Well, I'm back. All in one piece, no thanks to the small deer that ran at me about 20 miles before I got to Eureka Springs, AR, while climbing 62 into the mountain. The guy I was riding with since Mayfield KY was behind, and he said he has no idea how I dodged that bullet. Me either, just plain lucky, for once.
Little did I know my luck would hold and I'd get a tire changer out of the deal too. LOL.
Riding around Eureka Springs was fantastic. A full mix of 1st and 2nd gear switchbacks (Pea Mountain, Push Mountain, etc) combined with beautifully asphalted roads pretty much all of the time, to make some great rides.
I left for the rally with about 500 miles on my Connie and she is at 3,200 and change right now sitting in the garage. My observations on her are now a lot more based on experience, and I'm even happier with my decision now that I've gone half way across the country and back on her.
Smooth as silk and not a hint of gear clunk or shaft jack at all. Low speed nimbleness is far better than the reviewers credit her for, many times I put pressure on the rear brake pedal, put the clutch in the friction zone, brought the revs up slightly, and swung her around in a very tight U-turn. With fully loaded luggage she is a beauty, completely balanced and neutral.
Kawasaki did a great job on the forks and shock, they are much heavier duty units compared to the ZX14. My ZX14 did get a tiny bit squirelly with fully loaded luggage a few times, and wouldn't turn tight turns for love or money. The Connie does it easily.
At one point on a ride, 9 of us were eating lunch at a BBQ joint and realized we were parked on Route 66. Idiots that we were, nobody took a picture.
And other than a thunderstorm Monday (11th) afternoon, we had fantastically clear and warm weather.
On the way home, I ran into heavy rain on my second travel day, headed to Cross Lanes, WV for the night. I was stopped to get gas and drink water when it started to drizzle slightly, so I put my rain gear on. About 30 minutes down the road headed for WV, the sky cut loose and it rained so hard tractor-trailer rigs were pulling over to the side of the road. Not my first time at the rodeo, though, so I motored on at a greatly reduced rate, pumping my hand brake enough to flash the brake lights (including the AdMore LED lights in the top case) just in case someone came up behind me. Which they did, but it gave them plenty of time to back off. Nobody passed me for like 40 minutes until we drove out of the worst of it.
So I got into my motel, just slightly damp as you always are when you ride in a storm, rain suit or not. The next morning, I put on my one-piece rain suit, and got a little rain on the way up to catch US 79 North but then it cleared off and was just cloudy. For about the last hour, I wished I had a sweatshirt on underneath instead of a t-shirt, as it got down to about 63 degrees F ambient. At least the windshield kept most of the air off me.
The 2013 National is in Idaho Falls, and I won't be going to that. 3 days each way travel is about the limit of what I'll endure to go to a rally, no matter how big. At least, until I'm retired and can do less miles per day with impunity. Idaho Falls is a full 24 hours of riding time each way, if on super-slab, so at least 4 days of hard riding, probably a 5th to reduce the daily mileage requirement. I'm not 20 anymore.
The two legs coming and going closest to Eureka Springs were each 6+ hours of riding, plus gas/water/food stops, so very long days. Usually I left at 8am or close to it, and arrived around 4pm. And even then, I was riding +10 mph a lot of the way on cruise control whenever possible.
If I had done a twisty route on state/county roads, the travel time would have nearly doubled.
So in the end, Eureka Springs and the 2012 National were well worth 6 travel days to attend. It was a lot of fun, good food, getting slightly drunk every night out in the parking lot (a tradition), and great roads combined with great weather.
This trip actually rivals my sport tour of western Europe in 1991 on my ZX11, although with a lot less "WOW" factor. Road-wise, it may even be better. And at least everyone spoke some dialect of American English, except for the Brits, the Candadians, and the guy from Poland who is here on a COG-sponsored exchange visit. Actually, his "English" was better than many native speakers. Heh.
Living the Gypsy Life
