This will be the ride report for the
" the Purple Explorer" build thread.
Me and my wife are leaving Seattle on June 20th and heading for Deadhorse Alaska,the furthest north you can drive on the North American continent.
I will try to update this thread everyday ( when we have cell reception ).
Here is my wifes 94,formerly owned by Pat.
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Good Luck!!!! :woohoo:
I'm Jealous and also Releived it's not me!! ... Who can say "saddle sore!!" ;)
Go Hard you crazy lucky pair!! :bowdown:
She thinks the factory GEL seat is sooooo comfy !!!.Lets see how she feels after 6,000- 7,000 miles in 23 days !!!.
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Looks great :thumb:
Have fun and be safe.
Thanks..
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Subscribed!
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Quote from: NortwestRider on June 03, 2013, 03:18:34 PM
She thinks the factory GEL seat is sooooo comfy !!!.Lets see how she feels after 6,000- 7,000 miles in 23 days !!!.
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:D ... GEL may be good... but numb ass is numb ass!! .. if anything i would pay attention to doing some warm up lower back stretches in the morning and regularly (when you stop for a break) through the day ... lower back and shoulders/wrists/elbows joints i see as the main hazard area for that much consistent riding.. :thumb:
She can sit on a carbon fiber bicycle seat for over 200 miles a day,but this TOTALLY different !!.
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Please make one last stop by the Bike Cave before you go.
Yes, many ride reports please!
Good Luck , looking forward to the reports ......
Quote from: adidasguy on June 03, 2013, 10:31:25 PM
Please make one last stop by the Bike Cave before you go.
I will,I have to go up to Aurora Suzuki to get a oil filter in the next week so I will stop by than.
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What an amazing trip that will be!
Too bad the GS500 America Relay baton couldn't make it out there for this... maybe next years trip north, eh? LOL
:cheers:
- Bboy
At some point we are going to TRY to ride to the southern most tip of N America,maybe then ???.
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Got the tires mounted on my bike today,now it's ready to go.
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Oh yeah SWEET! Be safe, good luck, excited to see the thread develop.
Bought 2 Uclear HBC100 bluetooths last week for the trip.These are really cool if you have a modular helmet because they have NO boom mic or wired mic !!,the mic is in the speakers !!.
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whoa! what kind of seat is that? has a back rest? nice! want!
It's a factory Suzuki gel seat,the backrest I built for my 5 year old grandson.
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2 days and counting!!!
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WOOT! Its gonna be an adventure thats for sure!!
The packing starts tonight and I train my replacement at work tomorrow..
A years worth of planning and prep is finally here!!.
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May you have the best of luck. It sounds like it's going to be an epic journey.
Got a big enough memory card for your camera? :icon_rolleyes:
Have a GREAT trip! :woohoo:
Oh ya!!!!
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All packed up and ready to roll in the AM.The rain has started and it's comming from the NORTH.
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This could be an epic thread for sure.
Hopefully you didn't train the replacement too well!
At the end of today I found out that my " replacement " just got out of truck driving school last week !!.So as of right now there is NO replacement driver !!.
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:icon_eek: .. gotta love the greenest of the greenhorn drivers!!! :icon_rolleyes: ;)
Good Luck!!!
Careful on those new tires and the rain!
- Bboy
WE ARE OUTTA HERE !!!!!
OH YAAAAAA.
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Good luck! Safe travels! And post lots of pictures!
Subbed. Good luck on your trip. Can't wait to see some pictures and updates.
Damn that purple explorer looks badass
Well the first day in the books !!.Made it to Cache Creek BC, just over 300 miles.It was NON STOP HEAVY RAIN for 280 miles,we stayed dry except for our feet.Tomorrow we head to Prince George.
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This brings back 10-plus-year-old memories of my 2 trips to BC, especially the border crossings and the rain. You're already almost as far north as I've ever taken my GS ... and you've got a LONG way to go.
I'm sure you'll enjoy every minute of it! :D (Especially after seeing the "No Bad Days" sticker on your luggage bag. :thumb:)
With a full day of rain, it can only get dryer!
