15 & 16 June

There's something to be learned from my experience so I'm going to continue the blog for a bit more.

Saturday we determined that the motor was broken beyond repair in the near time frame. I flew out of Edmonton at the crack of dawn on Sunday. We all know what a huge PITA it is to fly these days so I won't go into too many details except for the out of the ordinary. First, I was on a motorcycle trip and thus was packed to carry stuff in lots of small bags and wearing a full riding suit and helmet. In order to get all that stuff into the fewest number of bags I ended up wearing the riding boots and carrying the Roadcrafter suit. I threw away my tank bag and anything that I could call worn out or expendable. That got the load down to three small bags so I put the GPS, computer, camera, and medication in a bag that I could carry on. The other two bags I checked and somehow was not charged by the airline. It was awkward carrying that suite around but the flight crew let me put it in the overhead so all was well. Funny, none of the passengers wanted to sit near this guy wearing huge boots and carrying a space suit. Go figure.

Monday I started to learn how difficult it is to ship a bike from Canada to the US. The carriers I would normally call don't ship to Canada. Federal...NO, Allied...NO; Daily Direct...NO, Fwd Air...get the bike to Toronto or NO, J. C. Motors...yes, $1212; still waiting for a quote from N. G. Jensen. If you are shipping within the US it looks like Daily Direct is the one to call first (888-285-2453). At the same time I have told the folks in Edmonton that I'm prepared to make a great deal on a Multistrada if they want to buy it as is. Mark called to let me know they were in Whitehorse, staying in a very nice hotel. He had just come from the brewery so maybe that's why he was in such a good mood.

Tuesday, more phone calls to get a better quote for shipping. Waiting for the word from N. G. Jensen. Mark made it to Fairbanks last night (600+ miles) including some gravel which he and David did not like at all. Today they will get new tires mounted, do some sightseeing, and maybe take a bit of a rest. I think we'll keep the blog going so he has a record of the entire trip. After all, it's his trip as well as mine. We can add photos once he gets back and thus have a good record of the whole adventure.

13 Jun

Well sports fans, after weighing all the options I decided to ride to Edmonton with the bike so I could make a value judgement while talking to the folks who had the best chance to fix the bike...if the problem is simple. If a quick fix was possible I could then get back on the road and try to catch up with Mark and David. If not, head home via air since buying here is prohibitive and renting is totally out of the question. It took 5 hours of steady driving to get to Edmonton and we made it just 30 minutes prior to closing. The head Ducati mechanic immediately took a quick look, listened to the engine and agreed that there was a problem. When he pulled the plugs prior to taking the cam covers off to look at the cam gears, etc, he saw that the verticle cylinder belt was balled up. It looks like the cam froze due to lack of oil and stripped the belt. The horizontal cylider is probably just about to do the same thing. This could easily mean two complete heads so I plan to ship the bike home ASAP and tear the motor down to see what is salvagable. There is no sense in talking about fixing it here because this is such an unusual problem that nobody in Canada would have the two complete heads and there might be more damage, such as the crank. In other words, the motor is toast!
I fly home tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Now is when I see how much crap I really have. The Roadcrafter suit is so big I can't very well stuff it in a bag so I will probably have to wear it through the airport. This will be very interesting! Ah, travel, nothing like it to broaden your views. Now for a cold beer!

11& 12 June

I'm having to backtrack for the blog....our internet connection was totally lame when in Shelby. Enough for the excuses. On the 11th we got up and were on the road at a good time. Although David and I wanted to blow off going to Glacier .



We went as far into Glacier as allowed, 13 miles, then retraced our tracks and headed north to Canada. The boarder crossing was painless. We had a killer breakfast and headed north to the Cowboy Trail. This runs parallel to the mountains and is a nice change from what is otherwise the flattest terrain I have seen since the deserts of western USA. The trail took us north. I had been concerned about my rear tire as it was wearing much more quickly than I liked, The plan was to get new tires in Fairbanks but that was a good 2000 miles away and I was already down to the wear marks on the tire.


We figured that the only solution was to go into Calgary for a new tire but that was backtracking. As we rolled through a small village we saw a shop that seemed to deal with motorsports. As luck would have it he had three new tires in stock...all the exact size I needed. I pulled the wheel off the bike.


$200 later I had a new tire on the bike.
Don't let anyone tell you that motorcycling is cheap. The old tire only had 3500 miles on it. At least we will be able to make it to Fairbanks with this rubber. We moved on to the Icefields Parkway. This turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. No kidding, this makes the grand canyon look less grand.



