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RE: [ST] Arkansas Report



Thursday

At 7:30 am, Packed the bike, checked tires, oil, and other vitals - all
looked good.  Stopped at the local gas station and filled up.  Hit the start
button and nothing.  Dang!  Kept trying for a few times and still nothing.
Then I looked down and saw a big puddle of gas.  I knew right away I was in
trouble.  Popped the side cover and saw that the quick disconnect fuel
fitting (red one) was broken.  I thought my weekend is over.  I start making
phone calls and ended up calling my new best friend Kevin McDonald and see
if he had any fittings.  Sure enough he did!!!  Thanks dude!!  By this time
it's close to 1, work calls me and they need me to come in to finish a
proposal.  I'm there for 3 hours, and I still haven't fixed my bike which is
now at Lone Star cause they were on my call list and said they would tow it
to the shop since it's still under warranty.  Leave work, fix bike and I'm
on the road by 4.  I slab it up I-35 to Dallas but miss Steve.  I continue
slabbing on I-35 to I-30 for the long ride to New Boston where I turn left
onto 8 which turns into 41 to DeQueen where Steve and I planned on staying
for the night. On the way I see Brian and Stephanie.  We chat and get on the
road again.  They pull off in Mt. Vernon for the night, I continue.  Get
into DeQueen about 9:30 and there's Steve. We chat for a while and then I go
grab a sandwich and head to bed. It's been a long day.

Friday

Rain...Rain...and more rain. Oh yeah, cold too. Steve and I decide to get a
'healthy' breakfast at Mc'Ds while we wait out the monsoon. We think that
people are going to turn around and it'll be just us at Bull Shoals.  Steve
and I are getting really ancy to get going, so we pack up, put the rain gear
on and get ready to go.  Just as we are leaving, the rain slows way down to
almost stopping.  Great!  We take off to meet Bird and Rude someplace in NW
Oklahoma.  On the way the rain starts and stops just enough to keep us a
little miserable.  When we get to the hookup spot, Steve calls and finds out
Bird had a clutch problem and they'd have to turn back.  At this time things
are looking too good for the turnout.  They are 200 miles away and we decide
to head on out cause there's nothing we can do and Rude Dawg is with him. We
take off and Steve takes us on the Pig Trail.  Excellent road, good twisties
and nice elevation changes.  At one point we go over a crest and Steve gets
a little airborne.  I do the same.  Yee haw, I give Steve a big thumbs up!
We ride into Harrison to pick up a part for Steve's buddy Charlie at the
local Kawasaki dealership for his Connie.  We ask the guy where's a good
place to eat and he recommends Pizza Pro.  We go there and have an excellent
pizza and to our surprize, the wait staff was pretty good looking and
friendly too!  Fed and feeling good, we take off for the final leg to Bull
Shoals and Mar Mar hotel. We get to Mar Mar and find that everyone has made
it, well almost.  Dirty, Apex, Scott, Dennis and his wife (sorry, forgot
your name), Brian and Stephanie, and Cynthia are there. Cynthia rode her
Nighthawk 250 all the way from Memphis!!! Way to go!  We settle in for a
night of bench racing and story telling. A little while later, Charlie and
OJ show up. We have a good little group for an unofficial rallye.  We all
hope the weather is nice the next day, it would surely be a shame coming all
this way only to sit in the hotel.

Saturday

The gods must have heard us praying last night.  It's absolutely perfect!
The sun is shining, air is clean and crisp and the sky is a wonderful blue.
I think it's going to be a good day! And it was, this makes it worth the
ride through the rain yesterday.  We all get breakfast and Connie's Cafe and
gear up for the ride.  Steve's got a nice 200 mile route planned.  The group
splits up.  It's Steve, Apex, Dirty, Brian and Stephanie, and myself.
Scott, Dennis and Cynthia plan to run the route backwards. Charlie is going
to meet us later once he fixes his bike.  At first, I'm getting a little
frustrated as we leave town, there were a lot of cars and 35 MPH zones, but
once out onto 5, things start getting fun.  Steve turns on to 341, and all I
can say is GIVE ME MORE!  What an excellent road, nice smooth tarmac, nicely
banked curves and lots of em!  We thrash down that road for a while.  Only
one decreasing radius and off camber turn but other than that a very well
laid out road.  If you ever get a chance to go to AR, do not miss 341.
After that, we head down 27.  Not too bad, some turns and elevation changes.
Scenery was wonderful.  From there we head to 16 and meet up with Charlie on
his Connie.  Get some gas and head out again. Charlie takes us up 123.  This
road climbs a mountain and we stop at the Cliff House for lunch.  What a
view, I snap a few picts of the vistas.  From there Charlie makes a detour
from the planned route. I'm not too sure of where we were but we went down
the mountain into the valley, the roads were again great.  And Charlie is
really fast, he keeps that Connie moving man!!  From there we head up 235 I
think, and back to the Mar Mar.  I'm following Charlie who is setting a
blistering pace.  He definitely knows these roads.  We get back and everyone
is there safe.  I want more, plus I wanted to go to Misouri so I'll have 4
states on this trip, TX, OK, AR and MO.  Charlie and I head out for a quick
ride up 5 to Gainesville.  We stop, buy a lottery ticket.  And yes, I won
$25!!! (But didn't know till I got home.)  From there we took H or Y or T or
something like that back to Mar Mar.  This is my first time to MO and have
NEVER seen roads marked with letters before.  Weird?!  Anyway, we come back
to Mar Mar and spend the night drinking and listening to OJ sing and play
the guitar. (Man, I wish I could play half as good as he can.)  We call it a
night and get ready for a long day back home.

Sunday

We all say our goodbyes.  It's been a helluva good weekend.  I wish I had
one more day in the Ozarks.  I'm definitely coming back here. The sun is out
again so it's going to be a pleasent but long ride home. We all decide to go
to Connie's Cafe one last time for breakfast.  Steve, Brian and Stephanie,
and I are going to ride together to Dallas then I'm continuing to Austin,
Scott and Dirty are going to follow each other up through MO where Scott
will continue home to Iowa and Apex, Dennis and Cynthia are going to Mephis
were Apex will continue to 'Bama.  I put in a grueling 715 mile butt burner
and was home by 9:30 - 12 hrs. in the saddle, little sore but feeling good.
Total miles 1716.  Bike ran flawlessly the whole trip. Nice to be home. 

I just want to say thanks to all who went.  I had a great time and can't
wait to see y'all again.

John
Austin
'01 ST BRG

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