A goal of mine is about to become a reality. I have lived in flat hot Florida all my life, so every summer while I was raising my son we would take a break from the heat and spend a week in the Western North Carolina mountains. I fell in love with the area for many reasons, and I always dreamed of riding around there.
The wife and I have been on an exhaustive search for the perfect mountain home to spend the summers there and then winter back in Fl. Well we are about to (April 28th) own one. Its in a gated community about 20 miles north of Asheville in Mars Hill NC and sits 3860 ft above sea level.
The neighborhood has some paved roads but in order to get to the house I have about an 1/8th of a mile of well maintained gravel roads with some relatively steep inclines. Obviously I will have to negotiate these roads every time I take my bike for a ride.
I'm a little apprehensive as the only spill I ever took on my 06 Electraglide, I was in the Black Hills in S Dakota when I turned off a paved road on a gravel road a stupidly used too much front brake and the front tire slipped out from under me. Luckily there was no real damage to the bike, and the wife and I were unhurt, except for my pride.
I'm looking for some tips from folks who ride on gravel roads with heavy cruisers.

 

I live in Iowa so I grew up on gravel roads. The way I ride on gravel might different than other people but when I go on gravel I tend to try and stay in the tire tracks of other cars(not always possible especially if it rains) mainly because usually it is packed down better and less rocks because they got kicked out from the other cars. Gravel washes out so just do your best to read the road and try to your best to avoid the wash outs because they can be soft especially if it rained recently. Obviously you learned about braking, I always give myself way more time to stop compared to if I'm on a paved road, if you have to turn dont be afraid to come to a crawl and take it easy. Speed wise, to me, you have to determine how fast you go just by feeling how your bike handles. I tend to stick in the 20-25mph if its a road I know. But depending how the road itself is I may go faster or slower. I know quite a few guys that haul *** going down gravel and ive also watched a guy go down hauling *** on gravel that he takes every single day. It will get easier to you the more you ride it, just don't push your self out of your comfort zone.

 

For what it's worth-

If it's "well maintained", I'll assume that means hard packed. That will be easy. If or when they blade or grade it, that's the time to stay off of it because it will be difficult to control the bike because it will be all loose. I once did a just that day graded dirt road on a dirt bike and it was not easy. And if it's got a lot of clay in it, rain can make it slippery.
I've ridden my '16 FLHTK and my previous metric cruiser on numerous back county dirt roads. Just remember no sudden turns, lane movement an easy throttle, no hard braking, and you'll be fine. Pick the well worn and hard packed areas as your line.

My worst gravel road experience was 20-miles of very loose gravel/dirt across the Oglala Lakota Wounded Knee Reservation. A local shop keeper said it was paved, the map said dirt road.
Well it was paved for approx. 1-2 miles at each end that she could see. But my guess is she never drove on it. I was on a fully loaded, two up, '11 FLHTK. Man did that bike wanna snow plow that front tire is the soft & deep parts. But we made it. Exhausted and thirsty, but we made it.

You are only dealing with a 1/8th mile stretch. Inclines or not, you will get it.

 

I am also from Iowa and grew up on gravel. IArider1 gives great advice.

Last summer I rode my bike (FLHTK) to Deadhorse, AK. There was about 800 miles of gravel on that trip alone, not counting construction south of Fairbanks. My speed ranged from 60 mph on good sections to a crawl in some areas.

1/8 mile is not much to worry about, especially if it's well maintained. You'll get accustomed to riding on it. Take it slow and you will learn what feels normal.

I'm not sure if everything being dusty will become normal though. On or near gravel, nothing stays clean.

 

For the most part I try to avoid gravel roads if possible. I agree with staying off the front brake. These are old pics of my driveway. One of last year's storms
required a large fill as that lower point completely washed away.
I just keep my mind on what I'm doing when going in and out. Nothing but back brake going out and maintain a steady pull coming in. Keep my eyes on
where I want the bike to go and don't look down.

 

Slow and easy will be your best bet when i was a lot younger those road and gavel intersections always got me when i got. I live down here in Florida the roads are great hate riding up north don't miss it Good luck

 

Yep ... slow and steady ... Sandy / Loamy spots can be tough, try not to "load" the front tire, especially on a downhill ... sit up straight and stay back in the seat ... If it gets a bit squirrelly "throttle out"

 

Grew up in Iowa as well.

You will be fine on your road. I grew up on 5 miles of gravel before getting on the paved road

 

You're getting some good advice in here so I can't add much. Pay attention to the lay of the road and loosen your grip. Don't fight it, it will slide around a little, get scooted over from small ruts and big gravel, just go with it.

 

This is why I got rid of my Road Glide and went back to a Dyna !