5 day ride - Iowa to Arkansas

[rjs987]

Just returned yesterday afternoon from a very nice ride from central Iowa down to northern Arkansas and back. Camped with the ST-Owners group again at Shady Oaks campground just south of Harrison, AR.

Actually I combined this trip going down with a visit to the dealer where I bought my AK 550. When I bought the AK there was a small paint chip on the nose of the front fender so they put in a warranty claim on it. That was back in Nov 2021! They were able to get in whole AK 550 scooters to sell without any issues but this particular part, just the front fender, was on back order until earlier this month. The swap was simple and didn't take as long as it took me to eat lunch while I waited. I had just replaced the front tire the week before so had that front fender off and back on for that. A simple task. That was last Wednesday. I traveled about 660 miles that day since I had a camp reservation part way to the final camp, at a COE campground in Warsaw, MO and would have lost that fee if I changed it to a closer campground so I just rode a lot farther that day. The next day the rest of the way down was close to 170 miles.

The total round trip was 1348 miles. My trip straight home, all done yesterday, was 457 miles. I decided several years ago that I prefer my daily trip miles to be limited to the range of 350-450 miles just for mental alertness. This was only a few more and I rested about half way for lunch.

While at this event I went for a short 61 mile ride around the mountain roads. That was a lot of fun. One of my photos in the link below is a panoramic shot at a look out I was passing along the way. The campground hosts also put on a barbecue dinner and a live band Saturday night. I was a very nice campground. Mostly I go to these kinds of meet ups just to get away and be lazy for a few days... which is just what I did.

The new front tire worked great. Now the rear tire is about done. The front was replaced with 6670 miles on it. The rear will likely get replaced by 9000 miles. On this bike the tires both seem to wear close to the same miles. I could have gone another 1000 miles on the front tire except for this trip. My odometer now says 8034 and this trip put more than what was left on the front tire. I suppose I could have waited until after the trip but didn't want to take the chance of riding on a bald front tire.

Here are photos of this trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TNWKBBJFmgbPCin49

[CROSSBOLT]

Great ride/fix report!

[rjs987]

Notice in the photos there was one ST1300 rider who was traveling to several of these events and needed to replace his front tire. Looked like it was bald just to one side of the center of the tread. He had a new tire shipped UPS to the campground and it arrived the same day he did so everyone played "chief" to help replace it right there. I just watched. Was fun to see and hear all the opinions of how to do every step. I was surprised to see the ST1300 front axle setup was almost exactly the same as my AK 550 axle setup. Different brake caliper brand (Nissin on the Honda), and the hex socket on the left end of the axle was actually smaller than the same on the left end of my axle. Mine uses a 20 mm hex bit (which happens to be the very same size as the spark plug wrench that came with the AK) and his was a 19 mm hex bit. Otherwise they are the same with removing the bolt on the right end to pull out the axle after removing the calipers and speed sensor.

[Stig / Major Tom]

What's an ST owner's group? an ST?

Stig

[rjs987]

What's an ST owner's group? an ST?

Stig

I'm fairly sure you've heard of the ST1100/ST1300 by Honda.
ST-Owners.com is the forum and they put on a lot of riding/camping events all over the country. I started riding with them to those when I owned my ST1100 and I like camping so...
Many of the members there now own other bikes since Honda stopped selling the ST1300 in the USA in 2012. Many own BMW models... R1200, R1250, K1600, etc. Some own the FJR1300. Some now own a Versys, VStrom, or Super Tenere. A very few branched off onto Burgman scooters or the Silver Wing. I preferred the Burgman 650 several years ago until the AK became available over here (USA). I'm one of the very few, if not the only member, who still attends the events put on by ST-Owners members. But I don't slow them down on rides. I do usually ride solo, but when I do ride with others in the group I easily keep up since they love those curvy roads and ride them aggressively. I can also, though I prefer a slightly slower pace, but I have no issues with riding at their pace through the curves. I know their bikes can easily outrun me in a straight road, but only after they pass 85-90 mph which is very rare during the rides.

[Neil955i]

What's an ST owner's group? an ST?

Stig

Takes me back to the early-90’s? Stig when I hired a Honda ST1100 in Denver CO to tour up to the Dakotas and then all round the Colorado Rockies. My first touch of altitude sickness up there!  Great holiday.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I'm fairly sure you've heard of the ST1100/ST1300 by Honda.
ST-Owners.com is the forum and they put on a lot of riding/camping events all over the country. I started riding with them to those when I owned my ST1100 and I like camping so...
Many of the members there now own other bikes since Honda stopped selling the ST1300 in the USA in 2012. Many own BMW models... R1200, R1250, K1600, etc. Some own the FJR1300. Some now own a Versys, VStrom, or Super Tenere. A very few branched off onto Burgman scooters or the Silver Wing. I preferred the Burgman 650 several years ago until the AK became available over here (USA). I'm one of the very few, if not the only member, who still attends the events put on by ST-Owners members. But I don't slow them down on rides. I do usually ride solo, but when I do ride with others in the group I easily keep up since they love those curvy roads and ride them aggressively. I can also, though I prefer a slightly slower pace, but I have no issues with riding at their pace through the curves. I know their bikes can easily outrun me in a straight road, but only after they pass 85-90 mph which is very rare during the rides.

Nope never heard of an ST....and no reason why I would have.
Last Honda bike I owned was a CB350, last one rode was a CB500X.
Be nice if folks would drop the manufacturer's name
...along with the code letters and numbers.
A bit presumptuous, again, to remark that we should be up to speed.....

Stig

[rjs987]

Nope never heard of an ST....and no reason why I would have.
Last Honda bike I owned was a CB350, last one rode was a CB500X.
Be nice if folks would drop the manufacturer's name
...along with the code letters and numbers.
A bit presumptuous, again, to remark that we should be up to speed.....

Stig

True... that last comment.
It's just so rare I come across a rider who has been on any motorcycle or scooter who hasn't heard of the Honda ST1100 or Honda ST1300 since one or the other has been around since 1991. They are as well known in many circles as the Honda Gold Wing of any model (GL1000, GL1100, GL1200, GL1500, GL1800, etc). I'll try to be more informative in future. Sorry about that.