alfalfa

The trip back was just me and my brother.  The other two guys flew out of Anchorage.  Our last day riding we left Edmonton, Alberta and rode straight thru back to Missoula.  Probably about 630 miles.

Just now, XTreme said:

How long did it take? Were there any breakdowns?

We took 3 weeks to do it. I rode from Los Angeles to Missoula, MT where we all met up.  So, a week to get to Fairbanks, then a week in Alaska, and then the 3rd week to get back to MT.  We didnt have any flats.  I did need a new tire in Whitehorse (you forget that just getting to Alaska can wear out a tire!).   My brother's KTM acted up coming back down the Alcan, after he dropped it in the wood turning around.  Something about the canister filling up with gas, causing it to not want to run.

Heading south from Prudhoe, my bike started dying, then running.   It was pouring rain for the section from Deadhorse to Atigun.  At the top of Atigun Pass, it just quit.  I was carrying an extra gallon of gas and put that in. Bike started and ran the whole rest of the time.   The weird part is that i used one tank getting from Coldfoot to Prudhoe (about 255 miles), and more than one heading south.   Might have been fighting thru the rain and mud and running at higher rpms on the southbound leg.   Kind of exciting to break down where you arent anywhere near civilization, or cell coverage (only in Prudhoe)

Just now, XTreme said:

Amazing Rick!

How many miles did you do in total?

It was probably over 7000 miles.  I ended up flying home from Montana as i had ridden Jim's bike from AK. He flew out of Anchorage, since he didnt have enough vacation to ride back.  My plan was to go back to Ak later that year and ride my own bike back.  True to form, once i've ridden/driven the Alaska Highway, it takes me about 2-3  years to want to do it again :).   I have family in Anchorage so it was pretty easy to leave my KTM there and then have it shipped later. 

Too f'n lazy to write, so will just post up a bunch of pics from a great trip 11 years ago. (we have tentative plans to go again in 2021, if the world is still here...)

starting off with an epic one from the one and only @jbean.

this guy here (just had his nails done and didnt want to mess up the polish)

i had just got used to the quiet in the office and the lack of traffic.  now, all them scared nannies are back

3 hours ago, Grasshopper's Ride said:

What a smile ....  I sensed you boys were getting a bit worried about the ladies, this should help.

Brad Paisley? 

6 hours ago, XTreme said:

Jane Seymour?

Too damned easy

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

That is hardcore stuff Rick! Does anybody ever get injured riding in conditions like that? 

we get hurt on the easy stuff.  you know, when you arent paying attention.  This time we were really focused as the road bent to the right, just at the bottom of the snow.  If you went left, it was a good 1000 feet or more before you would stop rolling!

Had our fill last time...

dang, man!  it is June!   we are supposed to / maybe heading that way in mid-July.  Be sure to get them passes open

On 06/06/2020 at 14:17, JBEAN said:

Thank you Rick for writing  this.  And thank you for being such a good friend to me.  Tomorrow will be four years since Billy left us. I sure do miss him. He was a one of a kind true friend.  Love you Billy

It sounds cliche, but if he was a friend of yours then it stands to reason he was a great guy!  When you get a chance, post up some of your stories about him.  Especially the Tail of the Dragon one!

Hey, Frijole!!! Welcome.  Watch out for all these foreigners....

Needed a bike to do Prudhoe Bay on:

Succumbed to the call of the GS, finally

The power and smoothness of a 6-cyl is fun!

Wasnt going to go the liquid cooled GS route, until I rented one in Europe.

getting older, so an upright sport bike is perfect!

Mind wasnt maturing, so a normal sport bike had to be had.

followed by a slight upgrade

and, then stupidity reigned and i had to have the newest

somewhere in the middle of the lunacy, got the Rallye version.  Great offroad bike with all the electronic nannies

Should stay away from the dealerships, as the updated XR called my name out.

First bike 

Second

Switched to Kawasakis

(first crash, too.  got an extra thick collar bone cause of that bike)

What do you do when you turn 40?  Of course, you buy a ....

Vibrated so bad the air cleaner bolt would back out, the headlight would break.  Compression so high, it would bend the starter

then, you go amurican, fully!

Was the brother's, but he got fed up with the dealer not being able to fix things, so told them to sell it and he moved on to BMW

Which led me to this:

and, then this:

On 03/06/2020 at 10:42, Buckster said:

Probably a drug dealer.

is that wishful thinking?

Hey, Sportsterboy!

Welcome!!

48 minutes ago, Earache said:

Send him out our way to ride!

 

Same for the rest of you - have a 5 bedroom house in the mountains and any / all are welcome to come hang out and ride for awhile,

be careful what you ask for

51 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

Is it only me that feels uncomfortable when some asks how you two met and the honest answer is we met online 

seems pretty common nowadays.  so common that when we are out on a trip, chatting up people we meet, when they ask how we all met we just say "eHarmony"