Hey guys, here are some photos of the Central FJ Rally.
Thursday night, the FJ's got a little shower.
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Friday riding
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Dave had a severe case of fatigue and headed back to the hotel early, Steve and I continued on to Eureka Springs.
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Steve making friends with the Harley riders.
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After we left Eureka Springs, we rode up through a town called Blue Eye, right on the Arkansas/Missouri state line. Immediately after crossed into Missouri, the road got crazy. :crazy: :wacko3: I had warned everyone that the Missouri roads are tricky and can cause your suspension to do funky things. We made it into Branson and Steve tells me. "I am glad you warned me about the crazy roads, if I had not been warned, I would have lost my lunch." :bad:
The FJ's go for a boat ride. The ferry across Bull Shoals Lake
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Saturday's riding
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Getting ready to attack the Arkansas Dragon, Hwy 123
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Steve giving the Thumbs up.... :good2: Lets go.... :yahoo:
Some of the tightest switchbacks I have ever ridden. 25mph, 2nd gear and nearly scraping hard parts. It was a blast.... :dance2:
We headed towards our destination and rode through a small town called Tilly. We all needed to use the facilities and could not find one for public use. A local told us that there was one at the towns water tower. We headed that way and found it.
The public facility.
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An old fashioned outhouse 2 holer. I was the only brave one to use it, :wacko1: everyone else pulled up a convenient tree. :rofl:
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We found our way through Marshall and Big Flat on our way to the Holy Grail of Arkansas roads. HWY 341, Push Mountain Road. 30 miles of Nirvana. The road is as smooth as silk with zero tar snakes. The last 10 miles are a bit on the rough side, but the rest is incredible. We stopped at the White river to collect ourselves. Dan proclaims, "This road was designed for our FJ's." All 4 of us are in agreement.
I had this tire put on Wednesday afternoon. Almost no chicken strips left
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The line up
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From Left to Right ... Dave (texasdave), Dan (giantkiller), Fred (aviationfred), Steve (steve_in_florida)
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Packing to leave
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Fred
Really enjoyed your Central rally report Fred. Quaint pics reminds me of Tasmania. Nice to be able to put names on faces.
A shingle roof on an outhouse is a bit upmarket, but I`m not real keen on the door latch arrangement!
Probly a cultural thing or maybe really rough hands, but can`t get my head around the sale of Dicks, nor why you`d take such proud pics of going in ta buy one!....let alone needing a spare!
Wow Push Mountain. I just couldn't help myself. I just had to push it a little.
It's the most perfect road I've ridden yet. For the Fj.
It reminds me of the Cherohala skyway. Only more compact. Truly made the whole trip worth the 850 miles to get there :good2:
:good2:So glad to see a bunch of FJer's enjoying some of what Arkansas has to offer. But believe me when I say I'm pretty heartbroken to have missed meeting you guys. :dash2:
Joe
My first rally as a FJ owner. Only 4 FJ's but each a different year. Could not have been better roads, weather or guys to ride with! Wanted to leave thursday but solid rain front between Dallas and the ozarks. Waited all thursday for it to clear and finally left 9pm in the drizzle. After 100 miles of hated drizzle hit some rain. Immediately changed my mind--I love drizzle. All of us rode through some rain to get there. Arrived 7am to a beautiful cool day but worn out after 400 miles and awake for 24 hours. Rode some good roads with AviationFred and Steve from Florida friday morning when they decided to go to Missouri. I went back to the hotel for some sleep. Just about asleep when I hear another FJ pull up. Giantkiller(Dan) has arrived with his 1350 and almost every mod including USD forks. Fantastic machine with a great rider. Saturday was more good riding (no bad roads to ride there--just good roads and great roads). Best ride was Push Mountain road. We all had grins when we finished it and Dan said this road was designed for the FJ--very true. We tried to get Dan another deer strike but they ran across in front of Fred. Fred had already spotted them and slowed as well as giving us a slow signal. Thanks Fred! Met Jeff (great guy) on a FJR at the hotel who has been coming there for years. He didn't ride with us but gave us good recommendations on roads. Dan and I headed for home sunday and rode 134-- another great road. Dan gave me a slow signal and I started looking for deer. Was looking for big deer but it was two 18 inch spotted fawns in the ditch but momma was sure to be close. Good rally--no deer strikes--no crashes--no break downs and lots of good riding. My total miles 1,321 minus 800 round trip leaves over 500 miles I was leaning one way or the other. Finally getting my moneys worth using all the tread on my tires. The Hub hotel staff were very friendly and the food was great. Can't wait to go back. That 30 year old FJ never missed a beat. Dave
great documentary of what looks like a great rally, thanks for sharing Fred :good2:
Scott
Three of the roads that were covered during the Rally
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Fred
Awesome pix, looks like a great rally. All fun, no misshapes, doesn't get any better.
Kurt
Here is a satellite view covering a portion of Hwy 123 that we rode.
http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=pzggff77d0qt&lvl=15&sty=b&form=LMLTCC (http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=pzggff77d0qt&lvl=15&sty=b&form=LMLTCC)
Fred
Awesome posts, great gathering and good old getting your ride on... Good work on the chicken strips, fun to make them disappear while sporting out a good ride. I had a good 150 mile ride last Sunday and got sporty, not as much as Skymasterers AKA Crashmasterers, but I l love his zeal for finding the edge... I love that you got the guys out for a ride, keep them pumped and riding...
thanks for all the photos and report -- the ride looked awesome --- you gotta love those little towns especially when surrounded by nice roads. good to hear from you guys again
steve
Looks like a fun trip, glad to see it was a safe one too. Thanks for sharing all the pictures!
I would like to give a plug for the Ozark mountains of Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri. This was my first time riding in Arkansas, some of the roads in Southern Missouri, I had ridden before. Having ridden in Northern California during this years WCR, I grade these roads as good as what was ridden at the WCR. I am hoping that if we have another Central Rally in this area that forum members from the west coast and east coast will join us. For those that really love to ride fast and at the edge. Push Mountain Road (Hwy 341) is a MUST ride. I can promise that at the end of the 30 miles, your tires will have balled up rubber as if you just got finished riding a track day. As slow as I ride, my tires were close to being like that. :dance2:
Another great feature was having a restaurant on the premises. It was nice getting back from the days riding, pulling off your gear and walking over to get dinner.
I would like to thank Marsh, and ALL the other forum members who make this site so great to be a member of. Without all of you, non of these Rally's would be possible. I have learned more about my FJ through this forum than I could ever hope for on my own. With mods learned, my FJ is much more comfortable and has better handling than in OEM form.
A big thank you goes out to Steve, Dave and Dan for blindly joining me for a Rally in uncharted territory :drinks:
Fred
Thanks to you Fred. I would never have known such great roads existed. in Arkansas. And the Hub was a great place. I'm in for the next one.