URAL on the Trans America, come on let's go...

Great report. I was in that area last weekend headed to Natchez State forest. Miles and miles of great dirt and gravel in SW TN.

That ural is the cats ass.

I hate you! I wanted to take a ural on the TAT!!!!

Get your ass out there, I left plenty for you.

Tuesday morning on our way back to the trail had us in hurry up and wait mode. I felt sorry for these crews as the sun was starting to rise as was the heat and humidity!


About 10 miles north of the town of Sardis, MS we were back in the trail, although I usually LIVE for curvy roads, these long straight one's suit the URAL.



I wonder what some of these little stores were like back in their "Hay Days".
I wanted this sign bad and even thought about how to strap it to the URAL



The first few dirt/muddy roads we hit had 3 or 4 sets of fresh knobbie tracks in them. For anyone who knows me this just fueled the fire. I was now a man on a mission. I wanted to catch and pass at least one bike on the trail! In one really muddy section we could see where someone had cork-screwed their bike into the mud. We were close, I could smell it!


I bet I've seen this sign a hundred times in various TAT posts. The old crappy bridge did not get us, THE SIGN DID! We rode right over the barricade but the Ural was too wide to get around the sign. There was a steep drop off on either side with a ledge or trail just wide enough for a motorcycle. We had to do a go around.


It was only 5 or 10 minutes but in motorcycle years we might not catch the bikes in front of us.


Next was kudzu alley! Or was that valley?



Soon we came upon another bridge out sign and like good ADV'ers had to see for myself. Not only was there no bridge on this road to be "OUT", there were no motorcycle tracks in front of us. Not sure if they were locals or TAT'ers that got lost?

Next came a fun, fast, straight and flat road that ran for miles parallel to the highway. The Ural was comfortable in 4th gear cruising about 50 mph here. When we got to the end we got on the highway we were just looking at and went back to almost the same location we started the dirt road from. Lot's of back tracking, did I mention the back tracking?



We rolled into the little burg of Crenshaw, MS to top off our fuel before hitting the levee systems ahead. This little hamlet was ghetto, GE - HETTO! The roughest looking place we saw on the entire trail. But, being a good, modern, non prejudiced kinda guy we gave them the benefit of the doubt. Brett, bless his heart does not have a mean bone in his body, this kid sat in the sidecar for 10 days and waved at every person he saw. He spread good will and cheer the entire trip. Just we we rolled in the gas station Brett nodded and waved at one of the indigenous people. The local responded with a mean look and grabbed his package. Brett was like "He grabbed his wiener!" I looked and he was. We just kept rolling and back out onto the road we went. We had several good laughs at this over the next hour or two.

Lot's of lonely roads out here. The poor Ural looks like a Third World Laundry Scow.



Out onto the levees we went as we headed towards Helena and the Arkansas border.




On one photo stop I caught Brett trying to steal the Ural



About lunch time we approached the Mississippi River and Arkansas



To celebrate I was going to grab a cold beer at a local club but Brett forgot his fake ID and we had to just roll on past,



After lunch at MickyD's we were back out in the hot sun and mid 90 degree temps.
Flat country roads, old abandoned buildings,



And then we found this do-gooder jackass.
My first reaction was GReat! Smooth, graded roads! But reality dawned quickly, these were now like powder and the Ural was all over the place. We followed him for a short distance figuring he would let us by as soon as he spotted us. NOPE! This jackass stops all the sudden and starts backing up without looking! :eek1 I am beeping the horn and shouting at Brett to throw it in reverse!!!! Honestly, we backed up in time or he would have flattened us.


And not far down the road is the infamous flooded section of the trail. Lot's of work had been done in this area and it was not holding water as bad but it is now loose, thick mud and sand. The URAL uses 2 wheel drive for the first time.


The remainder of the day is hot and steamy as we work our way towards BeeBe, AR


A deer watching as we approach,


And another one of these jackasses!

He blocks us as we try to pass.
"You boys lost?"
No sir
"You from here then?"
No Sir
"You know where you are at?"
Yes sir
"Well, you are in the middle of no where."
Yes sir, that's the point.
"Where you going in that thing?"
Oklahoma
He just shut the door and waved us on.

