Eureka Springs 2019

Quote from Cowboy

good to meet you wokka and a very cool quad set.

I'll go ahead and throw it out there though....was anyone else disappointed with this years meet?

Two vendors and no one running the event this year. Looks like all the money for registration went straight into the bank. I'll be really surprised if it happens next year. Nothing like the first three, they were a blast.

Quote from Bill Martin

I am so sorry and hang my head in shame I didn’t get back to drink bourbon and smoke cigars. Didn’t get to see you Saturday but my beloved Sling almost killed us Thursday evening. After most of the day my auto tranny was not shifting correctly. 5 miles from dangerdarrell ’s house where we were staying the rear end suddenly locked up with my ass end starting to come around toward the front. I was able to straighten it out and for off the road in the grass (probably only place in miles it was that flat with no ditch). It started up and I hobbled it on to the house with only slightly soiled drawers. The good thing is Dave@DDMWorks was the installer and is going to fly to my house and figure out what the hell happened. I gotta admit you can’t beat that when an ace mechanic flies 900 miles to service my Sling. It is little wonder why Brother Dave is one of the top vendors in the Slingshot world !! I promise (ya know a lawyer would never lie 😂😂) SERIOUSLY -you can’t go wrong buying anything from the small to complex from DDM Works

Bill glad to hear that only thing soiled/messed up was your drawers.... Over all sounds like you have had a great road trip. Dave will get the Slingshot up and running again.

Quote from Red

Two vendors and no one running the event this year. Looks like all the money for registration went straight into the bank. I'll be really surprised if it happens next year. Nothing like the first three, they were a blast.

Agreed. All I got for the $90 t-shirt and the opportunity to spend more money with all 2 of the vendors! LOL Probably won't be back even if they do offer it next year. Apparently you don't have to pay the registration fee anyway as there were several there that didn't. We live close enough that we can run to Eureka anytime. Sure did like the meets in the past though....those were fun with great group rides. I never went on a group ride and went solo all three days, but I guess this year there were a few folks that got lost and were left behind as well as rumors of 100 mph+ on the interstates. I guess that's what you get when nobody is in charge. We still had a good trip, but the event was a bust.

Sad to hear that things were not organized. Been a great event for the first four years.

EjFord should have been there to keep everything organized, that’s what happens when @EJFord doesn’t show up

Well, we ( jamesgn, Teresa, and I) made it back home too. Started at 71 degrees in ES when we left and hit 102 degrees by the time we got back home in Texas. Total of 1678 miles for me for the trip plus rides.

Nice to meet everyone there too. I know I'll never remember everyone's name, and trying to keep those straight with user IDs is just too hard. Especially over beers, whiskey, and cigars!

A few of us were also talking about the event this year. Rather than make a complaint in a public forum, may I suggest we provide some constructive criticism direct to the organizer of the event so that they can address and correct it too. I know the people trying to run it there were just as frustrated as some of us are.

As someone else said, we all come to these things for 3 reasons:

1. Meet all the people we hang out with online and socialize in person.
2. Go on rides in our Slingshots. People have different wants in a ride so there should be different kinds of rides to choose from, and I'm not just talking about routes.
3. See what the suppliers have new to offer to personalize our rides.

Perhaps we could provide direct constructive information to make sure these events are worth going to.

I'll post pics later. I know Teresa got a really special one on the ride home but I won't ruin the surprise.

I made it home about 8:30 tonight, we went down scenic 7 to hot springs and then over to home. Didn't hit any rain but a few sprinkles. Was a bit warm later in the afternoon, but I don't think it got above 90 for us.

It was good meeting everyone, I had a blast. I know people are saying this was disappointing, but I had fun and for me, it's all about the other riders and meeting, chatting and riding. The vendors and everything else is just icing on the cake, so if the icing was a bit lighter this year, oh well.

I'll be there next year, or where ever one is held in the area.

If there isn't one, we can organize our own, just find a place to meet up and ride

I'll have video and maybe some pics later, but the pics posted were good! Thanks Chain

I'm sorry that I missed everyone, but I could not find any of the event. Wife and I drove up Sat morning to Eureka up the Pig Trail and saw a few SSs on the way up. We cruised around town for a couple of hours looking for everyone, but came up short. I only saw a couple of SSs actually in town. Guess my registration fee that I was going to pay got spent on a couple of new vests at a local shop there. After cruising around ES, we headed to Fayetteville to spend the night at my brothers.

I hate that I missed the fun. Maybe next year - Hot Springs is also a good area for rides and hotels, just a thought

[quote='Bill Martin','https://slingshotinfo.com/index.php?thread/8259-eureka-springs-2019/&postID=283252#post283252']

Quote from Chain

Knocked a hour off the ride home, no idea how that happen . Got home at 10 and missed the storm. Got a little sprinkle. Had a blast meeting everyone. I wish I could remember everyones names. Boomer, chevy2, Wanka , couple from pryor, couple from hmmmm forgot that too. Another couple or 2 or 3 I forgot where from. Of course Danger Darrel and Bill Martin who never did come back to have that smoke and drink. Little smaller turn out but a good time regardless. I wish everyone a safe trip home.

