A long, long, long, ride

I am planing a Ride to Alaska either next summer or the one after that.

I am going to leave from Sturgis in about mid August head out to the west coast and up the coast through Canada and into Alaska, a good scenic ride through Alaska.....then back through Canada, to around the Great lakes and then back down to my Daughters House in Virigina.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice about the best routes, the weather in Canada and Alaska in August and September, any must see places, etc? How should you dress, anything we should bring, stuff like that.

I also wanted to add I am going on a Harley, so I need to stay within about 50-60 miles of a gas station

[edit on 18-4-2006 by Amuk]

Obviously youre going on a Harley and thats a good choice (apart from the fact they fire every second lamp post)

a word of advice, i once rode to Belguim from the UK on a Ducati 748 race rep with my pals. They neglected to tell me that they had hired Honda Africa Twins (leaving their race reps at home) and after 2 hrs of high speed motorway riding (hunched in the racing jockey position) i was begging someone to swap their tourer with me.....granted i looked super cool on my italian steed but i couldnt walk upright for 2 days after arriving+ it kept popping wheelies real easy with the weight in the panniers, causing extreme amusement to my pals when overtaking at low speeds in towns.

in point, make sure your choice of ride is comfortable!!!

Definatley take a spare (fully charged!) mobile phone, emergency tyre inflating kit, some high energy caffeine and energy foods/drinks. a hand held sat nav is an expensive but brilliant investment.

Personally for me, i never ride without full racing leathers with body armour and knee protectors. A pal of mine fell off on a grass verge at low speed, slid on his knees and hit a hidden man hole cover, this removed both his knee caps excellentley well!....a full face helmet is a must. Even though it gets hot and sticky, you goto look after no1.......a leather jacket with bib n braces is the only safe alternative for hot weather+ i never ride without my Alpine star Carbon fibre boots, ive put loads of thos through intense crash testing when i used to race and they take some awesome punishment and keep your tootsies safe......dont forget some decent gloves and always where them.....first thing to hit the deck in a get off is your hands (usually...unless your doing a 'high side'...which is highly unlikley on a harley..lol)

Cant stress the point enough about protection when on long rides......complacency sets in after a few hours of cruising and even a low speed mistake can be a hospital job.

As far as routes go dude, i have no freaking idea as im in portugal, lol.

Sounds like an awesome trip and im jealous!!

Take care and post some pics for us all.

Regards.


p.s. Lol.....i kept blasting off up the motorways leaving my pals for dust, only to have to pull into gas stations 3 more times than they did to re fuel, with them flicking me the bird as they sailed past.....after spending the first day in Belgium completley knackered and huched over they were all making jokes about how italians must only use their ducattis to go to the shops on, lol...good times.




[edit on 19-4-2006 by optimus fett]

[edit on 19-4-2006 by optimus fett]