[Fireball1800]

Planning on retiring in about 2 years. One of my bucket lists is to do a 10,000+ mile jaunt to Alaska. We (wife and I) will be doing two up on the 21 Gold Wing Tour DCT, pulling RT622 trailer.

Focal starting point is Blue Ridge, GA. Traveling North to South/North Dakota, then Canada to the Al-can, then over to Fairbanks. Touring some, then check out Anchorage. Returning via to Seattle, and meander down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles. Then hug I10 to Crestview FL then return to GA. I plan on taking 60 days with easy travel, average 400 +- mile days, camping mostly, with occasional hotel stays. (Weather and body permitting)

With those already gone before, "been there done that" what is your experience?

Best times to start a journey like this?

Camping spots, are there plenty? What to watch out for? Recommendations for hotels?

In the remote wilderness, what is the Ice availability? Along with some basic food items, I'm on Trulicity Pens and must keep the medicine cold. My cooler will only keep ice for average 3 +or- days. Anyone have issues with locating ice along the way?

Fuel availability in the long jaunts in between British Columbia and Yukon to Fairbanks? I know it has been said, to never pass up a gas station without filling up, and I plan to do just that. I will be carrying a 1-gallon roto-Pax on the trailer and thinking of putting two 1-gallon REDA jugs in each of the saddlebags. My plan is, in the civilized world, I'll mostly keep these empty to save weight, but when in the wild frontier, plan to fill them up. What is the fuel situation along the "in the wild frontier" route? If anyone has used these REDA cans, how well did they hold up? Do they fit in your saddlebag ok (haven't purchase yet)? Is this overkill?

Any other thoughts or experiences is appreciated.

FB

 

[Jinx]

Never pass up a gas station that is open. When I traveled to Alaska, I found many gas stations closed at 8:00PM.
At one stop I was given a list of stations on the AlCan hwy. Most were permanently closed. So if you get a list of stations, don't expect it to be accurate. This was 6 or 7 years ago, so things may be different now.
Also, you may want to check your phone coverage. I was without coverage through most of Canada and Alaska.

 

[Luv2fish]

I've done it twice in a car and truck but that was 1982/1985. I found this very useful. The MILEPOST 2023: Alaska Travel Planner Amazon.com

 

[FL_RedWing]

Your questions tell me you need to watch [at least] 25 - 30 hours of YouTube videos by folks who have made the trip already. I found spending $10K on a flight out to Vancouver from Tampa coupled with a 12-day Holland America excursion more than gratifying. Toured best parts of Alaska on a rented BMW R1200 out of Anchorage. Do not miss Denali S.P., and save the mind numbing wear and tear on your bike, and body. Consider Motorcycle Tours & Rentals - MotoQuest

 

[Burnerboy]

About seven years ago (I only had a 2 week vacation) wife and I flew to Alaska, and rented a Harley bike, and tour'd all over the area.. When we got tired of RIDE'N AND TOUR'N, WE JUST RETURNED THE BIKE TO THE RENTAL DEALER. It was perfect, cause my bike sat in my garage, safe ~n~ sound, without any added miles, and we had the chance to {say/brag} that we tour'd Alaska via motorcycle.. It was probably one of our best vacation trips.. I would do it again, in a heart beat (except I'm almost 73 years old now) and ride'n that far has lost it's appeal..

Ronnie
1/14/23

 

[crownfire]

That will be an adventure. I also plan on an Alaska trip in a year or two. But I've never been up that way. I've heard that Hwy 37A to Hyder, Alaska off Hwy 37 is spectacular.

 

[Goldwing love]

One thing I picked up on was that you plan to ride 400 miles per day, every day for 60 days. That sounds very optimistic to me from a fatigue standpoint.

Have you ever done something like this before?
If not, you may want to take a shorter trip of 10 days or so at this pace to see how you both hold up.

You mentioned Trulicity pens so I assume you’re diabetic (type 2?)
You probably will want to check with your doctor to make sure you won’t run into any health issues like keeping your schedule across different time zones, availability of Trulicy in the areas you’ll be in, etc.

Lastly the camping/hotel thing- I think after a few days of riding 400 miles per, then finding a camp site, unpacking the gear, setting up the tent, stove, etc, then breaking everything down in the morning I’d start to want to just pull into a hotel/motel and make it easy on myself and my wife.

One wild idea ( but this would be a little pricey) would be to rent an RV and do the trip that way.

