San Diego to Anchorage June 2013

[SDMAX]

Thankfully, it's only December 2012 so I have time to plan this deal. Son rides and lives in Anchorage; I am always looking at bikes and got tantalized by a screaming deal on a new Triumph Explorer; then I started thinking about riding that to Alaska; then I got back to reality. I've got the R1200R down in the garage; quick check, bike would do fine; put some Scorpions or TK's on it, good to go.

Leave San Diego early June; Dust to Dawson ride is weekend of June 21, 2013; ride to Bellingham WA or thereabouts; research Alaskan Maritime Ferry get through inside passage; couple ferries; to Whitier, AK; then Anchorage; meet up with son, check bike, stay with or switch to TK's; head for Dawson, go south big loop back north to Anchorage; leave bike there; ride it back in September 2013.

I can describe this all better with a map and a calendar but that's the general idea.
The apparently tricky part is about 100 plus miles from Chicken, AK to Dawson, Yukon. Top of the World Hwy; looks to be dirt and gravel; I am not any type of fan of off roading; looked on the U Tube; doesn't look any worse that a little ride we took into Denali and back last year.

I thought about getting a very light bike and learning how to ride dirt between now and June 2013; I don't like dirt. I think I'll just get up there and see how it goes. Except for that 100 miles; the whole trip is paved; not freeway slab, but at least some type of pavement.

Lot's of info on Adv Rider; "Lost" on his R12; other mentions re route and tires. This deal is gonna rock. SWMBO'ed is sort of OK with this so far; she has a college reunion back east and a sister who wants to go on some trip; June will never be this open; son will never be in AK...stars align.

More to be revealed.

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

SD, Top of the world highway is mostly graded dirt in very good condition. If the weather is dry, you can do it on any street bike. If it's wet, you would need extreme caution on street tires because the road would get greasy. Here's a pic that happens to show the roadway. This is a great place to go, so don't hold back. There are many dirt highways in AK, and most are in good shape when the weather is on your side.

[mogu83]

A couple of years ago two of my Harley riding friends went over 'Top of the world Highway' on FLHTCs (Full dress tourers) and didn't have any major problems. Both were on Dunlop D402 tires, the basic Harley street tire. I followed a similarly equipped Harley up the dirt road into Meat Cove, Cape Breton and was impressed with how the rider handled the sloppy muddy road in the pouring rain while I was all over the place with my PR3 tires.
Point is - it's all about the tires.

I've never been to Alaska but the BMWMOA National is in Oregon next summer.

[SDMAX]

My bike is a 2007 R1200R; "Lost" over at the ADV forum has been places I would never go and endorses Pirelli Scorpion Sync tires; others favor TKC's. Good news is that both evidently come in sizes that fit my bike. Here in Southern California I'm on PR3's.

I'll probably ride the PR3's, either the set I'm on or a new set in the meantime to Washington state and then pu tthe Scorpion's on before boarding ferries for Alaska; there is a second Scorpion that fits as well. I think there is some mention that the TK's are tougher in terms of puncture resistance.

Thanks for the picture of the road. I can handle that; if it's muddy and I have the correct tires, I will be a lot less happy, but that's what it is; I've heard the larger part of the trip from Chicken to Dawson is not so bad once the Canadian border is crossed; and from Dawson I'll be going down to Whitehorse and all that is paved.

I've previously ridden from Anchorage to Homer and back; and, from Anchorage up the Denali side to Fairbanks and then over to Chena Hot Springs and back down the pipeline side to Anchorage. Not a lot of twisty curves as it's mostly about A to B for Alaskans, but the scenery is jaw dropping. More input on tires especially differences between the other Scorpion....maybe called "trail' would be appreciated.

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

All due respect to mogul83, but I think there is more going on here than just tire selection. On a dry gravel road the primary issue is loosing the front end. The Harleys have extra weight and increased front end trail in their favor for stability. Additionally, rider comfort level is a factor here. I did the Haul road on an '05GS with Tourances. In the dry I was doing say 45 to 50. Others did much higher speed based on their comfort level. I had a section on the way back that was heavy rain. This put me down to first gear and really uncomfortable as to traction. The road material gets greasy when wet up there.

You have to keep in mind that if you drop the bike out there, you're on your own. Say you wrench you knee and can't pick up the bike. No one is coming to help you out. Oh, and there is a brown bear just behind the next bush. So the caution level varies from person to person.

