Back from Alaska

[gypsy_100]

Just completed an 8,000-mile trip from eastern PA to SE Alaska and back. Great trip, great scenery, great ride, and the RT performed flawlessly. A pleasure to ride.

I went straight north and crossed into Ontario at Thousand Islands and then circled around all the Great Lakes on the north side – never done that before. Very nice. Then across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Flat, straight, and with beautiful farms. I was solo to this point. Picked up my wife in Calgary, Alberta. Alberta and British Columbia are great – going up the Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park, Robson National Park, etc. We headed west from Prince George and took the Cassiar Highway north, rather than the start of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek. Cassiar is a nice ride with great scenery and the mandatory National Forest Service bear-watching at Hyder, Alaska. The Cassiar eventually tees into the Alaska Highway and we took that as far as Whitehorse, Yukon Territories. Then down to Skagway, Alaska (a great ride). Took the Alaska State Ferry for two days thru the inland waterways to Prince Rupert, BC. Then headed east back to Calgary. I became solo again as my wife flew home from Calgary. That loop riding together was two weeks and about 2700 miles. From Calgary, I headed down into Montana and across US Route 2 thru the northern edge of MT, ND, MN, WI and the UP of MI. Went thru Williston, ND – the center of the US oil boom. Unbelievable activity there. In Michigan, I Crossed the Mackinac Bridge twice just for the heck of it, then north to Ontario again at Sault Ste Marie, around Lake Ontario on the north side, back thru Thousand Islands and back home. 8018 miles. Twenty-eight days.

For all you statisticians out there, I averaged 31.4 mpg. (No trailer – if it doesn’t fit on the bike, it doesn’t go.) I don’t like to rely on single-tank calculations but my best daily average was 34.7 mpg – I had a couple days near that so it is probably realistic. My worst day was 25.6 with very strong headwinds. Ignoring that as an outlier, my worst day would have been 28.8 and I had a couple days around 29 so that is probably a realistic minimum figure. For a little over 8,000 miles, the RT consumed 1-1/4 qts of oil. Gas in Canada is more expensive as many of you know, and in the boonies of BC and YT, it goes up even more. I peaked at $6.19 per gallon for regular – no premium available and you’re mighty glad to get anything.

I’ve gone several times from here to British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, etc on my GL1800 Gold Wing two-wheeler and I can say without reservation that the RT is a great ride. I enjoyed it every bit as much as the ‘Wing, maybe even more. And that’s saying something.

[ARtraveler]

Congratulations on a great ride adventure. Glad you had such a great trip.

[oldgoat]

Sounds lile you had a great time. I've been to all those places, but in an SUV. I would love to do it on my Spyder but doubt I ever will. Good to hear you had no problems.

Did you start out with new tires? Were they ok when you got home?

[gypsy_100]

Did you start out with new tires? Were they ok when you got home?

I had 8K on the bike when I started and my rear tire was shot so I put a new one on right before the trip. It's wearing better than the first one and still has some tread left after the 8K trip. The first one wore out in the middle so I reduced the pressure to near the minimum on the one I used on the trip and it seems to have helped. The middle didn't wear as fast, even with all the straight-line riding I did. The front tires are now at 16K and still have tread left.

[summerdawn]

What an adventure! I want to go!

[HollyH]

wow! this sounds awesome! I would love to go from East Coast to West Coast... that would be awesome!... right now I will settle going from Tennesee to Florida next month!