I just came back from a 15k mile trip on my '14 FLHTK (CO>FL>ME>AK>CO) and I can't say enough good things about the Ohlins that Howard put together for me.

I bought these shocks 3 years ago for my '10 Ultra Limited and have had Howard rebuild them every winter, riding about 30k per season - yes, I'm retired <grin> This year, I traded in my '10 before I'd sent the shocks out for rebuild, so I had about 5k miles on the OEMs to Daytona Bike Week and back before replacing them with the rebuilds.

The picture above was taken in a 100 mile stretch of what seemed to be damn near continuous incredible frost heave damage between Destruction Bay, YT and the Beaver Creek border crossing into Alaska, and I have to say the ride on that stretch with the Ohlins was more comfortable than the ride across Louisiana on I-10 heading to Florida on the OEMs!

Thank you, Howard!

As a side note, while I was taking that picture I saw an RV come barreling down the road way, way too fast for that pothole so I'm waving to slow the guy down. He obviously didn't get what I was trying to tell him as he passed me waving and grinning ear to ear. Well, if you can do a tank-slapper in an RV, he did it <LOL> Got to the other side and stopped for 5 minutes before moving on. I'm thinking he was cleaning his shorts....

 

"(CO>FL>ME>AK>CO)"

Colorado to Florida to Maine to Alaska and back to Colorado? Wow, what a trip! would love to see the route you took. I am looking forward to the days where I can just leave the house and ride on......but that whole J O B thing keeps it to a minimum.

I have been considering a new seat due to some back issues that slow me down every couple of months, I may have to consider some suspension work.

Thanks for the post!

 

You have them rebuilt every year? how much does that cost?

Welcome back btw... that's a trip I'm looking to do once I retire.

lp

 

Damn that's a long *** haul....

 

Destruction Bay to the border is a rough piece of road. Every year it's bad. Some of the cracks run parallel to the line of travel and get wide and deep. Frost heaves, potholes, cracks, gravel...gotta go slow and careful.

That said, the Alcan is a magnificent ride and a bucket list item!

 

Here's the original thread with both the route as planned and the SPOT track as ridden:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/new-r...or-a-spin.html

I've got titanium inserts in my lower back so I'm also very particular about suspension components and seats. I'm incredibly happy with the Ohlins as Howard has them set up for me, and this is the first stock seat that I've kept - H-D hit a home run on the seat, as far as I'm concerned.

 

I traded my '10 in with 107k miles on the odo, so the Ohlins get a work-out every year. Cost has always depended on how much I've abused them in a particular season. Usually runs about 1/3 the cost of new.

 

It was those damn cracks running ALMOST parallel that were a b!tch - if your front wheel dropped in, they'd try to rip the bars out of your hands as the wheel got cranked to one side or the other when you tried to exit the canyon...

But you're right - everybody needs to ride the Alaska Highway at least once!

 

Thanks for the e-Mail you sent me a few months ago. With this link I was able to follow you than I would go into Google Earth and zoom down to ground level and much of the route you can just follow the road and see the scenery and buildings. I did that many times. Thanks for all. Kind of sorry you did not call when you were down here the second time. Thanks for stopping up at Daytona and meeting me at the track that one day. Great adventure and thanks for sharing it with me.