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My first ever ride report!!!

Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
189
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0
Location
Dallas, TX
First Name
Ken
Last Name
Williamson
Well, I bought my first motorcycle back in January in a fly & ride from Austin to Dallas. That was my first time EVER on surface streets on a motorcycle. I've been riding almost every day since, rain or shine, and am definately hooked. Now it's time for a real trip! :rider:

My plans are to leave the Dallas, TX area for spring break and run up to NW Arkansas for about a week. Having read a lot of stuff here and on ADVrider, I have learned that many advise people to post their planned route just in case it's necessary to go looking for a busted up downed rider.

So, here it is. :deal:

To shave a little time, I'll be leaving around 6am and taking the interstate (I30) to Texarkana for the first leg of the journey.

From there, I'll kick north up US 71 and then hook up to AR 27 just north of Millwood lake. AR 27 will wind all the way up to Russellville where I'll jog west on AR 64 and then connect on to AR 21 north all the way up to Berryville, AR.

According to the route I've planned, it looks like it will be somewhere around 467 miles, and the great majority of the Arkansas portion will be on roads listed on my maps as scenic. I should pass thru a few state parks and national forests, so hopefully I'll end up with some decent pic opportunities, but my camera skills leave a lot to be desired. I've ridden up AR 21 in cars before and have often fantasized of riding those twisties on two wheels, so I can hardly wait for this trip!

I don't see any reason why I can't make it in one day, but as a new rider, I have decided that I'll stop somewhere if I get fatigued. I doubt I'll be able to update this report until I get all settled in up there, but I'll do my best.

I'm going up to visit some really good friends up there that I haven't seen in many years. One of them is a big deal at Wilson Combat and the other is the main guy at IDPA, so expect some gun porn too!

Updates to follow...:-P

Ken
 
You will be spoiled riding Arkansas...
Enjoy and be careful.
 
Riding in Arkansas is a waste of time!:trust: There are straighter roads and less hills in North-Texas and you can put many more miles per hours on your new to you bike. ;-) By the way, if you are near Texarkana by lunch time, check out the Burger Combo @ Road Runner in Nash. Jalepeno, Cheese and Bacon is my favorite.
 
Well, I made it safe & sound... but a little behind schedule. When I left Dallas Friday morning, the weatherman said it was 41 degrees with a wind chill in the low 30's and a good chance of rain. Despite the best efforts of family to convince me to delay my departure, I decided to go for it even though I did not have rain gear.

I intended to leave by seven am, but despite my best efforts, I didn't actually get on the road till about 9:30am. Somehow, and I'm guessing gremlins were responsible, my clutch cable was all jacked up and I spent about 30 minutes getting that sorted out. There were other issues too, but the bottom line was that I got a later start than intended.

The ride out to Texarkana was COLD! I was wearing jeans with thermals underneath and my daily riding jacket over a couple layers. It felt like I was driving directly into headwinds the whole way to Arkansas and my hands got so cold that I eventually pulled over and zip tied little pocket handwarmers to the grips!

Once in Texarkana, I pulled over, gased up and warmed up and the weather magically improved! Suddenly, it was in the 60's and beautiful! I made my way north from Texarkana up Hwy 71 until cutting on to Hwy 27 all the way up to Russellville.

From Russellville, I cut west onto Hwy 21 and went north all the way up to my destination.

However, it was not nearly as easy as that sounds...

First of all, while I knew that I would periodically stop for the obligatory ride report pics, I had no idea how much time that would eventually aggregate up to. By the time I got to the Ozone burger barn, the sun was falling fast, and so was the temperature. Soon, I was freezing again and I was confronted with the prospect of finishing the last hour of the trip at night.

Now, please understand that I love my KLR, but the headlight on that thing is for the birds! I swear it throws out more shadows than it does light. Even though the sky was clear and the stars bright, IT WAS STILL VERY DARK. I actually thought about pulling over and making camp for the night, but common sense could not overcome my pride and I braved the dark and the deer and kept going.

I finally made it to Marble just south of my buddy's house where he agreed to meet me. I made the call and within ten minutes my best friends had arrived with the good news that their wives were setting the dinner table at that very moment preparing to feed me a fine home cooked meal.

I followed them back towards the house up Hwy 21 when my buddy pulled on to a side road that literally turned into a muddy dirt road within about 20 feet. Well, cold, tired and dark is about as good a way as any to make my first bike ride off road... so I followed them up the mountain a couple of miles to his house.

