rocker59

They are tuneable. They sound good. They're lightweight. I like the Staintune system much better, though.

Hepco + Becker bags: Parabellum windscreen: Then you won't have to sell your V11 !!!

old thread, but has anyone tried a 1093 spring? It's 150mm, 10mm shorter. I've been casually looking for a 1091 with no luck. How would a 1093-36/105 work for a 220-lbs rider who carries the occasional passenger or camping gear? The stock 1091-26/85 is definitely soft!

I splashed in a couple gallons of gas at Mena, then headed North on US-71... Everytime I see this sign I think, "don't we all?" At Elm Park, I turn North on AR-23 and pass through the old "town" of Chismville where I stopped for some photos. The old log cabin dates to 1847 and is a rare 2-story "dog trot" cabin built by Dr. Stephen Chism. He came to the area and married Jeanette Logan, then built this home for them. Jeanette Logan was the daughter of Col. James Logan, the county's namesake. This is the oldest standing residential structure in Logan County and is scheduled to go through a board-by-board restoration this fall. Chism House: I'm glad to see it fenced off and getting readied for its restoration! Here are a few more structures adjoining Chism House: Chismville was, apparently, a very important crossroads 150 years ago. Things change, though, and the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf put its rail line through Booneville a few miles South of Chismville. Booneville became an important division point for the railroad, which was later bought by the Rock Island Railroad. Crossing the Arkanas River at Ozark. Union Pacific's mainline runs along the banks of the river here at Ozark: North of I-40, AR-23 becomes "The Pig Trail" I arrived home about 6pm. The temp was still the 52 degrees it had been all day. Same low clouds, too... It was a little cool and a little wet, but the ride home was a good one! Here's a map of my route: Map Link A little more than 200 miles of great motorcycling! Thanks for reading!

For you folks that have not ridden it, Talimena Scenic drive runs along the Winding Stair Mountains sort of like Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway run along The Blue Ridge in Virginia. It's about 54 miles long, is lightly travelled much of the year, and good fun on a motorcycle! Map Link Low ceiling today! Beautiful road climbing upward: Soon, I was in the clouds: Beautiful up here, even with the limited visibility: The road follows the ridgeline: Views any way you look: Soon enough, I was near the Eastern terminus of the scenic drive at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The clouds/fog was thick. It was actually quite beautiful, so I stopped for a few photos even though I could not actually see the state park lodge. The mini train was actually running in this pea soup! I really like this one: And, this is how the road ahead looked: But, not for long. Once again, the road dropped below the cloud ceiling and I was able to enjoy a few curves: Fun, Fun! It all ended too soon. Even in the wet and the fog, this is road is great fun! Mena, the Eastern terminus of the scenic drive, was hit bad by a tornado less than a year ago. It was nice to see the town recovering, and work being done on many of the structures that were damaged! The Studebaker Dealership seems to be coming along quite nicely! So, too, the Esso station on the corner.

Man! I slept good Saturday Night. The air was just right in my mattress and I had a secret weapon! I brought my twin-sized electric blanket that fits nicely in the sleeping bag! Nice and cozy on a cool fall night! Around 0830 I rolled out of the tent and was surprised to see so many people still in camp. Guzzi campouts seem to usually end at daybreak on Sunday. Not so this time. I wandered over to the gazebo and grabbed a cinnamon roll and caught a little warmth from the fire before heading back to my tent to pack up. By about 1100 Michael D, Gordon, Gary, and I decided to ride down to Talihina to eat. That's where the fun began. Gary went first with his camper trailer, me second. Michael and Gordon followed. I could see them for a time in my mirror, then one bike, then no bikes. "Hmmm", I thought, "breakdown? Or, photos?". A couple minutes later Gordon showed up but no Michael D, so I hopped on my bike and headed back up 271 to see what happened. I found him about halfway back to the park, sitting in a church parking lot. I pulled in and stopped. He said that while shifting into 5th earlier while following me, his bike felt like it popped out of gear and wouldn't go back. We messed with it for a few minutes and it soon became obvious that something in the tranny was broken. About that time Gordon came rolling in, then Gary, then Carl. The consensus was that he'd spun the center out of his clutch. Bummer! Well, nothing to do about it but go eat! Michael D hopped on back of Carl's bike and we all headed back to town to eat: Michael D called a friend in Tulsa to come for him with a truck, so we took our time with lunch at Pam's. After a nice meal, Gordon and I stopped for fuel while Gary gave Michael a ride back to his bike to await the truck. When I got there from fueling, Gordon and Gary had decided to stay with Michael while he waited. Knowing the situation was under control and in good hands, I snapped a pic of Gordon and Michael D with the broken '98 EV, then headed out for Talimena Drive... more to come...

