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This is last minute and nothing may materialize, but...

I have all of a sudden found myself free this weekend as the wife and child are heading out of town Fri - Mon. It will be too muddy for off-road adventures, and the V-Strom wants to do a road trip.

So I looked at the weather briefly. Hard to know for sure of course, but it does not look very risky. The forecast for the Cass/Oark, Arkansas area looks sunny and low 80's for highs. (That is, safer than Kansas City as far as rain is concerned.)

So one thought I have is to throw the tent on the V-Strom and head towards Arkansas. Plenty of fantastic twisties and forest roads to ride down there and I know the area well. I'm fine going alone, but if somebody wanted to join me or if you have an adventure I can join you on, let me know.

Troy
(816) 739-9653

Hey Troy, when did you get a Strom? Wee or Vee? We just returned from a 2000 mile Colorado round trip on our 1000 yesterday! Some of the highlights were riding over Lizardhead pass for the first time, riding down a 16% grade into Black Canyon near Gunnison and riding to the top of Pikes Peak.


One of a little cabin that we rented in Eagle's nest N.M. one night.


The highest elevation that the GPS has ever registered.


We work this weekend or we would surely meet you in the Ozarks. Have fun, oh, and I highly recommend the loop that includes hwy. 21 from I-40 up to Eurika (?) Springs where you catch hwy. 23 back down to I-40 again! ('bout 160-ish miles) Yup, you'll go by our stomping grounds at Cass on this ride. We did this loop on our Motards in July and had a blast.

A pic of one of the few original hilbilly cabins that we found on Hwy. 23.


And one of the "only" hilbilly trucks that we found too!


Randy.

Yo Randy & Sandy! Cool to see you checkin' in here. My brother, Kyle, and I bought DL650 Vstroms.

I got the GPS wired on the bike and changed the oil and filter--needed it BAD.

All, my plan now is to leave at BCOD (butt crack of dawn). I have a GPS'd route to the Rush Campground in Buffalo River State Park South of Yellville, AR. There are some AdvRider guys meeting there to camp so I'm going to try to join them for Sat night.

Thanks to David Hemphill, I was reminded that there is a ferry on a highway that crosses Bull Shoals, so I'll try to find that and cross the lake.

Ajayhawkfan gave me plenty of tips about some areas and good roads I'm going to try to hit on the way home.

It will be an adventure. Still time for you guys to join me!

Troy
816.739.9653

Troy,

I hope you had a great time on your ride. Let us know what you did.

Eddie

You all can breathe easy--I made it home.

I had such a good time! I really like my V-Strom! Last minute before taking off, I found this AdvRider thread where some guys were going to moto camp in the Buffalo River State Park in Arkansas.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthre ... 941&page=3
It was further than I planned to ride in one short weekend, but I decided to go for it. I didn't take the shortest route, either! It looked at first that maybe 5 riders were going to join in. Then it was down to maybe 2 or 3. It ended up being only me! No regrets, though! Some solitude does the body (and mind and spirit) good.

I enjoyed the entire trip. Thanks for the ferry tip, David! That was cool! I rode more remote forest gravel and creek crossings than a guy on a loaded VStrom by himself should, but I lived to tell about it!

665 total miles
90.5 max speed
42.7 avg speed
15.34 moving time




My photos with comments are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wolf.troy/BuffaloRiverCamp

Troy, Looks like you had a great ride and great weather I hope for a ride to AR.
Here's a suggestion for the Forum. Mid-America Trials Team (MATT) will be having their annual Quarry Cup Trials near Trenton , MO Sept. 20 - 21, 08. That would be a nice ride on the Strom. I'll post it on the RF site. I know you like Trials, and this is a great event.
Go to MATT Trials.com and check it out.
Gary

DUDE.....glad you had a good time. Dont you just love to take off on your own. AR is just a hoot and soooooo much to explore and see. I love the Buffalo river area. I really like 74 hwy over to Jasper and the Ponka area. One of these days I would like to head down to Greers Ferry Lake for a weekend. Theres just so much to do down there. If you ever do this again let me know. I will see if I can go with.


Hayden

Glad it all went well Troy. What kind of MPG do the 650's get? Our 1000 got a low of 38 and a high of 44 on our last trip loaded with as much stuff as we could get on it. I see that you have a very big top case on yours, maybe at least 42 liters or more? We're looking for bigger cases as we speak, we have the factory Suzuki units and they're not big enough for 2 people IMO. Have ya done any mods to your steed? I have switched the factory tweekmaster bars for Pro Taper ATV high's along with the Scotts damper kit that is sold for the Stroms. Wow, what a difference! The damper almost completely eliminates problems associated with high winds and the ProTapers allow you to stand for as long as you want to, and are rock solid when compared to the flimsy stockers.

Congrats on the new bike and the successful first trip!

Oh, in case anyone can go, we're headed that same direction for the weekend of 10/24 - 10/26ish to try and catch some of the fall color changes.

Randy.

Nobiman wrote:Glad it all went well Troy. What kind of MPG do the 650's get? Our 1000 got a low of 38 and a high of 44 on our last trip loaded with as much stuff as we could get on it. I see that you have a very big top case on yours, maybe at least 42 liters or more? We're looking for bigger cases as we speak, we have the factory Suzuki units and they're not big enough for 2 people IMO. Have ya done any mods to your steed?