Holy smokes fellas! I hadn't visited since before they bought this house and I had no idea of the paradise they had created. See, my buddy works for Wilson Combat and does okay for himself. As a matter of fact, he does well enough to have bought this 40+ acre property on top of a mountain. It is simply beautiful!

So, now that I've been here a day or so, I'm now sitting in his basement next to the gun room (see... if it's measured in square feet as opposed to cubic inches... its no longer a gun safe) and typing this up while sharing a bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon. I may never go home!

Once I figure out how to post pics, I will. But for now, I'm planning a day trip for later in the week that will loop up to Eureka Springs, down Hwy 23, over to the lost valley and up thru the Buffalo WMA, up to Harrison and back over to Berryville.

Til then....

ken
 
Well, I made it safe & sound... but a little behind schedule. ... while I knew that I would periodically stop for the obligatory ride report pics, I had no idea how much time that would eventually aggregate up to. By the time I got to the Ozone burger barn, the sun was falling fast, and so was the temperature....... I may never go home!...

Glad you made it safely. Hey: At a minimum, get you some windproof rain pants (Walmart has some in the camping section that really help in a pinch -- I got some in Mena when the weather turned unexpectedly cold & wet when I was on my sidecar rig). Plus maybe some glove liners -- I have put the pocket warmers on the back of my hands inside the gloves.

Yes, it takes a little experience to learn to plan a ride that includes stopping to take pics -- it does take quite a bit longer than you anticipate.

Nice country and folks up there, ain't it??
 
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Nice report so far, but without pics........It never happened. Those are the rules. :deal:

Be safe and enjoy the ride.
 
Well, it is almost 2am and I literally just walked in my door from a long ride home. I hadn't intended to drive at night, but my buddy kept me longer than expected so we could shoot a bunch of rounds thru a couple of prototype suppressors they are working on at Wilson Combat. One was a 22 cal suppressor mounted on a Ruger 22/45 and the other was a titanium fat can hanging off one of Wilson's AR15s.

Yeah... I didn't mind the late start.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to get to work on posting some photos and more of a real ride report, but that will have to wait til tomorrow. Right now, I just want to finish pulling that corbin seat out of my butt!

Ken
 
Well, it is almost 2am and I literally just walked in my door from a long ride home. I hadn't intended to drive at night, but my buddy kept me longer than expected so we could shoot a bunch of rounds thru a couple of prototype suppressors they are working on at Wilson Combat. One was a 22 cal suppressor mounted on a Ruger 22/45 and the other was a titanium fat can hanging off one of Wilson's AR15s.

Yeah... I didn't mind the late start.

It was a great trip and I can't wait to get to work on posting some photos and more of a real ride report, but that will have to wait til tomorrow. Right now, I just want to finish pulling that corbin seat out of my butt!

Ken
Maybe some Hoppe's will help the burn? :lol2:
Glad you're home safe!! :zen:
 
kneadless to say... travel in arkansas is measured in time, not miles

but, i bet you've figg'rd that out by now

weather can/does have a very sobering effect on your speed, in/on the twisties

you were wise to be late, instead of..........

glad you enjoyed nw arkansas

you have just seen the tip of that iceberg, so far

shin side up
 
So... I left last Friday from Richardson and headed for a little town called Rudd, AR. That is technically the nearest town to my destination: Wilson Combat and my buddy's house. I had ridden the bike a lot the week prior and everything was fine. I went over everything and everything looked to be in perfect working order. However, that morning, I finally got the bike loaded up and overnight it seemed gremlins had loosened my clutch lever. So I decided to go over every nut and bold I could to make sure all was well with "Kate." For the record, I decided to call her that for a couple of reasons. First, she's a KLR and "Kate" just seemed to fit her. But, she's a KLR, so she's not exactly a beauty queen... so her name is also an allusion to "Big Nosed Kate," who wasn't much to look at, but was there for ya when you needed her. Also, one of my favorite movies is "The Sons of Katie Elder" so, her full name is Kate Eller... get it???

Anyway, Last Thursday, a front moved through Dallas, so instead of great weather, I was taking my first long distance ride in what the weatherman said was around 41 degrees with wind gusts of up to 20mph. They also said the wind chill would be around freezing. I can promise you that it was much colder that morning cruising down I-30 at 75mph!