Great report! Good on you for toting the kid along - he'll remember it the rest of his life.

You can use your heel to get into and out of reverse, just push down the reverse lever - sometimes feather the clutch a little to help it in. To get out you just catch the ball on the end of the lever with the edge of your heel and pull it up. You'll get the feel of it once you do it a few times.

Ride safe

Kevo

The cuisine in Beebe, AR left a little to be desired. Most of the places on marked on my old GPS were long gone leaving us more fast food or trying a random hole in the wall. We found greasy catfish for about twice what it costs in Atlanta .

Wednesday had us on the road headed towards the Ozarks, I am again amazed at how long and straight some of these roads are, you can see this one well into the distance.


We stopped and said hello to the locals,


And even some of the local tough guys,



Out in the middle of no where, on a long gravel stretch we come to an intersecting road. As I pull the clutch in I notice I have picked up a fast idle. I have had a throttle cable inseat before so I just cut her off and coast to a stop. I fiddle around with the cables a bit without resolution. I look around a bit and find the right carb snorkel has almost fallen off! One of the clamps is totaly gone and the other one loose. We tighten the one we have and patch her up with a zip tie and safety wire (I am glad I brought wire and pliers!) and off we go.


The bike cranks easily but has developed a serious flat spot that has me worried. We limp into the nearest town and find a NAPA store. They have 4 clamps in the size we need so I buy them out and grab some carb/injector spray. I'm going to clean out the right carb, but as I go to check the tightness on the left boot I notice it's loose too. I crank her up and give her a few liberal doses of cleaner before re-attaching the boots. Not sure if it was the cleaner or the heat of the boots but when they got tight they wanted to squirt off again. I grabbed a few zip ties and made use of that tall useless bracket on the front of the carbs.


Fired the old girl up yet once again and headed down the road, we still had the flat spot in the throttle response. I grabbed some fuel cleaned additive, enough for several tank treatments. My guess was we sucked up debris and I just hoped it would work itself out. Sure enough, each tank of gas she ran better and better!

Brett took every opportunity to get out and stetch his legs, even if it meant turning bridges into jungle gyms.


Headed towards the Ozarks we ran across some more flood damage,


And then some pretty impressive fences! This had to cost some serious change! Another damned vulture eyeballing us!



Finally we start hitting the smaller foot hills and some shade! Temps were in the low 90's with high humidity. I do not understand how folks do this in August with all the gear!


And we even worked in a lunch stop along this great little creek. Had some good rock skipping challenges!

We even left our calling card for the next traveler,



Not far up the road we enter Scotland, AR

Right before we took this one someone came walking out, I
told Brett he needed to be thinking about how we live and be
grateful.



Stopped in the country store to top off the gas tank and sign in on the TAT Register. I was a little amazed at the 3 folks signing in as riding 1965 Honda Dreams! Any idea of where their ride report is at??


Scotland had just been hit a few weeks earlier with tonadoes of their own, lots of damage.

Leaving Scotland we head into the Ozarks, some cooler temps I hope and some better scenery.


Just the night before while reading a ride report I saw where someone mentioned being careful letting your GPS route you that there was a pretty steep road that turned into a hill climb of sorts. FOUND IT!

No pictures here as I had my hands full. The one thing the URAL does not do well is STEEP. I was up and over several ledges before finding a place I could stop and not slide backwards. Brett was out in a flash and blocked the Urals backwards momentum. With Brett helping push just enough to get her going as I walked beside it. It climbed over a few more ledges and around a few turns before I felt it could pull us both again and we were off!

The views on top this ridge were amazing,



Not long after we made the top of the ridge we spotted another massive storm in our path. We ran towards it until it became obvious that we were about to get drowned. Luck was our best friend on this trip as we found a barn and a hunters cabin just in time. We parked the Ural in the barn and waited out the storm on the porch of the cabin. We left a business card in hopes they would contact us at some point and we could thank them.

After the storm passed we were off again, the dusty roads had soaked up the water like a sponge leaving just enough to play in.


The temps dropped enough after the storm to make it a little cool but pleasant.