How's Trey (i.e. Dora) behaving? All his/her brothers and sisters in the Bike Cave are curious.
Well at the gas stop at Boston Bar Dora was idling at 2,500 rpm ???.I turned it down and it was fine the rest of the day.I havn't started her yet this morning.The weather from here on up looks great,Fairbanks next week is in the low 90's !!.
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Looking great so far, can't wait to see all the awesome photos!! Y'all ride safe :thumb:
Here's Dora sleeping after a long WET day.
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And Kate packing her up this morning.
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A little update after a call from him this morning.
Things were very wet.
They'd go for a while and 10 minutes Dora (formerly Trey) would starve for fuel. Again, 10 minutes and starve for fuel. Water in the tank? bad gas?
Well, and here's a lesson for all - it was the tank bag.
With it wet, it made a perfect seal on the gas cap. No air could get in the tank to let the fuel out.
Keep that in mind if you have fuel issues. That is also a case for checking the tiny hold in the gas cap - the vent hole. Even if no tank bag, if the vent hole is plugged up you won't get air into the tank to let the fuel flow out. The GS500 is gravity fed - no fuel pump to force gas out.
They are back on the road as of the latest message and all is OK now that they took care of the tank bag cutting off air from the tank.
Good pictures so far. Get the small kinks worked out now and its smooth sailing.
Good note on the tank bag, I recently picked one up and would not have initially thought of that.
Oh yeaaaaay ... Dora has crossed over into Canadia not being a registered canadian ... Dora is now an illegal alien ... whooo hooo ... Dora's gonna get deported. Too bad, she's gonna get deported into the US ...
Yea ... my life sucks.
Anyway tank bag issue is well documented ... werase643 posted it ... I had it but that was before the internet ... heck I think it was before written language matter of fact ...
Cool.
Buddha.
End of day 2,what a day !!!
It started out with Dora behaving badly,she kept starving for fuel and dying.After she did this 2 times and a call to Pat from the side of the road in the middle of nowhere we got her going again.I don't really know what the problem was/is but we removed the tank bag and turn the fuel to prime and made it 250 miles to Prince George.Every time we stop you can smell fuel but she ran good.Now there is a NEW problem.She has sprung a oil leak!!,It seems to be leaking from the right side front of the engine,there's alot of oil all over the underside of the engine.There's a pretty good amount of oil down the right side cover and it's dripping onto the exhuast and smoking.It's to hot to check it right now but later I will have a look at it.
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More pics.
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Me working on Dora before I called Pat.
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Oil leak...
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So I just had a thought ( I know thats dangerous ) the day before we left I changed the oil and used Castrol part synthetic 10-40 MC oil.And our first day it rained hard all day so I would not have seen or smelled the oil leak.So maybe the syn oil has exsposed a leak that was already there ??.Just thinkin ..
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Try a slight torquing of the cover bolts.
Clean and see where it comes from. baby powder then go for a few miles.
Only small leak he had before was the cam chain tensioner which we knew about. Possible that got worse and oil is going down the back, between the cylinders to the front. (There is that space between the cylinders that probably was to let water drain from the back of the cylinders.)
Not sure if the change in oil opened up something. I never had the side covers off nor had I torqued the cover bolts. The head was never off. Only thing ever off was the valve cover to do valve adjustments. Otherwise, I had never cracked any of the covers. It will take some watching to see where it is coming from.
I often smell gas around bikes. I figure some of it is gas venting out of the gas cap - when sitting it heats up and gassy air comes out the vent hole. Never seen leaks when I smell it so I figure that is what it is.
Could it be too much oil? Remember to check oil on center stand.
It wasn't really down much on oil so we'll keep a eye on it today.We are riding into some HEAT today,85+ degrees.
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I'd still tweak the cover bolts. Just a tad can make a big difference.
Ok found the leak,but we were 100km from ANYWHERE. So after laying under the bike getting eatin alive by huge mosquitoos I checked the right sidecover bolts and the front 5 or so where loose.The leak was so bad that her rear tire was dripping with oil.After tightning them up I found the gasket on the top one had blown out and the leak was still there.So creative use #987 for a Tampon.
