RideForum.NET

Here are a few more, hopefully medium sized photos of the day. I always think I take a lot more photos, but this is most of what I have. I thought I had a picture of Kendalls new 990 all dirty, but I guess not. I seem to remeber a napping F800, but that must of not happened either.
More napping 'Strom pics. I was too tired to pick it up, so I did manage quite a few of these.


note the amount of goo, and the lack of tread.


Todd and Eddie discussing something important. Thanks again Todd.



Hi-Vis Randy and his BMW.


A pic of Troy taking a pic of Randy
That's all for today. All of this uploading is killing my battery, and I forgot the charger.

Thanks for the on the ride , ride report. Not as good as being there but my only option. Looks like a good time ....try not to take so many naps tomorrow though

rycomm wrote:We made it to Eureka Springs just after dark, and had a good meal at the Local Flavor (its real name).

Now I'm really upset I didn't continue on with you guys! That place is GOOD!

It looks like the rest of yesterday's ride was awesome. I wish I could have been there- maybe next time. I'm already looking forward to the next update.

rycomm wrote:I thought I had a picture of Kendalls new 990 all dirty

Here you go- now nobody can call it a garage queen!





Here's a couple of shots of the day one crew minus Ryan's napping Strom (and Randy since he caught up at lunch):





Extreme close-up of fried ribs- they are as good as they sound and look!



I'm glad I joined you guys yesterday- it was better to get out for one day of the trip as opposed to none, which was my other option. I got to meet Todd and try out the world famous Rusty Jug. I'd highly recommend it and am ready to go back and try some more. Plus it was a good opportunity to try out the new 990- I think I'm going to LOVE this bike!

Talk about turning the motorcycle fever up ! Five wild guys pulling into the Jug parking lot, Looked like a seen from Mad Max!
Thanks for stopping by and making my afternoon less productive with day dreaming!

I see a high fender conversion in your future.
Jim

stimmer6253472 wrote:I see a high fender conversion in your future.Jim

Yeah-that's definitely on the list. After yesterday's ride I decided I need a few things- a little more dirt-oriented tires (not too much though since the bike does awesome on the pavement), handlebar risers, heated grips, and I'm thinking about a skid plate. I'll probably do a side stand relocation bracket as well.

Other than that, I'm loving the bike so far!

It's getting dark out- about time for an update?

I don't have a laptop so no pictures from me yet.

Today was a fantastic day. We road all day and only did 150 miles. Our group of "pigs" rode possum creek road. It was great and exhausting. We rode it going SW. The first part from the highway to the waterfall was no problem From that point on it was a challenge on big pigs with good tires and and little pigs with low clearance and street tires. Much of the road was slick and what was not slick was rutted.

I think everyone had fun. I believe everyone is tired, I know I am.

Damn! I was hoping you guys were miserable without my company.

Good to hear you're all having a good time. Looking forward to more updates.

Randy and I made it home tonight, around 7:30. We blasted up 71 from Joplin. By Nevada, my fingers were nearly numb. By Butler I was more cold than not. My fingers felt stingingly cold. Randy pulled off the highway, and I was happy for the break. I added two more layers of gloves. I was nice and warm to Harrisonville, but by the time Randy split off at 150 my hands and feet were pretty much cold again. I was happy to get home and warm up. That may have been the largest temprature swing in one day I''ve ridden. Mid sixties to mid twenties. I think I was lucky not to have an outside air temp gauge on my bike like the the BMWs. That way I didn't know how cold it was getting.
I haven't had a chance to even look at the pictures from yesterday and today. It may take a couple of days to get caught up. I'm pretty sure we took a couple of Vstroms where they were never designed to go. All bikes and riders made it through without anything broken, but maybe a few new scratches.

I had a great time. I think I learned some new skills, and just how much abuse a pig like the Strom can take.
Eddie did a great job of routing us through some of the most scenic and interesting roads. Thanks again for making this happen.
Troy was sure to make the trip memorable by suggesting a few alterations to Eddies route.
I may thank him after the bruises heal. Actually it wasn't that bad, now that it's over and we all survived it.
I still wish I was on my DRZ, at least until the fridgid blast up 71.