I liked this first section of the OZARKS, once up on the ridge the roads were fun and we were able to carry some decent speed. BUt you always had to be on the lookout for obstacles,

Acts like he has never seen a Russian motorcycle with a sidecar before


Typical for this trip the afternoon is fast approaching as is another really bad storm. Our goal for today was to get into OARK, AR so we could eat, fuel up and hopefully find a campsite or cabin to rent. That was not going to happen. This storm was mushrooming and cutting off our path. With the bike turned off we could hear lot's of thunder in the distance. With the destruction we have seen to this point we were not going to take any chances. We bail off the mountain and head to Clarksville, AR. As soon as we are off the mountain we are treated to a spectacular lightning show and temps dropped from about 90 degrees to the upper 50's in a matter of moments. We never felt a drop of rain and had the Ural strung out for all she was worth staying ahead of the storm.

We did stop at one restaurant on the outskirts of Clarksville but it was closed.


Another cheesy motel for the night and dinner next door at the "Pasta Trough" or something like that. Brett and I were joking and picking at each other as we waited for dinner to be served. We were so tired and wrung out from the trip we could hardly keep our heads up. I figured as I topped off the tank on the Ural I'd pick up a couple of beers and sleep like a baby, but NO! Did I mention that on this trip we managed to stay in 4 dry counties?:huh

Thursday we were up and at it early, trying to get back in the mountains before the temps started to rise. We had a few photo stops as we headed back to the trail. We had seen some stuff the night before but we were afraid the storm would catch us if we stopped.

This was a cool tree house Brett spotted. Goes to show you some folks have too much time on their hands,


Closer to the trail was a local artist who's property was covered with his creations. This guy was good, taking used auto parts and giving them a new life,




Back on the TAT we were again headed towards the higher elevations,



Ever see a rock formation and wonder what it meant to the local folks hundreds of years ago. I looked for a road up to this one but didn't find one and had seen too many snakes to hike it!




This picture makes the whole trip worth it. Hopefully he'll remember this trip and have a kind thought about me long after I am dead and gone.



Down the road a piece we see a private drive across a nice sized creek. Instinct and my inner show off wants to cross it, reality kicked in just in time and we opted to just skip a few stones instead. One of the draw backs to traveling alone is you are alone. If I sunk the Ural it would still be there. The creek was a tad deep for the air pickup on the bike so I am glad we passed on this adventure.




Next we see a fire tower off in the distance. I ask Brett if he would be willing to climb to the top if we can get to it and he agrees. The road (if you can call it that) was pretty steep and overgrown. Obviously this tower had not been used in many years. About 1/2 way up the trail Brett had to get out and walk as did I. At least unloaded the Ural made it to the summit. Brett's first comment was "I don't think a Jeep could have made it up that hill!"


The bad news was that the Forest Service had cut the bottom 20 feet of stairs off the tower to keep overweight, fatassed, mean and balding adventurers from scaling it and scaring their step-children.




The next couple of pictures do not do justice to the height represented.
Brett wanders over a few yard to a killer overlook. This tower is built on a bluff with a spectacular view. I have to keep warning him to be careful, that if he falls his mother will swear I pushed him. Anyway, as we near the edge Brett notices what looks like flowers out on the end of some pine branches. There are no vines on these branches so they have to be silk flowers! :eek1 Someone had to tie these out there,,,,,,,, I am thinking "Oh hell no!"


See the rock in the lower right of the picture? This is deaths doorstep! One hell of a drop off. I wonder if a climber died here or someone took their own life, or even dumped a body???? Other than that I cannot imagine someone taking the risk to tie those flowers out there!

Another picture not doing the steepness justice,

The track left was the Ural sliding, and yes my helmet is off right here. The bike was off and I was sweating my big ass off working the bike down this road.


Lunch was at the General Store in Oark, Ar.



Every ride report I read that mentioned this place was spot on. They were nice, friendly and loved the TAT'ers!

The Chicken Quesadilla's were the best food I had had on the trip.


Brett said the Chicken Fried Steak was World Famous! I had to act fast and get a photo as it didn't last long!