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So we left the side of the road with a tampon zip tied to Dora and went searching for some JB Weld or Silicone.The second store/house we came to ( about 50km ) had some silicone gasket maker and a can of starting fluid to clean off the oil.SUPER nice guy here at the Windy Point store,brought tools and we took off the right side crash bar and siliconed up the area.
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So now we sit and wait for the silicone to dry and chat with the owner ( from the Netherlands ) and enjoy the Moose walking by!!.
Hope to find a sidecover gasket in Dawson Creek of maybe Fairbanks if we make it that far !!.
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I am so jealous of the fun you are having. All these issues build character and I am loving the stories.
Well done guys, keep it coming. :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
Finding your and your wife's story amazingly inspirational...just seeing what a 'little twin' can actually do. Got me all itchy to try some touring now.
Love the pics and amazingly jealous. :bowdown:
Edit: sorry...touch screen phone and fat fingers...hit the wrong emoticon...
Well the silly cone held for 350km's and Dora is dry and ready for tomorrow.
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Oh ya and we are now at MILE 0 of the ALASKAN HIGHWAY !!!.
yippeeeeee
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I am shocked at the sudden oil leak. I never would have anticipated that. Now that Trey has become a girl - Dora, could it just be that time of the month? You did put a tampon on the leak. :icon_rolleyes:
This reminds me of Apollo-13. Shortly after leaving, disaster. Ingenuity and resourcefulness and all returned OK.
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: We honor you for your skill.
After I got it cleaned up on the side of the road,I had Kate start her up and I grabbed my pen light and started looking and it was really pumping out.
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Do you need someone to coordinate a few towns ahead and order a gasket in, so its ready for you?
I have the gasket set. If he wants it, I will overnight it. I will send a complete gasket set just in case anything else happens.
Dora really is a girl. She lost her nuts!
EDIT: Now I see that's where you took off the crash bars to get better access :)
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Ya,the 5 minutes it took to take off the crash bar made it alot easier to clean the area.
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Quote from: adidasguy on June 22, 2013, 10:33:37 PM
I have the gasket set. If he wants it, I will overnight it. I will send a complete gasket set just in case anything else happens.
:bowdown: :thumb:
Our wheels will hit the pavement of the Alaskan Highway in about 1 hour !!!!
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what an adventure!!!
Update: No internet access but sent me a text message. Here's tonight's update.....
They are at "Fort Nelson, 491 km up the Alaska Highway. Dora is dry (no oil leak now) and doing great. She sure draws a crowd among all the Adventure riders up here on their BMW's"
HEY ,we just got the internet up and working.Thanks Pat.
Well it's 9:45 and still very light out,everyday we get further north the closer we get to 24 hour day light !!.
So today was a good,HOT day,Dora did great and my wife is not very sore.I have never seen such long straight stretches of road,some as long as 10+ miles !!.
The scenery TOTALY changed today!
Tomorrow a 550km day to Watson Lake.
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We are getting ready to head out for about 550km day today.I here that the Alaska highway starts to get rougher today.Should make it to Watson Lake tonight.Update tonight.
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!!!!!! WOW !!!!!
Is all I can say about today !.
Lets start with wildlife.We saw 4 black bears,1 mother with 2 little cubs playing in the grass.
4 mountain sheep in the road in front of me,had to wait for them to move.
100's of Bison,so close you could touch them.
1 Carribo,almost hit her.
And alot of Moose.
Also it must be Butterfly season becuase there were 1,000's of them,when they hit your sheild at 120kph your pulling over to clean your sheild.
Ok so now lets talk about the road.You go thru the Rockies around Muncho lake and it's AMAZING !!.Twisty,tight,slow and ROCKY.Muncho lake is a jade color and AWSOME.After the mountains you come down and you can speed up for awhile.Than you come the first MAJOR construction project.25km of LOOSE,SOFT gravel that is so dusty you can only see about 10 feet.Than you have harder wet gravel for about 10km.Than fun really begins,no pilot car and 50km of soft,loose gravel and 100kpm !!.Oh Yeahhhhhh....The tires worked awsome,it took Kate a kilometer or so to relax and then she caught up and we were truckin !!.We ended up in Watson lake( the garbage town of the Yukon,there words not mine )550km.Lucky for us somebody here told us that we better have reservations for the rest of the trip.Our next stop was Whitehorse,but they no rooms,21 hotel/motels and NO ROOMS ..
