Bummer, I could've used a escort. :thumbup: Welcome to the forum! Every year there's two AR forum ride ins, one at Harrison, the other in Rogers. I been to both of them. Good time, good people.
Anyways, I had quite the adventure! Made it home last night, about 6:30pm.
I was pretty nervous, before I got on the plane in Minneapolis. While I was waiting for my first flight, I seen a little girl about two years old saying, "I'm going on a airplane!" By gosh, I figured if she can do it I can too!
At the O'hare airport when I was bored and taking pictures of my boots trying to kill the two hour layover, I talked to a nice lady. She was a nurse and just got out of a three day Diabetes seminar. Her and hubby both had their pilot's licence. I asked if she was flying the plane going to Little Rock. She was on my flight, but she was one of the passengers. Oh, I wish I would've taken a picture of the Harley Davidson store in the airport. Unreal! I was thinking of getting a shirt for Murf. :grin2:
Called the bike owner Tim when I landed in Little Rock. He was already waiting. Got my big blue Seal Bag with my Motoport and Arai in it. Not another piece of luggage like it, easy to find on the conveyor. :grin2: Got in his four door F350 dually. He had a buddy with, he introduced me. He wouldn't let me pay for parking. We got back to his place a little before 1pm. He lived about a half hour north of Little Rock. He introduced me to his two little grandsons and his wife. I took the bike for a little ride, ran it thru the gears. Got back and told him it's sold. Gave him the check, he signed the title. Done deal. Right? Nope! He said I have to stay and have a bowl of homemade chicken soup his wife was making. She said it was an old Swedish Lutheran recipe. They said a prayer for my safety, and we ate. Wow! Soup was dynamite. Reminded me of moms. Got out of there with a full belly. Time to head north.
Thought about checking tires on my departure from Tim's. It felt okayish, on my little test drive. Screw it, I don't have a gauge anyways. Ended up running up I-40 to I-49, thinking it was just a matter of time before I get pulled over with no license plate. I waited two cycles at a red light with a camera. Then I thought, who cares if they take my picture, I don't have a plate anyways.:thumbup: After a little while, I figured I'm going to get off the interstate and take in a few of these hilly roads. Ended up pulling off on 74. Shortly after I pulled off the interstate, I seen a bike broke down on the side of the road with a guy laying under it. So I stopped, it was a kid maybe 18 years old. His chain blew off his ratty old Honda Nighthawk. He just got the chain back together when I stopped. He lived five miles away, so he said he was okay. He said there was nothing around here, your best bet for a room is Fayetteville. So I went 74 to 170 thru Devil's Den state park and back North on I-49. It wasn't but a few corners on 170, I noticed my tires were pretty low. Oh well, it's cool out, I'm by myself, loaded fairly light. I'll try to find a pressure gauge and some air, first thing before I take off in the morning.
I finally found a place to stay, Saturday night. In Fayetteville there was a Razorbacks game. Duh! I wanted to turn around and find the Nighthawk kid's momma and slap her. Anyways, stopped to wait for traffic to die down, at a Mexican restaurant and got some of the blandest tacos I've ever ate. My grandma was Swedish and she would've said they were on the mild side. And she thought ketchup was too spicy. So, the heat definitely wouldn't offend anybody. While I was eating and doing some people watching. All I could think of is that piece of crap, "Scary Movie" with the Wayne's brothers, saying, "I see white people.":lol: So I'm thinking of opening up a taco truck in Fayetteville and have some Mexican's run it, and make a killing. Jeez, I didn't realize I was so worked up over them tacos.
After stopping at three of four hotels North of Fayetteville looking for a room. I ended up staying in Neosho, MO at the Best Westren, really reasonable, good breakfast. Slept like a rock, got up at 6am. Took a shower got my Motoport on, got some breakfast. Went up to the room grabbed the rest of my stuff and went out to the bike. I'll open up the Victory "tool kit", maybe there's a allen wrench in it for the Corbin backrest. It was much too far forward. Wham! Air pressure gauge, but no allen wrench small enough for the backrest. Off to the Wal-Mart that's across the street. I mean, gotta support the hometown business, right? :coffee1:
Got some batteries for SPOT, some gum, allen wrenches. I need air and gas yet. So, I bought the bike back to the service center. Asked one of the workers if he could get me some air, "Just a minute." Okay ten minutes pass, so I ask the guy at the desk. He said, one of the guys out in the garage will help me. I told him they are busy putting in a transmission. He looked puzzled and said, "We don't do that kind of work here." I'm thinking, "Thank Gawd!" Anyways they finally got that tranny or whatever in, and gave me a line to fill the tires. About 28 psi in the rear, 30 psi in the front. I should've checked them earlier. :banghead: Oh well, nobody died.
Made it to I-35, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. Enjoyed the beautiful weather, just cruisin'. With air in the tires, the bike ran great! :wink2: I got someone asking about it, and complimenting me on it just about every time I stopped for gas. When I take a trip on this thing, I'll have to plan on adding another day for gas stops.
I thought Tim may been stretching the gas mileage figures a little bit. He was spot on! I got 42.0 mpg, averaging 69 mph. Wow! Only thing, it takes premium. I read with cams and power commander, you can get by with 87 octane and supposedly even better gas milage. I guess, I'll find out. Knees felt great, butt hurt a little. It was still sore today. I think that Corbins, is fairly new. I'm thinking it was a last ditch effort for Tim to see if it would help his back. I know those Corbin need a few thousand miles to break in. It felt softer on the last tank and a half of fuel. Or my butt gave in and started going soft.:shrug: