Talimena, Ouachita, and the Ozarks: Touring Arkasas

My old man has been chasing a new 2008 CBR1000rr, looking for the candy red and silver. But don’t worry, that’s not why I’m here. He found one at the Shawnee stealership near OK city and I get the fortunate task of picking it up, breaking it in, and riding it home ( I will need to get the 600 mile service in there somewhere too).

My plan is to fly OK City from Houston on March 13th. Straight tarmac is out-of-the-question so we’ll spend 6 days riding it back through SE Oklahoma, Arkansas, and East Texas. I will be riding two up with my gf so I will try to keep the days down to about 200-250.

The main reason for the thread is to ask for some advice on my route, road conditions, police presence etc ., but I’m also looking for advice on a few other things like weather, where to stay, and why there are sooo many dry counties in AR. (I know, I know: it’s the Bible Belt). I’m not an alcoholic, but rehashing the day’s ride over a cold beer can be an integral part of the day.

My apologies if you were looking for a trip report, but hopefully a good one will be posted shortly after I return. I plan on hitting all of the highlights: pig’s tail, hwy 7/123/16, and Push Mt. I have attached a rough draft of the route I have pinned down so far.



I know some of these may be more appropriate for the cbr forum, but I don’t have a cbr, I have a vfr so I’m gonna ask you anyway.

1. I’m planning on getting the 600 mile service somewhere in AR. Right now I’m looking at Little Rock or Russellville. Any feedback on dealerships here or other ones like Searcy or Harrison? On a side note, I have multiple Honda stealships here in Houston and I hate them all. The customer service is consistently poor. I am hoping to get in and out on the service, no bs, no extra time, so the service dept is really all I care about.

2. Has anyone ever gone two up on the cbr? How’s the passenger riding position? I have hard bags on my vfr and the top box for long tours so she’s comfortable in knowing she won’t fly off the back. From the looks of the cbr in person, its gonna be a different experience for her. Like knees- at- her- chin different.

3. Where are we going to put our stuff? To add more difficulty the cbr has a plastic tank so a strap-based tank bag is my only luggage option. I know others do it, but I personally would hate to wear a backpack for 1500 miles, so I will not ask her to either.

I saw that Rapid transit has some triple tree bags that go on the handle bars. Has anyone ever used one these bags?

I’m very close to entirely ruling out soft saddlebags. I have known others who had them and from what I experienced with them they were a pain in the ass. Plus, saddlebags are not something I want to put on b/f a tour without having tested them out first. And even if I did, is there a model out there that is compatible with riding two up? – I haven’t found any.

Anything I’m missing here?

4. Dry counties, wet counties, some that are sorta wet and sorta dry, and some that are just moist? WTF? Please clarify.

5. When I tour with my gf we tend to do more “flower-sniffin” than usual so I’m also looking for any ideas about sightseeing or short stops along the route. We are panning on hitting some caverns and will probably do some hiking in Hot Springs Nat’l Park.

6. Should I be concerned about road closures? I know ya’ll have had some bad weather in the last week. Weather will be a big factor in the trip, it could be real cold huh?

7. Cops? I don’t need any hidden fees or local “pass through” taxes added on to my trip.

Thanks for reading all the way through the post, hopefully I can repay you by writing a great trip report...

 

I used to live in Russellville before joining the Navy. I haven't been back in about 10 years. My parents tell me that the place is built up alot since I've been back. I found a couple of websites for you to check out. I haven't used to Honda dealership since it's changed. Alot of my friends back in the day used them and said they were good. As far as Hot Springs goes, if you're into it (your GF might be), look up massage schools while you're there. There are alot of them. Might be just what the doctor ordered after a long ride. It's cheap too. Since they are students that have to do mandatory "hands on" time, they can't charge full price. It may be 1/4 to 1/2 of the normal price. PS. Russellville IS in a dry county. Sucks, I know. Bring a bottle of your favorite prior to stopping.

Best of luck

Adam

Russellville

Russellville #2

Honda of Russellville

Hot Springs

 

TxTwister did you make the trip? I know that time of year was very hellish up here. I would have been glad to help you out had I seen this post. Drop me a line if you ever get back up here.