That must have been a big cabin, for a whole swarm to get in. I've seen pics of an Alaskan mosquito carrying off a young moose. Before the arrival of the white man, the Inuit used to ride them to spot herds of elk from the air.
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$4000 for a picture
- Thread starter sparkyphotog
- Start date
That must have been a big cabin, for a whole swarm to get in. I've seen pics of an Alaskan mosquito carrying off a young moose. Before the arrival of the white man, the Inuit used to ride them to spot herds of elk from the air.
BMWbabe
0
The MozziesThat buzzing sound still haunts me when I think about it.
To add insult to injury when Bill and I mentioned the mozzies both Brian and Moose replied “What mozzies”
There was a BIG gap under the front door. When we checked out, the owner of the place asked why we didn't push the rug under the door. Would have been nice to know that last night.
M38A1
Admin
Keep the pics and report coming!
From what I remember of the 'mozzies' on my trip years ago, there's not one single mozzie in the whole of Alaska. Yep. That's right. Not a single one.
They are all married with a bazillion kids each.
.
From what I remember of the 'mozzies' on my trip years ago, there's not one single mozzie in the whole of Alaska. Yep. That's right. Not a single one.
They are all married with a bazillion kids each.
.
Mark_M
0
What an awesome journey ! Great Job you'll !
Keep the pics coming 
Keep the pics coming 
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Come on Sparky keep the posts coming. I am off on another adventure and you haven't even finished writing up my last one
I've been really swamped lately and haven't had a chance to work on this. I hope to post some more this week. 
Toe
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Give the man a break... they had a hurricane for crying out loud!!! LOL
I'm resizing pics as we speak, so hopefully I can managed to post up a few tidbits here and there.
I'm resizing pics as we speak, so hopefully I can managed to post up a few tidbits here and there.
Alrighty, here are some teaser shots from me. These were taken in about the first 2 hours of this whole thing starting.
More to come....
More to come....
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Way to pitch in Bill!!!
Thanks Bill!
Thanks Bill!
Mine aren't near as good as your's Bryan, but I'll get them posted up pretty soon.
Moose
0
I guess it's my turn to post some crummy pics
During the trip I took a total of 102 pics - this is something I have to force myself to do. I've missed whole days in places!
I had a (expensive) riot getting the R100 ready for the trip - here it is the week prior to take off
Getting ready for take off in Calgary
Honestly I hate to stop and take photo's - so anything I took is spotty
Leaving Calgary my charging light immedatly came on. I'd just updated my charging system to the superior aftermarket one - ditching the old rotor,stator and diode boards for a permant magnet rotor, stator and voltage regulator from a Ducati for this very reason. To say I was p***ed is an understatement. At the beginning I was unsure if the bike was charging or if it was a indicator bulb problem so for the first couple hours I turned the headlight off to lessen the drain. After digging into the bike the first evening on the road I determined it was a indicator bulb problem and the bike was charging OK - it was just annoying to have the bright red light glaring at you all the time
The icefields were awesome tho and a welcome relief from weeks of opressive Houston weather
Say hi Billy
Say hi Yogi
Fast forward to the start of the ALCAN Hwy 2 days later - this is the tourist start
This is the start for the purests
The first night on the Alcan was spent at Watson Lake - it's a cross roads for overland travel to both Alaska and the Yukon - home of the $18 pack smokes
Bill, Graeme and I camped, Sparky was feeling under the weather and grabbed a hotel room (with the special channel)
Of course Watson Lake is home of the sign forest - it's really hard to describe and it is huge - you could spend a full day wandering around but we spent an hour
That's enough for now - hopefully Sparky will get the hint and post half decent photo's
During the trip I took a total of 102 pics - this is something I have to force myself to do. I've missed whole days in places!
I had a (expensive) riot getting the R100 ready for the trip - here it is the week prior to take off
Getting ready for take off in Calgary
Honestly I hate to stop and take photo's - so anything I took is spotty
Leaving Calgary my charging light immedatly came on. I'd just updated my charging system to the superior aftermarket one - ditching the old rotor,stator and diode boards for a permant magnet rotor, stator and voltage regulator from a Ducati for this very reason. To say I was p***ed is an understatement. At the beginning I was unsure if the bike was charging or if it was a indicator bulb problem so for the first couple hours I turned the headlight off to lessen the drain. After digging into the bike the first evening on the road I determined it was a indicator bulb problem and the bike was charging OK - it was just annoying to have the bright red light glaring at you all the time
The icefields were awesome tho and a welcome relief from weeks of opressive Houston weather
Say hi Billy
Say hi Yogi
Fast forward to the start of the ALCAN Hwy 2 days later - this is the tourist start
This is the start for the purests
The first night on the Alcan was spent at Watson Lake - it's a cross roads for overland travel to both Alaska and the Yukon - home of the $18 pack smokes
Bill, Graeme and I camped, Sparky was feeling under the weather and grabbed a hotel room (with the special channel)
Of course Watson Lake is home of the sign forest - it's really hard to describe and it is huge - you could spend a full day wandering around but we spent an hour
That's enough for now - hopefully Sparky will get the hint and post half decent photo's
Moose
0
Nice to see the rest of the guys posting their photos too!!! Now there's more people to harass to get more photos uploaded instead of only poor ol' Sparky!