Held each year at Talimena State Park at the Western end of Talimena Scenic Drive, the Oklahoma MGNOC Campout is an event I'd never attended, so I decided to check it out this year. Saturday Morning arrived with cloudy skies and temps in the 40's. My original plan was to leave around 9am and take a long, circuitous route to the event, but instead I decided to wait for the clouds to break as predicted by the weather man. Well, by 11am it was still cloudy and cool, so I decided to head on down to the campout taking the direct route. Map Link A stop at the halfway point, near Pocola, for a bite to eat, and I was at the park by 230pm: After visiting for a few minutes and taking a look around the park, I set up camp: Something smelled good, so I headed over to the gazebo where I found Ken and Steve guarding the BBQ: And, got in line with J.N. and fixed myself a big ole sammich: The camp dog was keeping a close eye on things: Moto Guzzi campouts are known for trailers... Doug's homebuilt: Carl's: Paul's: Kwik Kamps are also popular... This trailer was pulled by a couple on an HD Streetglide. They stopped in for the night not knowing of the Guzzi campout. This is a new trailer built in Ponca City. A little large, but really nice: It was a little cool, so the fire was going early: After eating I decided to walk around and look at bikes. Versions of the California are, by far, the most popular bikes at these types of Guzzi events. You'd never know the California EV was a discontinued model. I still can't believe MG discontinued the EV Touring... Cal II: A couple of EVs: 80th Anniversary California: EV and Jackal: HD&M in the background: '99 EV: '98 EV: I saw three "modern" Guzzis. Luap's Stelvio (sorry, no pic) and Gordon's '07 Norge: Along with my V11 LeMans Nero Corsa: I was still hungry. Steve told me about the pot full of gumbo, so I fixed me a bowl and headed to the campfire. It was getting dark now. J.N. was in charge of keeping the fire stoked up: After a couple hours of shooting the bull, I headed off to my tent for some shuteye.... More to come...

Michael D just sent me the link for his photos: Michael D's Photo Link Thanks for the pics Michael D!!! Enjoyed the trip!!! See you next week in Oklahoma.

So, it rained all night Saturday Night... Yep... Gordon said it quit for half an hour but I didn't notice... We're talking inch an hour torrential tropical rain here. I guess I'm glad I didn't look at the weather closely before hitting the road. I might've had second thoughts... Well, my The North Face Rock 32 tent I'd purchased back in May did its thing and kept me dry all night! At some point in the early AM, I heard some cursing over Michael D's way. Yep, he woke up with a few gallons of water in his tent. I had pitched my tent on high ground (relatively speaking), on the concrete RV pad at our campsite. After looking outside at the mudhole the campground had become, I was glad. A quick look around my tent. Yep. Still dry after over 12 hours of constant rain! About 0830 Gordon came over and said the rain was going to get worse so we'd better pack up now. I crawled out of my tent and looked over Michael D's way. Yep. It's been raining... Michael D greeted me all cheery on this grey and rainy morning. Everything he had got wet overnight! My camp, just before packing it up for the ride over to Lindale. No pix of Gordon's setup, but he had one of those cool hammock tents and he said it worked great! Quick to pack up, too... He had to wait on Michael, and I, and got soaked in the process! From Hawkins, it was a short, but very wet ride over to Faulkner Park outside Lindale for the annual Guzzi Riders in Texas rally. US-80 to Mineola, then US-69 toward Lindale. I sure wish I'd known about the Old Dallas-Shreveport Road. Nothing like a "wild goose chase" in the pouring-down rain. My riding buddies are lucky! Map Link We missed the entrance to the park and had to make a U-turn on US-69. In the process, we lost Bill and his wife. Later they showed up after Dan called with directions. They were smart and went for coffee! Nine bikes made it to the GRIT rally this year. The weather was that bad... Georgeanne, the Texas MGNOC Rep had a great location setup for us! Nice and dry! Mike Bui of Houston, Michael D of Tulsa, Todd Haven of MPH Cycles-Houston. Ace Mallot and J.N. Smith. Ace won long distance rider award, coming down from St. Joe, Missouri to the Lake O the Pines rally and the GRIT Texas rally! J.N., as usual, won the oldest rider award! He ain't skeered of a little rain! Lots of coffee, bread, pastry, etc. for the few hardy souls in attendance! Highlight of the day was the really great spaghetti lunch! This is what I rode 350 miles for! Mike Bui and I digging in! Good times! Well, that's all the pictures I have. It was raining so hard all day that I didn't want to risk damaging my camera. Georgeanne really put out a lot of effort for the event. Too bad the tropical rain storm kept everyone away! I ended up winning the dirtiest bike award and taking away the 50/50 prize! I also picked up a GRIT T-shirt and GRIT bandana that were for sale in the pavillion. Michael D, Gordon, and I suited up and headed back North towards home about 2pm. North on TX-37, we rode together through some heavy rain from Lindale to a fuel stop in Mt. Vernon. From Mt. Vernon, we rode through Paris and on to Hugo, Oklahoma where we parted ways. For Michael D and Gordon, it was The Indian Nations Turnpike to Tulsa. For me, US-271 to Fort Smith. Map Link I had never ridden the whole of US-271 between Hugo, Oklahoma and Fort Smith, Arkansas, so I thought "why not today?". I could've saved some time and miles by running TX-37 and US-259, but I've BTDT! US-271 is a great little highway in Southeastern Oklahoma. It's lightly travelled. No truck traffic because many bridges are only rated for 20-tons. That's the only downer. Several of the bridges are under construction, so the work zones did slow me down a bit. The rain slacked off after my fuel stop in Clayton, Oklahoma then it got a little cooler. Damp and cloudy with temps in the 50s. Not too bad, but 330 miles of it and the rain had me glad to arrive home! Map Link Six hours and a little more than 300 miles had me back home in The Hills... Great weekend despite the rain! A bad day on a motorcycle beats a good day most anywhere else, no? It was a great 700 mile weekend! ;-T