There was 2 other bikes there as we ate lunch, a Honda Goldwing and a Buell Ulysses. The owner of the store is hanging out with us as we eat inquiring about the Ural and every aspect of the trip. The guy on the Buell then starts asking us about the Trans America Trail. HE is on it, has never heard of it and amazed that it is this close to his house . He just comes here for the food, had seen other bikes here and wondered what the draw was?



GOD, I love these roads! (Although that would change soon enough)



Saw some more flood debris,


another cave or two,


And even a floating dog house!



Next we come upon the famous, or infamous Warloop Road.

This was a no go for us. Although looking back I wish we wold have tried it. We had heard over and over one section is just too narrow and there was supposed to be a tree down somewhere back there. If/when I do the Western half of the trail this will be the first stop for us. I WILL GET THROUGH IT! If we can get the Ural up the hill climb and to the firetower I feel pretty good about this.

Not a lot of pictures to cover the next few hours, but remember me mentioning that I would grow to hate some of these roads? I hated the last few hours of this day with a passion.

About 45 minutes after we passed the entrance to Warloop we found ourselves in either steep, deep gravel roads or roads covered with rocks the size of babies fists! We spent a few hours creeping along as the Ural waddled through this crap. Then we ran out of gas in the main tank (the only time on this trip). I was actually thankful as it was a reason to rest a bit. At this point we were both exhausted. We were hot, we stunk and we were done. This was the low mileage day for us coming in at 178. After filling the bike out of one of the spare cans we searched the GPS for lodging.

Only the Stawberry Capitol of the World would do! We were off and running to Stilwell, OK. The GPS routes us through lot's of other gravel and dirt roads as we worked our way to the Oklahoma border. We roll into Stilwell just about dark, which appears to be the same time they roll up the sidewalks there!

thanks for the update Jerry. More to come I hope.

After the long, hot, beating we took Thursday I was not pleased with the morning coming on as quick as it did. While eating breakfast I let Brett choose the days route. We were well into Oklahoma at this point and not that far from our destination of Pryor Creek. I figured he would opt to go straight there and lounge in the pool,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but no! Brett said this was about bragging rights at this point and wanted to finish what we had started. So, we headed back to Arkansas to pick up the trail. Just for the record my ass would have voted for the pool!

First things first, we stopped at the local hardware store to purchase a replacement cap for our ho-made map tube. Some dumb ass forgot to replace it at the last stop.

While waiting on the 100 year old clerk to fetch one from the stockroom, I noticed they had a SPIT problem here in Stilwell,



The map tube repaired, water and ice in the cooler we bid farewell to Stilwell,

The Strawberry Capitol of the WORLD!



I routed us back into Arkansas via as many back roads as possible. It took us about an hour to get back after our task,



The freshly groomed boulders of Western Arkansas were just as much fun today as they were yesterday. I didn't realize until after we got back on the trail that the rough crap would have only lasted for a few miles had we stayed and stuck it out.

Eastern Oklahoma was hillier than I imagined, but still had it's share of long, straight roads,



What a great ride we had along the river,



Then we found this nice little fixer upper,



An old, abandoned bridge turned out to be my favorite photo location in the trip,


Front page material?




Around every corner was a new site,


This bridge provided me with the greatest laugh moment on the trip. The runner boards on the bridge we farther apart than normal, so far so that only 1/2 of each tire was on the boards. The bridge was in great shape and there were other boards forming the floor, but Brett didn't notice them. So, just short of making it across the bridge I dropped the sidecar tire off the runner boards and he almost crapped!



Did I mention long, straight roads?



One last creek crossing and we were headed into Salina, OK
This is the lake just East of Salina, OK. Quite pretty but where are the boaters?

WOW!! thanks for sharing your awesome ride. Still have to say no fair cause I fell flat in that little river crossing

Many thanks and good Karma to you for taking us along on your Ural adventure. You are living one of my dreams!

Great pics, etc. !

thanks for sharing!

jimmy

New respect for Urals, still don't know much about 'em, but I now see the attraction! Thx for all your work writing and posting pics.

It's about noon on Friday as we officially leave the Trans America Trail in Salina and head back into civilization and a much faster pace. I have mixed feelings at this point. We are a full day ahead of schedule and I am glad to get off the bike, rest and catch my breath before the return home. I am also sad to leave the journey, Brett have had a great time together, I have enjoyed his company without the usual distractions of life getting in the way. We have functioned more as equals than father/son. I think we have learned a lot about each other on this trip. Looking back I wished we could have done the entire trip and spread it out over the summer.