In the wet, street tires will pretty much stop you cold. The semi knobs like Tourance will let you keep going. Full knobs will still give decent traction. So take your choice.

Given good weather, you will have the ride of a lifetime. Go for it

[SDMAX]

At this Sunday local BMW club ride I took my Triumph 800 ABS; this is the road version, the other is called XC. Mine has a 19" front; the XC has a 21"; One of the guys said that would be the bike to take to Alaska; I still favor taking the R12; 95% of all this will be road and the R12 is way better on the road than the lighter Triumph.

Latest idea would be to ride PR3's to Anchorage and then install TKC 80's. These are great problems.

[Lost Rider]

Alaska!

I've ridden up yonder to the Arctic Circle, though I was on my 800GS - with "DS" ties no more aggressive than Scorpion Sync. The whole time I wished I'd have been on my R as for the most part it's much better suited than the 8GS for that trip if for nothing than less maintenance.
Ran into a guy on a little HD on that stretch of road from Chicken, in the rain and mud. He wasn't having a problem putting along since he was so low, and not packed heavy. Ran into quite a few guys on big ADV bikes that had most of the TouraTech catalog bolted to their bike, along with half of REI piled high on the back - they were the ones not having a good time. I see that all the time, they think because they have TKC-80's that they will be just fine.

If I had any advice to give it would be pretty simple as the rest you'll figure out.
Don't overpack the bike.
Pack light, the bike will handle much better when things get loose or sloppy and how you pack the bike will make more of a difference than any of the tire choices available for the 12R IMO.
Air down the tires when not on pavement to greatly increase traction no matter the brand of tire.

There's plenty of people riding/driving on the same roads, doing the same trip as you, someone will always come along that can help.

It's not the bike, it's the rider and pack than makes the difference on a trip like that IMO. Time spent riding your 12R on gravel roads as much as possible before you go will help you more than tire choice. Even a GS training course to learn how to ride your R like a GS would help more than switching bikes IMHO. Knowing how to counter steer and ride out the slide is a skill that you can learn on any bike.

If I ever go back to AK, it will be on my 12R, no hard bags, just soft luggage and have a blast, I know Nancy wants to go…
As for tire choice, I would go with what works best in the rain, on tarmac. The more aggressive the tire, the worse they are on wet pavement, and that's where you'll be most of the time. While marginally better on sloppy gravel, TKC-80's are not confidence inpriring on wet pavement at all and wear very fast. I know I would never run them on the 12R as for any gains you have on wet gravel that's slippy, you give up to much in return IMO. You can always hang out in Chicken for a few days if things are too muddy.
Like you said most of it is paved, though there will be lots of 5-20 mile sections of construction with gravel here and there.
90% paved roads, 70% wet roads was my experience.





Snow in June





Road outside of Chicken





Construction




If the weather is dry, no reason you can't blast up the from Dempster HWY to get the obligatory photo and the Arctic Circle experience . Would be even cooler to have the R in that photo.
Up and back in one day, or stay in Eagle Plains. That was the only section I rode that gave the purest sense of isolation and the feeling of being very far away from home since the few other roads anyone rides are pretty well traveled. Hands down my fondest memory of the trip.















Oh yeah, for camping you'll want a eye-mask to block some of the 20 hours of sunlight, it's tough to sleep without one in a tent, at least for me.

Good luck, sounds like a great adventure in the making!

My 2¢

-Finn

[BigEasy]

My bike is a 2007 R1200R; "Lost" over at the ADV forum has been places I would never go and endorses Pirelli Scorpion Sync tires; others favor TKC's. Good news is that both evidently come in sizes that fit my bike. Here in Southern California I'm on PR3's.

I'll probably ride the PR3's, either the set I'm on or a new set in the meantime to Washington state and then pu tthe Scorpion's on before boarding ferries for Alaska; there is a second Scorpion that fits as well. I think there is some mention that the TK's are tougher in terms of puncture resistance. ..........More input on tires especially differences between the other Scorpion....maybe called "trail' would be appreciated.

Unfortunately you're out of luck with the Sync's as they've been discontinued, I need a set for my Buell and they are not to be found. The Buell uses the same size tires as the RR.