Lake O the Pines. Skies were darkening. It didn't look good. Yep, rain was definitely on the way to Northeast Texas!!! I about wore my riding buddies out with all the turns, but Farm Road 726 was a great little route from LOP to Gladewater. From Gladewater, it was US-80 to Hawkins and our campsite at Lake Hawkins. Map Link FM-726. Well, it rained on us the last few miles into Hawkins and it looked like it would be raining for awhile. We found the campsite on the lake that was set aside for us. Luck would have it that the rain slacked long enough for us to quickly set up camp. It's a good thing we did that, because just minutes after moving all my stuff from the bike to the tent, the monsoon (remnants from a tropical depression) set in and would not slack up for the rest of our stay in Texas!!! There were a few hardy souls camping by the lake with us. Dan, Bill and his wife. I think that was it. Six of us nutty enough to sleep out in the rain... Dave and Nicole were hanging at the campsite visiting (and providing beer. Thanks Dave!) and after a bit, we all got together and walked across the road to a little dive honky tonk bar for beer and burgers. Convenient! Good food and cold beer on a dark and rainy night.... We all had a good time, then about the time that the house band tuned up, I decided to head back to the tent and get some shuteye. Most followed. A few stayed to listen to the band. They'll have to chime in about that... Here I am in my tent listening to the rain coming down... More to follow...

Sam Wheeler's Norton streamliner was a feature bike this year. One never knows what he'll stumble across at a motorcycle gathering. A replica "Then Came Bronson" Sportster. Nortons by the lake. A cool Trident tracker! Commando! More Nortons. Nice Ducati single. A little MV. A beautiful Ariel Square Four. Vincent! Another Norton. Vintage American Iron. An Enfield twin. This MKIII was ridden down from Bentonville, Arkansas by the owner of Bentonville BMW. The absolute coolest and craziest bike at the rally. It was ridden in from Colorado. The fairing is a cut-down Hannigan GT. The headlight is from a late-model Indian. The bike has inverted forks, triple disk brakes, single throat/dual injector efi (yes, electronic fuel injection). Unbelieveable what this guy has done. After a few hours of fun, we departed Lake O the Pines for Hawkins, which would be our campsite for the night.

