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Arkansas 500 is ON

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I actually know someone that isn't going and has paid if you're interested. Not sure if its a ell out or not.
 
The weather up here is Incredible. Rode from Mullberry to Branson and back yesterday. Learned the gas gauge on the 790 doesn’t work.........it was an adventure!!
 
WFO75080 said:
The weather up here is Incredible. Rode from Mullberry to Branson and back yesterday. Learned the gas gauge on the 790 doesn’t work.........it was an adventure!!
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That gas gauge is funny anyway. Only counts down from half full. Weird design.

You know the saying....the Adventure starts when the plan ends.

Ps..have a blast. Weather was great last weekend as well. I wish I could've done back to back trips. Ark500 looks to be a great time.
 
Wait...you took your 790R to the Arkansas 500?

I would have expected you to take your dirt bike. I think you have a 500 EXC. I would have expected you to take that one.

Did you take both or did you decide to see what the 790R can do on little bike routes?
 
2WheelNut said:
Wait...you took your 790R to the Arkansas 500?

I would have expected you to take your dirt bike. I think you have a 500 EXC. I would have expected you to take that one.

Did you take both or did you decide to see what the 790R can do on little bike routes?
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What makes a route a little bike route to you? I can't think it much besides single track that would be a problem for my Africa Twin or a 790.
 
William Wolfen said:
What makes a route a little bike route to you? I can't think it much besides single track that would be a problem for my Africa Twin or a 790.
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Tight singletrack, enduro type technical where you have to kind of just send it sometimes and hold on. :)

Basically any ride where falling is expected and you may need multiple attempts to clear an obstacle.

I can ride that stuff on my 790R but picking up a 790R is a lot of effort. Not so bad on a 500EXC so if I have to pick up the 790 more than once or twice on a ride, I think I'd rather be on the 500.
 
2WheelNut said:
Tight singletrack, enduro type technical where you have to kind of just send it sometimes and hold on. :)

Basically any ride where falling is expected and you may need multiple attempts to clear an obstacle.

I can ride that stuff on my 790R but picking up a 790R is a lot of effort. Not so bad on a 500EXC so if I have to pick up the 790 more than once or twice on a ride, I think I'd rather be on the 500.
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Agreed. I didn't realize the Arkansas 500 involved that kinda stuff.
 
I took the 790 and the 500. I let a buddy ride my 500 since he only has a 250 smoker. The Ark 500 is mostly dirt/gravel roads. The organizer sometimes puts in some single track but not this year. He did however put in a section called the Chimney track. It was Obvious that No One else had tried it in quite a while. The downed trees and rocks made it pretty challenging. Took me a bit over 2 hours to finish 2.4 miles. I stopped for about 20 minutes to back down an uphill and blaze a new trail because the gas tank was so wide I couldn't make it between 2 big rocks. I took the 790 on the slab up to Branson and back down and that was pretty exhilarating.
The Ark 500 nothing like the Palooza. This year the Palooza didn't include the single track like they did last year but Dale says he's putting it back in next year. If you enjoy gravel/dirt roads with some creek crossings, then you'd love the 500. They actually have big bike tracks if you want to do mostly slab. Some great people that all enjoy being on 2 wheels. Arkansas is a hidden gem. I took a bit of video of the tough section but have not looked at it yet. If it looks worthy I'll post. (edit) Just looked at video. Nothing to write home about.
 
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WFO75080 said:
I took the 790 and the 500. I let a buddy ride my 500 since he only has a 250 smoker. The Ark 500 is mostly dirt/gravel roads. The organizer sometimes puts in some single track but not this year. He did however put in a section called the Chimney track. It was Obvious that No One else had tried it in quite a while. The downed trees and rocks made it pretty challenging. Took me a bit over 2 hours to finish 2.4 miles. I stopped for about 20 minutes to back down an uphill and blaze a new trail because the gas tank was so wide I couldn't make it between 2 big rocks. I took the 790 on the slab up to Branson and back down and that was pretty exhilarating.
The Ark 500 nothing like the Palooza. This year the Palooza didn't include the single track like they did last year but Dale says he's putting it back in next year. If you enjoy gravel/dirt roads with some creek crossings, then you'd love the 500. They actually have big bike tracks if you want to do mostly slab. Some great people that all enjoy being on 2 wheels. Arkansas is a hidden gem. I took a bit of video of the tough section but have not looked at it yet. If it looks worthy I'll post. (edit) Just looked at video. Nothing to write home about.
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Makes sense. I'll definitely try and do the Arkansas 500 next year.

Palooza did have a "near" singletrack section on the South loop this year. I say "near" singletrack because I think it could have been done with a narrow quad as well but it was obvious that nothing too wide had been down it in a while . It was probably about 5-7 miles long and took about an hour or so. It was optional, but Ian and I did it. We also managed to get off the trail at one point and went down this steep, rocky hill that really was singletrack. Fully loaded with camping gear, we decided to just continue on rather than try to backtrack up the hill to return to the route so we did another mile of singletrack before we actually found the route again.

It was pretty challenging on the 790R but lots of fun anyway.

Like the saying goes.....the Adventure begins when the plan ends.
 
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