Arkansas Scenic 7,

[lucky2ndowner]

For my first trip on the FJR I rode the Arkansas Scenic 7 hiway during spring break. I dont know where it starts and stops exaclty but I got on it near Hot Springs (that was my destination) and rode it up to Harrison AR and then rode through Branson MO. It was pretty good scenery and road conditions compared to Eastern Iowa (home). Lots of hills, forrest and 35mph turns. It was well worth the extra 110 miles to get home. It rained all the way down but was beautiful on the way back. I am completely in love with this bike, The factory seat was comfortable for the 800 mile day. Wind and rain protection was good enough behind the Calsci shorty windshield. Thankfully, the p/o had installed electronic cruise contol. My only complaint about this bike is the abrupt throttle when riding around town. This was also my first experience with a bluethooth helmet headset (Sena smh10) and I will never again be without it. Super simple to operate and very practical.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Try a Power Commander V from Fuelmoto and G2 Ergonomics Throttle Tamer throttle tube to smooth the abrupt response. Also set the idle to around 1100 RPM, that helps the OFF/ON transition as well.

Arkansas 7 is wonderful but you only scratched the surface of that wonderful state. Arkansas has much more to offer.

 

[lucky2ndowner]

Thanks for the pointers. I have the G2 throttle but haven't added the PC, I am not sure where it will mount with the cruise control hardware possibly in the way. I have considered increasing the idle speed but I didn't know if it was manually adjustable or if I had to have the PC to do it. Do I just turn the idle idle screw in?

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Just turn the idle screw. Easy, cheap (free) and effective.

Those 3 things transformed our '07.

 

[lucky2ndowner]

Thanks Redfish. I will turn it up to 1100! That is what I have been doing (but with my wrist) to compensate and its pretty manageable from there.

 

[hppants]

Scenic Hwy 7 is a great way to ride north or south in Arkansas. It starts well south of Hot Springs near the town of El Dorado. However, the road south of Hot Springs is more banged up and not nearly as twisty. The curves on that road are made for the FJR - not too technical and tight, but plenty of opportunity to scrape the pegs and with plenty of higher speed sweepers as well. The grip on that chip/seal pavement is wonderful, even in wet conditions. I love the way the tree line is set pretty far from the shoulder to give all motorists more time to see around the curves. Right now with trees still not fully leaved, the visibility is even better.

If I had one complaint about Hwy 7 and other roads in the Ozarks, it's that there are simply not many places to overlook. You get some wonderful views from the road at times, but stopping there is completely out of the question from a safety standpoint and by the time you get to a decent place to pull over, the view is long gone. I think much of this land adjacent to the highways is privately owned, so constructing an overlook is challenging, I'm sure.

 

[lucky2ndowner]

I also noticed that the few places to pull off were not the most scenic. I was gauking from the saddle more than I should have been. I would like to see it in summer or fall and probably will this year.

 

[Niehart]

Redfish Hunter is correct about the three fixes.

The Power Commander V from Fuelmoto might be better than the early Power Commanders. I had one of the early models on my '06' but removed it because of what it did to my gas mileage.

And I really like your forum name, very cool. Welcome to our little corner of the world.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Congrats on your first FJR trip '2ndowner!

Heed the advice regarding the abrupt throttle response. On my previous '06, I increased the idle speed, took the play out of the throttle cables and added a G2 tube which eliminated 90% of the complaints. No PCV as I wasn't willing to take the fuel mileage hit that comes with it.

--G

 

[Redfish Hunter]

No PCV as I wasn't willing to take the fuel mileage hit that comes with it.

Forgot about that. Pop dropped down to around 45 mpg with the PC-V.

Pop says if he cannot afford to lose a few mpg he needs to park it anyway. He was willing to deal with that trade off. With the PC-V you do have the option of loading two maps. You can leave one stock map and one smoothness map and using an external switch change this on the fly. I did offer to do that for Pop but he was not willing to give up his smoothness. YMMV.

It will render the dash MPG readout completely useless though.

 

[lucky2ndowner]

1100 idle is SO much better. I read up a lot on this forum about the abrupt throttle and never came across the idle info (or I overlooked it). Thanks a million, it is 90 percent improvement.

 

[escapefjrtist]

No PCV as I wasn't willing to take the fuel mileage hit that comes with it.

Forgot about that. Pop dropped down to around 45 mpg with the PC-V.

Pop says if he cannot afford to lose a few mpg he needs to park it anyway. He was willing to deal with that trade off. With the PC-V you do have the option of loading two maps. You can leave one stock map and one smoothness map and using an external switch change this on the fly. I did offer to do that for Pop but he was not willing to give up his smoothness. YMMV.

Not our experience at all 'Hunter, mid to high 30's [40 downhill with a tailwind] if you're lucky! Good for your Pops.

--G

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I don't "Know" but I think...

The map that is installed in the PC-V makes all the difference in the world. Our map was built by FuelMoto and my understanding is that it only richens the fuel mixture at the bottom end where the On/Off issue occurs. Therefore it has no adverse effects on the cruising economy.

Also we all get different numbers on fuel economy anyway. I find that Pop gets very bad fuel mileage when he is riding by himself but does very well when he is riding with me or my HD riding cousin. My mileage drops when I ride by myself or follow hppants.

 

[hppants]

In my completely biased and totally unscientific opinion, I find my fuel mileage is inversely proportional to the amount of fun I'm having.

JSNS

(sorry for the thread jack, L2O)

 

[lucky2ndowner]

I haven't gotten over 40mpg yet. I usually see 36 or so around town. I was a little frustrated about this until hppants enlightened me. Now I feel good about the fun I have.