NTNOA Lake O the Pines Rallye and GRIT Lindale Rally!!! The plan came together that Michael D and Gordon, of Tulsa, would meet me in Mansfield, Arkansas Saturday morning 3 October. From there we'd head South towards Lake of the Pines near Jefferson, Texas for an afternoon at the North Texas Norton Owners Association 25th Anniversary Rallye. My day started early. I finished loading my Nero Corsa and departed Fayetteville for Mansfield about 0715. It's a pretty easy run. I-540 over the Boston Mountains, then US-71 South from Fort Smith. Map Link I arrived at our rendezvous point in Mansfield a little early at 0840 after travelling the 85-miles from my house. A 60mph average! Michael D on his EV and Gordon on his Norge arrived from Tulsa at 0915 and we topped off our tanks for a run down US-71 towards Texas! Any US Highway on a Saturday is going to be busy and this day was no exception. Lots of traffic and a half dozen LEOs between Mansfield and our next stop, De Queen. Nice curvy road and a beautiful day, though, so I settled into a relatively subdued touring pace. Map Link We arrived in De Queen about lunch time, so we topped off our tanks after travelling the hundred miles down US-71 and asked the attendant where a good local place to eat might be. "Easy", she said. "Ranch House. It's my favorite". Well, it's unusual to get such a quick and sure response from a convenience store clerk, so I figured it must be good. Any cafe/restaurant whose parking lot if filled with muddy pickup trucks at lunch must be good. It was, and our waitress Shirley was a hoot! Sorry no pics from inside, but this is the place to stop in De Queen if you're hungry. Good food. Local atmostphere. Friendly folks!!! After a great lunch, we mounted back up and departed US-71 for a great little road , AR-41, that would take us to New Boston, Texas, and points South! Map Link AR-41 South! Michael D following me through the curves. Michael D and his '98 EV. Michael D and Gordon close behind on AR-41. After another hundred miles we arrived in Jefferson, Texas. We topped off with fuel and then headed over to the NTNOA Lake O the Pines Rallye to take in a little British moto action...

So I'm on my Colorado trip and, as usual, the MPG of my Nero Corsa is varying wildly... My running average during ownership has been around 38mpg... It's kind of frustrating because I always stop early, when I'd really like to keep riding. Lowest MPG of the trip has been on I-70 heading to Denver. We were running 80mph with a 20mph headwind and I had the bike loaded with three H+B bags plus camping gear strapped on the pillion... 31mpg on that tankfull !!! Worst I've ever logged on the Nero Corsa... Highest MPG was yesterday running US-50 and US-285 between Gunnison and Denver... Ready for this? 48.5mpg There was lots of 9,000 and 10,000 feet elevation on this tankfull... Unbelievable The bike only took 3.5 gallons to cover 170 miles... During the Colorado Classic, I planned my stops at about 160 miles just to be safe... As it turns out, I really didn't have to because the bike was returning 42mpg to 44mpg during the ride... I could have easily gone 200 miles per tank during the rally... I love it when it gets the good mpg up here in the Rockies... Problem is, I'm so used to it only getting somewhere in the 30s at home that I don't trust it.... I guess an accurate fuel gauge would be a nice thing...

thanks Henry!

I agree that the Z6 is a great tire! I sure wish they'd added a groove across the center of the rear tire to help with judging tire life... I suppose a tire grooving tool would do the trick... I'm anxious to hear reports from our members here...

OK folks, I've owned my Nero Corsa for over three years and just under 20,000 miles but have never had the occasion to remove the fuel tank. For air filter replacements, I simply unbolt the back of the tank, tilt it forward, prop it up, and exchange filters... Well, the bike is due for a deep cleaning after some serious rain riding over the past month... My Shop Manual is for the early bikes, I guess, because it doesn't show the QD connections on the right side of the tank. The owners manual simply says "to change air filter, remove tank. We recommend seeing a dealer for this"... That's where I need some help... I've pushed and prodded on the QD connectors and for the life of me, I can't figure them out... Can anyone tell me how these little buggers operate? Thanks in advance...

Your local BMW dealer should have the ME880 in stock...

1200 miles ago, I went to a new tire combo. Metzeler Z6 Roadtec front in 120/70-17 Metzeler ME880 Marathon rear in 170/60-17 (reinforced) Initially, I didn't like the combo. The first couple hundred miles... I started out with 36psi front and 40psi rear... After a couple hundred miles, I dropped the pressure to 33psi front and 36 psi rear. Much better feel... Initially the tires had the "falling into the turns" feel that I don't care for... That seems to be diminishing... The bike holds a line real nice, but quick transitions on tight curves is a little slow... I chose this combo because of tread life. I've heard reports that this combo will last 12,000 miles... We'll see... I really liked the Dunlop RoadSmart that I tried last time, but the rear flat spotted real bad by 4,000 miles and though it lasted to 7,000 miles, it was no fun riding the bike... I'll report back about how this combo works out for me... I'll be going to Saint Louis next week, then in June, it's off to Colorado...