Sooo we have to go to Haines Junction,a extra 100 miles.
All in all one of the greatest days of riding in my life !!.
Oh ya I forgot to say that it never really gets dark up here..hehe.2:30am and there was still some blue sky out !!.
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Sweet! Whats with all the signs on the trees in the second to last photo?
Sounds so awesome!
Oh ya,thats the signpost forest.People bring signs from all over the world and hang them.As of right now there is over 72,000 signs,it started back in the 40's.
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Cool!
Those signs are really neat. The "earth muffins" in this country would have a royal cow for people hanging all those signs.
Glad Dora is doing well. That will be so cool if she makes it all the way back with that temporary patch on the gasket. That would be one for the record books!
(Remember a gasket set is a phone call away. Barb at the office is ready to overnight them, should you need them.)
NwR (and anyone else who may be interested) a Gold Coast (Australia) based friend drove his Lotus Elise from LA to the arctic circle and back last year. He started a bit earlier and was on the road for almost four months but he kept up a good blog along the way. Here is his summary:
http://elsiefrombottomtotop.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/my-whole-trip-in-summary.html (http://elsiefrombottomtotop.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/my-whole-trip-in-summary.html)
If you want more detail and pics you can look in the 2012 section and follow the preparation and journey.
Quote115 days on the road. 15,334 miles. 468.6 US Gals of petrol at a cost of $2268.58. An average of 33.19 mpg (US Gals) or 39.8 mpg (Imp Gals). 57 nights in a tent at a cost of $1266.72, and 19 nights in motels at a cost of $1547.95, and the rest were in people's homes.
He has just sold the Elise and bought a Toyota Landcruiser. Next year he will be driving it all the way to the tip of Sth America and as far North in Alaska as he can. That will be an even more epic adventure.
WE MADE IT TO ALASKA !!!.
We didn't have internet yesterday,so I will catch you up.Yesterday we rode from Watson Lake to Haines Junction ( 625km ).Watson Lake is the armpit of the Yukon...there I said it !!.
I can't think of anything good about the place,except maybe the sign post forest.It's dirty,stinky,expensive etc,$125 for a room with no AC,stinky,next to a bar that was loud until 4am.Whitehorse is a cool town,clean and very touristy.The ride to Haines Juntion was HOT and dry and a pretty ride.
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This is a STEEL GRATED bridge that is like 2,000 ' long and a real Buddha Loves You with knobbirs !!.
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Today we rode from Haines Junction YT to Tok Alaska,over the roughest road I have ever been on.The road has huge frost heves,patches of deep gravel,parts of the road are just gone !!!.Luckily there were patches ( some as long as 30km ) of gravel,some wet that were smoother than the paved sections.The worst part is that you come around a corner at 90kph and the road is either gone or it's deep gravel!!.One thing that I can say about Canada is that the do warn you,Alaska not so much !!.And then there's yhe YUKON !!!,everything is 3x the price and not as good,gas is about $6 a gallon and a cheeseburger that is $4 in Seattle is $15 in the Yukon and not as good.The way we are making it is that we only eat 1 meal a day out.We eat yogurt and fruit in our room for breakfast and we make a half sandwhich and fruit somewhere on the road everyday.
DIRTY DORA !!!.
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More pics from the road..
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Our Alaskan cabin for the night !!
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Tomorrow we ride to Fairbanks!!
Then REAL adventure begins !!
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We just got word that there's a forest fire 16 miles away !!
Lets hope it go's the other way !!.
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Such a challenge and the pictures are very nice. Good luck with this voyage.
Awesome progress so far!! The photos are really great, goodluck around those forest fires!!
Wow.. Full of challenges with a fire.. To the circle I mean ring... I mean hoop..
Get through that blaze and make sure its safe to do so.