 

[crownfire]

The long trip I took with a buddy was to Nova Scotia and back to Mississippi via the west side of Lake Superior. We camped some and motel some. It work out well by staying flexible. We had a plan but let weather and interesting places change those plans. One cold, rainy, windy day from Prince Edward Island and headed up into Quebec we stopped at lunch time as it was pretty miserable riding weather. It turned into a great day as we found a brewery only a couple blocks from the motel.

On a long trip have options and semper gumby.

 

[Fireball1800]

Your questions tell me you need to watch [at least] 25 - 30 hours of YouTube videos by folks who have made the trip already. I found spending $10K on a flight out to Vancouver from Tampa coupled with a 12-day Holland America excursion more than gratifying. Toured best parts of Alaska on a rented BMW R1200 out of Anchorage. Do not miss Denali S.P., and save the mind numbing wear and tear on your bike, and body. Consider Motorcycle Tours & Rentals - MotoQuest

Been watching them for a year now. great resources. But most really talk about how beautiful the scenery and how much of a "good time" they had. Don't really talk about the issues such as, ice availability, fuel, and food and issues, especially since the Covid junk. There is only one I watched with the 2018 wing (Walter D). They are generally all paint a rosy pic. And the mag/books are slanted to marketing to draw you in. I've been to Alaska on a RC cruise and Land Tour in the Fall where the aspens were golden. That is not a good comparison to a motorcycle journey where there are hundreds of miles between nothingness. Just wondering of others experiences..

thanks
FB

One thing I picked up on was that you plan to ride 400 miles per day, every day for 60 days. That sounds very optimistic to me from a fatigue standpoint.
Well, it is a conservative estimate. It may be 400 every two days... were taking it easy as we won't be in a rush.

Have you ever done something like this before? Yes, we've done Key West, Colorado Springs, and Yellowstone. And a few others. Will be doing Natchez Trace loop soon to practice.

You mentioned Trulicity pens, so I assume you’re diabetic (type 2?) Yes, and I get a 90-day supply of pens. 1 pen per week. They just have to stay cool and out of sunlight. They can stay out of the box room temp for 2 weeks before going bad.

Lastly the camping/hotel thing- I think after a few days of riding 400 miles per, then finding a camp site, unpacking the gear, setting up the tent, stove, etc, then breaking everything down in the morning I’d start to want to just pull into a hotel/motel and make it easy on myself and my wife. Yes, we thought about that, and is an option, but hotel cost has skyrocketed lately and trying to not break the bank while doing this. Maybe camp during week and hotel on weekends. or something in the mix.

One wild idea ( but this would be a little pricey) would be to rent an RV and do the trip that way. Thought about that too but what fun would that be towing. It is about the adventure on the motorcycle not necessarily the scenery...

Thanks for the input.. FB

 

[Burnerboy]

One thing I picked up on was that you plan to ride 400 miles per day, every day for 60 days. That sounds very optimistic to me from a fatigue standpoint.

Have you ever done something like this before?
If not, you may want to take a shorter trip of 10 days or so at this pace to see how you both hold up.

You mentioned Trulicity pens so I assume you’re diabetic (type 2?)
You probably will want to check with your doctor to make sure you won’t run into any health issues like keeping your schedule across different time zones, availability of Trulicy in the areas you’ll be in, etc.

Lastly the camping/hotel thing- I think after a few days of riding 400 miles per, then finding a camp site, unpacking the gear, setting up the tent, stove, etc, then breaking everything down in the morning I’d start to want to just pull into a hotel/motel and make it easy on myself and my wife.

One wild idea ( but this would be a little pricey) would be to rent an RV and do the trip that way.

I'm not complaining here, but at 72 yrs old (and I'm in good health/I walk 3-5 miles every day/and go to exercise class, three times a week) BUT, I know there's not a chance in hell that I'd want to ride 400 miles a day for 60 days, and then ride the trip all the way back to home (Massachusetts) and say wow did I enjoy myself, doing this trip totally solo.. Nope! My fly and rent a bike was the best idea ever...........NO stress what's so ever!! and the best part of it was that I had my wife along to laugh with and to enjoy this trip together.. (some of us still enjoy our wife's company....

Ronnie
1/15/23

 

[FL_RedWing]

I'm not complaining here, but at 72 yrs old (and I'm in good health/I walk 3-5 miles every day/and go to exercise class, three times a week) BUT, I know there's not a chance in hell that I'd want to ride 400 miles a day for 60 days, and then ride the trip all the way back to home (Massachusetts) and say wow did I enjoy myself, doing this trip totally solo.. Nope! My fly and rent a bike was the best idea ever...........NO stress what's so ever!! and the best part of it was that I had my wife along to laugh with and to enjoy this trip together.. (some of us still enjoy our wife's company....

