The Bikes, Blues, and BBQ rally in NW Arkansas has interested me for years. After being cancelled for two years it finally returned last week. The forecast looked great so I hit the road to check it out. With dry windless weather and temps in the 60s and 70s it was ideal riding.
The events moved from Fayetteville to Rogers. Some attendees complained that it was less organized than previous events, but everything seemed pretty good to me. Except the traffic. I hadn’t been through Bentonville/Rogers since the 2012 Eureka Springs Inzane, and the area has grown massively. I found alternate routes through side streets to avoid long waits at traffic lights on the main roads.
The events were spread around 4 venues in Rogers and one in Eureka Springs. Below are a few photos.
I rode my F6B because I love the cruise control and longer range for trips like this. I was surprised to see another one in the very rare yellow and black color when I pulled into the vendor area at the Rogers convention center.
HD and BWM were at the convention center to offer demo rides. BMW brought several R18s, an R1250GS, some K1600s, among other bikes. Unlike Sturgis where you had to ride behind a tour guide, here they just gave you the key and let you ride it wherever you wanted for a while.
Pig Trail HD is a huge dealership in Rogers. There were acres of vendors, along with plenty of flashy custom HDs. I saw a few Valkyries and plenty of Wings.
This was the nicest dog trailer I’ve seen!
Another venue was in downtown Rogers. This was a great location with interesting old buildings and businesses and endless BBQ vendors. Every venue had stages with (mostly) blues bands.
Here’s a very unusual trike. I don’t think it would corner very well.