Maybe motorcycle owner wanting to customise a GS500 in adventure style will like the link to Colombian enterprise who make special adventure accessory for our beloved GS500.
http://www.mastechno.com/marcas/suzuki/gs-500
Mastechno enterprise make a special style very strong crankcase protector bar. They make a very strong exhaust silencer muffler protection case. They sell in Brazil and Colombia and South American places. They say that they will soon maybe already sell their accessory in USA. Nice things and good pricing yes?
Quote from: Vindicate on June 27, 2013, 08:11:14 AM
Maybe motorcycle owner wanting to customise a GS500 in adventure style will like the link to Colombian enterprise who make special adventure accessory for our beloved GS500.
http://www.mastechno.com/marcas/suzuki/gs-500
Mastechno enterprise make a special style very strong crankcase protector bar. They make a very strong exhaust silencer muffler protection case. They sell in Brazil and Colombia and South American places. They say that they will soon maybe already sell their accessory in USA. Nice things and good pricing yes?
Good stuff to know !!
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Made it to Fairbanks about a hour ago.
Stopped at North Pole AK,Christmas year round !!!.We rode thru 2 wildfires,couldn't see the fires but rode over 100 miles in heavy smoke.
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Just booked 2 nights ( 1 going up and 1 comming back ) in Coldfoot and 1 night in Deadhorse ( the end of the world !! Hehe ) and a Artic Ocean tour where we can swim in the Artic Ocean,they said there are still some ice bergs up there..So tomorrow starts our 3 day,800 mile OFFROAD ADVENTURE...
DIRTY DORA DOES THE DALTON!!.
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Food at the restaurant/Hotel in Tok junction is pretty good, Haines junction had a purple thai food truck at the main gas station in town that makes a fantastic Phad Thai (was open last winter so maybe not anymore?). To top it off just north of White horse is the famous Braeburn Lodge with their GIANT Cinnamon buns, the old guy who runs the place owns (owned?) one of Steve McQueen's Indian cruisers and has pictures of it (I think he bought it directly from McQueen himself!) Its a quite a bit out of the way though.
Love the trip reports, are those kendas on Dora? How are they holding up?
We ate at Fast Eddy's in Tok and it was good and kinda cheap ( anything is cheaper than the Yukon ).There was only 2 places in Haines Junction and it was $15 for a hamburger and not very good.Right now we are eating here..
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following the updates and photos with keen interest!! .. couple of the guys from work also watching the screen when im looking sometimes and are in awe of how cool this trip is!! :thumb:
We are feeling a little nervous tonight.We just spent $700 for 3 nights and a Artic Ocean tour in Deadhorse..NON REFUNDABLE !!.
And the forcast is for a 40-60% chance of rain on the Dalton this weekend !!.
BUT this is why we came up here so onward north !!..
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you hitting the, hell i cant remember it now lol. the route the truckers take north to the ahh shaZam! ill remember it later lol a WELL known route via the dalton to the arctic circle
The HAUL ROAD,as seen on Ice Road Truckers!!.
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Isn't that the Dalton Highway?
So how's it going?
Well guys we are back in Fairbanks,pretty much nothing from the 20th century up north so no cell,internet,tv etc.So friday we road up the Dalton to Cooldfoot,about 250 miles and 100 of that dirt.EVERYTHING you have heard about the Dalton is true..X100.Epic,INTENCE road !!.
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We made it to THE ARTIC CIRCLE !!.
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Coldfoot Camp is really just a truck stop on the haul road that has some rooms and some of the NICEST people working there I have ever met.
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THE DALTON HWY !!!.
This road is amazing,if you start thinking you got it under control it will bite ya !!.80% of the road is dirt,50% of that is pretty good higher speed stuff ( 50mph ) the rest can be nasty.
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A good try at Deadhorse !!.
Well Saturday morning we got up,loaded up the bikes,took all our not needed gear ( about 50-60lbs ) to the store at Coldfoot and headed north.The weather was good,sunny about 65 degrees.The weather in Deadhorse was SUPPOSED to be in the low 50's and cloudy,but they say it can change in a hour.We started up Atican pass,this is one steep MF !!,as we were going UP they started to water it and grade it.We are paddling up the pass at about 10mph HOPING we don't have to stop,not sure we could get going again in the DEEP mud.