Part 6: So, after checking in with my "rally coach" on the phone at around 0315, I stepped into the shower. I turned that water up HOT and literally stood there for 30-minutes. I was tired and sore and that water felt good! Then I set the alarm for 0600 to allow me a nap before heading downstairs for scoring... The alarm awoke me promptly (and waaay too soon) at 0600. It took me a few minutes to talk myself into rolling out of bed. I quickly dressed and headed downstairs to the parking garage. At around 0700 the rallymaster came down and started checking odometers. The new speedo I installed last week was showing 2049. I started the rally at 1354. 695 miles logged. Interestingly, in mapping my route to write this report, the mileage came up to 696. I'm going to check it again, but my odometer also seemed pretty accurate when I checked it against the mile markers on I-540 coming home... At 0800 the riders assembled in the Magnolia Room at The Arlington for scoring. Then it was off to Sunday Brunch in the Venetian Room at the Hotel. This is a great place to eat if you're ever in Hot Springs! After a great meal, the rallymaster announced the results and awarded trophies. To my surprise, there were only three DNFs! As the rallymaster announced them one-by-one, I began getting more excited. He went up the list from last to first through 22 names and my name didn't come up until number five! That's right, your fellow Guzzista scored a top five finish in a 24-hour rally his first time out with a total score of 1,000,072,576 points! I was a little shocked, but very happy I had stayed out for those last three bonuses!!! The winner, Ken Meese, stayed out until 0745 and accumlated 1,000,130,468 points!!! He had a fuel cell and had decided to bag several bonuses in North Arkansas overnight where fuel was scarce, then get a sunrise photo bonus at Mount Nebo before jamming back to rally HQ. He had a great ride! Looking at the other winners, I was glad I called it when I did. The four other bonuses I'd planned on getting before heading in were only worth 16,530 points and would've only moved me into 4th position... Of course, if I'd gotten those AND the first bonus at Crater of Diamonds, I would've made 3rd... But that's all "shoulda, woulda, coulda"... I'm quite happy with my performance and with the performance of my V11 LeMans Nero Corsa. I made mistakes and wasted time at some stops (partly due to the weather and its difficulties), but I learned a lot! I look forward to trying this again sometime soon. Maybe try a couple 12-hour events... We'll see... Here's the score sheet: 1-Ken Meese 1000130468 2-Tom & Rosie Sperry 1000105759 3-Eric Vaillancourt 1000100081 4-Mike Mehaffy 1000084596 *5-Mike Taylor 1000072576 6-Dennis Powell 1000068782 7-Doug Steeb 1000061781 8-Mike Gragg 1000056654 9-Mike & Betty Ligons 1000048362 10-Allen Dye 1000045738 11-David Morgan & Jan Cote 1000023746 12-Darrin Hicks 71628 13-Kreis Weigal 60772 14-Scott Harrison 59374 15-Michael Snodgrass 50990 16-Brian Collins 49570 17-Al Landry 45596 18-Heidi Still 43396 19-Robert Bolger 26406 20- Jim Mulcahy 0 Aaron & Rene Miller DNF Winston Oxley DNF Tony Hudson DNF Afterwards, I loaded up and headed for home, taking AR-7 to Russellville, then because of lingering rain and fog, hit the slab the rest of the way home. I sure was tired! (and a little sore) And it sure felt good to get back home! homeward route map Some final notes: The old Nelson-Rigg 2pc rainsuit that I got ten years ago held up well, keeping me dry all day, believe it or not!!! The Sidi OnRoad Sympatex boots that I've worn on every ride for the past five years kept my feet dry all day long!!! The Alpinestars "waterproof" gloves that I bought for this trip were "waterproof" for only a few hours. I should've bought two or three pair! Shopping for something to keep my hands dry longer is a new priority. If it had been colder than what it was on this ride, low- to mid-50s, I'd have had to throw in the towel much sooner... I need a good tankbag with a good map pocket. Taping maps to the tank in plastic sleeves didn't really work out all that well, although I thought it would be a stroke of frugal Guzzista genius... I think I'm going to get one of these with the optional large map pocket: Daypack II A fuel cell would be great. I could've gotten a lot more done on this ride with a 300 mile range! I've been thinking of one of these: Tourtank Of course, for rallies that allow them, a GPS is going to be a "must-have" item... (a good watch, too, probably ) The Z6/ME880 tire combo started off feeling a bit strange, but by the time I got back home I was liking them! They really push water out of the way!!! I was quite impressed and also glad that I'd put on fresh rubber for this ride. I'd have had to call it much sooner, if not for the fresh rubber! Well, that's all I can think of right now, except it would sure be nice if someone would come disassemble my bike and give it a thorough cleaning for me!!! 695 miles of wet roads have left it with quite a coating of road grime!!! Thanks for sticking around for this looong ride report... ;D

