Great write up Chris, Thanks for taking the time. I think I recognise a couple of faces......
Alaska and The Yukon 2026 ride
- Thread starter Sgt Bilco
- Start date
Thanks mate. It's taking longer than I thought as life is getting in the way. I should have made it a Netflix series.
After yesterdays day of contrasts, today was just a riding day on the Alcan to knock off the small matter of 280 miles. Saying that, it's not like riding up the M6 but instead where ever you look there is something interesting to see.
Those of you who braved my SF - Prudhoe - SF trips back in the day may well remember hammering up this section of the Alcan which is renowned for ongoing construction and the frost heaves which make for interesting riding.
First stop was Destruction bay after abiut 90 mins for fuel for teh bikes and fuel for us.
I'd not been along this stretch for 10 years and it hadn't changed one bit. It's a tough living up here and most of these places are now run by Indian families who seem to be able to make a living where no one else can.
The breakfast wasn't the best but it was fresh and not too pricey for this area. It was very welcome as the weather had been a bit overcast and chilly.
Fully fueled we headed north and the morning's was broken up with a lot of stops for road construction which is a never ending battle.
Still, if you are going to be stuck waiting for a pilot car, I'd challenge you to find a more scenic spot!!
Early afternoon saw us make our final border crossing back into Alaska which was quick and painless. I asked the guard if he could stamp my passport and he said they don't do it anymore as everything is electronic. Bit of a shame but that's progress I guess.
Always good to be back in my favourite state in the union.
Ooh look, a nice truck
It could do with a wash but little point up here!
Then is was off to Tok again in beautiful weather and some rather nice roads.
Those of you who braved my SF - Prudhoe - SF trips back in the day may well remember hammering up this section of the Alcan which is renowned for ongoing construction and the frost heaves which make for interesting riding.
First stop was Destruction bay after abiut 90 mins for fuel for teh bikes and fuel for us.
I'd not been along this stretch for 10 years and it hadn't changed one bit. It's a tough living up here and most of these places are now run by Indian families who seem to be able to make a living where no one else can.
The breakfast wasn't the best but it was fresh and not too pricey for this area. It was very welcome as the weather had been a bit overcast and chilly.
Fully fueled we headed north and the morning's was broken up with a lot of stops for road construction which is a never ending battle.
Still, if you are going to be stuck waiting for a pilot car, I'd challenge you to find a more scenic spot!!
Early afternoon saw us make our final border crossing back into Alaska which was quick and painless. I asked the guard if he could stamp my passport and he said they don't do it anymore as everything is electronic. Bit of a shame but that's progress I guess.
Always good to be back in my favourite state in the union.
Ooh look, a nice truck
It could do with a wash but little point up here!Then is was off to Tok again in beautiful weather and some rather nice roads.
I guess it's better than life not getting in the way....
I reckon you're on to something, I'd watch Netlix series of a few of the RRs on these pages.
Well, this isn't the start to the day I was thinking of.......!! Just checking teh bike over and found both front fork seals were leaking!! Yesterdays fun and games on the Alcan has done for the seals and I do have history of wrecking them!!
Some may remember me riding a Yamaha MT09 up here and destroying the fork seals on the Dalton, I've had to change them on my S10 back and at home and you may of course remember the Itchyboots issues a few years ago!!
I washed the bike off, and cleaned the forks up as best I could and off we went in teh hope they wouldn't cause me any issues.
Just before we left, I checked out this truck in the car park of Fast Eddies. You will see one of these things hammering past about every 15 minutes or so. They are carrying paydirt from a local quarry up to Fairbanks where it's washed for gold. I guees they get enough to make it pay because these trucks run 24/7.
Just a few details for those truckers amongst us:
The drivers do a 12/14 hour day and earn $50 per hour.
They can do 5 or 6 days a week if they want to.
All up weight is around 75 tonnes and they cruise at 75mph as teh road to Fairbanks is virtually arrow straight
Power is from a 600 bhp 15 litre ISX Cummins with auto box
Can you imagine your walk round checks every morning???
So after my daily dose of truck porn we headed off to one of my favourites stops on the whole trip.
The scenery here is unbelievable and even a shit photographer loike me can take a half decent picture.
And on we go with the most fantastic views all around.
