Fighting off Winter Blues with Trip Ideas

Snert

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Hi, It's currently snowy and below 0 here in the white north. Trying to think warm, and was wondering if anyone here has rode around the Eureka Springs, AR area? My brother has talked about visiting the area for their Spring Fling Rally. I was curious if anyone on here has been to the event or has rode through Eureka Springs.

Spring Fling Rally 2022

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Other areas we've discussed riding too are out to Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Manitowoc, Oshkosh Air show, and renting bikes in Fort Worth and riding down to the Twisted Sisters. Those are just some we been kicking around.
Open to expanding the ideas.

Feel free to list some places, trip ideas, goals for the upcoming season you want to ride!


(Note: he rides a Road Glide, and my cousin who will probably want to tag along rides a VTX 1800)
 

Sierra1

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. . . . renting bikes in Fort Worth and riding down to the Twisted Sisters. . . .
If you're renting in Ft. Worth so you can ride to the Sisters that's fine. But, San Antonio would be my starting point. It's a 4-hour drive from Ft. Worth, and just a 1-hour drive from San Antone. More importantly, if they charge mileage on the rentals that's a big difference. And you could ride from San Antone to Big Bend National Park too, but that's almost 6 hours.

Spring and Fall are the best times of the year to visit South Texas; summers can be brutal.
 

Cycledude

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Lots of great riding in Arkansas !! if you do ride down there be sure to stop for pie at the very motorcycle famous Oark cafe ! Here is a link with address and a bunch of pictures
Yes I have been through Eureaka Springs a bunch of times, lots of motels that are supposedly very motorcycle friendly but I have never actually stayed there.
If the weather cooperates I’m hoping to ride down to Rogers Arkansas in April for a annual Goldwing event.
 
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rodeoclone

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Snert, I really like NW AR for not having a straight paved or otherwise…road. Eureka Springs is a popular area for “activities” and sights but I like to ride the region. It’s popular for paved but you’re missing an S10 type ADV opportunity if you didn’t plan to “vere off the beaten path” a time or two. See @eemsreno
 

Snert

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Looks like really interesting stuff, I'd probably be riding with my brother and cousin on their cruisers. They would do hard packed gravel, if it lead to something interesting. Both of them are used to riding on MN gravel roads as they live in the country. Really loved the pictures of historical mines/buildings/bridges/cliffs. Their also not very "happy" campers...

It also looks like it would be good to get a good map or guide!


Snert, I really like NW AR for not having a straight paved or otherwise…road. Eureka Springs is a popular area for “activities” and sights but I like to ride the region. It’s popular for paved but you’re missing an S10 type ADV opportunity if you didn’t plan to “vere off the beaten path” a time or two. See @eemsreno
 

gunner

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Here is a map of the of NW Arkansas that highlights the best paved MC roads and here is a link to the Arkansas State Highway map;


Butler also has a good map of Arkansas:


If you go to Oark , the gravel road East from there to AR21 is easy.


ArkRoadMap.jpg
 

Wallkeeper

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Snert
for Glacier you have a window from Mid June to very early September. A little longer for Yellowstone but still pretty much a summer ride

The Osh Kosh Air show can be a blast but finding close accommodations at this late date may be a challenge. You may have to look north to Appleton or south to Germantown. I had customers in the Osh Kosh area and for years I would not go there when the EAA was in swing. A lot of my customers usually took the opportunity to get out of Dodge then *L* including a lot of folks from Osh Kosh Truck next door to the show OTOH some folks love crowds (Sturgis anyone) but I am not one of them so take my comments accordingly

Have you looked at or done a few days riding the Driftless Area? Very scenic, lots of twisties. You can easily put in 4 days and the best news is it is only a couple of hours out of the Twin Cities.

I will be curious what you come up with.
 

Snert

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Snert,

How's your leg? All healed up and good to go?
It's doing pretty good, I did a couple of rides in the late fall and felt mostly comfortable. Not sure if I'm ready for some real off-roading yet, but I felt in control on gravel roads.

Wallkeeper,
I may have an ace in the whole with Oshkosh. I have a buddy whose parents live in the Oshkosh area, we talked about going together, but honestly it's probably going to be a bit lower on my list. I want to go to the Fagen Fighters Airshow in Granite Falls, MN. Before covid, I went to there and it felt like a greatest hits Oshkosh: Still very hot, smaller crowds, a couple of good stunt performers, and some of the best WW2 warbirds. I used to go to Oshkosh every summer with my dad growing up, since his passing I haven't been back. There's also the Air Expo in Eden Prairie the week before and they sometimes are able to snag some cool stuff on their way to Airshow Mecca.

I also listen to the Highside/Lowside podcast from Revzilla and their doing the 2nd Get On! ADV Fest in the Black Hills in July. I thought about going to that for some training on off-roading skills, as I could use some!

I'd like to go around more of the driftless area, slightly harder sell for my brother as he has explored some of the area with my mom in a convertible rally. A couple days ago we stopped at his favorite Harley dealer and the technician brought up a bunch of roads he hadn't heard of, so might be more of a go now! I've road wildcat mountain, and mostly just hung around the river roads. Been to the Bucknuckle, and Nelson Stone Barn.

Do you have some favorite roads/eateries?
 

Snert

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Stumbled across this while looking at the drifless area. Anyone been to the Hiawatha Rally in Houston, MN?

Hiawatha Rally

It's held by a BMW club, says all makes are welcome.
 

