North to Alaska

[Dirtrideroader]

Anybody interested in riding to Alaska this next summer?
How about part of the way?

Anybody done this little trip? I would welcome any and all tips and advice. Save the advice saying "Are you &*#@$ crazy". I have gotten plenty of that from my Family.

Real tenative plan is to ride up there, meet my family. Do Alaska for a few days. Catch the ferry to Seattle with same family. Put them on plane home. Ride home with any remaining riders or alone.

All routes, places to stop, people to meet, bears to arm wrestle for my beef jerky are still at the 50,000 foot level of planning.

**** the trip could even still fall through, but on the flip side, it hasn't yet.

Just thought I would throw this out there. Two years ago, I was looking hard for a good used K1200RS to buy. Told a friend that I was looking for a bike. He tried to talk me in to a RT. Then he started talking about "Going North, to Alaska". I asked what kind of bike would be best for that kind of ride. He suggested a R1150GS. I bought one a month later.

[Anonymous]

I would/will depending on what part of the summer, **** yes!

(I am joining the navy in July)

[Anonymous]

forgot to log in. sorry

[Greeves TFS]

I'm very interested. How long do you think it would take? Camping out every night or what? Now I have a BMW R1150RS but have been looking for something different to add to the stable. A GS, CapoNord, Quota, or V-Strom would feel the bill I believe. Main roads are back roads? As long as I could get off work I'd like to do this.

[Dirtrideroader]

I think it will have to be a combination of main and back roads. Main roads to get to some elevation and hopefully cooler weather. Back roads when we get tired of the main roads.

My tenatative plans would be for about a week and a half to get there. Spend a week in Alaska. Take the Ferry as far south as it goes, Seattle I think. Then 4-5 days to get home from there.

I was thinking about leaving some where around the 3rd week of June.

I plan on taking camping gear. There again, will probably do a combination of camping and motelling.

I hope to have my family meet me in Alaska to do the Alaska part of the trip and the ferry ride. Then put them on a plane home from Seattle.

There is a slight possiblility one of my daughters may ride with me. That depends on if I have suffered brain damage or had a front end lobotomy between now and then...

I figure it will take about 4 weeks tops. Which for me is a long time to be off of work.

I started this whole idea with a guy from Austin. He signed on recently as Already gone.
I have had several people say they are interested. I hope to start putting some plans together after the first of the year.

At best, I think it will end up being an ever changing group. People will not all want to cover the same amount of ground each day. Varying interest will drag people different directions.

Any advice or ideas are welcome.

[buck000]

There's a great article about riding to Alaska in the latest Motorcycle Consumer News.

I envy you folks that are going.... <drool>

[Greeves TFS]

I read an article in Motorcycle Cruiser that is a few years old (1998) where the editors took a trip to Alaska on cruisers. It seems they stayed in hotels every night. Interesting reading.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/rideanddest/Alaska/

[BeemerDude]

You might enjoy this article written by one of our local BMW riders. It's about an IronButt coast to coast ride from Key West to Prudhoe Bay. A bit lengthy but a good read. It might give you some idea of what to expect up there.

http://www.bmwclub.org/articles/the_ultimate_ride/the_ultimate_ride.htm

[buck000]

Here's another story and info: clicky (http://www.scottstrance.com/artic_circle/artic_circle.htm)

[woodman]

Another good Alaska story----www.micapeak.com/stories/sanders.html-----he did it on a Futura


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[Dirtrideroader]

Another good Alaska story----www.micapeak.com/stories/sanders.html-----he did it on a Futura


Speaking of Futuras, I have a friend in Austin who is looking to sell an '02. He went from a BMW r1100RT to a R1150GS Adv., to a Aprilia Futura and now back to a RT. Thus he has an extra bike he needs to sell.

[Anonymous]

Tell him to list it on apriliaforums.com they have the most Futura riders of any site

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