Then it was time for a coffee at this great little cafe and store which is really remote. Quite how they make a living is beyond me but it's thre every year and always fun to stop and stretch the legs for a while.
No visit to the US can be done without a twinkies bar which are equally disgusting and lovely all at the same time.
As a line in a great song says, It's a 99c heart attack!!
Some may remember me riding a Yamaha MT09 up here and destroying the fork seals on the Dalton, I've had to change them on my S10 back and at home and you may of course remember the Itchyboots issues a few years ago!!
I washed the bike off, and cleaned the forks up as best I could and off we went in teh hope they wouldn't cause me any issues.
Just before we left, I checked out this truck in the car park of Fast Eddies. You will see one of these things hammering past about every 15 minutes or so. They are carrying paydirt from a local quarry up to Fairbanks where it's washed for gold. I guees they get enough to make it pay because these trucks run 24/7.
Just a few details for those truckers amongst us:
The drivers do a 12/14 hour day and earn $50 per hour.
They can do 5 or 6 days a week if they want to.
All up weight is around 75 tonnes and they cruise at 75mph as teh road to Fairbanks is virtually arrow straight
Power is from a 600 bhp 15 litre ISX Cummins with auto box
Can you imagine your walk round checks every morning???
So after my daily dose of truck porn we headed off to one of my favourites stops on the whole trip.
The scenery here is unbelievable and even a shit photographer loike me can take a half decent picture.
And on we go with the most fantastic views all around.
Then it was time for a coffee at this great little cafe and store which is really remote. Quite how they make a living is beyond me but it's thre every year and always fun to stop and stretch the legs for a while.
No visit to the US can be done without a twinkies bar which are equally disgusting and lovely all at the same time.
As a line in a great song says, It's a 99c heart attack!!
Crackin pics and write up 
,how are you finding the F900?
,how are you finding the F900?
Apart from the range anxiety, I thought it was a pretty good bike.Crackin pics and write up
The engine revs freely, the gearbox is good, is comfortable and it goes well. I'd like to see an ADV version though as it felt a bit small for me as I'm 6ft and 16stone.
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Off we go again heading to Valdez and need to stop for fuel at Glenallen which is a major crossroads up here.
The service station is packed so we had a coffee at a little roadside stand in the car park. It's an annual stop for me as they serve great coffee and it's not garage food and drink.
They also do a cracking curry wurst which could have graced any german motorway cafe.
All a bit much for Lesley who seems to make a habit of sleeping in odd places.
Then we were off to Valdez and the scenery approaching Thompson pass is astounding. No matter how many times I do this it still takes my breat away.
Nick and Michalis loving life and who can blame them?
Your intrepid leader in his element I'm happy becuase I know I've got enough fuel in the 900 to get me to Valdez no bother 
Lovely waterfalls on the way.
And a lovely road which winds it's way down through the gorge. You have to give massive credit to the road builders up here because despite massive temperature changes, the roads are generally in great condition and lovely and smooth.
The service station is packed so we had a coffee at a little roadside stand in the car park. It's an annual stop for me as they serve great coffee and it's not garage food and drink.
They also do a cracking curry wurst which could have graced any german motorway cafe.
All a bit much for Lesley who seems to make a habit of sleeping in odd places.
Then we were off to Valdez and the scenery approaching Thompson pass is astounding. No matter how many times I do this it still takes my breat away.
Nick and Michalis loving life and who can blame them?
Your intrepid leader in his element
I'm happy becuase I know I've got enough fuel in the 900 to get me to Valdez no bother Lovely waterfalls on the way.
And a lovely road which winds it's way down through the gorge. You have to give massive credit to the road builders up here because despite massive temperature changes, the roads are generally in great condition and lovely and smooth.
Valdez is always a great stop and is a very busy working port. Lot's of chartered fishing boats go out from here as the sea fishing is said to be amongst the best in Alaska.
Checked in, showered and headed out for some food and this is the place to sample some of the best you'll ever have. The Halibut in particular is unbelievable so we treated ourselves to a really good meal of Halibut and it actually had some veg with it!!
Colman owns a bar in Cork so decided to teach the bar staff how to make a baby Guinness which was pretty comical. Between a thick Irish accent and a sassy waitress, a few missunderstandings happened but eventually they came up with something.
