Quote from: JetSwinghow long was the cruise? and how long did it stop at each port for?

7 Days.  The itinerary was something like this:

Day: Port  [Arrive/Depart]
Day 1:  Vancouver, British Columbia [5:00 PM]
Day 2:  Inside Passage (Cruising)
Day 3:  Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)
Day 4:  Skagway, Alaska   [7:30 AM/8:00 PM]
Day 5:  Juneau, Alaska   [7:00 AM/4:00 PM]
Day 6:  Ketchikan, Alaska   [7:00 AM/6:00 PM]
Day 7:  Inside Passage (Cruising)
Day 8:  Vancouver, British Columbia   [8:00 AM]

In the future, I'd probably prefer to depart from Seattle and return from Alaska (or the other way 'round)...I ended up having to go through customs/immigration 6 times over the course of the week, and spent a lot of time waiting in various queues.

I rode in a pickup from Anchorage to Houston many years ago....look out for the mosquitoes....they're monsters up there.  I forget where in Canada it ended but they have this mossy ground cover called TUNDRA up there and it holds enough water to act as breeding grounds for those humongous buggers...did I mention that the mosquitoes are MONSTERS!  I recommend netting if you plan on sleeping outside in July-August.

Also here's a webpage with some tips....

http://www.danielcohen.org/2alaska/2wheelstoalaska.htm

Good Luck...it was the longest wheeled trip I've ever made!

I've been wanting to do this trip for sometime now.  I should be able to do something like this in the spring... or the summer.  But... eh-hem... i'll be riding a buell firebolt by then.  How long is best to give ourselves? A month?  Looks like i'll be getting a corbin too!

I'll keep an eye out to see who's still serious this spring, cuz i'm going...

i can't make it coming spring. i already have another trip planned for spring. summer is bad (read post above). so i'm thinking late summer of next year.

btw, nisus, i'm not so sure about riding firebolt to alaska if that's what you're planning to do. vast majority of the roads are still unpaved (the bike will be covered in mud). it better be reliable. also, the ground clearance...is it going to cut it?

Quote from: nisus1I've been wanting to do this trip for sometime now.  I should be able to do something like this in the spring... or the summer.  But... eh-hem... i'll be riding a buell firebolt by then.  How long is best to give ourselves? A month?  Looks like i'll be getting a corbin too!

I'll keep an eye out to see who's still serious this spring, cuz i'm going...

How long is going to depend on whether you're most interested in the destination or the trip.  It's going to take a minumum of 4 or 5 days or so just to get there if you make as straight a shot as practical, only stop for fuel, food, and overnights...and I think that would lead to some serious butt rot (it's like 1000 miles a day, no?).  If you craft the route, you can hit a lot of amazing things along the way.  Perhaps folks from the area can comment, but I think going through the Badlands on the N/S Dakota border on a motorcycle would practically be worth a trip in itself.  There are probably a dozen or so other areas that would fall close enough to a plausible route to make it worthwhile to include (Wyoming; Banff; Chicago, Minneapolis, Vancouver, etc.), depending on what you're interested in doing and how far "out of your way" you're willing to go.  

I wouldn't plan on less than three weeks...two weeks would probably be just enough time to make the trip without actually stopping anywhere.

non-stop straight shot ride from dc to anchorage look something like this:

miles: 4740 total miles, 700 miles/day
hours: 12 hours/day
time: 7 days (6 days if you ride fast)

to me, that's kind of unrealistic. that doesn't include any stops other than the stop at the end of the day.

for this to be a "pleasant" trip, you're looking at minimum of 3 weeks and preferably 3-4 weeks.

Quote from: JetSwingnon-stop straight shot ride from dc to anchorage look something like this:

miles: 4740 total miles, 700 miles/day
hours: 12 hours/day
time: 7 days (6 days if you ride fast)

to me, that's kind of unrealistic. that doesn't include any stops other than the stop at the end of the day.

for this to be a "pleasant" trip, you're looking at minimum of 3 weeks and preferably 3-4 weeks.

A better option might be to:

* Fly to Seattle.
* Buy one of the motorcycles that RG will be selling at the time
* Ride from Seattle to Alaska and Back (1 week?)
* Sell the motorcycle back to RG after she gets seller's remorse    :mrgreen:  
* Fly back home.

i actually have thought about flying to seattle. then, rent a bike to ride up to alaska.

but...it just wouldn't be the same.  

yeah, you'd miss all those wonderful cross winds across the plains.

Quote from: davipuyeah, you'd miss all those wonderful cross winds across the plains.

and the heavenly scent of cow manure...  

I remember reading something about a trans canadian hwy.  that might be something worth looking into, instead of going across the us.

Good question about the ground clearance... 4.35" on the firebolt, 4.7" on the GS, so that won't be an issue.  And by the way... the POS Blasts gave Buell the bad name on reliability, mostly.  Cycle World just gave the buell top marks on reliability.

But back on topic, i would definitely be going for the trip, not the destination, so yeah... lookin at 4 weeks atleast i'd say.  Very excited and i could do it late summer Jetswing.  Obviously have to play it by ear for a while, but like i said, i'm going... been lookin' forward to some "Easy Rider" action.

you only ave 4.7 inches of clearance?

well that's what suzuki's site says for the new GSF's... so if that's accurate for my '89, then i actually have less since i lowered the front of mine by about 1.5".

Quote from: nisus1Very excited and i could do it late summer Jetswing.

Thoughts:

* Keep a journal.
* Take lots of pictures.
* Blog your progress
* Bring good music.

Quote from: Badger

Quote from: nisus1Very excited and i could do it late summer Jetswing.

Thoughts:

* Keep a journal.
* Take lots of pictures.
* Blog your progress
* Bring good music.

you forgot one...post pictures and progress here everyday  :mrgreen:

Quote from: BadgerA better option might be to:

* Fly to Seattle.
* Buy one of the motorcycles that RG will be selling at the time
* Ride from Seattle to Alaska and Back (1 week?)
* Sell the motorcycle back to RG after she gets seller's remorse    :mrgreen:  
* Fly back home.

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Maybe my Apt Manager will get back to me about the GS in the garage...  RG could fix that one and rent it out.   :mrgreen:

Wow 5,000 miles on a GS with SM bars and no wind protection, you are hard core, youd be like a gs legand

Quote from: kvgsWow 5,000 miles on a GS with SM bars and no wind protection, you are hard core, youd be like a gs legand

5000 miles would be just half way...unless i get stuck in alaska forever.

on long trips, i usually fall half sleep on my tank...very comfy  :mrgreen: