Ride To Alaska

[Scratch33]

Thirty days from now, if all goes as planned, my friend Tam 'Redfox' and I will be flying out to Seattle to begin our 30-day trip north to Alaska, then back to MD.  I'll be riding my red '06 WeeStrom, that I purchased used a couple months ago from a gent down in NC; Tam just bought a friend of ours' used, well-maintained '04 Triumph Tiger for the trip.

In order to save some time and some wear on our bikes, we're shipping them (along with a fair amount of gear) from Annapolis to Seattle, and starting our trip from there.    We chose http://motorcycleshipping.biz/ as our shipping company.  Our good friends Wes and Linda at Annapolis Motor Sports (http://www.annapolismotorsports.com/) have graciously agreed to act as the 'pick up' folks.  I called around to various motorcycle dealerships in the Seattle area to see who'd be willing to accept delivery - Jim Ackerman, the Service Director at Renton Motorsports ( http://www.rentonmotorcycles.com/) advised me that they'd gladly do it in exchange for me saying nice things about them on the internet.  Can't wait to meet him.

Since I returned to motorcycling in '94 I've had a goal of riding in all the states and provinces - after this trip only Hawaii will be left.  My first full cross-country was done in '96 on a K1100LT; the last 3 were all done on my GL1800 in 2001, 2003 and 2005.  Tam Redfox happily accompanied me on the 2005 trip, our "Head Smashed In" tour, riding her K1200LT (read about it here: http://forums.delphiforums.com/mmrf/messages?msg=2750.1).  That was the longest trip out of all of them (40 days and about 13K miles) and once we got back to Maryland, Tam continued on to Americade and won the 'Furthest Distance Ridden' Award there.  

I've got a list as long as our arms of "Things Yet To Do", including getting a couple pics of our bikes as they're set up for the trip.  Later this week...

[Cricket]

Good luck with getting every thing ready for the trip. I will be watching this trip with great interest. We have been talking about an Alaska trip next year. So good luck let us know how everything goes.

Ken

[dm_gsxr]

I'll be wending my way up after The National to add to my states and provinces map.



Maybe we'll pass each other

Carl

[Scratch33]

Excellent!  1st beer's on us if we do.

[dm_gsxr]

Sounds great. I'll have to go for a diet coke though as I don't drink but it'll work out

Keep an eye out for a loaded Hayabusa and the guy with the red and high-vis yellow Aerostich.



 

Carl

[Scratch33]

I think you'll be hard to miss.  I've met a few 'busa riders who use their bikes for distance touring.

[dm_gsxr]

And I think we're all on this site

Carl

[GooseMan]

I'll be wending my way up after The National to add to my states and provinces map.



Maybe we'll pass each other

Carl

Holy crap! Thats a crazy trip! I'm jealous!  

BTW--where do you get that kind of map online...with custom waypoints etc? Cant seem to be able to do that on GoogleMaps...

[dm_gsxr]

I'm using Microsoft Streets & Trips to generate the map. I capture the screen and post it to my website.

Carl

[1moreroad]

Good luck to all of you.  Are you going up to the Arctic Circle?

[dm_gsxr]

Good luck to all of you.  Are you going up to the Arctic Circle?

I'm leaving it as an option. It'll depend on roads and weather and how I feel at the time. Can't speak for the others

Carl

[Scratch33]

Thanks.  Whether we decide to venture up that far will depend on the weather - we'd both like to though.

[Gixster]

I think you'll be hard to miss.  I've met a few 'busa riders who use their bikes for distance touring.

And I think we're all on this site

Yes we are!  

[Sport]

Yes we are!  

Yep!  I always thought (to save time) was to ship the bike (and me) via a ferry? to Anchorage and then ride north thru Denali and Fairbanks and then come back across Canada back into the US.  Maybe someday....

[1moreroad]

Yep!  I always thought (to save time) was to ship the bike (and me) via a ferry? to Anchorage and then ride north thru Denali and Fairbanks and then come back across Canada back into the US.  Maybe someday....

Ferries are really expensive.  I'm thinking ride up there then ship the bike back from Anchorage.  There are at least 2 dealerships that ship bikes out of Anchorage (I think).

[Sport]

Ferries are really expensive.  I'm thinking ride up there then ship the bike back from Anchorage.  There are at least 2 dealerships that ship bikes out of Anchorage (I think).

And then fly back?  Shipping the bike and flying back are cheaper than the ferry?

[1moreroad]

And then fly back?  Shipping the bike and flying back are cheaper than the ferry?

Well, the ferry only gets you back to Seattle or so.  PM Bluepoof -- she did it.  I thought I remember your fare is $100 and the bike is $300 on the ferry.  Then you still have 1000 miles of wear and tear and gas and 1 hotel night from Seattle.

Shipping the bike should be $600 and airfare is $250 or so.

For me, I'll be coming from the South when I do it next year, so ferry isn't an option and it will take a lot more time/gas/wear and tear to get back home.

[R Doug]

A trip to Alaska and back is a dream of mine.  Will you be posting from the road?  If not, I'll look forward to your trip report.

Keep safe.

[Scratch33]

A trip to Alaska and back is a dream of mine.  Will you be posting from the road?  If not, I'll look forward to your trip report.

Keep safe.

For me, only if I get access to the 'net at a hotel or cafe somewhere along the way.  Don't own a laptop myself.

[dm_gsxr]

I have a laptop but I intend on camping 100% of the trip (it won't happen but I'm going to give it a shot). I was able to camp or rely on friends on the Labrador trip so I ended up staying in motels three times for the entire three weeks. Not having an outlet makes it hard to plug the laptop in so no "Carl on the road: Jasper" reports

Carl

[cyjo]

Good luck to you all. I can't wait to see the trip report. I would love to go to Alaska on my bike. I still have a lot in the lower 48 to see though.

[Redfox]

Found you at last!
I'm at the stage of deciding what gear to ship with the bike and what to take on the plane to Seattle. For now it looks like riding gear and tools go with the bike along with whatever camping gear we decide to take. BTW I have a three helmet helmet bag that I used to carry gear in to ride NZ a few years ago. That bag could go on the pallet while containing helmets and then be shipped home when empty.
This whole shipping thing is new to me but it will save about a week of actual ride time, fuel and hotel bills and heck I've mostly ridden the part in between anyway.
For that matter most of this trip is about new stuff, new place to ride, new way to get there, new (to me) bike. I love the idea of flying off to some distant place, meeting my bike and then riding home across increasingly familiar turf, Its all quite exciting!

[Scratch33]

Finally got our bikes ready for shipment.   We dropped them off at Annapolis Motor Sports yesterday evening for pickup by Allied today.  Here's a pic of Tam Redfox's '04 Tiger, aka "Hobbes":




And my '06 WeeStrom, aka "Faust":

[servicerifle]

Cool trip guys, keep us updated!

[Scratch33]

Thanks - can't wait for the actual ride to begin.  Been hassling over getting those bikes prepped for weeks; glad to be done with 'em.