The Scorp Trails are supposed to be a good tire that wears longer than the "trail" name would imply. For the Buell I'm leaning toward the Conti Trail Attack or Dunlop D616. The D616 looks like a cross between a Super Bike rain race tire and a flat track Maxxis with the handling characteristics.

You might want to head over to the Badweb site and look in the Big Bad and Dirty section for tire choices. That is the section for the Ulysses owners, their bikes use the same tire size as the R as well.

As others have said, travel light and carry the load as low as possible. Take your time, don't stress and have a safe trip. Sounds fun

[Lost Rider]

Unfortunately you're out of luck with the Sync's as they've been discontinued, I need a set for my Buell and they are not to be found. The Buell uses the same size tires as the RR.

I haven't bought any Sync's in a while, buying what my local shops have had instead. That's crappy news, but there's still some rears around from what I see. Can't find a 120 front. Thanks for the heads up!

Scorpion Trail looks like a promising replacement too though.

Honestly though, when you're talking 100% street or 90/10 DS tires like a Tourance, Anakee, Battle Wing, or even 80/20 DS tires like TKC's , Kenda Big Blocks, or Mefo Explorers it doesn't really matter much at all IMO. I've ran them all. They all have a compromise, especially TKC's.

Lowing your air pressure, keeping your pack light and low, and being comfortable on your bike when it gets loose all make a larger impact on the handling on gravel than any choice tires until you get to a D606 type knobby tire, then it makes a noticeable difference, especially in sideways traction when sliding around corners, but that's dirt bike territory. Can't do a D606 on a 12R nor should anyone anyways.

A good long wearing wet weather road tire and a little extra time to take if needed on the trip would be just fine, but that's just me.
Whatever the sport touring guys who ride regularly in very wet climates are running is where I'd look first.


-Just another opinion.


http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/14 ... 4Aod4iIA6Q

[kirby]

10

[SDMAX]

Thanks for all of the really great replies, especially from "Lost" very thoughtful and very helpful. I've ridden from Anchorage to Homer in perfect weather on a 650 GS with pretty agressive tires on dry pavement and a few sprinkles; then I rode from Anchorage to Chena Hot Springs and back down pipeline side....mucho rain, all paved except for a little construction and a side trip as far into Denali as they would permit...that was on a Triumph 800 XC, agressive tires not sure what; but, all the time on both trips I was thinking my R12 would have been perfect.

I actually own a Triumph 800 ABS with Scorpion Trails; never thought much about them one way or the other; have about 3K miles on that newer bike, all on paved. They might indeed be the Alaska answer on the R12 if the sizes work. My son has just put TK80's on his 1050 Tiger. He lives in Anchorage and is all macho...I'm 66 and want the ride and have time to wait out or avoid bad stuff.

I'm definitely going to take the R12 now and do some research on tires....I'll ride fresh PR 3's to Anchorage and switch out there for the rest of the trip. Had not thought about keeping packed weight low...I will now for sure...also when you air down .... what do you air down to? I've got a Slime pump under the R12 seat so air back up is not a problem.

I am stoked....this is going to be truly "bitchin" as my generation used to say...thanks for all the info.

[Lost Rider]

Glad I could help, there's lots of good advice in here for an Alaska trip.

As for airing down, up there for the most part the non-paved roads are made of small, sharp rocks. So while I wouldn't worry about hitting big rocks and bending your wheels, the main concern would be to find a balance of low enough air pressure to help while not having it too low to get flat tires more easily.
I would try 22psi in front and probably 27 in the back if it were me, I've ran lower pressures, but it's a long ways to get a new tire when up north and think that would be a compromise I'd be willing to make.

Another thing is certain, if you don't know how to break the bead and take a tire off the wheel on the side of the road, I would practice a few times before you go, and bring whatever tools you need to do so. Or at least have the tools needed for when you get help if you can't do it solo. Front and rear.
I say this because I have indeed been stopped dead in my tracks from getting a flat that a plug can't fix and the only way to keep going is to use a proper patch, installed from the inside of the tire.
I carry a small MC tie down strap that I can use to pull down the rear of the bike while on the center stand to get the front wheel off, using whatever is around to attach to. Could be a little of a problem when north of the tree line on the tundra, but there's always rocks. I also have an extra ROK strap I carry to lock the center stand in the down position, with by attaching it to the front wheel, or to the tele lever.
There's tools available to break the beads, though I use the side stand while balancing the bike on the center stand.
Being self sufficient up there is good, while there will always be someone who can help coming along, towing and parts are very expensive, and a simple flat tire could delay you for days and cost thousands of dollars in the end. I'm all for Adventures, when things go wrong is what makes the best memories and stories, but that's one I'd like to avoid.