Part 5: By 830pm I was at the McDonalds in Dardanelle with many other riders, planning our attacks on Leg Two. This was a tough decision. There were several riders at the checkpoint who threw in the towl and told the rallymaster they were heading straight for the hotel. Experienced rallyists. They'd had thier fill of the weather. Seeing that had an impact on this rally n00b. As I sat in a booth at the McDonalds, looking at the map, and at the potential bonuses, I contemplated doing the same, though a call to an experienced rallyist friend of mine steeled my resolve to add more points to my total!!! (thanks bg) Choices, choices. There were some big bonuses available for me if I retraced my route into NW Arkansas and down to Talimena Drive. Looking out the window, I could see lightning in that direction. I didn't really have it in me to retrace that route in the dark and stormy night... A weather report told me that severe storms blanketed southern Arkansas. That was out. I didn't know the area that well, and wasn't in the mood to meet any tornadoes face-to-face. I made the decision to focus on central and north central Arkansas, trying to decide what I could get done... A hot shower really sounded good, so getting back to the hotel around 3am factored into my plan. I'd overheard a couple of experienced riders say they were staying out all night. Knowing they'd made some really big bonuses earlier in the day, I knew I was probably out of the hunt for a top finish, but I wanted to make a good showing... Looking at the map, I really wanted to head up into the north of the State, but my fuel range was going to be an issue. I had been refueling at @150 miles and putting in about 4.4 gallons. 35mpg wasn't going to help me tonight. Looking at the map, I knew I'd have trouble grabbing the bonuses without running short on fuel, since many gas station/stores up in The Hills close early and don't leave the pumps on at night... The decision was made to stick to Central Arkansas. Leg two would look something like this: Leg Two map Another rider, Kreis Weigal, decided to ride a few of these together. Good idea, considering they were obscure and it was getting late. We departed for Leg Two at about 10pm... First thing was to top off with fuel in Russellville, then run the I-40 slab down to Morrilton. There were several bonuses between Morrilton and Conway. Kreis kept slowing down to the 65/70mph range and I was getting frustrated, so I decided to pass him and encourage him to pick up the pace. He'd said he would lead for awhile because of his lighting, but I was in a hurry to get after it!!! When we pulled off the interstate at Morrillton, he told me what was going on. He had his CB on listening to the truckers. Apparently the State Troopers were working the stretch between Russellville and Morrillton that night. As he yelled (we both had helmets and earplugs) that he was slowing due to state troopers, we looked across the street and saw two Troopers leaning against thier cars looking at us... Funny moment, as I'm sure they heard Kreis yelling about "cops on the interstate"... We waved at them and rode on... First was a stop at the Bucket List Cafe. Well, the direction said "Birdtown", but it's really nearer to Center Ridge. Of course, we didn't know that in the middle of the rainy night on curvy AR-9. Needless to say, we burned almost an hour and almost 50 miles on this snipe hunt. It turns out that we turned around in the parkinglot of this business, but it was so dark, we couldn't see the small sign we were looking for... Bummer... 3090 points I wouldn't be adding to the tally. We decided to head on down to Petit Jean State Park and get a pic at Petit Jean's grave. No problem, right?, since I grew up in central Arkansas and had been there many times... As we entered Opello, getting ready to turn onto AR-154 and head up the mountain, we passed a local cop approaching us in the oncoming lane. He lit up his bar as he passed, but didn't turn around and come stop us... I was going near the posted limit, so I don't know what was up. We were just glad that we didn't get pulled over... We had another spike in blood pressure when we arrived at the gravesite. It was so foggy up on the mountain, that visibility was literally 20 feet. It was amazing. Even though I knew where I was, finding the grave took us a good ten minutes of searching around with flashlights. There were no night lights and the dark and fog were really intense! Finally we found it and got our pics. Bonus ten for me. A nice 8466 points!!! As you can see, even with a flashlight and a flash on the camera, it was difficult photographing the bonus that night even though it was literally only 20 feet away!!! Bonus eleven was simply a photo of a street sign at Bigelow, good for 2100 points. It's a nondescript little town along the former Rock Island's "Choctaw Route". Not much to see here, but it was on the back way to our next bonus. I'm sure it was here to keep us off the slab. Funny, but the weather sent many riders back to the slab after Petit Jean. I knew the roads, so told Kreis I'd lead us. As you can see in the map link, I-40 is on the north side of the river, AR-9 and AR-60 made for a nice little backroads route. Bigelow route map Bonus 12 for me would be the Chinkapin Oak/Pecan at Toad Suck, Arkansas... Links for this are hard to come-by, but Toad Suck used to be a tavern near the location of the present Corps of Engineers lock and dam on the Arkansas River. The tavern also operated a ferry here. The ferry operated until the lock and dam with bridge was completed in 1973. Back in the day, riverboats would stop at the tavern. Usually when water was low on the river. Folks on the river boat would drink at the tavern, "sucking down drinks until they swelled up like toads". Good marketing, maybe, by the old tavern's owner, but the name stuck, outliving both the tavern and the ferry... The Chinkapin Oak/Pecan is a natural abberation. Apparently an acorn and a pecan that had fallen to the ground grew into one big composite tree. A photo here was worth 6874 points... Again, it was dark and rainy... We actually turned around right at the bonus point but didn't see it... We retreated to a closed gas station to get dry and to try and figure out where it was. Luck was with us and a local, curious about what we were doing at 1am in Toad Suck in the rain on motorcycles, led us to the tree so we could claim the bonus! He thought we were nuts! He was a lot of fun, and got a kick out of our story of "a scavenger hunt"... Here's the local dude hamming it up for the cameras From Toad Suck, we headed the few miles into Conway for another fuel stop... The original plan was to bag a theater in Searcy, the Clinton Library in Little Rock, then the railroad museum in Pine Bluff... Well, it was 130am Sunday. It had been raining relentlessly all day. I really wanted that shower and a nap before scoring at 8am. I told Kreis that I was "done" and heading for The Arlington. At that point, Rob Bolger (he had lost all his Leg One points due to missing the 8pm checkpoint by minutes, but was still out there rallying) pulled into the gas station and asked us where the hell "Toad Suck" was located?! I departed, leaving them to contemplate the rest of the morning... Turns out that they headed for Pine Bluff after Rob bagged the Chinkapin Oak/Pecan, but the rain was so bad they turned west towards Hot Springs, arriving only 45 minutes behind me. I decided that it was getting too dangerous to ride the twisties back to Hot Springs. It would have to be slab. I-40 to Little Rock, then I-30 and US-70 back into Hot Springs. I encountered some of the worst rain on this leg. There were places with literally inches of rain on the road, especially US-70 and the "ruts" in the asphalt from the 18-wheelers... The new tires really did thier job, though, keeping me shiny side up and carrying me safely back to my hotel room... Here's the last leg of my trip: last leg map I arrived shortly after 3am. About 18 hours on the road. Approximately 700 miles travelled... Do I look tired in this pic? one more part to follow. Stay tuned...