Ryan

Good to hear that you guys had a good trip! I was wondering how you guys handled coming home yesterday. I was pretty bored sitting around the house, so I was following you on Eddy's SPOT up until mid-afternoon. When I stepped outside to leave the house close to dark all I could think was "I'm glad I'm not out riding in this cold."

I still wish I could have continued on with you guys past Eldorado Springs. I'll bet that I really wish that once you start posting pictures of the epic adventures you had Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday.

Actually the weather down there was really nice, up until sunset. I think it was in the mid 50's or so when we split from Troy and Eddie. It was late dusk somewhere about Nevada when you could see the sky change from clear to overcast, and by then it was cold, and dropping. It was still a great weekend.

Ryan

Eddie, Troy, Ryan, Scottie, Thanks for the ride, I had a great time. Eddie...I'm not sure how you find all the good routes but even skirting around Fayettville you were able to find some nice roads to ride. There is never enough time, but sometime I would like to check out the Ft. Smith historical sites...I must be getting older...did I just say I'm interested in history? Does that qualify me for the senior citizen rates?

Great weather...until the last 1 1/2 hour. From sunset, around Lamar, until arriving at home, I'm not sure I've ever been that cold. Rolling down the highway at 70MPH with a 15mph headwind when it is 20 some degrees is not a lot of fun. As we were riding down the highway I kept trying to think warm thoughts...i.e. riding up Pannel road on a big bike, picking up a v-strom out of the water...but my mind kept wondering if I would be the first person to get hypothermia while riding a motorcycle. When we stopped I couldn't hold my bike up because I couldn't feel my feet. Ryan, did you notice the looks we were getting when we walked into the gas station in Butler? I'm not sure if the looks were them thinking what of a couple crazies...or maybe it was just my jacket?

Thanks again and I hope everybody made it home okay!

Yup! Eddie and I both made it home just after noon today. We had a short ride up from his cabin near Blue Mound, KS. It was sunny and 31 degrees when we put the kickstands up at his cabin. It was 21.3 and overcast when I put the kickstand down in my driveway. Except for a handful of miles, it was all 70 MPH pavement coming home.

I was actually fairly comfortable. The only minor issue was my eyeballs were cold. Yes--just my eyeballs. My helmet must direct some air into my eyes somehow. It was much worse with my HJC airbox installed. The airbox is designed to keep your breath from fogging up the visor, and it works. Unfortunately, for me, it put some pressure on the bridge of my nose producing a headache.

On the way home, I had to turn the heated jacket and gloves down as they were burning me in a few places.

I'm sure people thought we were nuts riding today. They were probably right.

Many thanks to Eddie for leading the ride--it's a lot of work putting routes together and coming up with the plan. We even ended up changing up plan B into plan C on the fly with a bit of a plan D here and there. Eddie made sure we had a great time! Thanks also to Scottie, Ryan, and Randy for coming along. OK, so it was cool to have Kendall along for the start, too!

I was a little too optimistic with my memory of how difficult Pannell Rd can be. I told the guys, "it's a great dualsport road--we should do it". Eddie changed up the route to include Pannell. We spent a bit of time picking up bikes (the riders of which will remain Ryan and Scottie) and working through the obstacles. Half-way up, Eddie said, "this road is not big bike friendly". I have to agree. Oops. SORRY, guys! Ryan & Scottie get another punch on their man cards for riding loaded Vstroms with road tires up Pannell. Yikes!

More to come including photos. Great time!

troy wrote:OK, so it was cool to have Kendall along for the start, too!

I was thinking something along the lines of "trip highlight" would be used to describe my participation.

troy wrote:I was a little too optimistic with my memory of how difficult Pannell Rd can be. I told the guys, "it's a great dualsport road--we should do it". Eddie changed up the route to include Pannell. We spent a bit of time picking up bikes (the riders of which will remain Ryan and Scottie) and working through the obstacles. Half-way up, Eddie said, "this road is not big bike friendly". I have to agree. Oops. SORRY, guys! Ryan & Scottie get another punch on their man cards for riding loaded Vstroms with road tires up Pannell. Yikes!