My neighbor is a stripper and she was getting off work right as I was about to leave, so I had her snap this pic and then I was on my way.

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I hadn't gotten that far before I was FREEZING! I was wearing long johns under my clothes but had no other protection and my fingers were alternately stinging and going numb from the cold. This was my solution:

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I tried to be mindful of getting too cold, but for the most part, I just tried to make time. Before long, the scenery was starting to change.

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Soon, I was in Texarkana and heading north. The weather had improved dramatically and it was much warmer, but I could tell I was about to get into trouble cuz I was shivering and could not warm up, even though I should have by then. So, I pulled over and got a bite to eat just before crossing the Red River.

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After I started feeling better, I finally crossed the Red River

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It takes a little bit going north before the view really starts to improve, but just about anything is better than all the concrete and city lights of Dallas.

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Soon, I was crossing the Caddo River

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And found a cool little waterfall...

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I started into the Ouacita National Forest and discovered that I really like what these signs portend...

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This place was beautiful, but at this pic, I was just now entering the forest but turned around to get a pic of the sign with the bike.

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I like the ACU pattern BugOut bag. I've got two of 'em. They've been my main luggage for the last six years! Freakin' huge, yeah?
 
Up, up, up into the mountains... After a while, I was just riding to get to the next sign and the grin that would come with it!

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Caution... fun ahead!

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And finally, I made it to the Ozone Burger Barn. I had driven past this little place in a car on a handfull of occassions, but the first trip there on the bike was special.

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And along the way, I got a little closer to heaven...

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Before I left, I never really thought about how much time I needed to allow for. In a car, I just keep going until I have to take a leak... but on a bike, my novice butt has to get off every now and again to stretch and try to relieve the saddle sores. Additionally, I really didn't think about how much time gets eaten up with all the get offs for picture taking.

So, while I should have made it to my destination with daylight to spare, instead I finished the trip in the dark.

What I also didn't account for... how quickly both the sun and the temperature drops up in the mountains! After leaving Ozone, I had about 30 more minutes of light and then the darkness descended. Now, I made this trip with just my bug out bag and some school work, so I was fully equipped to pull over, make a fire and camp til the morning, but I'm too stubborn and prideful for that. So, I braved the suicidal deer and elk, as well as the darkness and occassional cage, and pressed on.

I don't know about other KLRs, but mine has no illumination on the speedo & tach, and I found that a little disconcerting. As the temperature dropped, I was freezing again, but I decided against zip tying more hand warmers and continued on.

Despite my stupidity and all the odds stacked against a novice like myself, I did manage to make it to Marble. Along the way, I had been texting my buddy to let him know my progress. As it started getting dark, he let me know that he would meet me at the gas station in Marble since I had not been to his new house and probably would never find it in the dark.

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All I can say is thank God for good friends who are looking out for ya, cuz he was right. His house is literally on top of one of the many mountains. I guess it's not a real mountain, but it is certainly bigger than a hill! Anyway, I had not really ever driven off road before, and I don't think cold, wet and tired is the correct way to attempt it the first time! Once you turn off the road, there is only about 20 feet of pavement... then it seems to go straight up and winds around... up, up, up...

Here's a pic I took the next day of his "driveway." This is about 800 yards off the highway.

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This is also on his driveway, not quite two miles off the roadway, but still a few hundred more yards to go before you get to his house...

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But it was all worth it... my friends house is amazing...

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And they had supper waiting!!!

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And desert!!!

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But the best part of the evening was getting to see my "Niece" and "nephews"

These are John & Lisa's kids, Eoin and Patty.

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And Alexander, aka "xanny"

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When I get a chance, I'll update this with more stories and pics, but I warn you, anyone who doesn't like the 2nd Amendment is advised to go elsewhere...

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I've got a picture of my wife from 20 years ago near that same waterfall!! Great write-up! And what a nice buddy to take care of you like that!
:clap: :sun:
 
YEA PICS, it must have happened!!!:clap:

really like the farkles on the bike:clap:

think i see a bbq grill, engine/radiator guard, after mkt hand guards, led tail light mod & a corbin seat

that should make for a SUPER TROOPER

it is well suited for your trip and the many trips, i expect you will be making in the future

DON'T STOP NOW, YOU'RE ON A ROLL:rider:

shiny side up
 
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