Part 4: Before the rain started, I found a beautiful road to enjoy with the Nero Corsa. From Murfreesboro, I went South on AR-27 a bit, then grabbed AR-26 Westbound. Man! What a nice little highway. Nice pavement, nice curves, lots of cattle ranches. Beautiful! I haven't really ever ridden down in this part of the State, so this was quite a treat! the map to AR-26 Next stop would be Mena, in Western Arkansas. Here I would make my first fuel stop, then pick up the 2746 point bonus at the Studebaker dealer. Yes it was wet. I was wearing my old Nelson-Rigg rainsuit over my perforated Joe Rocket leathers: From there it was up to Queen Wilhelmina State Park for a photo of the locomotive on display there for 2906 points: Next, it was westbound on Talimena Drive. For a few moments up there, I thought I would be leaving the rain behind. It was quite beautiful being above the rain... That didn't last long... My 5th bonus stop was the Castle Rock Vista and a photo of the dwarf on the sign there for 5108 points: The sixth bonus on my ride was a funny one. The rallymaster wanted a photo of a painted paw print from the streets of Talihena, Oklahoma... At Talihena, it was raining quite hard. I decided to stop for a few minutes and contemplate the rest of my Leg One plans. Shelter was under the awning at the shool's gym. It felt good to peel out of my rain gear and rest for a few minutes. Maps were reviewed, then it was back into Arkansas for a few more stops... From Talihina, I decided to head up to NW Arkansas. I know it well, and thought I could pick up some good bonuses there. The time I burned resting in Talihina would end up causing me to drop a couple of them enroute, but the plan was coming together. I made fuel stop number two near Alma, then headed into The Hills to bag 4762 points at the dam in Devil's Den State Park... In this view, those of you familiar with the spot can tell just how much rain we had been getting Friday and Saturday here in The Hills. This is LOTS more flow than normal: I took the twisties of AR-74 back to Winslow, then US-71 North a bit. I then hopped on AR-74 and ran this curvy backroad route over to AR-16, then AR-23 to bag the bridge over the Mulberry River at Turner Bend for 1406 points... "The Pig Trail" was especially wet and foggy!!! Intense riding!!! I had realized time was getting short and I couldn't make Eureka Springs or Withrow Springs, so I headed South on AR-23 (retracing some of my route to the rally) to get a photo of the lodge there, gaining abother 5224 points... Yes, it was that foggy up on Mount Magazine!!! And raining, too... Some of the worst weather I've ever seen this time of year. Maybe the worst I've ever ridden... OK... Time running short, I head South on AR-309 for my third fuel stop in Havana, AR at the base of Mount Magazine. Then it's East on AR-10 to Danville, and North on AR-27 to Dardanelle, then AR-155 up onto Mount Nebo to end Leg One and meet the rallymaster who would give us the Leg Two rally packs... The weather was 'orrible... Visibility up on Mount Nebo was not much more than 100-feet. Maybe less. It was raining hard, and it was noticeably colder than it had been down below... I checked in with 15 minutes to spare at about 745pm (and with about 500 miles run), turned in my note to the rallymaster for 10,000 points, then got off the mountain as quickly as possible to plan Leg Two... Many riders chose a McDonald's in Dardanelle for planning Leg Two. I did the same...