Sorry I missed it! Was anyone by chance running a video camera on that part?

troy wrote:More to come including photos. Great time!

Can't wait for the photos to start coming in!

allkidd wrote: Ryan, did you notice the looks we were getting when we walked into the gas station in Butler? I'm not sure if the looks were them thinking what of a couple crazies...or maybe it was just my jacket?

Thanks again and I hope everybody made it home okay!

I'm pretty sure it was the two guys in ski masks wearing armored jackets walking through the door that got their attention. Maybe not.....
Ryan

I uploaded about 400 pics to my home computer. I'll start going through them tonight.
I'm pretty sure we will see Eddie on a magazine cover soon.

I'm going to declare the 4th Annual Winter Bald Eagle Ride a success even if we change plans and then routes and the the plans and routes again again again. I believe everyone has fun and got home safely even if a few of the bikes has some minor customization done (Ryan, I think your oil cooler looks better that way). We also got plenty of exercise-lifting bikes. There was also the opportunity to see the underside of an 800GS, thank you Troy.

Ryan and Scottie, good job in getting your pigs with street tires up those mountains.

It was fun riding with you all, lets do it again soon.

I made it home about 5:30 or so Sunday night, maybe closer to 6:00. Luckily for me, the temperature was fine and no heated gear needed, looks like the warmer air stayed south a bit longer. I had purchased an Olympia one-piece (let me know if you have any problems picking it out or finding me in any of the photos) shortly before the trip, and while very stiff, it did it's job and kept me warm and dry throughout the trip. I would almost say too warm during the afternoon as the exertion from riding the more challenging bits really heated me up. I think for my next adventure of this sort, I'd rather have a two-piece suit, and save the one-piece for commuting and non-adventure type riding. Just much easier to take the jacket off to de-layer or cool off a bit.

I had torqued my knee pretty good on Pannell Road getting off of the bike while it was on a bit of a camber, so, I ended up taking 62W out of Lincoln, AR after lunch on Sunday. It's a nice bit of road that I've been on before, low traffic and a nice surface. I had planned on taking 10N from 62, but, decided against it as my knee got stiffer and stiffer as I rode home. I ended up taking 82 off of 62 and just blasting home as quick as I could once I got to 412.

I too, although last, damn I am THAT GUY, again, but, would like to chime in and thank Eddie for planning out and leading such a great ride. I had a great time punching my man card, as Troy so eloquently put it. If you ever get a chance to ride an 'Eddie', or a 'Troy' (even though he thinks it's crazy that people keep following him) for that matter, do yourself a favor and do so. Eddie is a fricking encyclopedia about the area, seems to know every back road known to man, and I, like Randy, would love to take a more relaxed historical ride through AR and MO one day.

Seeing as how the most adventurous I've been on my wee was barreling down gravel roads and leaf-ridden thoroughfares, riding up the likes of Pannell 'Road' and Possum Creek 'Road' was only my second time riding that sort of terrain on a motorcycle so I'm shamelessly patting myself on my back today for being able to ride the bike (with some minor exceptions where Troy helped me up a ledge, and a few drops here and there) down the road and keep the adventure going. Any other experience I had on these types of roads was a very short trip (less than .5 mile) on a road that doesn't even come near Possum or Pannell level of interest. All in all, I had a blast trying to fight the little wee up the hill.

It was great to put face to avatar, so to speak, and meet everyone. Great bunch of folk to ride around with and can't wait to do it again.

I don't have near the quantity of photos that Ryan has, but, in response to Kendall, what I do have is a video of myself going up Pannell 'Road.' I totally forgot that I had packed the GoPro until Sunday AM. DOH! There's quite a lot of 'adult words' in parts, so, just as soon as I can get it edited (there was a long pause in the middle where I dropped the bike and I'd like to show it to the fam) I'll post up a link to the pics and videos.

Is it too early to commit to the 5th Annual Winter Bald Eagle ride?

Scottie you are #1 for the 5th Annual Winter Bald Eagle Ride.

We invaded Arkansas so I thought I would put a few pictures there: http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php ... count=6659

All, please forward a link to your photos so I can forward some "action photos" for the article that was discussed. I need to get the information the the writer by this Thursday.