If you left your house and rode a motorcycle to alaska or chile, what bike would you take?

Wow, how interesting. That reminds me of a few punishing rides that I've done, and you're wondering how your bike is going to emerge from all of that. Your situation sounds like it was particularly dangerous when cresting hills, not from traffic (other riders), but from neglect of the road! I'm wondering if the issue is the frost and the heaving of the road maybe makes it difficult to maintain, given the soil conditions of the area? Not sure. That being said, the main roads in Alaska are well maintained.
No one has mentioned the Triumphs at all. The Tiger 800 seems like a good power-to-weight ratio, and weighs the same as the V Strom 650. . Sat on one, but didn't try it out. Not sure about parts availability outside of major metropolitan areas.

 

Enjoyed these.

 

Jeff was a character of characters. A streak of genius and fucking nuts too.. He hit a cow in Montana. A little searching around for "Indian Jeff" will get the whole story.

Another Seattle long distance guy:


http://www.globeriders.com/bio_pages/bio_helge_main.shtml

 

I live in AK and spend a lot of time in the Yukon

The bikes of choice? BMW GS (any year) and the Kawasaki.

GS is the way I would go.


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I live in AK and spend a lot of time in the Yukon

The bikes of choice? BMW GS (any year) and the Kawasaki.

GS is the way I would go. I would not take my VFR north.


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I was in Phoenix this past weekend, it just happened to be bike week, so I stopped by the manufacturer's displays. Kawi, Yamaha, Suzi were all there, with Honda conspicuously absent. I wasn't able to ride any of the bikes (because of time constraints - I really would have pissed some people off), but I was able to sit on a lot of them. My overall feeling is that all of the adventure bikes, even the smaller displacement FJ-09 and the V-Strom 650, are all quite tall and long, and not really suitable for off-road, or even gravel or dirt. If you wanted to venture off the highway to explore something a short way down a gravel or dirt road, I suppose that would be fine, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it fully laden with gear. The tall posture of these bikes makes me wonder if they really are the right type of bike for me for anything, really. I don't like really sitting that high up, with the gas tanks so wide, and so far forward.
If I was faced with having to take a lot of dirt or gravel roads, I'd choose the KLR 650. The seat is wide and comfortable, plus it's got some wind protection, and a 30 liter tank. The rep also said Kawi fixed the doohickey (balancer idle lever and spring), so it's no longer a problem. They also stiffened the springs (but they still arent't adjustable), and they fixed the engine so that it no longer burns any oil. All in all, it sounds like a really good package, but I suspect it would still be suboptimal on a journey to Alaska. I'm sure Dr. Gregory Frazier has a list of what needs to be done to make it roadworthy, and it would probably still be quite inexpensive. Probably good for a South America trip or an African trip.
I sat on the DR 650, for comparison. Although it might be similar powerwise, the wide seat on the Kawi was night-and-day more comfortable. With the presence of the windscreen on the KLR, for me, I would choose it over the DR.
That being said, one bike that felt really comfortable to sit on was the Kawi ZX-14, and I'm wondering if it would make a good touring platform. The seating position is a nice height, and the forward angle to the handlebars is just right for me. Not sure if panniers are available for it, though. The Concourse also felt pretty good, and I think it's pretty much the same engine as the ZX-14, but with different gearing, so it might work really well as a long hauler. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Sat on the FJR. Also feels pretty good.
So for me, I think I would adjust the trip to eliminate the idea of doing any off-road stuff, and stick with something like the Concourse or the ZX-14, or maybe the FJR?
I also talked to a motorcycle State Trooper at the ballpark, as he was riding an ST1300. He absolutely loves it, and can ride it all day long without trouble, and he said the wind protection is really good, and the side buffeting is not as bad as the other bikes they have on the force. I thought that was interesting. Bike looked sharp too. This is probably a good option, for a reliable tourer on pavement and even broken pavement.

 

There had to be a thousand bikes out at Bike Night, Thursday night. There were a sea of bikes there, mostly Harley's and Victories. Amongst all of the bikes there, I caught myself looking at one bike that looked particularly good and interesting. As I approached, I realized that it was an ST1300. I find that quite interesting, as I'd never been particularly interested in this bike before, but it really stood out, and looked good in the face of a lot of baggers and cruisers. Interesting.

 

I did 125 miles on the DR this weekend through an 80k acre wilderness area this Saturday. Some of the trails were pretty sketchy, definitely good to have a solid dirt bike background. Next time we go we are going to have a GPS and multiple patch kits along with more food and water, and snatch/tow straps. We had not planned on going there, just sort of ended up there. Thats what great about Dual sport, you never know where you will end up, Had a blast.

 

What we need here is a separate area addressing the aspects both pro and con of the art of vroom-vroom and lever pumping at bike shows. Riding to Alaska depending on the time of year might be the greater challenge. I'm happy just riding around finding gas stations with Jo-Jo's. I can make my own chile thankyou very much.

 

LOL! Somebody will probably tell aboot doing the same thing on a Goldwing and rasslin with one a them bigass gators or snakes y'all got down there..

 

lol, I'd love to see a Gold out there, could make mucho dinero getting him out of either the muck or sugar sand. Saw a lot of snakes, few gators, no deer or hog, a lot of vultures at a opossum party. They were feasting so furiously we rode right up to them before they flew up into the trees.

 

Sounds like a blast. For that purpose, I think the DR is really quite ideal. I wish I had some terrain of this sort close to where I live so I could do the same thing.
For long range touring, would you use it?

 

Ever been on the highway for 8 hours in a single day?????

 

Long range on slab I have a very nice VFR. A friend has a DR with a Sargent seat that is very comfortable. The problem with wider seats and dual sport is standing is not comfortable as you tend to have bow legs with wide seats. I'll stand up and and ride for a while if my ass/legs needs a break. If you ever have to go a long ways standing up you will not like a wide comfortable seat. The Sargent is a split between the 2.

 

Laker, why definitely not the VFR? Who thinks that it is adequately reliable? Who thinks it can be fixed in a pinch? Who thinks there's enough dealer support? Is it comfortable enough?

 

On an all-pavement tour, I think I'd take the VFR. Maybe Alaska, but not Chile, due to the gravel roads. We hear so much about the Concourse and the FJR, so I am reminded of this:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/12/8188/Motorcycle-Article/2010-Sport-Touring-Shootout-V.aspx

 

Which Kawasaki?

Why wouldn't you take your VFR north? Poor pavement? Reliability?