The port of Valdez is a stunning and very photogenic location that's for sure.
A I mentioned earlier, a lot of charters happen here. They steam for about 3 hours out to the best fishing grounds, have 3 hours fishing and then 3 hours back to port so it would be a full on day. A days fishing would cost about $800 per person so you better get yourself a good catch.
Luckily many people do and a guy up from California had landed this catch
Thise big Halubut were a touch over 200lb so that's a lot of good meat.
You have to have your catch professionally dressed and packed to ship home so it's a very expensive day.
The guys doing this are kept very busy with these big catches.
Man alive there are some ugly fish which live out in the deep!!
We had a nice stroll back to the hotel in the late evening with beautifully clean air.
Past the memorial to veterans which every town seems to have and all are kept in immaculate condition.
Checked in, showered and headed out for some food and this is the place to sample some of the best you'll ever have. The Halibut in particular is unbelievable so we treated ourselves to a really good meal of Halibut and it actually had some veg with it!!
Colman owns a bar in Cork so decided to teach the bar staff how to make a baby Guinness which was pretty comical. Between a thick Irish accent and a sassy waitress, a few missunderstandings happened but eventually they came up with something.
The port of Valdez is a stunning and very photogenic location that's for sure.
A I mentioned earlier, a lot of charters happen here. They steam for about 3 hours out to the best fishing grounds, have 3 hours fishing and then 3 hours back to port so it would be a full on day. A days fishing would cost about $800 per person so you better get yourself a good catch.
Luckily many people do and a guy up from California had landed this catch
Thise big Halubut were a touch over 200lb so that's a lot of good meat.
You have to have your catch professionally dressed and packed to ship home so it's a very expensive day.
The guys doing this are kept very busy with these big catches.
Man alive there are some ugly fish which live out in the deep!!
We had a nice stroll back to the hotel in the late evening with beautifully clean air.
Past the memorial to veterans which every town seems to have and all are kept in immaculate condition.
Up early and we headed around the bay to the man made salmon run which is a fascinating place.
It was set up some years ago to try and keep the stocks of salmon up.
They release the fish from here and 12 months to 2 years they return to the exact same place which is remarkable in itself. The Salmon swim up the chute straight into the factory where the eggs are removed and the fish go to make fertilizer. They are inedible by the time they get here but the Bears, Eagles etc feast on them at the entrance.
We didn't see any bears today unfortunately but it's still a great place to visit.
We did see a big Eagle just sitting in a tree watching what was going on. Sorry for the crap picture but is was huge!!
We now head across to Chitina and check out some of the history in the area which again is mostly attached to the gold rush.
Stunning riding on the road we came in on yesterday. Look at the colour of the sky!!
We arrive into the small town of Chitina were the locals were on their last day of dip net fishing for Salmon. Not much happening but the local Inuit population have a certain period where they can catch wahat they can and they all get plenty to last them for the rest of the year.
Coffee and a bloody good sandwich at the only place open in town.
Saw this very strange Harley with what looked to be a DRZ front end. You can alter/butcher just about anything up here and no one seems to care less.
.
It was set up some years ago to try and keep the stocks of salmon up.
They release the fish from here and 12 months to 2 years they return to the exact same place which is remarkable in itself. The Salmon swim up the chute straight into the factory where the eggs are removed and the fish go to make fertilizer. They are inedible by the time they get here but the Bears, Eagles etc feast on them at the entrance.
We didn't see any bears today unfortunately but it's still a great place to visit.
We did see a big Eagle just sitting in a tree watching what was going on. Sorry for the crap picture but is was huge!!
We now head across to Chitina and check out some of the history in the area which again is mostly attached to the gold rush.
Stunning riding on the road we came in on yesterday. Look at the colour of the sky!!
We arrive into the small town of Chitina were the locals were on their last day of dip net fishing for Salmon. Not much happening but the local Inuit population have a certain period where they can catch wahat they can and they all get plenty to last them for the rest of the year.
Coffee and a bloody good sandwich at the only place open in town.
Saw this very strange Harley with what looked to be a DRZ front end. You can alter/butcher just about anything up here and no one seems to care less.
.
We then headed off to our last night on the road through some more great scenery.
We stay at a Lake Louise Lodge which has to be one of the best locations for a lodge in teh area.
