Rush hour on the Alaska Highway, somewhere near Muncho Lake...

 

Even the "motels" are now using the ATCO trailers seen in many of the oil field camps:



Like the lady said, "clean bed, warm room, no running water - toilets and shower in the trailer across the yard" <lol>

 

I LOVE this sign! Metal grating bridge deck ahead...

Saw another warning motorcyclists of rough road, but it was in a construction area and I couldn't stop to get the pic.

 

My favorite pothole - those with "cracks" (almost canyons) running parallel to the road would damn near rip the bars out of your hands as you tried to steer out. More than 100 miles of incredible frost heave damage from the Beaver Creek border crossing to Destruction Bay.

 

Dayaaam, I had to look at that twice just to see how screwed up that is... Look at the Middle stripe... I can imagine riding along and encountering that. Hellloooo

 

See the L-shaped poles along the road to Skagway (they continue up)?

When the road fills up with snow to the point this bad boy can't reach, it's time to close the pass <LOL>

J/K - actually the poles are reflectors so no one runs off the side of the road during heavy fog. Not sure that explanation's any better, though...

 

I'm interested in how your Limited handled on all the gravel I hear is up there...I'm planning a trip from New Orleans to Alaska, and am curious if it's something I can do on my Limited, or if I need a dual-sport. I only plan on going to Anchorage, and from what I understand, the roads are (relatively) ok...seeing the cratered asphalt in your pics kinda confirms what I expected for paved roads, but I'm most concerned about the condition of the gravel...ie, how deep, rutted, washboarded, etc....

 

The majority of the gravel you'd hit in AK would be on the Haul Road - the last 450 miles from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. I did it 2 years ago but bought a bmw 650gs because I just wouldn't abuse my Harley like that <grin>

The gravel this trip were the patches of road under repair - IOW, they were paved roads with short stretches of gravel. The worst I hit was 3 miles long and they were applying the Haul Road repair method to it - rip the asphalt with tines behind a road grader, rip the soil beneath it in the next pass, come behind that with a water tanker to turn it into a gooey, snotty, f'ing soup, then have the flag guy wave you on.

I had a guy with a dually pulling a trailer follow me through. 5 miles later when I took advantage of a pull-off, he stopped in, leaned out the window, gave me a big thumbs up and yelled "best damned riding I've ever seen!". I'm glad he liked it, but I'm also glad it was the one and only spot like that I had to go through this trip!!! Worse than black ice...

Feet on the boards (you'd just break 'em if you fell), firm grip but relaxed arms, hand as steady on the throttle as you've ever been (no accel/decal to break you loose), DO NOT COVER EITHER BRAKE, take a deep breath, tighten your sphincter, and ride <lol>

 

I’ll be leaving for Alaska on the 26th on my RK so I’ve been reading everything I can and your posts are much appreciated. I've ridden on dirt and gravel so not concerned there and your advice is excellent about hands, brakes, etc. My most recent gravel patch was 2 weeks ago on a 14 mile stretch through the Cascades. What are your thoughts with regards to running up to the Arctic Circle on the RK (way more than the 14 miles, DOH)? Road seems to be OK but could be a b*tch if it’s raining. Gas availability seems to be OK but do you recommend a spare tank of gas? From what I've been reading over the last year I feel good about riding to the A/C and I don't plan on going further as I’ll save that for when I get a dual to go along with my RK.

 

The first 50 miles out of Fairbanks on the Elliott Hwy are paved, so no worries. It becomes 450 miles of gravel where you turn off the Elliott to the Dalton Hwy (Haul Road). Last gas out of Fairbanks (and great pies) is at the Hilltop Café/Truck Stop about 15 miles north of town on your left. Don't pass gas <grin> because your next gas won't be until the Yukon River crossing - great wooden plank bridge that I wouldn't want to cross in the rain because it's loooonnnngg and a 4-5% grade downhill.

Next gas past the Yukon is at Coldfoot, north of the Arctic Circle and the midpoint up The Haul Road, so depending on your range fully loaded, you might want to carry extra gas so you make it back to the Yukon. IIRC, their gas was from an above-ground elevated tank, and only available when the store/café was open. Plan accordingly.

The Haul Road is really a mixed bag of conditions. You'll find short sections of pavement, hard packed gravel, and areas of construction where they use soft-ball sized rock for the heavy equipment traveling over it. I found that to be extremely tough because you were usually following a pilot car that'll test your slow driving skills on the worst of all road surfaces. Every place they are repairing it, they are working on it while you're riding it. The process that I described above - tine, tine again, douche, grade to turn the top 4-6" into slurry and damn long slip-and-slide - will test your skills. But lots of riders take their Harleys all the way to Prudhoe, so it can be done. Only you can judge your skills and make that call.

The section of the Haul Road from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle is certainly the most tame, but that's all relative cuz it was still tougher than anything I'd ridden before! The bmw650gs handled it like a breeze, though.