Ronnie
1/15/23

Ronnie, I remember telling my son to never touch a hot stove. Yeah, you know what happened next. Or how how about epic scene from Top Gun about writing checks?

 

[dsurley]

A person I know here in town, J B, is good friends with some fairly local Blue Knights, they were planning a trip to Alaska from here in TX
not sure if was a go or if they backed out, haven't seen him since

one of their firs things on the list, find a place in Alaska that is willing to have tires on hand and willing to change them when you get there

 

[Fireball1800]

A person I know here in town, J B, is good friends with some fairly local Blue Knights, they were planning a trip to Alaska from here in TX
not sure if was a go or if they backed out, haven't seen him since

one of their firs things on the list, find a place in Alaska that is willing to have tires on hand and willing to change them when you get there

Plan on Darksiding a new run flat.. + new dunlop e4 on front.

I'm not complaining here, but at 72 yrs old (and I'm in good health/I walk 3-5 miles every day/and go to exercise class, three times a week) BUT, I know there's not a chance in hell that I'd want to ride 400 miles a day for 60 days, and then ride the trip all the way back to home (Massachusetts) and say wow did I enjoy myself, doing this trip totally solo.. Nope! My fly and rent a bike was the best idea ever...........NO stress what's so ever!! and the best part of it was that I had my wife along to laugh with and to enjoy this trip together.. (some of us still enjoy our wife's company....

Ronnie
1/15/23

If Walter (Walter (Winger) Debus ) on YouTube can do solo @ 80... gives me hope.
check him out on Youtube.

 

[G Scott]

Check out Rick's Alaska ride on you tube, it's like 7 parts to it, also his west trip is good the audio at first is screwed up but it gets better.

 

[NJMike]

Go during the summer

 

[Chopin]

Just watched Rick's Alaska Trip on You Tube. Enjoying the ride until we ran out of asphalt. I waved goodbye to Rick and turned back.

 

[Fireball1800]

Go during the summer

thinking early spring or august-September.. State bird, Skeeter hopefully will be less..

Check out Rick's Alaska ride on you tube, it's like 7 parts to it, also his west trip is good the audio at first is screwed up but it gets better.

Good video, plus the pacific coast ride was awesome.

 

[DonaldLL]

Your questions tell me you need to watch [at least] 25 - 30 hours of YouTube videos by folks who have made the trip already. I found spending $10K on a flight out to Vancouver from Tampa coupled with a 12-day Holland America excursion more than gratifying. Toured best parts of Alaska on a rented BMW R1200 out of Anchorage. Do not miss Denali S.P., and save the mind numbing wear and tear on your bike, and body. Consider Motorcycle Tours & Rentals - MotoQuest

I seriously doubt this will change someone's bucket list. Yes flights, cruises, and bike rentals work for some but the OP sounds like he has a dream... I say go for it

 

[dsurley]

Plan on Darksiding a new run flat.. + new dunlop e4 on front.

I like the Bridgestone Battlax BT-46 on the front to pair with darkside rear

 

[Fireball1800]

I seriously doubt this will change someone's bucket list. Yes flights, cruises, and bike rentals work for some but the OP sounds like he has a dream... I say go for it

Everyone has their own way of looking at things. Nothing wrong with any adventure. My mental thoughts are, you only get 20 years if you are lucky when you hit 65. Get out and have a blast before you end up looking at 4 walls and being poked and prodded by nurses in a facility where they lock you in a bed and won't let you do anything. I figure, may as well get your money's worth, make some memories, before the Gov. takes it away. Have been working solid since before graduating high school. Time to slow down, live a little and see more this wonderful planet were on, albeit slowly on my GW beast. Yes i've checked into Bike touring with a company. MotoRad does bike rental tours and the cost it $15,000.00 +. For an Alaska down to Washington State, bike tour for 3 weeks. All hotels, and bike rental included but does not cover fuel/food/flight to and from. But that is on a BMW (Nothing wrong with that) and you have to stick to the route / itinerary with no deviation. You have a set time to be at each area rain or shine. While it is nice, it is little too structured for what I want to do. The Missenden Flyer, Rick Fox, Walter Debois, 2 Up and over loaded, and itchy boots, all have great videos on You Tube if you have a chance to watch them. Heck there is also "2 wheels big life" as well touring/Camping on Bikes around the states.

Live life to the fullest as were only one heartbeat away...
Thanks all for the post's
FB