Don't you have some Haggis to go eat?
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Great job guys! 
Bryan needs time to get the manor in order.
Bryan needs time to get the manor in order.
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Guess Ed was not the only stow away on this trip.
Meet Bobby Butterfly and Doug the DragonFly
I finally got time to try and clean the SUV and replace a few parts. Imgine my surprise when I opened the air box and found these guys still free loading. I still can not believe that Bobby Butterfly managed to get into the air box and survive in such good shape.
For the techie folks that are interested in the wear of parts here is the replacement list
On the road
Mounting pads for Laminar Lip
At Bill's House
TKC80 on the front had little to nothing left (but I got 7000+ miles out of it)
Tourance on the rear maybe had 1000 miles left
Both tires had about 600 miles on them before the trip
Last week
Parts with about 600 miles on them
- Chain & Sprockets
- Oil Filter
- Clutch Fluid ( had to top this off in the rain at the road side so wanted to replace it)
- Front Brake Fluid (cause I could change it)
Parts with 14000 miles on them
- Clutch slave cylinder (long story - roadside work gone bad)
- Rear Brake pads ( I was lucky I still had very little pads left so no rotar damage)
Meet Bobby Butterfly and Doug the DragonFly
I finally got time to try and clean the SUV and replace a few parts. Imgine my surprise when I opened the air box and found these guys still free loading. I still can not believe that Bobby Butterfly managed to get into the air box and survive in such good shape.
For the techie folks that are interested in the wear of parts here is the replacement list
On the road
Mounting pads for Laminar Lip
At Bill's House
TKC80 on the front had little to nothing left (but I got 7000+ miles out of it)
Tourance on the rear maybe had 1000 miles left
Both tires had about 600 miles on them before the trip
Last week
Parts with about 600 miles on them
- Chain & Sprockets
- Oil Filter
- Clutch Fluid ( had to top this off in the rain at the road side so wanted to replace it)
- Front Brake Fluid (cause I could change it)
Parts with 14000 miles on them
- Clutch slave cylinder (long story - roadside work gone bad)
- Rear Brake pads ( I was lucky I still had very little pads left so no rotar damage)
Honest, I haven't forgotten about this thread, I've just been really busy at the casa. Here in the next few days I should be able to get a bunch of pics loaded up. I hope.
Leaving Dallas and arriving in Calgary.....
And just a random shot of my helmet on a rock. But I like it so tough, you have to look at it. LOL
More to come...
And just a random shot of my helmet on a rock. But I like it so tough, you have to look at it. LOL
More to come...
Its GO TIME!!!!! Let's get this show on the road!
Day 1 through my eyes.
Okay, so look close at this one. Do you see those little black spots on the ice? Yeah? Okay, remember them for later.
Here are what those little black spots are. Yep, just these little guys.
Break time!
And camp.
Alrighty, it's ice cream time. Later!
Day 1 through my eyes.
Okay, so look close at this one. Do you see those little black spots on the ice? Yeah? Okay, remember them for later.
Here are what those little black spots are. Yep, just these little guys.
Break time!
And camp.
Alrighty, it's ice cream time. Later!
Day 12 - July 4th
Al and I woke up after a good night's sleep refreshed and ready to go. Graeme and Bill were muttering something about mosquitos. Al and I looked at each other and said "What mosquitos?" We were in the back room and Graeme and Bill were out front, and the mozzies were coming in through a gap in the front door. They could have come under the door to our room, but since there was an ample supply of fresh meat to feed on in the front room, they never bothered. Our first clue to the mozzie problem should have been the mosquito coil "inside" the cabin. As we were packing up to leave I snapped a few pics of the lovely scene on the Dease River...
We hit the road south down to the town of Dease Lake and stopped for breakfast. This section of road had about 20 miles of gravel. At one point we passed some really slow moving RVs, and just after that I felt something weird near the back of the bike. Bill was on the radio immediately to tell me that one of my panniers fell off! I had become a little complacent about checking everything on the bike each morning, and here was the result. Realizing that I had two RVs bearing down on me, I made a quick U-turn and rode back, jumped off the bike, and got the pannier off the road just as the RVs were coming over the hill. The only damage was some scratches, and the dry bag I had strapped to the pannier now had a big hole torn in it.
We continued on to the town of Dease Lake and stopped in this little road house for breakfast. Al and I were sitting at the table and Bill and Graeme were using the phones. As I sat there I realized that today was July 4. This holiday isn't usually a big deal with my family, just a cookout and some fireworks. But for some reason it made me really sad to think about the holiday and not being with them to share it. I think the biggest thing for me about this whole trip was the realization that I do not like being away from my family for such a long time. I had a moment that morning when all I really wanted in life was to get home.