I've checked the mileage at most fill-ups for the last month. I'm putting 60 miles a day on commuting to work except when the weather is so nasty I choose not to ride. I've seen mileage from the worst of 48.x to the best of 54.x Most times, it comes in right around 51.x.

I don't know what size my top case is, but I can barely close it with 2 helmets. The bike came loaded up with probably every option it will ever need while I own it. The previous owner purchased it in January 2008 as a stock machine. He then proceeded to gear it up for his big Alaska trip. He spent about $1700 in farkles including the full Givi cases. Skid plate, oil cooler guard, engine crash guards, fenda-extenda, heated grips, center-stand, taller windshield, handguards, "BMW" outlet and another accessory switch--connected to a secondary fuse box under the seat, plus a few custom modifications. Then his wife reminded him about a promise to give up motorcycles when his 2 girls got old enough to need daddy around. So he sold it all. I picked up an Aerostitch heated vest in perfect condition for $50. The skid plate that is on it seems kind of mickey-mouse--not very sturdy looking so maybe I'll upgrade that someday.

I really wanted something I could ride 2 up with the wife and do longer and overnight trips while still getting in the gravel roads. The 650 VStrom is about a perfect compromise. It's very comfortable and easy to ride around town as opposed to my TE450! I did a lot of wet, muddy, sandy forest roads this past weekend and I definitely need to be careful going into sloppy corners and muddy, steep downhills as this bike full of luggage carries quite a bit of momentum!

Note, "perfect" because I can't afford a BMW F 800 GS. Drool:


Kudos to you riding your 1000 2-up in Colorado. You are a better, taller, stronger rider than I.

troy wrote:

Nobiman wrote:Glad it all went well Troy. What kind of MPG do the 650's get? Our 1000 got a low of 38 and a high of 44 on our last trip loaded with as much stuff as we could get on it. I see that you have a very big top case on yours, maybe at least 42 liters or more? We're looking for bigger cases as we speak, we have the factory Suzuki units and they're not big enough for 2 people IMO. Have ya done any mods to your steed?

I've checked the mileage at most fill-ups for the last month. I'm putting 60 miles a day on commuting to work except when the weather is so nasty I choose not to ride. I've seen mileage from the worst of 48.x to the best of 54.x Most times, it comes in right around 51.x.

I don't know what size my top case is, but I can barely close it with 2 helmets. The bike came loaded up with probably every option it will ever need while I own it. The previous owner purchased it in January 2008 as a stock machine. He then proceeded to gear it up for his big Alaska trip. He spent about $1700 in farkles including the full Givi cases. Skid plate, oil cooler guard, engine crash guards, fenda-extenda, heated grips, center-stand, taller windshield, handguards, "BMW" outlet and another accessory switch--connected to a secondary fuse box under the seat, plus a few custom modifications. Then his wife reminded him about a promise to give up motorcycles when his 2 girls got old enough to need daddy around. So he sold it all. I picked up an Aerostitch heated vest in perfect condition for $50. The skid plate that is on it seems kind of mickey-mouse--not very sturdy looking so maybe I'll upgrade that someday.

I really wanted something I could ride 2 up with the wife and do longer and overnight trips while still getting in the gravel roads. The 650 VStrom is about a perfect compromise. It's very comfortable and easy to ride around town as opposed to my TE450! I did a lot of wet, muddy, sandy forest roads this past weekend and I definitely need to be careful going into sloppy corners and muddy, steep downhills as this bike full of luggage carries quite a bit of momentum!

Note, "perfect" because I can't afford a BMW F 800 GS. Drool:


Kudos to you riding your 1000 2-up in Colorado. You are a better, taller, stronger rider than I.

Cool, sounds you got a great bike Troy. Riding 2-up is'nt all that big of a deal, these bikes are unbelievably easy to ride IMO. I bought this one hoping that it would get me by 'til the daughter gets out of college when I was planning on getting a 950/990 KTM. Not so sure that will happen now, the more I ride this thing, the more I love it and I got it (used) for thousands less than a used KTM would'a cost. (and you know I'm an Orange freak! )

As for the BMW brand, Ive never understood the hype over 'em. Until a few weeks ago when we were riding past the BMW/Ducati dealer in OKC and noticed that they had an open house thang going on. We actually stopped to look at the Ducati's, when the dealer saw us pull up on the 'Strom. He made a bee-line for us and told us not to take our helmets off 'cause he wanted us to ride the GS 1200. Its probably an act that will cost me dearly in the future, needless to say we liked it alot and unless KTM comes up with a comparable machine in the future, there will probably be one in my garage someday.

Hope to ride wit'cha someday soon, Randy.

Nobiman wrote:... when the dealer saw us pull up on the 'Strom. He made a bee-line for us and told us not to take our helmets off 'cause he wanted us to ride the GS 1200...

Now that is one hell of a salesman!

Troy,

Sounds like you had a great trip. We need to get together. Your ride sounds like it was right down my alley.

Eddie

safiri wrote:

Nobiman wrote:... when the dealer saw us pull up on the 'Strom. He made a bee-line for us and told us not to take our helmets off 'cause he wanted us to ride the GS 1200...

Now that is one hell of a salesman!

Hey Mikey, waz up! Yea, he probably sold us a bike. Just not on that day, ha!