We are through Salina, Pryor Creek and into Claremore as we head for our hotel. Damnit, it's HOT here! No shade and blacktop just radiates the heat!

We grab our room, unload the Ural and wallow in the air conditioning for a few hours before it cools off enough to head out in search of dinner. We let our noses guild us and the Rib Crib smelled too good to pass up!



Brett will testify, it was pretty darned good.



I was enjoying my sandwich too, until I saw this sign and had a Texas Chainsaw Massacre flashback



Our suite at the Micro-Tel had a small, day bed built in the window, above the air conditioner. Brett curled up here and spent the rest of the night either watching TV or playing on the internet. I uploaded pictures and sipped on a few beers

Saturday was supposed to be a day of sight seeing around the area and then meeting our buddies at ROCKLAHOMA about 4 or 5 that night.

"supposed to be"

We slept in for the first day in a week, 9am and we were about to head out in search of breakfast. As I get to the Ural I notice the spare tire is flat:huh . It wasn't flat last night, and it has not been on the ground in days, WTF? I search it over and find what looks like a piece of either wire or a ground down staple in it.

It's 95 degrees and as long as I have some cash left I'll be damned if I am going to be the one to patch it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, unless I have to.

We are off to the only motorcycle shop in Claremore, BOOGER JOHN'S Custom Cycles, Pawn Shop and Pistol Emporium . We get there to find it closed, it appears that Mr. Booger John is quite the hair band aficionado and has gone to Rocklahoma.


I dig through my list of emergency numbers and call VINNIE THE SNAKE. He lives down in Broken Arrow, OK and believe it or not is a real person, not an Urban Legend or Myth! At least I thought so,,,,, all I got was an answering machine? I figure he was out crossing the Alps or climbing Mt. Everest on one of his 2 smokers. (Later I found out he was siping cocktails in his the olympic sized pool. Legends get breaks too!)

The only motorcycle shop in the area was not actually in the area, it was in south Tulsa! When I called them I was assured they were "Right down the road", well them Oklahoma boys have a different way of measuring distance than where I come from cause they were "way the hell down the road!" We were also quite the draw for the locals once we arrived, the service guy paged the owner "Thomas, come to service that 3 wheel thing is here". It was about this time that Vinnie returned my call, he asked us to run by and I was about to until he said he was "right down the road".

By the time we made it back to Claremore all we had time to do was grab a late lunch, fill the cooler and head to Rocklahoma.

Great Father and Son trip. Thanks for sharing.

LnC

As we get close to the concert venue we see this,


Brett starts to get excited, this is his first concert and it's going to be a big one. We enter the property and get waived through the gates. Motorcycles park free and camp free. As we enter a guy runs up to us on a golf cart, obviously security and I am wondering what I have done. He is excited, "What year Ural is that?" and the we enter into a 10 minute conversation about all that is Ural. He also thinks we are dumb asses when he finds out we road this thing 1400 miles here! He also tells us that he's been hearing about our travels on the internet.

We tell him we are looking for some friends, describe their bikes and he knows right where to take us. Here we are nestled in behind the KLR's. For the first time I felt like we were bringing down the property values of the neighborhood.



This place has a real carnival atmosphere, there was as much if not more going on in the campground as there was inside.




Once inside there were tents and MoHawks,



Tattooed ladies,


And more Rock n Roll wannabee's that you could get your head around




I didn't think the venue was too crowded, they had 3 stages going and the crowds seemed to be spaced pretty evenly,



We did find these 2 ADVRider flashing gang symbols at the crowd




Cinderela did a pretty good job although the lead singer is only good for about 5 songs before his voice when to shit.




Although no pictures exist, the band SALIVA and Brookroyal were both great bands.

Then the Texas boys got up and showed the younguns how it was supposed to be done!


ZZ Top sounded pretty good, at least to me and the crowd we were in. Maybe not as sharp as 30 years ago but I was still impressed! I got a "Nice Beard" comment from Billy Gibbons in between songs, just before some drunk chick staggered over and grabbed my beard. Came close to flattening her before he hubby saved her.

