2009 Alaska Motorcycle Trip

Archive for the ‘Day 12’ Category

(Just to add more confusion)

So the Dalton Hwy. Has been known to eat up cars trucks and of course motorcycles for years but its one of those things that if you get a taste of you just have to do it. So we leave the Yukon camp we are all jacked up ( me on monster and JV on starbucks double shots) the weather it great the bikes are running awesome it can’t get much better then this. So we are riding up this steeeep grade we pass a slow move truck I hit a dip in the road and bottom out bike still runs but at I crest the hill it feels like I ‘m pulling a trailer (no power) I pull in the clutch to see if the bike is rolling ok (no problem there) then the oil light comes on and the motor is making this noise that can only be described as something ain’t right. There is a big pull off there (looks like the truckers use it to pull off and rest) I pull in and park. . So after doing some miner road side dignotics I am p*** off and frustrated thinking our trip has come to an end. So I send Jimmy back to Yukon camp to try and arrange a ride send out a help message via spot and the drama unfolds.
After JV leaves I go to work on a pile of gravel that is in the pull off area its to steep for a ramp but but all I can think of if a truck comes to a stop for help I want to be able to get it loaded I find some wood and use it as a shovel I move the gravel enough to make a nice ramp I run up and down it to pack it down. Then I start to lighten up the bike I unload my bags that are strapped on. I now am ready if some one stops with a truck.

So now I start checking over the bike more I remove the seat and  find that the tire ripped the bottom of my fender out and that was were some of my electrical components were it broke a wire I fixed it tried to start it up and it ran perfect and the oil presure light did not come on. I repack the bike send a ok message via spot hoping JV would get the word from Dean that I was ok.

I head back to Yukon to find him I’m looking in all the cars as they pass me to make sure he doesn’t go past me and as I am with in 1/4 mile of the camp I see him in a truck he  sees me also so as I slow down I see them turn I continue to the camp. We high 5 gas up and head up towards Coldfoot for the night.

We start off on the Dalton Highway after our photos, and the road turns to a tree lined hard pack dirt road. Off to the right you can see the pipeline appear and disappear as we start to climb the hills. The weather starts to clear and the road is dry, making this just a great dirt road.

We end up crossing over the pipeline several times. We continue to climb and at the crest of the hills we get glimpse of the vista’s ahead of us. We past through several areas where you visible notice that the trees are smaller, or what look like trees. They are 2 to 5 feet tall sticks with what looks like some green fuzz/sticks growing from them, but they don’t really look healthy. We find out later they are evergreen trees that are growing on top of the permafrost, so they only have about 18″ to 24″ of dirt before they have to spread their roots sideways.

Alaska is vast and each vista shows it. This is the only road here! After about 35miles of dirt road, the road becomes paved with a chip seal surface. Although it is nice to have a smooth surface, the frost heaves on the road become somewhat of a challenge as you tend to “whoop” through them. My bike is stock,but Steve’s bike had been lowered by the previous owner and his “whoops” caused him more negotiating. This continues for a while, with us finding ourselves being launched from our seats from the frost heaves.

At this point, we have had only a few trucks pass us by, all going slowly enough when we past, and no one has over taken us from behind.

Back to dirt the road turns as we head towards our first milestone, the Yukon River Crossing. There should be gas here, which would mean we won’t be tapping into our reserves (gas cans strapped to our seats).

We approach the crossing, take some pics, then cross the wooden bridge and turn off at the camp located on the other side. We stop and get gas, check out the store and accommodations (these are just modular trailers put together) and then head out.

Next sign indicates Arctic Circle is 60 miles, Coldfoot Camp 120. Thirty five miles later I come up to a crest on a hill and see this is a great place to stop – the sun is out and it is pretty clear out – should be a great ride into Coldfoot.

I wait for Steve at this crest (as he follows back further to not eat my dust) and as he approaches and stops next to me he mutters “I just lost some power on that last dip on coming up the hill”

to be continued….

Ok, need to back up a bit and talk about our trip on the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay.

Again, Dean did an excellent job keeping everyone up to date and filling in the information about the road, what we were probably experiencing, and keeping the drama alive. Now we can give some pics and some additional info to supplement that.

The breakdown was a fake, we just wanted to add drama to the ride….. lol

(No – it happended)

On Friday we headed to the local dealer to swap out our road tires for some knobbies. Steve did all the work of taking the tires off in the parking lot and we just rolled them in to have them mount the new tires. By the time we took care of that and loaded up our bikes (we left some gear in storage at the hotel to lighten our load) and headed on our first park, it was noon when we left the hotel (local time). It was over cast and sprinkels as we headed to the junction to get the Dalton Highway.

We get to the junction where the sign is and pull over for some pics. It is a light drizzle with high humidity, but still cool weather (mid 60’s). The mesquitoes we out so we applied lotion and spray and took our photos of the bikes for a before shot. While doing this a couple from Germany were just coming off the road riding two up. They swung in to talk to us and give us some info about the road.

to be continued………..