Great view from the bar.
Proudly American owned!!
What a stunning end to the day!!
We stay at a Lake Louise Lodge which has to be one of the best locations for a lodge in teh area.
Great view from the bar.
Proudly American owned!!
What a stunning end to the day!!
Last day on teh road and a last look at the beautiful lake from my room.
More beautiful scenery and the weather is perfect.
Get to fill the 900 for the last time knowing I've got plenty to get back to Anchorage. Despite the range anxiety and fork seal issues, the 900 has proved to be a decent bike for Alaska and comfortably dealt with everything thrown at it. It's a really good option if the boxers are too big for you or are unavailable.
One last stop at a coffee hut which yet again proved to be great quality and value and so nice to be outside in the warmth enjoying a brew.
The menu was interesting but no one actually ordered The Man Sandwich
I had a great heart stopping milkshake served with a smile.
And then as quickly as that, the bikes are back and it's all over.
As most people know I do these trips every year and they never getting boring or repetative. The scenery up here defies belief and everyone should experience it at least once in their life time.
What makes it for me are the people who come on the trips and this year the group were fantastic and we've all made friends for life without doubt so thanks to everyone who came along.
Here's to next's years trip and thanks everyone for reading.
More beautiful scenery and the weather is perfect.
Get to fill the 900 for the last time knowing I've got plenty to get back to Anchorage. Despite the range anxiety and fork seal issues, the 900 has proved to be a decent bike for Alaska and comfortably dealt with everything thrown at it. It's a really good option if the boxers are too big for you or are unavailable.
One last stop at a coffee hut which yet again proved to be great quality and value and so nice to be outside in the warmth enjoying a brew.
The menu was interesting but no one actually ordered The Man Sandwich
I had a great heart stopping milkshake served with a smile.
And then as quickly as that, the bikes are back and it's all over.
As most people know I do these trips every year and they never getting boring or repetative. The scenery up here defies belief and everyone should experience it at least once in their life time.
What makes it for me are the people who come on the trips and this year the group were fantastic and we've all made friends for life without doubt so thanks to everyone who came along.
Here's to next's years trip and thanks everyone for reading.
As with every year a thoroughly enjoyable write up. Thanks again for sharing it
My wife and I were lucky to be part of the trip this year, this was my note to Chris thanking him for such a superb adventure. If the write up has wet your appetite, DO IT!
Hi Chris-
Lesley and I would like to say a huge thank you for an absolutely amazing Alaskan motorbike adventure. Having only done several rides as a 2 up, we thought we may have bitten more than we could chew, but:
The organisation was fantastic from start to finish, with carefully planned routes, great stops and excellent motorbikes that performed flawlessly throughout. Everything was taken care of, allowing us to simply enjoy the riding, the scenery and the adventure.
Alaska itself was breathtaking. Riding through spectacular mountains and alongside glaciers, while seeing bears, moose, eagles and salmon, made this a truly unforgettable experience. Not forgetting the Sour Toe challenge in Dawson City.
The combination of incredible scenery, fantastic roads, great company with lots of laughs and the freedom of riding through such a wild and beautiful landscape made this a trip of a lifetime.
Thank you for creating such a brilliantly organised and memorable adventure. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for the ultimate motorbike experience. Cheer Guy& Lesley
Hi Chris-
Lesley and I would like to say a huge thank you for an absolutely amazing Alaskan motorbike adventure. Having only done several rides as a 2 up, we thought we may have bitten more than we could chew, but:
The organisation was fantastic from start to finish, with carefully planned routes, great stops and excellent motorbikes that performed flawlessly throughout. Everything was taken care of, allowing us to simply enjoy the riding, the scenery and the adventure.
Alaska itself was breathtaking. Riding through spectacular mountains and alongside glaciers, while seeing bears, moose, eagles and salmon, made this a truly unforgettable experience. Not forgetting the Sour Toe challenge in Dawson City.
The combination of incredible scenery, fantastic roads, great company with lots of laughs and the freedom of riding through such a wild and beautiful landscape made this a trip of a lifetime.
Thank you for creating such a brilliantly organised and memorable adventure. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking for the ultimate motorbike experience. Cheer Guy& Lesley
There's no 2 ways about it, the Bhoy certainly organises a great trip.
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