I was amazed that earlier I had been stripping clothes off as it got hotter and now I find myself shuddering in the chill of the glaciers. We had about 80 miles of breathtaking scenery, so much that it gets to be old hat.


We finally rolled into Jasper, exhausted after 12 hours in the saddle. Man, that first beer tasted as good as the very best I have heaver sipped. Magnificant. We also met Eric, from South Dakota, who is going solo to Alaska. He is trying to make 850 miles per day but finding it to be really tough. He was exhausted and we could understand having busted ass to do 500 miles in a day with the tire situation.




Today (12th) we got up at 6:00, left at 0730 with the plan to really crank out the miles to Dawson Creek. We did the normal 100 miles before breakfast through some truly desolute forests. We saw moose, antelope, deer, and black bear but almost no people. This was 132 miles between gas stations. After breakfast we continued on to highway 40, the Bighorn Highway. This is probably the best motorcycle highway in the continent. No kidding, We rolled along at 120 kph watching out for animals and saw moose, deer, black bears, antelope, and fox. Some of these were actually in the roadway....that's MR MOOSE to you. Oh well, we were making great time. That's until I was rolling long just after passing a construction zone and suddenly my engine made a horrible sound and then quit. I rolled to the side of the road and got the engine to start but it was running like shit while making really bad mechanical noises. Remember that oil light that has been on for the past 1000 miles? Well, the next few hours were filled with wreckers, motorcycle dealers, and lots of alcohol. At least this happened 25 miles from the largest town between here and Fairbanks. Earlier or later could have been so much worse. We even found the perfect motel....50 yards from a bar with decent food, 50 yards from a liquor store, next door to a restaurant serving breakfast, free wireless internet access, and CHEAP.

It's pretty neat when we can laugh at the disaster of today. And this was before we had any drinks!!!



Now we are faced with some options which range from bad to horrible. The nearest dealer is 5 hours away and even if I get the bike there the chances of a quick fix are less than slim. I suspect some serious damage to the engine. At first I thought that this would be a great excuse to get a new bike. Now I find that motorcycles in Canada sell for at least 25% more than the same bike in the USA. Go figure. That means that the Honda that goes for 13K in the US is 20K here. Oh, and the exchange rate is 1:1.01 so it is basically 20K for 20K. Sad. We looked at a few options and after factoring in the airfare home, airfare to Fairbanks, shipping costs, repair costs, and cost of repair it is starting to look like the best bet is to buy a used bike in Grande Praire, ride it to Alaska and home, get the Ducati fixed, try to sell it in Canada, or ship it home. Right now that is the plan. Hell, I'm so close to Alaska and this chance may never be in my lap again. It's only money and I can't take it with me. BTW, shipping the bike to the dealer will cost $1300. Everything costs more here. At least the beer is cold.
It's now 9:45 and the sun is still so bright that it is like mid day. This whole trip is an adventure. We are enjoying every bit of the trip, good and bad. Just think of the tales we will be able to tell our grandchildren. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Fuck it, Drive on.

10 June 09

This morning we got up at 0600 fully expecting to hear the sound of rain. After all, we have had rain every day so far so why not today. Imagine the joy at seeing a hint of blue sky. On the other hand we did have frost on the bikes so it was below freezing. No problem for these intrepid travelers, we simply plugged in the electric gear and rode off onto US2 headed west. We quickly found ourselves in Montana and did our normal 100 miles before breakfast. By that time I was more than ready for a hot cup of coffee and a break from the chill of 70 mph when it's below 40F. We ate at a small cafe where the other patrons were local and much older. Imagine what they thought when thee guys came in dressed like space men. It did not take long for most of them to find a way to say Hi and find our what we were doing. The couple at the next table strongly recommended a side trip to the Fort Peck Dam.


Our planned destination was Shelby, MT, 380 miles away, so we had time for a short side trip. Off we went to Fort Peck and I can say that it was well worth the extra 30 miles. The Dam was built in the early 30's as a method of controlling flooding on the Missouri River. The final product is the largest earthen dam of its type in the world. We watched a Corps of Engineers movie all about the construction and now I feel like a walking history book. This was really neat. The center also had lots of information and displays concerning the prehistoric animals that lived in the area long ago. Once again, pretty neat stuff.