Part 3: The alarm sounded at 0600. I awoke and turned on the TV for some interesting news. The monsoons had set in. Rain was covering Arkansas. There were imbedded severe thunderstorms and tornado watches in effect. Great! This is going to be an interesting day... We were required to be in the riders meeting at 0700. The list of riders included several IBR veterans, a few husband/wife teams, several 24-hour veterans, and quite a few rally n00bs like me... Everyone present and accounted for, the rallymaster began the meeting by handing out rally packs and "flags"... I was a late entry, so I didn't get the rubber chicken that everyone else had to include in thier photos, I took along a stuffed cocker spaniel that the rallymaster had OK'd for me to use... Upon opening the rally packs, the experienced riders recieved quite a shock... There would be a 1-billion point bonus for those riders willing to turn in thier laptops and GPS units!!! Of course, I would recieve this bonus because I'm a luddite Guzzista and don't even own a wrist watch, much less a GPS or mapping software!!! All but two or three riders turned in thier electronics... The rally pack opened, I could see some great bonuses available all over the State! I had anticipated Talimena Drive and the Ozarks, so that's what I went with... Many riders chose stops in Southern Arkansas... At least one rider attempted the time window bonus of photographing the duck walk at the Peabody in Memphis. (they missed it by only a couple minutes). Leg One would end at Mount Nebo with a window of 7pm to 8pm. There would be a total of 76 bonus locations available to riders in two legs. The list is long, so I'll describe the ones I visited during my ride... Leg One of my ride would take me nearly 500 miles in 11 hours. All curvy twisty Arkansas two-lane roads. Most of it in torrential rain. Here's a link to my leg one map: A map of Hot Springs to Mount Nebo the hard way At 0800 we were released from the meeting. Many riders headed to a time window bonus at Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro. the stop was open from 9am to 10am... I departed at 0830 and grabbed a 2600 point bonus in at Hot Sprigs Mountain Tower Then, I was a bit delayed by a wrong turn departing Hot Springs and missed the window at Crater of Diamonds by 5 minutes.... Bummer... 16000 points out the window!!! Second stop would be Cossatot State Park for a photo of the sign and 1380 points: This is where the rain started, and except for a short time in the afternoon, the ride would be completely defined by the rain and storms...

Part 2: After a bite to eat, I went over to Rally HQ to see what was happening. A few riders had arrived. Our parking was in the Arlington's covered valet parking. Nice touch by the rallymaster! The nice folks at The Arlington Hotel allowed me to check in early... Since I had a couple hours 'til rally check in, I decided to take a shower then go for a walk... Nice room, at a nice group rate! The hotel: The Medical Arts Building, tallest building in Arkansas from 1929 until 1960. Great Art Deco building incorporating "forced perspective" to make it look taller and more imposing. It's 16 stories tall... This is what gave the place its name. Hot Springs. At 5pm, we all checked in with the rallymaster. Total of riders turned out to be 22. After taking initial odometer readings, we took off on an odometer check/dinner ride to Cajun Boilers. My Nero Corsa looks quite diminuitive parked amongst the other rally bikes: I enjoyed a really tasty order of grilled shrimp, then after eating the rallymaster went over preliminary items and basic rules for this rally... After that, it was off to the hotel and get some sleep for the big day on Saturday...