I am so sorry and hang my head in shame I didn’t get back to drink bourbon and smoke cigars. Didn’t get to see you Saturday but my beloved Sling almost killed us Thursday evening. After most of the day my auto tranny was not shifting correctly. 5 miles from dangerdarrell ’s house where we were staying the rear end suddenly locked up with my ass end starting to come around toward the front. I was able to straighten it out and for off the road in the grass (probably only place in miles it was that flat with no ditch). It started up and I hobbled it on to the house with only slightly soiled drawers. The good thing is Dave@DDMWorks was the installer and is going to fly to my house and figure out what the hell happened. I gotta admit you can’t beat that when an ace mechanic flies 900 miles to service my Sling. It is little wonder why Brother Dave is one of the top vendors in the Slingshot world !! I promise (ya know a lawyer would never lie 😂😂) SERIOUSLY -you can’t go wrong buying anything from the small to complex from DDM Works

[/quote]

Dude that sucks, I am just glad you and the SS are in one piece. Maybe next year I will have a Trump 2020 cigar for ya.

Sent from my LG-LS777 using Polaris Slingshot Forum mobile app

Quote from Wingman

I'm sorry that I missed everyone, but I could not find any of the event. Wife and I drove up Sat morning to Eureka up the Pig Trail and saw a few SSs on the way up. We cruised around town for a couple of hours looking for everyone, but came up short. I only saw a couple of SSs actually in town. Guess my registration fee that I was going to pay got spent on a couple of new vests at a local shop there. After cruising around ES, we headed to Fayetteville to spend the night at my brothers.

I hate that I missed the fun. Maybe next year - Hot Springs is also a good area for rides and hotels, just a thought

Did you go to the Best Western? That info was in your registration email. Once there, it was a bit tricky to find the event, since it was at the very back and not obvious, but a bit of driving around in the parking lot would have located it.

We went to both Best Westerns in town. I'm guessing better signage would have helped. I know that our CVMA events, we always have a large banner posted next to the road to help guide folks into the location. That would have helped out, IMHO. I did see a banner for the SSs at the large bar at the bottom of the hill near old downtown, but didn't see a SS in the parking lot at all. But always next year. It was a good weekend to break in the new PRP seats that I installed Friday afternoon.

It was in the very back and kind of down a hill. Tough to see from road area. I’m sure Weather was a factor for some that were coming, I know my riding buddy from Dallas came up Saturday and when we went to the rally site there were maybe 6-8 people mulling around and we were shocked that there were only 2 vendors. He had paid his registration fee in advance and was going to get his T-shirt's but there was NO ONE around or any registration area we could find. Now he’s out over $100 for registration for 2 and not even a Tshirt to show for it. I’m sure Hot Springs would be an easier to get to Rally site and the roads around there are just as fun. Wish I could have made the earlier Eureka Springs rally’s cause this one was nothing like the first two Kerrville rallies I went to.
I don’t think people are complaining Chavey2 merely stating facts. Everything people have said is true and hopefully the organizers ( money takers) will view the remarks as such. I know I wouldn’t want to take on hosting an event like this but if your going to do it, do it right.

Quote from Dochatley

I don’t think people are complaining Chavey2 merely stating facts. Everything people have said is true and hopefully the organizers ( money takers) will view the remarks as such. I know I wouldn’t want to take on hosting an event like this but if your going to do it, do it right.

Agree. I didn't take it as just complaining. What I am asking the people to do is to contact the event organizers directly instead of posting a public complaint that may get no traction. Hopefully if the organizers hear the same thing directly from many people, it may have more weight than a public bandwagon that the organizer may never see.

Since so many of us on these forums go to the smaller events, almost seems like we are the majority (maybe we aren't), but you'd think that the event organizers would be participating on here.

I know, politics and bitterness are keeping them off of here, but for those of us who like to go to these events, it's disappointing.

Truly, I'm not complaining. I was looking forward to meeting many of the fine folks on here. I know how hard it is to put on an event - been there, got the t-shirts. I go to many events every year, but I'm still new to the SS group. Advertising, vendors (especially the vendors that sell SSs and parts) , registration costs, and location make for a great rally. I was at a CVMA event a couple weeks ago that was held at a local HD dealer, it was busy for two days and the HD dealer sold at least 10-15 bikes in one day to other folks that came in. but they had multiple rides, raffle prizes, a poker run and a couple of weapons drawings. Location is also important, Eureka Springs is very popular, but you are also competing with everyone else for a weekend. And a lot folks might be saving themselves(and dollars) for Bike, Blues and BBQ this weekend in Fayetteville. But like I said, hopefully next year I'll meet many of you

I combined a few of my videos together. Got some in real time and some in timelapse, which I thought were amusing. Starts off coming into Eureka Springs from the north and then parts of our ride on Saturday and finishing up with me playing around.

Sadly, the videos just don't do it justice. most of the twisties I'm breaking loose on the corners and drifting slightly, but it just doesn't reflect it in the video. All of this on 5lbs of boost.

Awesome video Wanka, I need to learn how to use my editor. cutting and adding I have not figured out.

Did I pick up a new nick name somewhere this weekend?? LOL

I'm using Adobe Premiere.