We all ordered the Talithan Hash - the food was awesome and I was feeling better after a good meal.
We continued south through the mountains of western British Columbia enjoying mile after mile of amazing vistas.
One of Graeme's favorite "grate" bridges...
Some more spectacular BC scenery...
Much to Bill and Graeme's disappointment, this bit of construction was regulated by a stoplight, and not a flag girl...
Later that afternoon it started raining. I kept hoping that we would get out of it soon, but it kept getting worse, and we pulled over so I could put my rain gear on. By now it was coming down pretty steady, and when we got ready to go, Graeme couldn't move. He radioed that his clutch wasn't working. We all turned off the bikes and proceeded to see what the problem was...
Turns out that there was no fluid left in his hydraulic clutch. Remember that stop we had to check Graeme's chain wear a couple of days ago? Well we think that some dirt got on the slave cylinder seal and caused it to leak...
How many motorcyclists does it take to fill a clutch cylinder?
After about 30 to 45 minutes, they had the fluid filled and everything put back together and we were off again. The rain gradually gave way to sunshine again, and as we rolled south we began to see more signs of civilization. The mountains and canyons gave way to wide valleys with farms and ranches and the landscape became distinctively less wild.
As the sun set and we began looking for a place to camp, a double rainbow appeared in the east.
Graeme commented at camp that night that he felt a little let down because the trip was starting to draw to a close. The adventurous part of the trip was over, and we were now into the final phase of making our way back to Calgary. There was still a lot of riding ahead, with more fantastic scenery and awesome roads, but the wildness of the the far north was behind us.
Mileage for Day 12: 574 (longest day on the bikes)
Total bike mileage to date: 4,620
Al and I woke up after a good night's sleep refreshed and ready to go. Graeme and Bill were muttering something about mosquitos. Al and I looked at each other and said "What mosquitos?" We were in the back room and Graeme and Bill were out front, and the mozzies were coming in through a gap in the front door. They could have come under the door to our room, but since there was an ample supply of fresh meat to feed on in the front room, they never bothered. Our first clue to the mozzie problem should have been the mosquito coil "inside" the cabin. As we were packing up to leave I snapped a few pics of the lovely scene on the Dease River...
We hit the road south down to the town of Dease Lake and stopped for breakfast. This section of road had about 20 miles of gravel. At one point we passed some really slow moving RVs, and just after that I felt something weird near the back of the bike. Bill was on the radio immediately to tell me that one of my panniers fell off! I had become a little complacent about checking everything on the bike each morning, and here was the result. Realizing that I had two RVs bearing down on me, I made a quick U-turn and rode back, jumped off the bike, and got the pannier off the road just as the RVs were coming over the hill. The only damage was some scratches, and the dry bag I had strapped to the pannier now had a big hole torn in it.
We continued on to the town of Dease Lake and stopped in this little road house for breakfast. Al and I were sitting at the table and Bill and Graeme were using the phones. As I sat there I realized that today was July 4. This holiday isn't usually a big deal with my family, just a cookout and some fireworks. But for some reason it made me really sad to think about the holiday and not being with them to share it. I think the biggest thing for me about this whole trip was the realization that I do not like being away from my family for such a long time. I had a moment that morning when all I really wanted in life was to get home.
We all ordered the Talithan Hash - the food was awesome and I was feeling better after a good meal.
We continued south through the mountains of western British Columbia enjoying mile after mile of amazing vistas.
One of Graeme's favorite "grate" bridges...
Some more spectacular BC scenery...
Much to Bill and Graeme's disappointment, this bit of construction was regulated by a stoplight, and not a flag girl...
Later that afternoon it started raining. I kept hoping that we would get out of it soon, but it kept getting worse, and we pulled over so I could put my rain gear on. By now it was coming down pretty steady, and when we got ready to go, Graeme couldn't move. He radioed that his clutch wasn't working. We all turned off the bikes and proceeded to see what the problem was...
Turns out that there was no fluid left in his hydraulic clutch. Remember that stop we had to check Graeme's chain wear a couple of days ago? Well we think that some dirt got on the slave cylinder seal and caused it to leak...
How many motorcyclists does it take to fill a clutch cylinder?
After about 30 to 45 minutes, they had the fluid filled and everything put back together and we were off again. The rain gradually gave way to sunshine again, and as we rolled south we began to see more signs of civilization. The mountains and canyons gave way to wide valleys with farms and ranches and the landscape became distinctively less wild.
As the sun set and we began looking for a place to camp, a double rainbow appeared in the east.
Graeme commented at camp that night that he felt a little let down because the trip was starting to draw to a close. The adventurous part of the trip was over, and we were now into the final phase of making our way back to Calgary. There was still a lot of riding ahead, with more fantastic scenery and awesome roads, but the wildness of the the far north was behind us.
Mileage for Day 12: 574 (longest day on the bikes)
Total bike mileage to date: 4,620
Here are what those little black spots are. Yep, just these little guys.
And you thought everything was bigger in Texas.
M38A1
Admin
Keep those pics coming!