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Arkansas ADV Ride Aug 24-26

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Leaving 7am, appointment in Ennis 9am, Quinlan 11am, hit springs village 4pm. Fishing 4;30pm:)

See you felllers Friday!

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I'm thinking I might join the party. If nothin rips, ravels or tears before daybreak that is. Haulin the DR.
 
Last week when I suggested KSU up at 8:30 the weather report was calling for highs in the mid 80's. I see temps should hit mid 90's, do we want to move the KSU time up to 8:00? What say the group, yeah or nay? 8 start might have us on a better course for the Queen W. brunch.
 
MacDaddy said:
Last week when I suggested KSU up at 8:30 the weather report was calling for highs in the mid 80's. I see temps should hit mid 90's, do we want to move the KSU time up to 8:00? What say the group, yeah or nay? 8 start might have us on a better course for the Queen W. brunch.
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Ok by me


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8 for KSU fine with me as well.

Just rolled into Texarkana for the night. Will work till about noon and head over. Should be there around 2 unless I get delayed by work. That's always a possibility so if I'm not there for the ride, maybe I'll catch you all at supper.
 
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8 is fine but I would vote for earlier yet. It is 86 and humid in Glenwood at noon
 
Here, going out and about

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Final decision is 8 at McDonald's? Thanks

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Started a ride report thread in after ride. Put some pictures guys.
 
woodsguy said:
Started a ride report thread in after ride. Put some pictures guys.
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What was the issue with the bigger bikes? It seems there were some HAT’s and Teneres? What would you say is the difficulty level for this routes? I truly want to go in the near future once weather is better for camping. Any plans to return?


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There just a couple of trails that were tough on big bikes. Most of the route was perfectly fine.

Difficulty level? Really depends on rider skill. It was challenging for me, probably a midday nap for others.

Plans to return? ASAP :)
 
RobFelicci said:
What was the issue with the bigger bikes? It seems there were some HAT’s and Teneres? What would you say is the difficulty level for this routes? I truly want to go in the near future once weather is better for camping. Any plans to return?


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I'm no where near an expert on this but my take, just as Jarrett said, for the most part any of the bikes can and DID run the route. As one rider put it, big bike capable but not big bike friendly. Jarrett's group didn't do the Wolf Pen Gap trail, that is the only I would have been scared with a big bike in a couple of spots. There were a couple of switch backs, one where you came out of a bowl turn to an uphill, rooted, sloped to the inside climb with small steps with no run at it. I would have struggled there.

I think, at least for me, it's more of the fun factor the smaller bikes give off road. Another big factor is speed, if you're just exploring and wanting to make it through is one thing, trying to carry some pace is a whole different ball game. That said MacDaddy had no problem running his Tenere upfront everywhere. Looked like he struggled the most on the Ktrail as it was steep FILLED with loose big rocks that just kept moving you around and kicking the back end out.

As much as it is bike size experience might be the bigger factor, and size of you know what!! lol, I scare easily.
 
woodsguy said:
Looked like he struggled the most on the Ktrail as it was steep FILLED with loose big rocks that just kept moving you around and kicking the back end out.

OK. that is good to know. It is also a tire issue with most larger bikes running with 60/40 tires (Shinko 705) where it would be helpful to run a knobbier tire like a 805 big block.

I was concern in the case the route had some single trails that could potentially be chaos for a large bike.

I am getting my trailer ready and new Shinko's 805s. Hopefully, another visit could be initiated mid October ???
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:tab If you are on a big bike in the loose stuff, gravity is your enemy and the weight issue becomes more pronounced. The heavy bike has to generate more power to get itself up the hill. That means it is much more likely to toss the loose stuff out from under its tires as it tries to generate the needed force to push it up the hill. This robs you of the all important momentum when hill climbing. Once the bike starts to slow, it is often extremely hard to get the momentum back up where you really need it. Then the bike starts bucking around and you really start to feel the weight as you fight to keep it upright, online, and moving. Heaven forbid you stall midway up... Getting restarted can sometimes be almost impossible. Getting turned around and pointed down so you can make another attempt can be a real chore because it puts you in the position of trying to muscle the bike around if you don't know how to properly abort and get turned around on an incline. Rider skill helps with all that, but it cannot change the physics of the situation.
 
Rob, are you on a NC700X? It kind of looks that way in the picture.

I ask because I own an Africa Twin and a NC700X.

The Africa Twin has 9.8 inches of clearance with the stock skid plate and the NC700X has 6.5 inches of clearance WITHOUT a skid plate. I think every bike that went out there this weekend had 9 inches of clearance or better and had skid plates or some sort of stock protection underneath.

On these trails, on the rockier ones, I was banging the underside of my Africa Twin skid plate pretty hard on big rocks. It was loud enough it scared me a few times. Never did that in the dirt in the Hill Country as the rocks here are considerably larger.

Also, the Africa Twin has a 21" front wheel and the NC700X has a 17" front wheel. I think everyone on the trip had a 19" front wheel or better. I understand the bigger the better on the front wheel in rough stuff.

Personally, I wouldn't take my own NC700X in stock form on many of those trails. If I did go up there with it, I would only do so if I had a SW-Motech type skid plate and some Shinko 805's or TKC80's on the bike and even then I would be picky about which roads I went down.

That's coming from the perspective of a four month rider.
 
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