spyder Lovers as well. If nothing else, the contest gave me a really cool place to park, and made me easy to find for those that may have been looking for me. I truly appreciate all of the support I was given during the contest, all the compliments, well wishes, hand shakes, hugs, and votes as well.

That was the end of my Friday.

[SpyderWolf]

Before leaving the Festival Grounds on Friday, I asked the dealer that was there, Mountain Motorsports, if they had a battery and could get it there in the morning. They said they would check and for me to come back and see them in the morning.

I didn't sleep well Friday night, too much on my mind with the battery situation and wondering if my Spyder would start in the morning. Schultzi did an internet search for me and found a couple of cycle shops, but we didn't know if they would have anything I could use or if it would be charged up.

During some of our conversations SpyderDuck and Catniption were talking about the right foot heat on their Spyders and I told them I was going to see SpyderPops first thing in the morning and he should be able to hook them up with a good solution. Harvey said his trailer would be set up at the Wheels Though Time museum, thanks to the owner Dale's support. Fortunately my Spyder started that morning, so we headed on over.

We arrived around 8:30 AM and there was a nice little group of RTs already assembled waiting for installation of heat management parts. Since I had already talked to Harvey at Lamont's BBQ about getting the Air Management System, I proceeded dismantling the right side of my Spyder. I took the parts to Harvey, and he swapped them with some pre-assembled pieces he brought with him. This made for an easy install, but by the time I was finished I was sweaty and dirty from laying in the grass to do it. When I went to settle up with Harvey he informed me they were doing the installs for only $10 and I could have just sat back and relaxed. I like working on my Spyder anyway, so it was no big deal.

Anita and Gina were in line for the installation of the same thing on their RS models, so I headed to the Festival Grounds to see if the dealer brought a battery for me. They were not able to get one there for me, so I had to go look for one. I headed back to Wheels Through Time to let the others know where I was going, and when I arrived the place was crawling with Spyders. I found a parking spot and shut off my Spyder when Dale yells at me from the front doors to "Get that thing up here!", and points to an empty spot near him. He moves a couple of really old bikes, while I roll up to the front door and back into the spot he wanted my Spyder in.

I told him I could not stay long, as I needed to go find a battery. He asked what kind of battery I needed, and then took me inside to meet Jack. He asked Jack to give me directions to the Interstate Batteries distribution point nearby. Jack told me how to get there, and then said we better have the ladies at the front desk call and make sure they were open since it was a Saturday. Luckily they were open until 1 PM, so now I just had hope they had a workable replacement battery ready to go. I jumped on my Spyder and headed to Interstate Battery Systems of the Great Smokies in Waynesville, NC. They had a sign on the door that read "Through this door work some of the best people you will ever meet". I am usually not one to believe advertising slogans like this, but it turns out the 2 young guys working there, Ben Anderson and Jesse Davis, really were a great couple of guys. By law they cannot touch motorcycles, or anything resembling them , so I took apart the left side of my Spyder and handed them my old battery. They tested it and found that while it had a good surface charge, 1 cell was dead and another was on its way out. Thankfully they had a replacement that was ready to go so I installed it and the Spyder roared to life with new vigor. I paid the bill, they gave me a hat and a t-shirt to go along with the battery, and I headed back down the road to the Wheels Through Time to thank them for their assistance.

I am truly thankful to Dale, Jack, the ladies at Wheels Through Time, Ben, and Jesse, as they went out of their way to help me find a good replacement battery. That gave me a real piece of mind that I would not be stranded later on, and allowed me to show my lights during the customization contest on Saturday.

[WackyDan]

Nothing will beat the moment I saw you walk away from the prize table at Lamont's BBQ with a nondescript cardboard box.

Gloriders....


Go figure.

[SpyderWolf]

Nothing will beat the moment I saw you walk away from the prize table at Lamont's BBQ with a nondescript cardboard box.

Gloriders....


Go figure.

I know, out of all of the available prizes I could have grabbed. I was a bit unprepared, because 1) I never expected to win anything, and 2) A few of my friends had me thinking I could get a set of Elka shocks. When I found out differently I didn't know what else to choose. I actually ended up selling the Gloriders for a great discount to someone to help finance my new battery purchase.

[SpyderWolf]

As I said, after getting the new battery I headed back to Wheels Through Time to thank everyone for their help. I parked my Spyder and found Dale who proceeded to tell me he was going to do a video shoot and wanted to interview me for it. I started wiping down my Spyder, and then we did a short video. Afterwards I went back to wiping down my Spyder, since I had all the body panels off at some time during the day already, while the camera man filmed me a little. Then Dale said they were going to ryde SpyderPops' Spyder to the Festival Grounds and film me on the way. We rode there without incident and he was ryding around shooting videos of everything and talking to other Spyder owners. Then he came back and had an interview with Chaz Rice at the table where we were eating lunch. That was a cool experience and the videos should be posted sometime in the near future at www.wheelsthroughtime.com .

I met back up with Schultzi, and we headed back to the museum to check things out for ourselves. Here are some pictures I took while we were there.

The front entrance with SpyderPops' rear fender showing:



My Spyder parked up by the front entrance:



One of the first bikes you see when entering the museum. Dale hopped on it and was going to put some gas in it as we were leaving.



A military section:



This Indian jersey came from the guys on the TV show "American Pickers":



Early prototype Spyder with wooden skis and a prop?



A really cool motocross display in the center of the museum:



They even have a plane inside:



Early inspiration for the TRON light cycles?