The ride back to the hotel was a little intense for me. I had 2 beers in about 9 hours so I knew I was fine,,, but some of the folks I saw leaving were HAMMERED!!!! The ride from the venue to Pryor Creek was only a few miles but every other car was some type of law enforcement and they were filling the counties coffers! My guess is that most of the folks here for the concert were either camping on site or staying in Pryor Creek, cause the 25 mile ride back to our hotel was pretty uneventful and not many cars.

What an awesome trip. Your step-son will truly value these memories for the rest of his life. These are the times that positively shape a young man...

FYI - There are a couple of moto shops in Pryor, Oklahoma. I only have experience with Cycles Unlimited (located on old Hwy 20 east of Pryor past hospital) - Eldon the owner is quite the character. The other is a shop on Hwy 69 just north of Hwy 20 intersection. Hwy 20 is the road that connects Salina with Pryor.

Cycles Unlimited, 4141 Northeast 1st Street
Pryor, OK 74361-9410
(918) 825-3326


Custom Bike Shop, 25 North Mill Street, Pryor - <NOBR>(918) 825-0219</NOBR>
<NOBR></NOBR>
<NOBR></NOBR>
<NOBR>This picture makes the whole trip worth it. Hopefully he'll remember this trip and have a kind thought about me long after I am dead and gone.
</NOBR>

Sunday was supposed to be the day that we headed southeast back into Arkansas. We were going to The Crater of Diamonds State Park in hopes of finding a diamond large enough to pay for this trip! After 1400 miles Brett and I had a father and son talk. It went kinda like this

ME "My ass hurts. Do you want to spend 5 more days on the bike?"
BRETT "Mine does too, let's go home."

Sunday was the day I had been dreading. It was going to be a long day on the Ural. Lot's of ground needed to be covered, lot's of heat and minimal eye stimulation. I knew Brett was going to be bored out of mind as was I but we had to just do it.

We were up and out early. The plan was to run parallel to the interstates as much as possible to keep from getting run over. We were on the road before 7am headed towards Fort Smith, AR. Didn't see much on the way south, saw the Amish in one place



And we chased a train down just before Fort Smith,



Just before Fort Smith I told Brett I was going to break from the plan and get on the interstate. I was going to get through town then duck back to the side roads. Traffic was heavy and running about 60 through town. To my amazement the airflow of all this traffic pulled the little Ural along just fine. So much so we stayed on the interstate ALL THE WAY to Tupelo, MS!!!!!! And we actually passed a few cars!

Brett, bless his heart was able to sleep off and on the entire way into Tupelo



At one point I looked over and he has this long, drool stream flapping behind his head and over the back of the Ural. I pulled up alongside a tractor trailer and tried to get him to wail on the horn but he was too kind hearted to scare him.

I do not know how he balanced his head/helmet in all that wind and slept.





About 1/2 way across Arkansas, almost to the exact point the TAT crossed I-40 I saw something come bouncing between the sidecar and the bike, hit me in the leg and out the back. This was a rare moment that Brett was awake chugging Monster Energy drink. He said he saw it but didn;t know what it was. It took us about 2 miles down the interstate to determine it was our SPOT GPS Tracker! :eek1 Well I was not about to leave a man down so I pulled a U-Turn in the grass and backtracked almost 2 miles to and we actually found it!!!!!! I am very thankful at this point that I had it in a heavily padded digital camera bag. Not a scratch on it! How that thing came unfastened I'll never know.

We got drowned in a heavy thunderstorm just West of Memphis but other than that it was smooth sailing into Tupelo 556 miles for the day! On a Ural!

The comic relief for the day was at dinner. We found a Bonanza Steak House in town, yes, one still exists! While ordering I asked the cashier about the catfish dinner, was it whole catfish or filets. She went back to ask the cook and the cook could not answer her question so she brings a piece of frozen fish out to show us in case we might recognize it -- loser. I loved the look on Brett's face "Shouldn't the person cooking our food know something like that? Shouldn't that be a question you ask a person before you hire them to be a cook??"