We get over the pass and had to go DOWN the other side !!Not much fun with both feet down try to stop!!.About 20 miles further the temp started to drop and drop and drop!!.Then it started to drizzle,we pulled over to put on ALL our cold weather and rain gear.Before we could get it all on a full on Artic storm had blown in.We kept heading north and temp got down to about 38 degrees.The road had turned to about 1 inch of SLIPPERY mud over random sized gravel.This was starting become no fun and we were only 80 miles into a 250 mile trip and it had taken us over 5 hours !!.
About 20 miles later we hit construction and came to a halt.We waited about 20 minutes and the pilot car and off we went.The construction had tore up the road so bad that a dozer had slid off the road and stuck us in the 38 degree rain for 1/2 hour.I looked over at Kate and asked her if she was having fun,she noded NO !!.I then asked her if she wanted to turn back and she noded YES!!.By this time the mud was OVER our tires and rims at the bottom and over the toes of our boots.a pilot car came by going the other way so we made a U turn and headed south.
We stopped to eat something in the cold rain before heading back up Atican Pass.
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This is NOT a happy face.
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Or a happy body !!.
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About 20 miles later the rain was just off and on so we kicked into high gear and started TRYING to haul but.The Dalton will try to kill you if you become lazy so you have to pay 100% attention ALL the time.On this day alone we both had probably 50 OH CRAP moments from 10-50mph !!.Up Atican pass we went and it wasn't to bad untill we started down the other side.They were grading and watering again and mud was 4" deep and no way of stopping without just sliding,at one point Kate tried to stop and fell into me!!.
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So we finally made it back to Coldfoot,almost 10 hours and 220 MUDDY,WET MILES LATER !!
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Oh crap moments indeed! But you made it!
FRICKEN AWESOME :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
The good thing is it really wasn't you or the bikes that made you turn back - it was the weather and roads. Feel good you got that far.
Quite an adventure!
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
My goal was the Artic Circle,so I made it !!.
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"Where the Heck is Wall Drug".. Gotta love it! I have some of those bumper stickers from Nevada.
Great stuff!
Quote from: Snake2715 on July 01, 2013, 12:05:38 PM
"Where the Heck is Wall Drug".. Gotta love it! I have some of those bumper stickers from Nevada.
Great stuff!
Yea what a PITA of a town. I cant imagine a worse heap ... No offence to anyone living in wall drug ... maybe take those drugs and you'd feel better. The whole 1000 mile run through dakota/montana full of plastered crap about wall drug everywhere. They should fence that whole 3-4 states off and call it a national park ...
If I had a week to live, I'd move to Wall drug ... it would feel like an eternity.
Cool.
Buddha
atigun is a steep mother indeed. check the winter pics of it lol
I have been a truck driver for 30 years and there is NO WAY would I drive that road in the winter !!!!!!!!!!!.
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Quote from: The Buddha on July 01, 2013, 12:39:45 PM
Quote from: Snake2715 on July 01, 2013, 12:05:38 PM
"Where the Heck is Wall Drug".. Gotta love it! I have some of those bumper stickers from Nevada.
Great stuff!
Yea what a PITA of a town. I cant imagine a worse heap ... No offence to anyone living in wall drug ... maybe take those drugs and you'd feel better. The whole 1000 mile run through dakota/montana full of plastered crap about wall drug everywhere. They should fence that whole 3-4 states off and call it a national park ...
If I had a week to live, I'd move to Wall drug ... it would feel like an eternity.
Cool.
Buddha
We rode across South Dakota in the summer and Wall Drug has REALLY cold ice water !!!.
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Dora's first battle scar of the Dalton.
I went out to do some maint on the bikes ( adjust/lube the chain,check oil etc ).I happen to touch the muffler and it was just flopping around.I checked the mount and it was loose and the clamp that holds it to the header pipe was loose and the the muffler pipe had fallen off.After SCRAPPING off the mud I put the pipes back together and tighten it all back up.I will check it every night.
