Completed a twenty-one day, 6384 mile trip on July 23 through Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon. Rode the Alaska highway, Top of the World highway, and Cassiar highway. Accompanied by a 2014 Ultra Limited, 2007 Ultra Classic and 1997 Gold Wing Roadsmith trike. My observations:

1) Covered approx 200 miles of gravel, dirt and broken asphalt on the trip. Bottomed the forks several times, no damage. Couldn't maintain 25 mph on rough washboard gravel on Alaska highway. Tried speeding up to 45 mph and it rode much smoother, although a little hairy at times.

2) Gas is available every 75 to 100 miles. Our shortest tank was the five gallon ultra classic. It ran out once when two opportunities for gas were bypassed. An avoidable incident.

3) Temps ran from a low of 47F up to mid-80's. Be prepared to layer up and have a set of cold weather gloves. I had to buy liners in Anchorage, which helped the heated grips perform better.

4) Plan on rain. We had one stretch of 3 days in BC. Two had HD rainsuits that have nice features but ended up with melted spots. Two had X Element suits and while not as visible or fancy, they performed well.

5) HD dealer in Anchorage serviced our bikes and did well. HD dealer in Fairbanks sold me a tee shirt and didn't screw it up too bad. I'd avoid them. Supposedly a good private shop in Fairbanks that was recommended by locals. HD dealer listed for Whitehorse YT appears to be out of business.

6) Be prepared to run some 87 octane in your bike. I'm 300 and had 75 lbs of gear. I went through 5 or 6 tanks of 87 octane with no problems. You may need to gear down earlier on hills, but the weather is cooler. I found a few times I bought premium but the bike felt like it had 87 octane in it.

7) Hydraulic clutch performed flawlessly in countless muddy, rocky parking lots in the rain. Did great at feathering the power when I needed too.

8) I run HD dino oil. Due to timing I had one oil change with 5200 miles on it. Didn't burn a drop of oil all trip.

9) HD GPS system worked well. Found me a gas station at 6am Sunday morning in Dawson City YT. Found a lodge we were booked at 15 miles out of Fairbanks up the side of a mountain on a dirt road. Found the Gold Mine Camp & RV Park in Chicken Alaska. It did mislead me about a HD dealer in Whitehorse. I run the original maps and Boombox load from its build in May 2014. I also don't own any other GPS so I may be easy to satisfy.

10) If you ride the Cassiar highway be prepared for steel grate and wood plank bridges. I think I counted four steel grate and at least six wood plank bridges. Worst was coming down a long grade set into a hill, raining, fast sweeping right hand turn and immediately on to the wet wood plank bridge. Ultra Limited doesn't look bad with a crease now running down the center of the seat!

11) Took tools, spare oil, flashlights, syphon hose, hand air pump, etc. Didn't need any of it, glad I had it. You'll cover a lot of miles with no cell service.

Overall all three Harleys performed very well, particularly the Rushmore bikes. The poor old Gold wing beat itself to death several times.

I'll answer any questions.
AussieDog

 

WOW, what a trip!! I applaud you and your bravery but I understand your desire to make the trip. I take a trip every year with three others and while we have never gone to Alaska, we have covered quite a few miles all for the joy of riding our machines. The trip this year covered 4,500 miles. This is a great write up. I am sure you have some pictures.....care to share a few? Thanks again for sharing!!

 

Awesome!

 

Dream trip, thanks for sharing!

 

Congrats - I plan to make that trip in the next few years. I do have a few questions:

Did you mainly camp or stay in hotels?

How much did you budget for the trip?

How much did the trip beat the bike up? I figured the dirt/gravel roads would have tore the paint up.

Again - great trip. Got any pics?

 

Sounds like a great adventure - please post some pictures

 

Dawson City





Lake Watson, Alaska Highway





Dawson City Yukon





Dawson Creek BC





US - Canada border neasr Yukon/Alaska crossing





Coming towards Anchorage

 

I slept in a tent 4 out of 21 nights, all in Anchorage. Lots of campgrounds, RV parks and provincial parks along the way. I suggest you consider how many miles you'll ride for the day. When we were hammering out 500 miles in challenging riding conditions I was to tired to make & break camp.

No overall budget but food was the biggest surprise. Below are some prices, all in US dollars. Canada was higher but the exchange rate was about $1.23 Cdn for $1.00 US.
Gasoline - $3.59-$4.00 per gallon
Motels, two to a room - $90-$130 a night (split in two, so about $45 to $65 ea.)
Six pack of Kokanee beer - $10.50
Typical pint of beer - $6-$7 for 16 oz draw
Hamburgers at a diner or cafe - $11 to $13
Hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon,etc - $8-$12

 

Regarding wear and tear on the bike. It wasn't as bad as I thought. There is lots of dust so anywhere something rubs against paint may show wear. I have some mars on top of my tourpak and on each side cover where straps rubbed. Surprisingly no rock dings but that might be just luck. The mud and dust control treatments are hard to clean off. Washed the bike three times when I got home.

Gold Wing had the windshield break completely off just above the fairing but he hit a ditch across the road. He also had a muffler and two trim pieces fall off along the way. If you go make sure you have good tires. There is lots of chip-sealed road and it accelerates tire wear.

 

Great post! We are planning to make the trip to Alaska next summer. Interested in hearing more to help with our planning. Are all the roads paved except for where construction was being completed? Again thanks for the post!