Alaska Day 29

We started the day in Toad River BC and were headed to Route 77 to take us to the Northwest Territory to pick up another province.  On the way we were suppose to stop about 50 miles out for gas but we seemed to have missed it.  We had to go on into Fort Nelson for gas and our 2 riders with trailers were running on fumes.  After fueling we went back about 18 miles to route 77.  The first 30 miles were great brand new blacktop smooth as a baby's bottom.  Next we were onto old blacktop not smooth but not too bad.  We knew going in that the last 20 to 25 miles would be gravel but it seems that due to road construction the last 43 miles were gravel and dusty.  We arrived in Fort Liard in the Northwest Territory and had a tough time finding the gas station until John asked a local resident.  When we fueled up the lady at the counter asked me where we were going and I said back to civilization.  It was a rough ride but we managed to cover another province.  Tomorrow on the the start of the ALCAN at Dawson Creek and a little further.  Today's mileage 386

Alaska Day 27 and 28

Thursday was a day of waiting and hoping the alternator would arrive as promised.  Don, Dave and I took advantage of the down time to clean the haul road mud off of our bikes.  We went to the local car wash and cleaned about 10lbs of mud and dirt off of the each bike.  John preferred to keep his badge of honor awhile longer.  Dave went to Yukon Honda at closing time to check on his alternator and as luck would have it, it didn't arrive.  

Friday morning we went back to see if the alternator arrived on the morning truck.  Oh our lucky day, it was there!  Dave had it installed by 11:30 and we were on our way.   We saw lots of buffalo (40-50), some black bear, and 1 moose.  One herd of buffalo was settling down for the night on both sides of the road.  There was one who couldn't decide which side he wanted to be on so he just stood there in the middle of the road.  We just politely eased on by and resisted the urge to play "slap the bull"!  We arrived at our motel in Toad River at about 9pm.  miles today = 477.

Alaska Day 25 and 26

Tuesday morning Don and I went back to the Honda dealer because I wanted to pick up some new brake pads for the rear of my bike as they were thin when I changed the tire and they bugged me over night. Luckily they had them in stock! While I was inside, Don met a member of the local GWRRA chapter and he told us they were having a meeting that evening and invited us to join them. The day was spend doing maintenance on the bikes, brake pads and oil changes. Later we went to the chapter meeting and had a great time meeting new friend and sharing stories from the road. We asked if they had any chapter pins they didn't, but they told us they would bring to by our hotel Wednesday. They did and we really appreciated it. The pins will be prized additions to our vests.

Wednesday we took the time to rewire John's trailer. The wire harness on his trailer was a mess with many shorts. We thought it would make the job easier to tip the trailer up on its rear bumper to give us full access to the frame and wiring. As we were tipping it the front of the trailer body moved away from the frame. Surprise! The nuts had shaken loose from the front bolts and one of the rear bolts was loose. So we decided to just remove the body for the rewiring then reinstall with new complete hardware. All went well and John's trailer is whole and fully functional for the rest of the trip. Dave's new alternator will arrive tomorrow and we should be on our way again either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning.

Alaska Day 24

Wow! what a day. With three battery changes to Pelly Crossing, where we spent the night, we woke about 5:00am with expectation of a few more changes to cover the next 186 miles to Whitehorse. We departed Pelly at 6:00am and the quest was on. Dave and I are thinking about applying for a job as part of the Penske racing pit crew. The four more battery changes went flawlessly. We roled into Whitehorse and Yukon Honda about 10:30am. Then the real fun began. Bruce tore his bike down to get his tire off to have it changed while Dave started the process to remove the alternater. I watched for a while as I just found out a new tire was $368. We couldn't get the alternator off so we waited for the honda mechanic to return. While waiting I decided to put an auto tire on the rear like Dave was doing at $180. Bruce had his new tire on by then and Dave and I were finishing up. The mechanic showed us an easy way to remove that third bolt in the alternator by doing it himself (free). Bruce tested the alternator it was bad but the brushes were grest. Dave made his order we went to the motel to check in. The Honda shop allowed us to work on our bikes in their lot. How's that for hospitality. It was a great day with all challenges met and put to bed.

Alaska Day 23

While waiting on our laundry to finish in Tok, we took some time to check over the bikes. Much to my surprise my new rear tire, that I just put on for the trip, was nearly worn out, its a good thing I brought another tire with me. Don's is also nearly shot so we are planning on swapping them out in Whitehorse, Yukon. Today we went though Chicken, Ak which is an old, small gold mining town and continued to Whitehorse by way of the Top of the World highway. This highway was nearly all gravel and quite rough for about 75 miles. We were all happy to put it behind us. Sometime after Dawson City, Dave's alternator died so we began swapping batteries to keep everyone moving toward Whitehorse. We stopped for the night about 200 miles from Whitehorse in Pelly Crossing, Yukon. Its a typical small town, the only motel and gas station had closed 15 minutes before we arrived but luckily we were able to get the owner to reopen so we could gas up and get a room for the night. Tomorrow we will continue the battery swaps on the way to Whitehorse were the only Honda dealer in the Yukon territory resides. today miles = 347 long miles.

Alaska Day 22

This morning started out with a trip to Hog Brother's for breakfast. But much like the infamous 'closed restaurant ride' Hog Brother's was closed and gone a new business in the location. So we pressed on and found another restaurant that looked good. When we turned onto the side street much to our surprise there were drivers beeping there horns and waving at us. We quickly realized they weren't being friendly, we were going the wrong way on a one way street. Oops! That's what happens when you stay away from city streets long enough. We got straightened out and had a good breakfast after which we hightailed it out of town, we had enough of the big city of Anchorage. The rest of the day was uneventful, we just enjoyed the road and the scenery on the way to Tok, AK. Total miles for the day = 334.