Redfish and Pop go to Arkansas

[danh600]

I love Arkansas ride reports!

I am going in September!!!

 

[Steel_Gin]

Great report and even better great memories made with your Dad!! Both of you need to do that more often.

 

[TomInPA]

Great fun! Wish I still had my dad. Congrats on a great trip.

I'm sure your wife was happy to see you get back home safe.

 

[glory racing]

A good report and glad y'all got to enjoy some of AR together...even if you did have to tolerate Mt Magazine Lodge.

Sorry you had to cut the trip short as there is a LOT more to ride and see. 123 east of 7 is the best road in the state, IMO. You were only a few miles from it too. Guess that means y'all will have to come back.

 

[Morecowbell]

Great story...looks like a fun ride. I wish I wasn't so far away from NW AR...those are some fantastic roads that I'd like to hit a lot more often. I'd glad I was able to hit the Talimena Scenic Byway and a few others last November while enroute from FL, but there were so many other roads that will have to wait for another visit.

I hit Mt Magazine once many years ago, but I really need to stay at the lodge there someday. It looks awesome.

 

[Cav47]

Well done. Enjoyed the play by play in real time. That was some very thick fog. I would have taken a break too. That weather coming from the west was scary. There will be other times.
Hey 123 is my favorite Arkansas road. I could run from jasper to Clarksville and back all weekend long

It's a good thing you didn't drag Pants along on those routes, he doesn't know them well and would be holding you up all the time since he is so slow. The new bike would have essentially rendered him stopped. HAHA, actually, Pants took us on some of those same roads and bridges and it was magnificent. Very cool to see another set of pictures to help recall some images hiding in the back of my mind. Thanks for the report!!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Nice ... love your reports, but where is the anguish, the fights, the stoney silence over route choices?
Slacker!

No drama when it is just Pop and me. We both needed a motorcycle "getaway". This one was just exciting enough to be fun yet calm enough to be relaxing.

A couple of times there was a discrepancy between my typed directions and the Arkansas road signs and Pop always had the same response. "I don't care. I'm riding my motorcycle."

I smell sarcasm...

Glad you and Pops got out to enjoy a few (s)miles together... it's not the number of them but the quality.

From moi? Can't be.

Maybe a Michelin pr-3 or 4 back tire?

On the Absolutely Must Do List. The set of black Kurvey Girl valve stems is already at the house waiting.

Wait. You rode all the way to Arkansas and didn't stop for buttermilk pie in Oark? WTF man, what a waste of a trip.

I was still full from the excellent breakfast at the Mt. Magazine Lodge. I was trying to impress the waitress with how much I could eat.

Nice rr RFH. Wondered why you hadn't been posting lately. How are your ribs doing these days? Back to (semi-)normal yet?

Ribs are fine, thank you for asking. Unfortunately there is a much thicker layer of fat over them. I could not exercise or work very hard until they healed and I was working straight 12 hour nights for 6 and a half months. All that knocked a hole in my happiness and put unwanted pounds on my body.

Great fun! Wish I still had my dad. Congrats on a great trip.
I'm sure your wife was happy to see you get back home safe.

Mrs. Redfish hates me. There are only a few ways I know to make her happy. 1) A large pizza. 2) A One Hundred Dollar Bill 3) Me leaving.

The poor woman is destined for sainthood after putting up with me, it is a shame I talk so badly about her.

A good report and glad y'all got to enjoy some of AR together...even if you did have to tolerate Mt Magazine Lodge.
Sorry you had to cut the trip short as there is a LOT more to ride and see. 123 east of 7 is the best road in the state, IMO. You were only a few miles from it too. Guess that means y'all will have to come back.

I had planned to take that section as well for just that reason. However, things came up that interfered. Honestly, the way my back tire was behaving I was running out of courage. If I slammed it on over it would stick and go but at anything other than a hard lean it was all over the place. It felt like it was made of hard plastic.

Well done. Enjoyed the play by play in real time. That was some very thick fog. I would have taken a break too. That weather coming from the west was scary. There will be other times.

Hey 123 is my favorite Arkansas road. I could run from jasper to Clarksville and back all weekend long

It's a good thing you didn't drag Pants along on those routes, he doesn't know them well and would be holding you up all the time since he is so slow. The new bike would have essentially rendered him stopped. HAHA, actually, Pants took us on some of those same roads and bridges and it was magnificent. Very cool to see another set of pictures to help recall some images hiding in the back of my mind. Thanks for the report!!

'Pants is never the one slowing me down, it is always the other way around. I don't think the new bike has slowed him down any at all.

 

[Dudewado]

Very nice, RH. Glad you and your Dad had a good one.

I agree with your tire opinion; I couldn't wait to get new tires on the '14. The stock tires followed every groove in the road.

That '15 color is really growing on me.

 

[Hotboot]

Wait. You rode all the way to Arkansas and didn't stop for buttermilk pie in Oark? WTF man, what a waste of a trip.

No kidding.....go back !

Nice trip. Arkansas rocks.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Wait. You rode all the way to Arkansas and didn't stop for buttermilk pie in Oark? WTF man, what a waste of a trip.

I was still full from the excellent breakfast at the Mt. Magazine Lodge. I was trying to impress the waitress with how much I could eat.

Lamest excuse ever. The only good excuse for missing out on buttermilk pie in Oark comes from "Grommet" on the FZ1 board.

I was going to order the buttermilk pie but the waitress was going around the table and gixxerjasen sitting next to me ordered and got the last slice.

And no, I didn't share.

 

[hppants]

Usually when I'm at the Oark Store, if I can convince whomever is with me, I like to split two pieces of pie - that way we get to try 2 varieties. Of course that makes it only 1/2 as hard to decide, which are not much better odds since I usually see at least 10 varieties that I would like.

 

[FJRBandit]

RF, after your damning review of Mt. Magazine, I may just have to head there myself to see if you are telling the truth.

Glad you and Pop got a chance to head out and spend some time on the FJR's. BTW - nice bike dude!

 

[Redfish Hunter]

One thing that might be worth adding about the Lodge at Mt. Magazine is that it is located in a dry county. However, there is a very nice bar at the lodge and you have the option to have a drink with your meal. They offer you an application to join the "Private Club" at the desk when you check in. Pretty sweet really.

 

[David Foley]

Mrs. Redfish hates me. There are only a few ways I know to make her happy. 1) A large pizza. 2) A One Hundred Dollar Bill 3) Me leaving.
The poor woman is destined for sainthood after putting up with me, it is a shame I talk so badly about her.

Hilarious! Great ride report RedFish. I love riding in Arkansas!

 

[FJRMGM]

Nice report.

Let me know when you are coming back and I will show you around.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Thanks for the offer. I have to tell you that you would be bored to tears by how slow we ride. In many cases we look like a couple of Harley riders we move so slowly.

Okay, we are not quite that slow...

I have been going over our options for this year and have not decided yet where or when we are going. Arkansas is close, easy, and relatively inexpensive. I am certain that with a set of Michelins in place of the OEM Bridgestones Arkansas would be a wonderful time for me.

 

[steveoreno]

I can't wait till June to get out to the Ozarks and your ride report makes me even more eager to get out there. I worked in the Missouri Ozarks many years ago but I suspect it's safe to go back now!