Are you riding through BC at all, or taking the ferry both ways?


I'm stoked for you! and a little envious!

Cheers

-Finn

[SDMAX]

"Lost Rider" will be reading your web site; thanks for tire and other info; I will be learning how to break down and patch a tire; haven't done that since big bicycle riding days 50 years ago; also taking off road class on smaller bikes soon; and riding R12 and my 2012 Triumph ABS in gravel; more to be revealed.

In June 2013, I plan on doing loop from Anchorage to include Dust to Dawson, then down to Whitehorse, over to Haines, back up to Anchorage; possible side trip to Valdez; then leave R12 in Anchorage and bring it back in September 2013 riding with son who returns to lower 48 then; hopefully the September portion will include much of Canada and less ferry.

Thanks again. John Houts

[Lost Rider]

You got it John!



You don't really live that far away, if you ever ride up near Ventura and want to get together, I'll be happy to show you how I pull a tire off roadside with minimal tools. Or when it's time to mount new tires come on up, I have a balancer and a local bike shop that sells most brand tires at internet prices.


Cheers


Finn

[SDMAX]

Ventura is easy; EXPROF on this board lives in Santa Barbara and I've bet him; I think DBrick is nearby as well. I'll give you plenty of notice. Probably gotta be February as things aren't slowing down as they are supposed to; Local BMW has a ride in early May north of Ventura; if nothing else I'd come back down the 101 and make it a point to visit. Thanks again for all of the great suggestions. Best regards. John Houts

[SDMAX]

Local San Diego BMW Club has tech seminar on tires coming up next month; be going to that; still planning on comng back down through Ventura in May; old friend of 40 years has GS and may join on going up from San Diego. Got the feeling this is going to happen; wet weather for a few days; going to get the map out and try to figure a schedule backwards from Whittier, AK to Bellingham for the ferries. Need to book the ferries before the cabins are all gone. More to be revealed John

[SDMAX]

IT'S ON!!!!!

Bought ferry passage from Bellingham to Whittier, AK; confirmed reservations at Dawson Downtown Hotel; leaving Bellingham June 8, 2013. Life is good. John H.

[SDMAX]

Went to San Diego BMW tonight for tire pluggin tech session; did hands on with mushroom plug and will probably add the BMW plug kit to my existing mushroom kit; I've got a Slime pump under the seat so I won't need the CO2 cannisters. Intead to meet Finn in May and learn larger tire repair tricks.

My family would prefer it if I just rented in Anchorage and rode up there with son on the Dust to Dawson. I'm sticking to my plan. Ride to Bellingham, ferry to Whittier (near Anchorage); I'm hearing the ferry is a total snooze but I'm going to do it anyway. I'll never be able to put this combination together again so I'm just gonna go for it.

More to be revealed.

[Lost Rider]

Went to San Diego BMW tonight for tire pluggin tech session; did hands on with mushroom plug and will probably add the BMW plug kit to my existing mushroom kit; I've got a Slime pump under the seat so I won't need the CO2 cannisters. Intead to meet Finn in May and learn larger tire repair tricks.

My family would prefer it if I just rented in Anchorage and rode up there with son on the Dust to Dawson. I'm sticking to my plan. Ride to Bellingham, ferry to Whittier (near Anchorage); I'm hearing the ferry is a total snooze but I'm going to do it anyway. I'll never be able to put this combination together again so I'm just gonna go for it.

More to be revealed.

Right on, looking forward to meeting you.


Good call on taking your own bike, much more fun IMO. Anyone can rent a bike and ride it to a rally like that, takes a little more ambition to go your route.

You only live once!

[SDMAX]

Thanks for encouragement. Be coming through your area around Friday May 10, 2013; my calendar through the entire of 2013 is pretty booked but I'd like to find time to retain you for a 3 day ride somewhere using motels....and very limited dirt or gravel...if something opens up between now and mid May I'll be back to you. Best. John