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Great story guys, ride safe.
Took the bikes to a car wash and washed off the Dalton.!!!
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I thought she was flipping off the camera! :laugh:
Nope,just gang signs !!hehehe
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I got a new tat on our last night in Fairbanks..
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We left Fairbanks this morning and rode back to Tok,I'm not sure what it is but I REALLY like this town !!.Tomorrow we will ride to Whitehorse YT..about 400 miles ( on the worst part of the Alaska Hwy ).Then we are going to take the Cassier Hwy to Dease Lake BC.
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looks good there!! ... :thumb:
.... so in future .. if you ever have the law chasing you down .... and you 'go into hiding' .... we definately wont mention Tok!! ;)
.... bit like my "i'm running away from it all" place ... Port Vila in New Caledonia ... not sure why .. but i could just stay there for a long time and have not a worry in my mind! ..
.. its great when you find a place that you just feel is 'right' :D
I told my wife that I really like Tok,she didn't share the feeling !!.
So I guess I move up here by myself !!!.
hehehe
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no good going into Hiding with the missus mate!! ... you cant seclude yourself while you have to 'go out for dinner, take her shopping, we should have a day out!' ;)
Log Cabin in the deep woods .. by yourself... then you can sit around in your underpants and throw peanut shells on the floor all you want!! :D :thumb:
Sweet update, sweet idea on the tattoo.
Loving the trip.
I am crossing my fingers these pics are just the teasers and there will be a full download and update when you return.. for those of us with unlimited data limits ...
I will try to put ALL the pics on Photobucket with a link after we get back.We have about 150-175 pics so far..
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Quote from: NortwestRider on July 03, 2013, 08:43:06 PM
I will try to put ALL the pics on Photobucket with a link after we get back.We have about 150-175 pics so far..
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Or gs500.net :)
No internet for a couple of days so I will catch you up.
Yesterday we rode from Tok AK to Whitehorse YT,our biggest day up to that point,640km's.The stretch of road from the border to Destruction Bay is one of the worst roads I have ever been on.We saw a Goldwing with a trailer flipped over down a 20' embankment,he hit one of the long ( some as long as 30km's ) stretches of deep gravel and over he went.Today we rode from Whitehorse to Dease Lake BC,a even longer day at over 660km's.But today was on good roads AND we took the Cassiar Hwy which is now one of my favorite roads!!.If you want to ride on a twisty,scenic,EMPTY road this is over 1,000km's of just that !!.
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Rode from Dease Lake to Hazelton BC today ( 550km's ) and finished the Cassiar Hwy..WHAT A GREAT ROAD !!.Kate and Dora had a BIG oh crap moment today !!.I looked in my mirror as Kate was going thru some deep gravel,and all I saw was Kate and Dora COMPLETELY SIDEWAYS at 40pmh !!.She saved it and rode on !!
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Beautiful pics man.
Take your time and enjoy this. Sure there are lots of memories being created.
I have only been on this board for a short while, so dont take offence if this has been stated, known, etc.. How experienced was the wife before you started this trip?
Just curious for some future planning of my own of some grand road trip with the wife, is why I ask. 8)
She has been riding since 1981,and about 15 years of that also included offroad.She is pretty fast offroad on a DIRT BIKE but the GS is not a dirt bike !!.hehe
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Wow! She saved it from completely sideways :woohoo: Your wife is a serious badass! :thumb: That is some seriously gnarly roadway on Atigun pass! We did the Dempster last february in the winter (cars) and I cant remember anything that steep on it.
Keep the awesome pics coming!
Nearing home? I can't wait to see the "hillbilly" gasket patch on Dora (aka Trey). That's got to be one fantastic patch to have held up for the whole trip.
Anxious to see all the pictures.
What a fantastic trip!
We are in Kamloops BC today and off to Osoyoos BC tomorrow for 2 days on the beach,swimming,paddle boarding and drinking Coronas then home on Friday..
Yesterday we left Hazelton for Prince George ( 425km's ) got to PR and they had NO ROOMS anywhere,big convention in town.So we rode another 225 km's to Mcbride BC for the night.