Mark, the vet, just had to see what I would be like with horns:




Back on US 2 we blasted west. This part of 2 is two lane with very little in the way of trees or brush so you get to see the huge vista of the great plains.


The speed limit is 70 and we tried to stay within a few miles of that....well, less than 90 most of the time. In short, we were rockin' and rollin' across the state. The miles rolled under our tires and we started to see mountains in the distance. About that time (just after Mark and David passed some large trucks but I did not) my oil pressure light came on. That's the red one in the middle of the dash that is telling you STOP RIGHT NOW OR YOU WILL DIE. I pulled over. Nothing wrong that I could see. There is oil in the engine, it runs fine, no funny noises. I had cell coverage so I called Dave Lillard in Yorktown for a conference. He is convinced I have one or more bad sensors and that I can ignore the light. Mark and David showed up, listened to the discussion, put duck tape over the warning light, and agreed that we were ready to go. That's easy to say when you are not riding the bike. Well, the next town was nearby so we got gas there and took another look. All OK. The town after that was 100 miles away so off we went, but now at a moderate pace of 70mph. Within 30 minutes I was cresting a hill and saw a car approaching....the car was a cop....he flashed his lights for about 2 seconds....either to say 'neat bike' or more likely to say 'slow down' which I did. I was only going 74. Not long after that we saw two antelope by the road, one actually in the roadway. Now we had lots to think about. At the next town (Shelby) we found that the road through Galcier National Park is still closed due to snow so we had to adjust our plans. We finally ended up near St. Mary and are now in a rustic lodge at the end of a dirt road.


We were the only guests there. Some locals showed up for drinks and heard stories about the fights they have every weekend. The lesson here is 'don't mess with the locals'.

Quaint is the vest description I can think of. Now, after a few beers and dinner I feel much better. This might be our best day so far, maybe because it is the first with no rain. We covered 528 miles today.

Mark here - thought I'd trying blogging for the first time in my life (from somewhere on a Blackfeet Indian Reservation.) Today was undoubtedly the best riding day thus far - NO RAIN. (Minnesota was nothing but rain - the "land of 10,000 lakes" now has enough rain to make it 10,001.) Brought out my sunglasses and dialed the Yamaha on. Actually, found out it tops out at 140 MPH in top gear (at 8400 rpm; redline is 9,000 rpm.) Will need to tune it up so I can run faster. The Yamahas get about 40-41 mpg at 80 MPH, the Ducati about 38 mpg. I expect a congratulatory letter from Obama for not taking the police car (7 mpg) on this trip. We're putting in about 10 hours on the road, which is about enough. The cold Budweiser at the end of the day is the "carrot" that keeps us going. We heard that it the daytime temps in Canada and Alaska is in the 70s - about 30 degrees warmer than Wisconsin and Minnesota. Yeah! We cross into Canada tomorrow morning - will need to buy some Canadian money at a bank. The trip is going well thus far -good traveling companions. Talk to you blog readers tomorrow.

9 jun 09

The geographic center of North America is in Rugby ND, right on our route of travel. It's about 50 miles south of the boarder with Canada. Think about it, half of the continent is north of this spot so there is a whole lot of land above the boarder. That helps explain why we are not quite at the half way point for our trip even though I have gone 2240 miles so far.
We met Art in a convenience store. He's a farmer in North Dakota and explained that although their soil is really rich it's not that deep, only about 6 inches. East of here the soil is much deeper. The local crops had been wheat and barley. Now they are planting corn but the seasons have been tough to predict. This year has been much colder than normal. We also talked about motorcycles (Art had an Indian and a Harley) and old cars.
Along US2 we came upon the Big Fish Inn and had to take a photo. Take a look at those teeth!
When we started today the temp was only 38F and it was really foggy. We thought that the fog would break up as the sun came out, which never happened. In fact, we has a light sprinkle and the sun stayed beyond the clouds all day. The high for the day was only 52F.
It's worth mentioning geography now. We have been on US2 across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. In Michigan this was a 55 mph two lane through swampy forests with very few towns along the way. In Wisconsin the speed was the same and the only change was a few more towns. By the time we got into Minnesota the forests had much larger trees, the speed went to 65mph, and the roads had fewer curves. In North Dakota the road was mainly 4 lanes divided (like the interstate) and the speed limit was 70. Today we made good time and covered 525 miles mostly at 80mph.
We ended up in Willistown ND and got what appears to be the last room to be had in the entire town. It turns out that the Miss North Dakota competition is happening now. Oh well, we are dry, had dinner and a couple beers so life is good. Tomorrow we hope to get across Montana and maybe up into Canada. In a few minutes we will check to see if the passes are open in Glacier National Park.

