Arkansas Run March 27th-30th

[carlson_mn]

Hey guys. I am possibly interested but I'd have to ride down from MN. That would make it a huge IF depending on weather at that time forecast out for the next week. I don't mind powering through some temps in the 30s for a few hours till I get south but it could still be full winter here. I actually am already penciled in on a trip there in late May with a group but more the better.

I was there a few years ago and put on 1500 miles of twisties in 4 days, it was awesome. Went with guys who had been going for 15 years every year and I have some awesome route sheets and GPS files.

We stayed in Harrison. We actually rented a 5 bedroom furnished house with a big garage. It was across the street from a bunch of stores and restaurants and really ideal. It was also crazy cheap something like $100-ish each night. There was 6 of us though to split it up. Harrison is IDEAL and the roads out of town are great right away and just lead to better roads to the south and east or even to the north there is a spectacular road in Missouri after you cross a river on a ferry.

I'll be in touch as we see how the next few weeks pans out. I'm getting the serious ITCH to ride!

 

[Cav47]

^^^^^

Sounds great. The house rental is interesting. Might be something to consider in the future.

Like u said, the more the merrier. I hear you about the cold weather from MN.

So the guy on the left side of the picture in the blue tank top.... Kinda looks like Zilla. JSNS.

 

[hppants]

The beauty of staying in the Harrison area is that planning routes are not needed. From there, you can go in either direction, pick absolutely ANY paved road, and it will be fantastic riding. In 30 seconds, I can derive a 300 mile loop, to which we can shorten by 100 or even 200 miles on the fly without giving up anything in the way of riding.

One thing I've observed about the Ozarks is that it's not very conducive to road side scenic views. There's very little places to pull over and enjoy the Ozarks. Occassionally you will see a peek through the trees, and in late March there might be more opportunities than at other times (most trees will not have budded), but when you get that glimpse, pulling over and enjoying it is completely out of the question.

That said and OTOH, if it's pure riding you crave, and you prefer the medium-to-high speed curves v/s very tight low speed twisties (ex: Dragon), then this might be the best overall place in the country. For FJR riders (and others who ride heavier bikes), this place is heaven, man. The grip on the "silver" or lighter colored roads (not sure what they use, but it's not traditional blacktop) is stupid ridiculous. Fair warning and it bears repeating though - those roads will EAT (and I mean DEVOUR) tires, especially if you have HWS (er... Heavy Wrist Syndrome). Do not leave home with questionable tires or you will be running south to Little Rock to buy tires and that will take no less than 1 day out of your trip. The good news is that I have found that between mountain towns, the Popo is virtually non existent. As you approach any town, take great heed of the "reduced speed ahead" sign, though.

Another thing you will observe quickly is how much more comfortable you will be in the curves v/s other mountain riding. The Ozarks are not very steep, and on all State hwys the tree line is cut pretty far away from the shoulder (maybe 25 - 50 feet in many cases). This makes blind curves practically non existent. Long before you get to the apex, you can see clearly around the curve. Again, with leafless trees, this will be enhanced even more. If the weather is good and dry, and I get in a zone up there, I'll be ripping that stuff like I'm on a rail. I'm getting stoked just writing this stuff.

 

[petey]

The silver or lighter colored roads your talking about, is ship & seal, and you are correct about good traction and pooore tire milage.

 

[zzzzip]

Be advised, those ferries don't run if there is fog on the lake. I found out last fall trying to get home from a Tenere rally at the Hub. it was either wait 2 or 3 hours, or spend an extra hour riding the longer way around. Once I got to the higher ground, the fog had burned off. Don't know how long it took to burn off at the lake level.

 

[carlson_mn]

Chip seal is the road construction term. Little rocks glued together with tar.

I do think it would be even prettier in some ways before the leaves come back out. As you can see in the video it is pretty thick and just forest all around in a lot of places.

 

[airboss]

Thanks for the video Carlson. Been trying to avoid this thread.

I have enough tire left on the FJR for the Curt Gran SS1K at Moonshine, or 300 mile of Arkansas.

 

[Allen_C]

Just changed one of Marty's rooms to my name. Here's hoping the weather cooperates!

 

[hppants]

Well crap - I may not be practicing what I preach. I took a hard look at my tires yesterday. I've got about 2,000 miles left on both of them. On a 5 day trip to Arkansas, I wouldn't expect to ride more than 1,300 or 1,400 miles, but who knows? I'm going to order the tires now and take another look at it.

 

[Old Guy]

Well crap - I may not be practicing what I preach. I took a hard look at my tires yesterday. I've got about 2,000 miles left on both of them. On a 5 day trip to Arkansas, I wouldn't expect to ride more than 1,300 or 1,400 miles, but who knows? I'm going to order the tires now and take another look at it.

Don't take a chance. Miles on the twisties of Arkansas are harder on tires than just rolling down the highway. I've left the house with tires not yet to the wear bars and come home 400 miles later on cord.

 

[hppants]

Yeah - I've ridden several thousand miles in Arkansas, I do understand the issue. So I went ahead and ordered a set of tires. No point in splitting hairs on motorcycle tires. Get your head in the game, Pants!

Bump-a-dumpsie on this thread.

Lord willing, I leave 2 weeks from tomorrow - I've invited 3 others to join me, and all are certainly considering.

Anybody else getting excited??????

 

[0Face]

Sweet Video! Pissed I can't make it this time.

My room is still in my name too if anybody needs one. I'll probably let it go next week.

 

[Allen_C]

Getting really excited for this ride! Finally got out for a 3 hour ride today after not riding for almost 3 months. It felt good to get out even though all the sand, debris and water made for slow going around corners.

 

[Cav47]

Very excited. Got to get some things on my list crossed off to fully get into the mindset

 

[griff]

Need a good rain to wash the salt and crap off the road around here. Right now I would be riding through salt water, mud, sand and assorted other BS.

 

[Tango Sierra]

The ground around here is too saturated with the melting snow to handle a heavy rain right now. Hopefully things will dry up over the next few days and then it will rain.

 

[mikep1300]

I'm with Pants, need to clear Thursday and Monday.

After all the rainy weather, I'm ready for some dry roads!

 

[Allen_C]

OK, folks, we have 2 weeks until this ride. Sound off now if you are going to make this so Cav can update the first post with the planned attendees!

 

[Cav47]

Obviously I am in and sleeping with Allen, wait that did not come out right. ---why did I just a pm from Zilla

Let me know in this thread as to where u are staying so groups can form of they want too. Remember, this is a self guided tour. Parking lot evening socialization could be easier facilitated with location knowledge.

I will get the first page updated with a list from here. Forecast out 2 weeks is still undetermined, but Harrison was getting a decent amount of rain today to wash off the road junk.

 

[hppants]

If we are spared from rain, we definitely won't have to worry about any road debris. Plus, the rivers and streams will be way too fast and high for the paddlers, so mountain road traffic should be minimized. The temperatures in the long term forecast look reasonable and seasonable now - fingers crossed.