Anchorage to Whitehorse

[Douglas]

Hello to any Rocket Riders in the Yukon territory...I was curious to know if any Canadian Rockets existed north of Toronto or Montreal. I am leaving Anchorage for Whitehorse on July 3rd and hope to be in Whitehorse by the 5th to meet up with a friend coming north from Milwaukee on a new...ahhemm...Harley. This is my first long ride on my 2010 Roadster and I am a little nervous...am looking at 750 miles one-way with about 100 miles of gravel on the Canadian side.

I will gladly take any advice offered for this first trip...I am particularly worried about the gravel.
A rudimentary tool/emergency kit obviously, but anything particular that a novice might overlook in that kit? I tried to convince my buddy to at least ride a Triumph before he bought the Harley...but trying to convince a guy born and raised in the American Midwest to drive anything but a Chevy or a Harley is like trying to turn a bottle of Canadian Club into a dram of 30 year old single malt scotch...it aint gonna happen! -Doug

 

[idk]

A puncture repair kit - with compressor. TuneECU and a cable.

Be very, very, careful on that Canadian gravel.

 

[Radical]

The Iron butt web page has pointers and a tool kit list. (serial 28 for tool kit list.

http://www.ironbutt.com/tech/aowprintout.cfm

 

[Boog]

Ok Doug, they beat me to it^^^^. The tire kit is vital to any trip and easy to use; usless you blow out a sidewall. Take plenty of water, and a few easy to get at snacks too. Cookies work great for me

 

[Jeff Cameron]

Fuel will be limited......don't pass a station without topping up.

 

[Ridefree]

Hi Douglas, I drive this hi way about 30 years ago from California to anchorage and back. At the time it was mostly gravel past the Canadian border. I hear they have paved allot of it now. The gravel was hell on tires and the road was rough as hell. Windshield took a beating from rocks kicked up by on coming trucks but not as bad as it could have been because of advice given to me by a friend that familiar with the road. He said when a truck is coming at you too get as close as possible when passing because the rocks that are pinched out from under the trucks tires are coming up at an angle from the ground. If you are close the the rocks are at wheel hight but if you get over more to the right the rocks are higher off the ground at windshield hight. When the other guys say get fuel at every chance they aren't kidding, it's a long way between stations. I would carry a one gallon gas can with you. Also a tire kit as posted earlier is a must because you are on your own out there. We would drive all day with out setting another soul some days. You have cast wheels so you can use a motorcycle tire plug kit, it's similar to an auto tire plug and it works because you don't have inner tubes. Some kits have little CO2 bottles with a fitting to air up the tire but I would also carry a compressor. You'll need to wire in a plug from your battery to power it. The tire concern is paramount and you need to be able to get yourself going again if you get a flat.I got a flat from a sharp rock. I'm sure cell phone coverage is limited out there and you couldn't even call for wrecker to come get you and your bike. I don't mean to go on about this but if you got a flat an hour before dark and it took 6 hours for a wrecker to get to you, if you could get a hold of one, let me tell you there's a lot of wild life out there especially after dark. It was a trip of a life time and I want to ride it some day but one must be prepared because as I said, you are on your own out there

 

[Ridefree]

Just remembered about the frost heaves from some research I did a couple years ago when my wife and I were planning to ride it in the future. Sections of the paved road would buckle up over the winter exposing the gravel underneath and hard to see them till the last second

 

[cardinal93]

Sounds like an awesome ride!
Don't really have much to add that hasn't already been said, but when going through desolate areas, I always carry a first aid/survival kit as well. Have to take care of you as well as the bike.

 

[ksquared]

I don't know how desolate any of the portions of the trip are, but if you're traveling alone, you should really consider taking a personal locator, such as this one: http://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/personal-locator-beacons/resqlinkplus/. One just never knows . . . . .

 

[ROCKETHEAD]

Tire patch kit
Front fender mud flap, gravel will ruin front of motor.
Gas can
Roll off duct tape
Knife
water and snacks if you do get stranded
lighter to make a fire
needle nose pliers, to pick gravel from radiator guard

Plasti Dip all front facing shiny bits against gravel, or duct tape it.