Love the "Dunce cap" comment olebull!!! It would appear that I am not to be fitted for said cap this go-around as I have managed to get my local dealer to work with me on getting a tire other than a metzler. As it turns out, when I dug deeper into the so-called great deals from Rocky Mt. ATV they, like J&C cycles indeed DO NOT ship single tires to Alaska. They would gladly ship tires to Alaska if i bought say, 100 of them! My local purveyor of British bikes sold me an excedra-max rear for $285...a far cry from a metzler for $445
Thanks ISRUB for the tutorial on the PM process...I may do a bit of contacting of Captains this August as I am retiring from Librarianship after 25 years and will be flying to NH to pick up my 1999 Valkyrie and driving back to Alaska across the states to the west and then up the highway to Alaska. Though I will not be on my Rocket, perhaps some sympathy will be afforded me and the requisite hospitality extended! I will never give up on my Rocket of course and may ride it down to the states for 2019 RAA, but after owning my beloved British steel for 5 years now I have figured out it is wise to have a second, back-up steed in the old barn. Thanks again for all the sage advice...Doug