Father and Sons Cycle Trip Vol. IV

[trumpetguy]

Here's the latest edition (May 2010) of the annual motorcycle trip my brother and I take with our dad. We're amazingly lucky to have a dad in such great health who shares an interest in motorcycles! This year we toured the Ozarks of North Central Arkansas. We camped most of the time, but stayed in motels a few nights due to the threat of severe weather, which can be really serious in this part of the year.

2010 Trip Link

I have been taking the 1982 Suzuki GS1100E on road trips the last two years. On our first two trips I rode my 1998 Suzuki GS500E. The older GS is a road trip MACHINE.

Earlier trips are linked from here:
My home page

 

[Bert Patterson]

Damn, I enjoyed that. And you did a great job of presenting it - like the daily maps. I?ve only ridden through Arkansas and Oklahoma a couple times, but never the scenic routes. My sister, for very complicated reasons, is living in Edmund and told me to come down??.

Your dad looks like he could be your older brother ? he?s doing okay. (and I agree that the GS1100E works fine for touring ? especially with some Sargent supercell foam added to the seat)

 

[Dogma]

Oh, now that looks like fun. I need more vacation time so I can get to places like those.

 

[trumpetguy]

Damn, I enjoyed that. And you did a great job of presenting it - like the daily maps. I?ve only ridden through Arkansas and Oklahoma a couple times, but never the scenic routes. My sister, for very complicated reasons, is living in Edmund and told me to come down??.

Your dad looks like he could be your older brother ? he?s doing okay. (and I agree that the GS1100E works fine for touring ? especially with some Sargent supercell foam added to the seat)

Since I am only 5'8" I have cut my seat WAY down and put in a gel insert. Much better for holding the bike up at stop signs and protecting my butt on long stints. I really did not want to go the route of lowering links, which change suspension geometry slightly.

I'll pass on the compliments to my dad. He'll be 71 next week. My folks married young and had us right away. I'm 52 and my brother is 51, so we made sure to ask for senior citizen discounts. It usually didn't work...

The best part of all this is that my dad gave me this GS1100E. A neighbor left it to him, low mileage but neglected for years in a humid lakeside environment. Every piece of metal was rusted or corroded, and the carbs and some bodywork were missing. He spent months restoring it (with lots of help from here) and then gave it to me. Pretty awesome. I have put almost 8K on it in two years, all from long trips. I ride my 98 GS500E to work, around town, and for short excursions.

 

[Redman]

Nice writeup and nice photos of scenery and the road.
I like this road picture ---Yikes---