Bike & Mods

Bike: 2006, Kawasawki KLR





Item
Tank Bag & rain cvr - Wolfman
IMS: Shift lever, SS foot pegs
Happy Trails: Svc Manual, Heated hand grip, Front fork springs, Doohickey, Skid plate, Rr brake mount, SS brake lines, Crash bars, hi-way pegs, Brake Mstr Cylinder guard, Saddle Bags,
Side Racks, Windshield
Saddle: Corbin
Cruz Tools: Tire repair, Tire irons
DualStar: Fork Brace, Fork Boots, Drain Plug, Handel bars, Carrier Deck, Headlight Guard, Tubes, Frame upgrade, Battery
Arrowhead: Hand Guards, Hand covers, Front fender, Grips

Camping Stuff
Sleeping Bag
Tent

Roads & Routing

Proposed Routing

I. Stage One

• ATL to Billings, MT
• Total Est. Distance: 2094.01 mile
• Planned tire change at the Kawasaki shop

II. Stage Two

• Billings to Dawson Creek, British Columbia (that's in Canada for you gerography buffs)
• Total Est. Distance: 871.36 miles
• Why go to Dawson Creek?, Because that is where the Alaska Highway begins (formerly called the ALCAN Hwy)

III. Stage Three

• Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks, AK
• Total Est. Distance: 1461.83 miles
• Technicallythe Alaska Hwy is now paved. However, 10% is under constructio at any one time and the rumor has it is 150 miles of rough sledding. That is why I'm riding the KLR and not the Harley. I can stand to dump a $4000 motorcycle alot easier than a $22K scoot.

IV. Stage Four

• Fairbanks to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay)
• Total Est. Distance: 498 miles
• There is only one road: the Dalton Hwy, also known as the Haul Road
• There is no pavement north of Fairbanks - the weather is too sever and the thermal shifts breakup anything permanent. This is where the KLR payoff is recognzed - 1000 miles of dirt road traveled mostly by semi trucks supplying the pipline activities (moose, bear, et al)

V. Return Trip: Prudhoe Bay to Edmonton - via Cassiar & Yellowhead Hwy

• Deadhorse to Coldfoot 239 mi
• Coldfoot to Fairbanks 259 mi
• Fairbanks to Delta Junction 98 mi
• Delta Junction to Watson Lake 764 mi
• Cassiar Hwy, Hwy 37: Watson Lake to Yellowhead Hwy Junction 450 mi
• Yellowhead Hwy, Hwy 16: Cassiar Hwy Junction to Prince George, BC 298 mi
• Prince George, BC to Edmonton, Alberta 454 mi
• Total 2,562 mi
  

Hot Functional Testing

May 24 and 25
Shake-Down Cruise: Took a 500+ mi ride to give the entire package a real like test. Will the bike stay together or have all those "improvements" I've made handicapped functionally?

First day's ride was magnificent:

• Atlanta to Highlands, NC and then on to Asheville, NC via the Blue ridge Pkwy.
• I was planning on spending the negated there but just wasn't ready to stop - still had more miles in me
• I jumped on I-40 and headed west ending up in Gatlinburg, TN around dark.

The second day saw downpours as I came out of Great smoky Natl Park, on the the Foothills Pkwy and all throughout the Deals Gap and into Robbinsville, NC. Want to pinch a chuck out of your saddle? Ride the Tail of the Dragon in the rain. That will make you testify.

Think you can't get a hotel room for $35? Think again. Gatlinburg, Tennessee proves its value.

Testing results were mixed at best. Final scores: A, B and F.

• The bike did great. Ran like a top - nothing vibrated loose - all the electrical loads (heated vest, heated handgrips worked fine and didn't blow and fuses). I am completely pleased with the KLR.
• The gear work well: saddle bags, strap-on duffel. The tank bag is too small for a map which make one wonder why it has a "map pocket", but it held riding swag well.
• Clothing was a disaster - Roadgear jacket and gloves, allegedly waterproof, gear leaked like a sieve - at least from the outside. However, once the water got in, the gloves it did seem like they held it very well and refused to let it out. Maybe I should wear this stuff inside-out?
  
  
  
  
  

Pre-Trek

I. Introduction
What's the deal? What's going on? Why the blog?

Simply put; I am embarking on an adventure I've always dreamed about and will use this web-log to capture the action. In addition to simply memorialize events I have several goals I plan to achieve, again via this blog format:

• Real-Time Communication. First and foremost I want to communicate the journey, in real time, to my children and wife who will be suffering incredibly during my absence...Ha. Experience tells me email is not going to work well for the format I envision, ie lots of photos, time-zone shifts, random updates, etc. I am hoping this electronic format will prove convenient both for the author and the target audience: Claire Joseph and Pam (you to Mia).
• Planning. For others that might consider such a venture, and for myself when I do this again, I want to capture the planning and and travel considerations (design criteria for you participating engineers), so that doing this again will be easier.
• Routing. Details on the planed and actual routing will be provided
• Tech Stuff. Being an unreformed gear-head I would be remiss without a good technical discussion of the machinery involved: the motorcycle, modifications, the gear used. Be prepared for candid critiques from the road. Note: a wet rider is an unhappy rider.
• Personal journal. An escape as epic as this almost guarantees becoming a transformational experience and demands a measure of personal reflection: time in the wilderness, man-nature interface, near death encounters with semi-trucks, grizzly bears and road house food. Hopefully, I can touch on some of these personal level insights without getting too mauldin - we'll see.
  

II. Prologue:
I have had Alaska on the brain for years and in particular the idea of riding a motorcycle there. Recently two events have conspired to bring this idea to fruition:

1. My interaction with, and travels to, Alaska in support of a past client: Alaska Pipeline Services Company (the folks that run the Alaskan Pipeline).
2. My acquaintance and friendship with riding-ace, Alan Harrelson.

It turns out Alan has been doing some serious motorcycle touring over the last years: cross-country ride, re-tracing the Lewis & Clark trail, etc, had Alaska in the queue as well. We got to talking one evening while making a Blue Ridge Pkwy ride and realized we were both serious about doing this AK ride and both had a single standing constraint from our wives, "You cannot do this ride alone". The assumption being that another willing and non-crazed participant was not to be found. Well that is all it took; Alan and I both bolted home, told our respective wives we had found some one that appeared rational and could we have permission to go. The deal was done. So, in classic innovation theory, we have a long simmering idea (AK ride) brought to life by a chance encounter with an enabling agent (Alan).

That was a year ago and since then Alan and I have been scheming, plotting, planning and acquiring to make it happen. Amazingly, this has all been done with minimal communication. Neither of us has done any kind of dual-sport touring before (ie lots of dirt roads) and didn't have any of the gear or even the motorcycles. My Harley and Alan's Goldwing are just not the right mounts for this type of ride. Alan and I agreed on the type of bike needed, time frame and duration, route and we have been individually busy making it happen. It is great working with competent people.