Pat..I will try to ride Dora over this weekend and you can see what a dirty girl she is !!.
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The face of a man thats been on the road awhile.!!!
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With all that dirt, I think we can call Dora a "Tom Boy"!
That bike always was a little "gender confused"anyway.
Dora is a " modern bike " !!!!.
She walks her OWN walk !!
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Ahhhhh,we are in heaven !!
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Pizza is ordered,Corona's on ice..
Life is good.
We had a HOT short ride today ( about 350km's ) but great roads !!.
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I almost sense a "Grizzly Adams" moment coming here?! ... lol ...
.. once back home ... Nortwest is gonna be all like "WOMAN!! , we are moving to the wilderness, log cabin by the trout stream, pack yer bags!!" ... then the missus will get 'the look' ... then the trouble starts! :icon_mrgreen: ;) ;)
YUP !!,if you don't hear from me for awhile DON'T come looking for me in TOK ALASKA !!.
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Kate and I enjoying the beach !!.
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Heading home tomorrow !!
DAMN IT !!.
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:icon_eek: ... that last photo is highly suggestive .... and even higherly disturbing!! :confused: .. bahahahahaha ;) :thumb:
Just chillin on the beach brother !!.
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We made it home !!.
Dora is back in her stall,dirty,tired and in need of some TLC!!
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5,902 miles!!
She took almost a quart of oil,leaked most of that.
NO chain adjustments,chain lubbed every other day ( about every 600-800 miles).
Fuel issues on day #2,solved and no more issues.
Dora maybe the ONLY GS500 to cross the ARTIC CIRCLE,ridden by a woman no less !!
DORA,THE LITTLE TWIN THAT COULD !!.
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Fascinating story! (http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Videos/popcorn07.gif) Welcome home!
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Pat,are you going to be around this weekend ??.
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Here are the last pics from our last night on lake Osoyoos.
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Kates new tat..
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Thank you VERY much for stopping by today. What a thrill to see Dora (formerly Trey). What an awesome bike to go all that distance.
I loved hearing all your stories. You are truly one of the greatest bikers --- no, THE greatest biker I know.
(Well, maybe really Kate is the greatest and you are #2 - after all, she did ride the GS!)
You guys are legends (and Dora of course) Well done!
I would not hesitate to head out again tomorrow for another 6,000 miles ( after a perm fix of the oil leak )...
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What an awesome story!! Many miles clocked, with problems, solutions, good times, great photos, happy riders, and tattoos to never forget the epic journey. This thread had it all!!!
Well done on the ride and on the updates for those of us following through this majic monitor box. I feel like i've embarked on a journey myself! haha
+Karma for you!
+ karma for him too. went almost 6k on 2 bikes. NEEDS more than 10 karma
Quote from: NortwestRider on July 10, 2013, 07:21:17 PM
YUP !!,if you don't hear from me for awhile DON'T come looking for me in TOK ALASKA !!.
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go across the little TOK river? ( little TOK bridge)
Wow! Inspirational story! I'd love to do something like that :thumb: karma to you!!
Not over the Tok river,just like the people and there way of life.We are talking about riding Central America sometime,if we still have Dora she will be a part of it..
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Finally cleaned Dora up after the trip.The muffler fell off again on the way home from the car wash.I took it off and clean it up some,modified the mounting bracket and now it's on for good.
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Seems mud holds things together as well as duct tape :icon_lol:
Even after the wash,RTV still holding tight !!!!.
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I have been riding Dora all week ( my NEW bike is in the shop with worn out swingarm bearing at 9,000 miles and 5 months old) I just wish the GS was 1/3 again bigger than I would fit better,I love riding it !!!.
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"( my NEW bike is in the shop with worn out swingarm bearing at 9,000 miles and 5 months old)"
I have been so desperately wanting to ask you your thoughts on the NX700 (didn't think it was right on the GS forum though) Thanks for answering! :laugh:
It's a GREAT bike but I think I must have got a bad batch of bearings!!.
I got 72mpg on the Dalton!!!.
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Yeah, heard they give amazing fuel economy. I like the whole idea of them.
My first NON Suzuki in quite awhile.
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