alfalfa

We did hear a lot of whining from the guy. He had never done a trip that long, and that wasnt the best first bike for a trip of 10,000 miles. He was going to ride it all the way back to Ohio, after Alaska. ? We named that trip the "KTM Enema Relay". You can probably guess why...

Standby for next year ? Yep, that is the Anchorage airport. Last time i was ever there.

he also does the BDR movies, doesnt he? Maybe i will throw up some pics from our 2013 trip all the way down to Guatemala. Beautiful and fun country. (all paved, tho)

Oh, from my house to my brothers was longer than the 1100 miles you referenced. its a bit of a large country.

If you look at the map, the distance from Fairbanks to Prudhoe and back is 1000 miles!! ? The 4th guy in our group was someone from Ohio that was buying my brother's KTM 640. He decided he would go to AK with us, not understanding the mileages involved!. We were in a restaurant somewhere and i was showing that the distance we had traveled was about 1/3 to 1/4 the total distance JUST to Alaska. He almost turned around right there ?

This was our route north

The trip back was just me and my brother. The other two guys flew out of Anchorage. Our last day riding we left Edmonton, Alberta and rode straight thru back to Missoula. Probably about 630 miles.

We took 3 weeks to do it. I rode from Los Angeles to Missoula, MT where we all met up. So, a week to get to Fairbanks, then a week in Alaska, and then the 3rd week to get back to MT. We didnt have any flats. I did need a new tire in Whitehorse (you forget that just getting to Alaska can wear out a tire!). My brother's KTM acted up coming back down the Alcan, after he dropped it in the wood turning around. Something about the canister filling up with gas, causing it to not want to run. Heading south from Prudhoe, my bike started dying, then running. It was pouring rain for the section from Deadhorse to Atigun. At the top of Atigun Pass, it just quit. I was carrying an extra gallon of gas and put that in. Bike started and ran the whole rest of the time. The weird part is that i used one tank getting from Coldfoot to Prudhoe (about 255 miles), and more than one heading south. Might have been fighting thru the rain and mud and running at higher rpms on the southbound leg. Kind of exciting to break down where you arent anywhere near civilization, or cell coverage (only in Prudhoe)

It was probably over 7000 miles. I ended up flying home from Montana as i had ridden Jim's bike from AK. He flew out of Anchorage, since he didnt have enough vacation to ride back. My plan was to go back to Ak later that year and ride my own bike back. True to form, once i've ridden/driven the Alaska Highway, it takes me about 2-3 years to want to do it again :). I have family in Anchorage so it was pretty easy to leave my KTM there and then have it shipped later.

Too f'n lazy to write, so will just post up a bunch of pics from a great trip 11 years ago. (we have tentative plans to go again in 2021, if the world is still here...) starting off with an epic one from the one and only @jbean. this guy here (just had his nails done and didnt want to mess up the polish)

i had just got used to the quiet in the office and the lack of traffic. now, all them scared nannies are back ?

Brad Paisley? ?

Too damned easy ?

we get hurt on the easy stuff. you know, when you arent paying attention. This time we were really focused as the road bent to the right, just at the bottom of the snow. If you went left, it was a good 1000 feet or more before you would stop rolling!

Had our fill last time...

dang, man! it is June! we are supposed to / maybe heading that way in mid-July. Be sure to get them passes open ?

It sounds cliche, but if he was a friend of yours then it stands to reason he was a great guy! When you get a chance, post up some of your stories about him. Especially the Tail of the Dragon one! ?

Hey, Frijole!!! Welcome. Watch out for all these foreigners....