Snert

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I signed up for the Hiawatha Rally. There was a couple of air conditioned cabin rooms left at the campground. I may have room in mine. As of now I have just my brother going with me.

There's another forum about the MN Grand Tour, I'm thinking of pursuing that. Would anyone care to tackle some of the locations together?

I'm planning to stop by Simply Ride (Simply Street Bikes) for there First Friday's Moto Meetup on April 1st. Not sure if I'll ride up there, never can plan on Minnesota weather! I need to pick up some oil filters for my bike and wife's Magna.
 

Snert

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Anyone been to Midwest Motorcycle Rally? Free Registration July 14-17? Around the same area as the BMW Rally close to the driftless area. (Winona MN)

Looks to be interesting. The Guided tours rated by "speed" is neat. Might be adding this to my calendar for this year!
 

Cycledude

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Anyone been to Midwest Motorcycle Rally? Free Registration July 14-17? Around the same area as the BMW Rally close to the driftless area. (Winona MN)

Looks to be interesting. The Guided tours rated by "speed" is neat. Might be adding this to my calendar for this year!
I went once or twice many years ago, it was decent but we didn’t do the boat ride dinner thing they had back then.
 

Snert

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Minnesota
I received my passport for the MN Grand Tour. Not sure if I can list locations just yet.
In my current planning process I've split the tour into four areas:

North Shore Area: Quite a few are around Grand Marais

Bemidji Area/Central MN: Should be able to stop at most locations making a big loop from my house

River Road Area: Should be able to grab these when I go to the BMW Rally and/or Midwest Motorcycle Rally

Odd N Ends: locations that within 4 hour round trip from my house

I read about ruins of an "outlaw bridge" up past Grand Marais, thinking about adding to my tour. Has anyone had any experience riding in Superior National Forest?

If anyone has some great roads to explore or stops to see let me know!
 

Snert

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Minnesota
Ride Report from BMW Hiawatha Rally

A little over a month ago, (wow time flies) I attended the MN BMW Owners rally at Money Creek campground. It was well organized and met some interesting people. Including a 70 year old man that looked like Santa Claus that went by the name "naked Jim". Can you guess what his second most favorite hobby is?

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I headed out a day early and planned to make a trip down the River road from Redwing to La Crosse and then to the campground. I stopped at the Spam museum and ran across a bike powered by bacon...wonder with today's fuel prices if that would be cheaper to run? Yes, they did have samples and I did take one. I've probably have had more questionable meats from a gas station... It is a great museum and admission is free!

After having a great lunch at King's Place in the tiny town of Miesville (pop 136) I was following a klamped-out Minivan. I smelled the wonderful smell of burning brakes and figured it was the van. As the miles went by, I had the sinking feeling it was actually coming from me. I pulled off and gave a good sniff on the rear brakes. Yep, it was me.

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Well, luckily, Yamaha has a great dealership network and I located a powersports dealer in Red Wing. They happened to have some pads on hand and I managed to switch them out in the parking lot. It was then I realized my jeans had ripped at the knee. In bopping through Red Wing, I happened upon a Duluth Trading Company Outlet Store. A wallet a bit lighter I now had a pair of replacement pants. There was road construction ahead of me so I thought I would head out of town running parallel to the river road and eventually I would cut back over. A dark sky seem to be following me as my sense of direction had me sort of zig zaging on gravel roads. I had an idea of what direction I wanted to head, the roads just weren't cooperating. At one point I ended up coming through a three house town going north south, and the gravel road I was on looped me around to going west east through the same town! Exploring can be fun. At one point on a gravel road the storm winds picked up and I was battling 35-40 mph winds. I recently got a comms unit and has talking with my mom about her recent flower purchases while battling high winds on fresh loose gravel... and she had the gall to say I didn't sound too interested in the deals she got on her plants!

I ended up going down the same road that I rode last year with the boot on with my broken leg. I stopped at the overlook and had a moment of reflection. It was a cool moment, as I had not planned to go down that road, and this time I was heading on an adventure, rather than heading home thinking it could very well be my last ride.

Thanks for all the well wishes from all of you, it really helped to counter the negative voices that told me it was a sign to hang up the hobby.

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I arrived at the campground, and got unpacked. My brother and cousin that were coming arrived an hour later, having spent most of the day running around getting ready and trying to find a sissy bar for my brother's Harley. We had an excellent supper at Buzzard Billys in La Crosse. Fun town to ride on the bike, some college students hooted and hollered at us to rev bomb, and I was happy the Tenere got more thumbs up than the other two! The VTX my cousin was on was told it was too quiet!

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The next day we went exploring around the area, great roads little traffic. I spent the bulk of the day riding new BMWs and new CF Moto's. I was quite surprised to find how much I liked the CF Moto's. I found the 700 to like a good tribute band to the Bonneville real deal. It was great getting to go 45-1 hour rides through the countryside. Rumor has it, it's a KTM engine...

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The following morning there was drizzle out, perfect for the GS Ride! I snuck in with the BMWs, and found myself parked by a fellow Tenere! We both had the same year of bike, and found it great to be the Yamaha ambassadors. Nothing too technical, and the rain kept the dust down. Lovely scenery, I loved riding alongside creeks in tight forest roads.
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The Lanesboro area is a lovely place to ride, I'd recommend it. Maybe next year some more Teneres can crash the BMW party! All the people I met were perhaps a bit quirky, but good people. Just be careful if you find yourself outside late and night and "Naked Jim" sees you. He's got some stories to share...
 
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