Two Flat Landers Battle the Backroads in Arkansas on a F800GS and 640 Adventure

Hey Yall! Chris (child) and I (Oliver) just got done with a multi-day trip to Arkansas. We found some really cool and challenging roads along with lots of high speed scenic gravel! This is my 4th trip to Arkansas but the first for Chris. One of his comments at the end of trip was that sections of the Arkansas roads were comparable to our recent Colorado trip!!

The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a blast!

The greatest part about Arkansas is the unknown roads and trials that sprout along the marked roads in the forests.... If you go slow enough you will see all sorts of neat two-track, single track or campsites along the paths.


We just got back late Sunday and I am still working on my pictures. Between us we have a ton of pictures, I hope you enjoy the ride report!


NEW: GPS FILE LINK:

www.seestoryrun.com/gallery/_20101003arkansasrr/files/Ozark-Ride-EnderTheX-Oct-2010.zip





Here are some teasers to keep you interested:

The first thing we did when we got into the forest was to do Warloop Road backwards! Here is my bike on the difficult section, I had tried to bypass the ledge but I lost momentum. Chris' bike had a different problem at this point and we both were worried...










This is an unmarked trail we decided to take. Started off really cool, got even cooler and then eventually got way too exciting for me, as you will see later in the ride report.









This part was really fun! We were thoroughly enjoying the trails and amazing weather!











The scenery in Arkansas is amazing! I love all the little creek crossings (many of them do not have bridges).

Hey wait a minute... why is my bike missing a plethora of plastic...? And why is my bodywork strapped to the luggage? :eek1 We will have to find out during the ride report

(At the moment I am afraid of how much it will cost to fix and if there is any structural damage but I still consider myself lucky to be relatively unhurt...)

Looks cool. In.

Well, with an opener like that...

sign me up!


hope you didn't bust your ribs.
(again)

I hear there are some really friendly people in Arkansas. Sometimes w/ even friendlier Schnauzers.

Look forward to the complete AR report. Went thru your Colorado thread yesterday, pretty awesome stuff. Makes me want a bike asap.

Dude I'm hooked again!

Keep it coming.

You keep saying that! I've been to Arkansas dozens of times, just not on 2 wheels

Hey Mr. J! Glad you found us! Friendly people/dogs indeed! I also hear there are thousands of pirates in Arkansas; they're easy to avoid though, just find some pebbles on the road. Pebbles are poison to pirates.

Thanks crazybrit and Oddball! Let's get this thing started!

Hi Kelly My ribs are good, shoulder and knees a bit sore (even through the armor). I think I need new riding pants, the armor moves too much to be really effective, my jacket does much better

Hey Jason!! Glad you could make it to our ride report dude. Thanks again for the firewood and hospitality. It is great to meet like minded friendly peeps in the middle of nowhere and share some good camping experiences.

If you keep reading ride reports on this site I'm surely going to bump into you on a 990 or 800 next time!!



Now lets get this ride report rolling! I'm going to post maps after each day and post gps tracks as soon as I get them over to Chris so he can host the file.

So this ride started with me daydreaming in my cube... Why not go to Arkansas again? The weather is perfect this time of year and my bike is ready to go.

I call up Chris and proclaim my plan. He takes a day to confirm availability of the truck and we solidify our travel details.

This time there would be no base camp, we are going to ride fully loaded and only use the truck to make the seriously flat miles to a starting point outside the Arkansas forests.

The first day is a truck travel day. Without taking a vacation day I wait for Chris at my house after work.






When he finally arrives (Chris is always late) we throw my gear in the truck and load the bikes.

Stopping for fuel... Diesel is expensive! (but so are bike tires!)







Stopping for man fuel...








I used to frequent Jack's place in college all the time. They have expanded their menu slightly since them and it is good stuff.

The ride up to Arkansas is in that zone of "just long enough" to feel like a real road trip but not long enough that you are kissing the pavement when you get there.

Music during the trip included: Type O Negative, Tool, Isis, Opeth, etc.

