Regulators Mount Your (iron) Horses

Caddo Valley, AR to Marshfield, MO: 2 states, 325 miles 12 hours on the road, 7.5 in the saddle.

Another great start to an adventurous day. My bike started up like a champ this morning so we ventured out for a great day of riding which included the pig trail up in northwest Arkansas. Scott led the group on a beautiful road but 45 minutes in to the ride my warning lights came back on. Curtis and I rerouted our ride to the nearest Harley dealership. No pig trail ride for us this trip.

The group decided to stay together to see what options we’d have for the day and headed for Little Rock, AR. I kept my fingers crossed my bike would make the sixty miles to the dealership. Thankfully, it did but was sputtering as we pulled in. Curtis talked to the service manager and they got the bike in within the hour. The first prognosis was possible bad battery and/or regulator. Rock City HD didn’t have a regulator in stock but their sister store, Toad Suck HD, did. However, it would take an hour and a half to get it. No reason for the whole group to waste the day waiting when there’re great roads out there to ride. So part of the group stayed and part of the group left to enjoy the day of riding and we’d all hook up again at the hotel. Hopefully...

Four hours later Rock City was finally able to find a regulator for my bike. Turns out Toad Suck didn’t have one in stock. They thought Memphis, TN had one but would require overnight shipping or Curtis could ride there and bring it back (a 5 hour round trip). But when they called the dealership it turned out they didn’t have one either. Rock City continued to search and finally found one! Yay! The rest of the group was finally back on the road and would still make it to the hotel in Marshfield, MO. to meet up with the others.

We rode AR-7 outside of Conway through Ozark National Park. Absolutely beautiful road. I could have done without the scary, downhill, fresh oil, 20 mph curves but I survived. We even picked up a HOG ABC.

Still no chain restaurants. While my bike was being worked on we enjoyed lunch at the Frontier Diner just down the street from the dealership. Curtis remembered the place from when we passed though in 2013 heading to Milwaukee for the 110th celebration. Leave it to Curtis to remember a good meal.

Tomorrow’s a pretty big day of riding with mostly, if not all, back roads. Loving the adventure!