7 & 8 June

In the interest of full disclosure this entry is being done after indulging in a birthday celebration which included some free beers, a few shots, and a little food. You have been warned.

So, we left Merissa's house on the 7th at the crack of dawn or thereabouts. Make that 7:15AM. Not bad for a 6am plan. The day started out with partly cloudy skies and 65F temp. As we rode north on US23 we noticed that the clouds got darker but did not think much of that. Around 1300 the temperature suddenly dropped and the wind picked up. Then is started to rain. Soon it was 50F in the rain. We thought that this would blow over and the sun would come out. Not so. By the time we got to the Mackinoc bridge the wind was about 25kts and was blowing us almost all the way across the lane of traffic with each gust. We got to the north side and took some pictures while we calmed down. At that point we picked up US2 which we plan to take all the way to our entry into Canada. Now we were in the part of the world known as the Upper Peninsula. That is shortened to UP for those in the know. Anyway, we rode across the UP to Escanaba and along the way noted the large number of motels that had closed (gone out of business). I suspect that is the combination of high gas prices in '08 combined with the credit problems of '09. At any rate, it looks like the tourist related businesses in the UP have taken a huge hit. We finally got to Escanaba around 1800 and were both tired and cold. Our motel was within walking distance of a nice bar and restaurant where we relaxed in style. At least the motel had queen sized beds, a refrigerator, and lots of towels. That latter came in handy as we tried to dry all our stuff. Oh, I almost forgot, I left my journal at Marissa's house so I lost all accounting of our mileage. We think we rode about 500 miles on the 7th.
Getting up on the 8th (my birthday) I could not help but notice that it was RAINING. Oh well, we will not melt. We got on the road and headed for Duluth. If you look at the map of the UP you will find that there aren't many roads. That's because there aren't many people...or gas stations. We seemed to ride forever and longer through total wilderness. I'd like to say that the scenery was beautiful but the truth is that it was raining and all I saw was enough road to keep from hitting a deer or one of my buddies. Believe me, it was raining cats and dogs. As we rode through one small town I saw that the bank thermometer was reading 40F. No wonder I was cold. That was the story for the entire day. The only thing that changed was how much rain we had. I can now say that my boots are not waterproof. Close, but not perfect. My 'waterproof' electric gloves soak up water like sponges. They are still warm but get heavier as the day goes along. With my electric liner and gloves it was like riding in an electric cocoon. I was warm unless I got off the bike and unplugged from the battery. Life was good but totally plugged in. It must be like having a sugar daddy.
One of our goals for the trip was a stop in at Aerostich in Duluth. For those who do not ride, Aerostich makes what I consider the be the best riding gear in the world. Anyway, after about 1500 miles of serious riding you are ready to correct any problems that have cropped up. We walked into the showroom with a mental list of stuff we had to have. We had the place to ourselves since the weather was so horrible that nobody else would venture out. Oh, I wish you could have seen us crossing the bridge from SuWI to Duluth MN. The wind was about 35kts and it was raining like hell. I can remember crossing lanes in gusts. Scary does not begin to describe the event. Anyway, the folks at Aerostich were fantastic. I did some serious retail theapy and now feel confident that I can deal with any weather. Hell, at this point we already laugh at the weather!
We left Duluth and headed west at top speed. When we finally got to Great Falls we decided to quit for the day. Luckily we found a good motel located across the street from a bar. That take us back to the opening paragraph.
To date I have ridden 1712 miles on my walkabout.

Peter Y.

Day 3, 6 June

We could hardly sleep so it was easy to get on the road at 0800. Since we were going only a short way we stopped in at the American Motorcycle Assn. museum for a visit. The current bikes are themed on stars of screen and music. Although they are popular I did not have much of a clue about most of the owners. The bikes were neat so it was not totally lost on me. We then rode to Mark's niece (Melissa) and Troy's house. They have the ultimate man cave without any of the rough edges. We found time to plink with some Glock 40s, an AR15 and shotgun. What a great way to spend time on a bike ride. Melissa is a Sheriff's deputy, as is Troy so they can entertain with cop stories. He is a K9 cop and that's even more fun.

We only rode 90 miles today. Tomorrow we plan to go to Mackinaw MI, 385 miles.