LOOK AT THAT ASS!!! damn oliver, add some NSFW tags next time!!!

Finding the cheapest motel in town, we settle down for the night and wake up to a glorious day!







I took the picture too late! There were a large group of pirates cleaning their windshields that morning. Chris was literally blown away that they were cleaning their bikes with window cleaner and microfiber cloths. He had never seen a bike so clean before!

The pirates asked us if we were there for the rally in Fayettville, AR and we replied we had never heard of it. They seemed surprised and continued cleaning their spotless bikes.

(No offense to all the pirate out there, I think they are really nice people and all motorcyclists should stick together! )

They weren't just cleaning windshields! When I got down, one guy had a can of something, I assumed he was chain lubing. As I was getting stuff out of the truck I hear the squeaky clean sound, I turn around, and sure enough, cleaning various bike parts... Seriously man? You're going to wake up early to clean your bike before a ride? Seriously?

...different strokes. Thanks for telling us to stay away from Fayettville guys!

If you mean your non-existent scrawny butt... no wonder you can't do any long highway miles!!




Hey look... speaking of Chris, his bike has a new shift lever. Luckily he doesn't have to ride with the sharp nub of a level he broke during our Colorado trip!







The bikes are ready to go! We leave the truck at the motel (very nice people there, told us to leave it under the street light so they could watch it at night).

I've got all my gear I usually take for long bike rides on here, much more weight than we had in Colorado.

No kidding, we avoided it like the plague. A ride later told us there were over 400,000 people at the rally and over 100,000 bikes :eek1 I didn't really believe him but I figure it could be done.




So the first thing on our agenda was to do Warloop road backwards. This road has been in plenty of TAT rides and people go nuts over it. We were determined to find out what was so fun/crazy about this famous road.








For starters the trail was very pretty next to a low creek. We are going the opposite way most people experience this on the TAT.







A wonderful two track road goes past several farms and houses. There are a couple ruts here and there so watch your speed!

We come to the famous mud puddle at the bottom of Warloop road. We have a good laugh but I know it has been very dry recently so the amount of water in this puddle is probably the lowest of the year. The ruts in the puddle look very deep so I can imagine after a good rain you will be up to your seat if you take the middle path.

This picture is from the west side of the puddle!






Not too far up the road we are bouncing over baby head rocks going up to a surprising concrete section. In the picture below you can see my bike to the right of the concrete. As far as I know the story goes that a resident along Warloop road began privately paving the road and it has deteriorated since. The worn concrete creates a large lip which is about 1 foot deep at the end. In this picture I am attempting to go around it and shoot up the side to a smoother transition.





I kind of get stuck on a rock and look back... Chris has shut his bike off and is starting to climb off it... not good. I stop trying to advance and go to see whats up.

Here is a better view of where my bike is when I stop to help Chris. The ledge is where my Camelbak is sitting. I am pretty sure if I were to be coming down this section my F800 could easily clear the ledge without a problem and be down the rocks. This trail is easy compared to some of the stuff we saw in Colorado!







Chris is cursing.. really pissed off. All of a sudden his bike has no electric power at all, no spark. We discuss what it could be and pull the seat to check for fuses. Yep.. the main fuse is blow.





Not knowing what causes the fuse to blow is frustrating. Chris is extremely pissed that such a small item could cripple his bike only minutes into the ride. We have no spare fuses between us (hey! I am a mechanical engineer, not a sparky, I don't think of these things!).

Soon we settle into a plan to get the bike running again...

If this is where I think it is (north of Oark), then the "road" after this (if the picture is in the direction of travel) had lots of very deep "puddles"/potholes and mandatory jumps or bypasses that I wouldn't want my F650 anywhere near ...

Very true my friend. I will post more details on the exact location of this picture when we get there. You know that pic at the start without most of my front end bodywork?... Well that incident was on this very road... :eek1

"Pebbles are poison to pirates."

Good one child, I strive to hit some gravel roads on every ride.
Jim