Well the votes are in and the winners of the Nashvilleriders.com Best of 2011 in Motorcycling have been decided. Over the next few weeks we'll be visiting the winners in many of the categories (if not all) to interview them or in the case of roads, get some photos and videos of the routes and locations. So without putting it off any longer, let’s get to the winners!

Best Motorcycle Dealership (Non-Harley)

Cool Springs Powersports

Cool Springs Powersports in Franklin, TN took the top honor for Best Motorcycle Dealership (Non-Harley) for 2011 with over 40% of the votes. Cool Springs Powersports is a dealer for Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Honda. With a good selection of gear and accessories on hand as well as an excellent service department, this makes them a true “One-Stop-Shop when it comes to Japanese motorcycles. 

Sloan’s Motorcycle and ATV Superstore took second place with 23.%
Castle Powersports also made a good showing with 18.2%
Bloodworth Motorcycles was right behind Castle with 16.9%
America’s Motorsports only had a meager 1.3% of the vote

Hit the Read more link below to see the rest of the results

Best Harley Davidson Dealership

Bumpus Harely Davidson of Murfreesboro

Bumpus Harely Davidson of Murfreesboro is the clear 2011 winner for Best Harley Davidson Dealership with 48% of the votes cast in this category. Bumpus has as excellent facility there and this past year were hosts to Motus Motorcycles as they passed through Tennessee on their cross-nation MST tour. Bumpus has a beautiful well staffed location with plenty of accessories and gear. They also have quite a large meeting space and an excellent service department.

Harley Davidson of Columbia came in second with 32% of the votes.
Harley Davidson of Cool Springs followed with 12%
Boswell’s rounded out the nominees with just 8%.

Best Used Motorcycle Dealer

Lakeview Cycles

Congratulations to Lakeview Cycles for being this year’s Best Used Motorcycle dealer. Lakeview pulled in 51.9% of the votes cast. I have to admit that I have not been to their location out in Smyrna but I will be going to see them soon to deliver their award. Then I’ll be able to tell everyone more about this year’s winner.

Following closelywith 40.7% of the vote was Bloodworth Motorcycles
S&G Customs also made their mark with 7.4% of the votes.
Surprisingly, no votes were cast for Gooch’s in Hendersonville which is odd as someone had to have nominated them.

Best Dealer Service Department

Cool Springs Powersports

This year’s winner for Best Dealer Service Department goes to Cool Springs Powersports who received the lion’s share of the votes with 51.1%. I have personal experience with the service department at Cool Springs Powersports and I can say I’m not surprised that our readers chose them as the best.

Sloan’s and Bloodworth split the remaining votes in this category with 25.5% and 23.4% of the votes respectively.

Best Independent Service Shop

TDC Cycle

A new business just started in 2011, TDC Cycle is this year’s winner for Best Independent Service Shop with 50.% of the votes. TDC Cycle, owned by Kevin Anderson, is a new venture for Kevin but he’s not new to motorcycle service. In fact Kevin has been working on bikes (and cars) for over 20 years and has a particular fondness for vintage Japanese and European motorcycles. Congrat’s to TDC Cycle for being this year’s winner.

Cycle Concepts came in second behind TDC Cycle with 42.1% of the votes
Cycle Stuff showed up with 5.3%
Cyclemo’s finished out with just 2.6%

Best Motorcycle Accessory / Apparel Shop

Cycle Gear

Cycle Gear in Madison came away with a resounding victory in this category with 63.3% of the votes cast. Cycle Gear and the store manager there, Norm Allen, have worked hard to increase the visibility of the Madison location (the only one in Middle Tennessee) and many of us at Nashvilleriders.com have dealt with them on more than one occasion and are apparently very happy about it.

Sloan’s came in second with 23.4% of the votes
Cycle Stuff rounded it out with 13.3%

Best Technical Riding Road

US 129 - The Dragon

Not surprisingly US 129 took top honors for Best Technical Riding Road getting 39.3% of the votes. I think we should have specified that we were looking for a place closer to Middle Tennessee, but we didn't and, let’s face it, part of it does go through Tennessee. Either way it is the most famous technical road on this side of the country if not the whole USA and it is a very curvy stretch of asphalt. It’s fame lets it down though as it is very busy and can be hazardous when it is. The good news is that North Carolina recently closed off more areas of the road and some surrounding roads to large trucks. This should be a relief to those concerned about coming around a curve and finding a Freightliner grill staring you in the face.

Best Scenic Riding Road

Cherohala Skyway

Nashvilleriders.com readers made no bones about choosing the Cherohala Skyway as the Best Scenic Riding Road for 2011. Votes for the Skyway reached 69.2% of the final votes cast. If you haven’t ridden the Cherohala you owe it to yourself to head down to Telico Plains and take a ride. I’ve ridden on it only once but if I recall correctly it reminded me a bit of the Natchez Trace Parkway (which received 26.9% of the votes in our poll) in that the turns aren't too tight and visibility is pretty good. The Cherohala of course adds dramatic elevation changes to the mix.

Best Day Trip Destination

Fall Creek Falls

Fall Creek Falls was the winner in the Best Day Trip Destination category garnering 52.2% of the votes. Fall Creek Falls was a popular destination this past year for group rides and I know that many Nashvilleriders.com readers go together for more than one trip there. Since there is also lot's of camping available at Fall Creek Falls, I imagine that this would be a great weekend getaway trip as well if you're coming from a bit further out than Nashville.

Best Roadside Eatery (East)

Uncle Pete's Truck Stop

With so many places to eat when out riding we felt it best to divide the best Roadside Eatery to East and West categories. In the battle for the East, Uncle Pete’s won out with 33.3% of the votes cast. If you haven’t been to Uncle Pete’s it’s a true piece of Americana. A truck stop restaurant as traditional as they come and it makes a great place to grab a bite before fueling up and heading out for a ride.

Best Roadside Eatery (West)

Puckett's Grocery

Out to the West side just off the Natchez Trace Parkway is Puckett's Grocery, winner with 38% of the votes of this year's Best Roadside Eatery (West) category. If you ride on two wheels (motorized or not) on or near "The Trace" you've most likely seen or been to Puckett's. It's a great place to take it easy and have bite to eat as well as meet up with other riders of a wide variety of bikes. Puckett's is also a great place to gas up (see below) as they offer ethanol free gasoline.

Best Ethanol Free Gas Station

Puckett's Grocery

As mentioned above, Puckett's offers ethanol free gasoline in addition to it's food and other items in the store. Being such a popular destination for motorcyclists on the West side of town makes Puckett's a shoe-in for this award with an exact 50% of votes in this category.

Best Ride Meetup/Starting Point

Shell Station (tie for location)

Beating out Puckett's for best Ride Meetup / Starting point were two Shell gas stations. The one on McCrory Lane at the beginning of the Trace and the one near Neapolis in Columbia each received 29.2% of the votes making this the only category where we had a tie for the winner. Interestingly enough (to me any way) is that Cycle Gear and Percy Priest Dam were also tied for 3rd place (behind Puckett's) with 8.3% of the votes each.