I had to take this next picture. I remembered a discussion on here where someone used the term Jap bike, and many stated that was a derogatory term towards Japanese people. However, one person posted there used to be a company named Jap that made motorcycles and that is where the actual term came from. Here is proof that there really are non-derogatory Jap bikes out there.



This collection of parts might look like a mess to you, but I bet Dale and Jack are able to find whatever they need whenever they are looking for it.



A really cool cafe racer display:



My pictures don't begin to do the museum any justice. There is also a ton of other stuff that I did not take pictures of, to include an upstairs section. The next time you are in the Maggie Valley area, I highly suggest you set aside some time to visit Wheels Through Time, and say hi to Dale and the gang. I don't think you will be disappointed in the least.

[SpyderWolf]

For those of us in the Spyder Customization Contest, we were supposed to have our Spyders back on display from 4-6 PM. A fairly decent storm had moved through from about 1-3:30 or so and BRP ended up having us set up under a tent for a while.

This was the only Spyder I saw on Saturday that wasn't on display on Friday.






Around 6 PM the food was served. It included BBQ, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, BBQ Chicken Fillet, Bread, Drinks, and Brownies, Banana Pudding, and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. The food was delicious and plentiful. I had a great time visiting with other Spyder owners during the meal as well.

Dinner time:



Lamont and others:



I finished eating and walked back over to the contest area, taking a few pictures of the parking situation along the way.










Here is where we were set up for the contest:



Notice the gray haired gentleman by my Spyder in these next two pictures as there is a story to follow:






As I was walking back toward my Spyder, I noticed this guy looking closely at it and taking pictures. Since Doc, Burg, and myself had been playing against each other to try to get as many votes as possible, I asked him to vote for my Spyder as I needed the prize money. He asked what I would do with it and I told him buy the black rear wheel and sprocket so I would not have any down time. He then asked me some questions about my Spyder and how much I rode it and liked it. After that he introduced himself as Yves Leduc and shook my hand. He then asked if I was ever interested in the RT, to which I quickly replied no as I like the sportiness of the RS much better right now. Then he asked if I would be interested if they made some touring type changes to the RS platform, to include things like a stereo, cruise control, and floorboards. I told him those all sound like nice things to have on the RS, and I might be interested in them, but what I would really be interested in is a Spyder X like they make for all their other products. He replied with a higher performance suspension, sportier X type graphics, and a performance tuned engine. I told him the full blown Aprillia engine with 130 HP would be nice and he just smiled and said they had to think about the amount of torque needed for the low end on the Spyder. I think it was really cool for him to discuss these things with me just like a fellow Spyder lover. Until the introduction I had no idea who he was. He was very down to earth and made me feel that he is genuinely interested in what we, as Spyder owners, think of the product. I think he makes a great Vice President and General Manager for BRP's North America Division.

A little while later, another BRP group came by and one gentleman was looking very hard at the SFB Racing Floorboards on my Spyder. I told him to go ahead and sit on it, and then he asked me a few questions about them. Later on, during the BRP speeches and presentations, I discovered that he was Denys Lapointe who is Executive Vice President Design and Innovation. That was another very unexpected surprise.

After all the awards and door prizes were given out, they had a live band. We hung out for a while, though many others were anxious to get back to their hotels and get some sleep before heading home the next day. I had a great time and headed back to the hotel a little after 10 PM I believe.

[SpyderWolf]

We woke up Sunday morning to rain in the mountains. Here is the 3 way view from our hotel room balcony.

Left:



Front:



Right:



We had breakfast at the hotel and continued watching the weather channel to see what was going to happen. It looked like we were in the middle of one cell with another coming in a while later. We decided to wait it out a little and try to stay between the 2 cells. I donned my rain gear and Schultzi and I headed home in the drizzle at around 9:30 AM. We ran into a heavier patch of rain for a little bit on I-40, but the bigger issue was the strong wind gusts. By the time we reached Asheville, the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out.

I said goodbye to Schultzi at the Spartanburg, SC, exit and continued on my home. On the way I was greeted by record heat with a heat index of 105 F. Gotta love living in the south.

I had a great time the entire weekend and am very glad I was able to make it. Lamont's BBQ was awesome, and while some may think it is a long way to ryde for a BBQ sandwich let me tell you it is definitely worth the trip even if you don't get a sandwich. The BRP event was first class all the way and I really enjoyed myself there as well. Of course, it would have been even better if I had won something in the Customization Contest, but it is what it is.

Thanks again to all of the Spyder friends that I have met and talked to during these events, as you really have given me memories for a lifetime.

[Yol Bolsun]

Great coverage of both events. Hope to catch you on the road sometime.

[Catniption]

OMG!! What a great write up. Thank you, SpyderWolf. It was great meeting and hanging out with you and Schultzi.

I hope to see all the Spyder folks again.

[SpydeRider2010]

some very good pics posted, and some very happy Spyder Riders that weekend. even with the storms that rolled through...

our thanks to all that made it possible and for a very memorable weekend.

[SpyderWolf]

Great coverage of both events. Hope to catch you on the road sometime.

Thanks, hopefully we will catch up with each other sometime in the near future.

OMG!! What a great write up. Thank you, SpyderWolf. It was great meeting and hanging out with you and Schultzi.

I hope to see all the Spyder folks again.

I had a great time hanging out with all of you as well. I am looking forward to the next gathering of the Spyders already.