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4 state weekend trip!
Left Dallas this Friday afternoon heading north. Rode through Texas, Oklahoma; then Arkansas--stayed night in Ft Smith.
Saturday, headed to Ozark, then rode Pig Trail three times, messed around on other *fantastic* roads in Ozark Nat'l Forest. Then to Fayetteville (my old alma mater is Univ. of Ark.). After exploring Fayetteville, went south to West Fork (used to live there). Then got a bug to cross some state lines, so I headed north to Joplin, Missouri. Then I figured I might as well see some of Kansas too, so jogged west Galena, Kansas. Returned to Ozark NF, cooled off in what's left of the Mulberry River, and stopped for night.
On Sunday, headed south to Mena, then rode Talimena Scenic Parkway twice. Heavy gusting winds in DeQueen, AR--nearly got hit by a purple plastic bucket that flew off hillside and whipped across road. Return to home in Terrell.
Total mileage for weekend trip was 1227 mi.
Average gas mileage was 41.5. (lots of WOT redline stuff in twisties, and cruised 85 mph on interstate). Zero oil burned. I am amazed that you can abuse this engine like a rented mule and it never misses a beat or burns any oil. Mind you, this was in 105 degree heat for most of the day.
Folks, I've got a 2012 Ninjette, and this is one heck of an impressive bike. It absolutely shines in the twisty mountain stuff--superb handling, light weight, and plenty of power for those conditions.
As for long distance riding.....I actually like this bike much more than my 2005 Yamaha FJR for solo touring. Really only thing 250 can't do better than FJR is high speed passing on 2 lane roads. But the older I get, the less keen I am on super-high speed passing on 2 lane roads, so that's not much of a drawback to me.
Stock seat was actually decent. And one great thing about the seating position on this bike is you can so easily stand up, stretch, hang off either side, and generally find some way to be comfortable as the miles rack up.
But will look at Corbin seat tomorrow; maybe also a Throttle Meister.
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