Thanks Kevin... definitely will check out your ride report. Yes, planning on some heated liners as I seem to be on the cold blooded side. Also considering upgrading the suspension. And yes bear spray if I'm camping. Funny thing growing up there we never worried about spray... but we did have guns so there's that!

 

I saw very little harleys up there. Few crotch rockets actually, which seems like a sore back. An adventure bike would be nice on Haul road, but you got 4k miles of pavement to get there.

Actually my times in Canada, I have seen little harleys actually. The gravel is hard packed gravel. Only issues I had were haul road, where I did see a harley. I did not go to top of the world, I suspect that would have been same.

 

On my Alaska run I did about 3000 miles in the north… And here’s my experience…

… As you would know There are two seasons in the north… Winter and construction… And the construction zones are incredibly long with the lots of traffic in them… You do not want to be tail and Charlie in one of the pilot car zones…

… If you come up to one, and the traffic is stopped… Keep on going up to the front of the line… The construction zone people will encourage it so that you stay out of the dust…

… If you come up to a pilot car zone and the traffic is moving, stop at the flagger and wait until the pilot car comes back to fetch you… It’s the smart move…

… And make sure you wear a scarf over your mouth and nose to keep the dust out…

 

Some of the hardest days for us to get going were the nights we spent in the motels with the Canadian work crews! We did not find the dust as bad as you make it sound, but we moved up when they were stopped and talked to the crew. We also had a fair amount of rain, so cleaning mud off was more of an issue than dust.

Here I am with one of Canada’s finest road crew!

 

Never been to Alaska, but ride all over the southwest and have for over 30 years. I ride to my kid's place in Idaho from So Cal several times year. So, suspension, yes yes and yes. I had Progressive 944's on my E-glide and they were way better that the air system that bike had, but like anything probable was. I put Ohlins 776's on my 17 Road King Special and wow what a difference. Way more confidence inspiring and comfortable, no joke.

As for tip over guard lights, after a few near misses out on lonely desert roads and some foggy mountain mornings, I put Custom Dynamics fog lights on. Also, huge difference. I have attached pictures that really don't do justice to how much more visible I am with them. I try very hard to not ride at night but I also added Custom Dynamics Adaptive Pro Beam headlight, dual color turn signals, LED rear tripple light and the control modual that makes them flash a few times when I hit the brakes.

On the gear, I think everyone has said it: layers, water resistant jacket and pants, heated gear (I just use heated glove liners), motorcycle protective Gore Tex boots.
I got a set of Aerostitch waterproof glove covers many years ago and they are the bees knees. They fold up tiny, actually are waterproof and really help block the wind when it is cold. I won't travel without a puncture repair kit and compressor and a jump box. I've been SO glad to have those when I needed them.

For my safety and peace of mind for my love ones, I also travel with a SPOT emergency locator/communicator. I have the base model, cost like $100 and it's $12 a month when it is active. Seen phones lost and destroyed on bar mounts and if you have no cell, Google maps is not your friend. I use a Tom Tom Rider 550 dedicated GPS. It's great because it gives updates on road conditions up ahead, like construction and accidents.

Anywho, I could go on and on 'cause I love motocycle touring but I'll leave it at this. Hope your trip is a safe and successful one!!!

 

You never seen anything like this, I suspect. The hard part, is smooth, and then giant frost heave. When i went Canada had decent warnings, US didn't. Like giant speed bumps.

 

I hit one so hard, my BIL behind me thought I’d crashed. It was filled with water, with puddles everywhere, so no idea how deep and big this hole was. I made it, but it hurt me. Tires, wheels were fine. Just lucky. The rest we could see…usually.

 

I went through one just like that about an hour south of Toq… I don’t know how I didn’t go down because I launched right off the seat… Unmarked…

 

Damn, they haven’t fixed that yet. Probably the same one I hit. I dropped into it, water came up so high as I bounced up off the seat, my BIL thought I’d left the bike. But I held on

 

Good info there and practical advice... thanks!