South Carolina?

[fj1289]

fintip - great report again!  Enjoy the ride!

[fintip]

Long update coming soon, but in the meantime... Rode the dragon several times, did 28, did cherahola, did part of netchez trace, netchez trace escape, been in little rock for a couple days, doing this route tomorrow, have done some BJJ in every city I've stayed in so far, and will get some Judo and indoor rock climbing in here tomorrow if all goes as planned. Day after tomorrow I should be heading to visit family in East Texas, and then when I'm done there it's back to Austin.

Lots to write, lots of pictures to share. Sleepy now.

[novaraptor]

 

[Steve_in_Florida]

 

[FJ_Hooligan]

Kyle,
Are you doing a loop out of Little Rock and back? 

When you're ready to head to Texas, there is a nice route out of Mena, Ar near the western end of your loop.  AR 8 (you will need to zoom in) is the beginning of the Talimena Scenic Byway.  Take that west to 259 and go south.  You will be on the Winding Stair as you drop down to Broken Bow, Ok.  You can continue south and cross into Texas.  Hopefully that will not put you too far west.

[fintip]

I did a loop and ended up back there, then spent an extra day there seeing a museum and taking some BJJ classes I was invited to by one of the people in the Judo class I went to the night before.

Btw, found some shots of me on the dragon:

http://xtremesportsphotography.photoreflect.com/store/Orderpage.aspx?pi=0QAK01NI050990&po=990&pc=1029

Keep clicking the "forward" button to watch me go through the turn.

And some pictures from the trip so far in reverse order:

AR, Ouachita (washita) forest:


Same. Tried braving what looked like a compacted dirt road... 100 feet down, I really regretted it. Uphill and narrow, with progressively looser and looser gravel. Safely made it up about a quarter mile to where it levelled out, and... safely made it back down. All those years riding a dirtbike saved me, but definitely had me white knuckled until I was safely back on pavement. (Foolhardy indeed...)








Post Judo class that evening:



Greenville host's girlfriend with dog while hiking:



Hiking scenery:











Ton of craft beer off season for super cheap... All of this for like $42.



From the classic bike night there:



^ BMW R100RS engine in an R65 frame, super light, lots of custom work.

Guy who helped me install engine bars was riding this sweet little yami XS650:

[fintip]

Hosts in Greenville:



Me in Greenville about to leave to ride the dragon (check out that sweet shirt!)



On the way to the Dragon:





Gratuitous:













Guy in an FJR stopped shortly after me and we took turns taking pictures of each other





A motorcycle accident stopped traffic for a while... Old overweight guy on a sportster was rear ended by his wife on a gold wing when he slowed down to take a left turn and she didn't notice, from what I gathered. Guy had internal bleeding, never gained consciousness, seemed to be assumed he wouldn't make it... Apparently wife was screaming about her back, went on a stretcher. Sad sight.







Arrived!



At the other end:





Scenic overlook coming back through:























Sunset:









Cherahola skyway:





WHEW!

[fintip]

Oh, and at Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, AR:





This guy^ tailed me almost spot on, on the dragon. Freaking hard core. ZZR14 engine in there. I would lose him a little on the straights sometimes, but I think it's because he was leaving space. He was seriously killing it, and I had a hard time getting ANY space. Very impressive little vehicle. Says they're about 60k.

More of those gardens:









Netches Trace:

[fintip]

Found pics of that guy right on my tail!

















Cool moment reading about the history of the tail of the dragon, seeing this paragraph:

At about this time the Deal Trading Post was established by a group of brothers and cousins of that name. The post dealt with the Cherokee Indians and other nations of the Five Civilized Tribes. It is no coincidence that the name Deal is on the Cherokee Roles. The trading post was in direct violation of King George's edict banning British settlement west of the Blue Ridge. Some of the Deal family migrated west in the Trail of Tears Cherokee relocation in the 1800s. Others moved into Middle Tennessee and established a trading post at the terminus of the Natchez Trace.

I just did the Blue Ridge skyway, Deal's gap, and Natchez Trace... Surreal to see all those places occur in a history account together.

Source: http://tailofthedragon.com/dragon_history_americanroadmagazine.html

[mark1969]

It's great to see someone enjoying their bike. Congrats on your purchase, and nice photos. 

[ribbert]

Kyle, no one's as pleased as me that you are finally astride a winner and not a rolling restoration, with little to do other than enjoy it. I look forward to more trip reports like this one. Riding is a lot more fun than trying to cobble together a useable bike from bits and pieces.
This particular road trip seems to be taking you through some beautiful country.

You do realise that if you're going to post photos like the one above though, you are going to get critiqued.

Noel

[simi_ed]

+1    I'm jealous ...

[novaraptor]

OHHHHH! Good FJ Porn!!!! Seriously xclnt scenery pics... 

[Country Joe]

Kyle, no one's as pleased as me that you are finally astride a winner and not a rolling restoration, with little to do other than enjoy it. I look forward to more trip reports like this one. Riding is a lot more fun than trying to cobble together a useable bike from bits and pieces.
This particular road trip seems to be taking you through some beautiful country.

You do realise that if you're going to post photos like the one above though, you are going to get critiqued.

Noel

Body position will get you busted every time. I' m just glad no one is following me with a camera.  Great photos, Kyle. Enjoy the well running FJ.

Joe

[fintip]

Oh, haha, I'm just some ignorant self taught rider, I didn't know this was considered 'bad' body position. I was just proud to be nearly scraping pegs. I figured one leans over if one wants to turn *more*, but since I'm about to do a switchback, I was already about to switch back, so to speak.

Critique away, I'm happy to learn. Someday I hope to be able to afford a track day and learn properly.