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Vacation time

That's a bit chilly, I trust you have countermeasures in place. Safe trip and please keep up abreast if you can:thumbup:
 
I don't mind the cold, though it can become bothersome after many hours. If it's really cold with rain, then I'm screwed!

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We did a similar trip out west (sans the Alaska part) in 2008 with our 5th wheel. Since you're in Wawa I assume you're going across Canada for the trip out - coming back through the states?

Looking forward to pictures - I'm sure we'll recognize many of them. :)
 
I don't mind the cold, though it can become bothersome after many hours. If it's really cold with rain, then I'm screwed!

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What are your thoughts on sitting out a wet day in a dry motel? I know that kind of kills the momentum but (and I hate to bring this up) it could save your life. We use that to justify not going to work on snow days. Could work on vaca as well.
 
I'll ride the Dalton, the Haul Road, to the Arctic Circle. Not interested in Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay, there is simply nothing there but a two hundred dollar motel room.

True about Deadhorse, it's solely for bragging rights.

Then again, so is the Arctic Circle. I'd consider going a bit further through Atigun Pass, over the North Slope. *THAT* is spectacular scenery and is the highlight of the Haul Road. It's about 200kms north of the Arctic Circle sign.

If you're tired, there's a campground at Galbraith Lake 50kms north of Atigun Pass. No fear of running out of daylight when you're up there around this time of year though.

If you are going to head up that way, bring an extra gas tank. No gas station north of Coldfoot, so Galbraith and back is 500 kms.

Have fun!
 
You sure picked a chilly day to start. I took a look at our sheduled first day at Rouyn-Noranda and it was 3 with snow flurries today ...hopefull warms up in 2 weeks. 8 is about my tolerance limit for distance.

This is invaluable for large scale weather and you look like clear sailing for a while anyways tho windy tho might hit rain at winterpeg...
http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

You are riding into pretty serious heat.

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/mb-38_metric_e.html
Nothing serious. Have fun. K60s are great.

You gotta incoude Valdez and the Lulubelle as long as weather is good. Highlight of our Alaska trip.

https://500px.com/macdoc/galleries/baltic-cruise-7
 
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Since you're in Wawa I assume you're going across Canada for the trip out - coming back through the states?

Yes, that's what I've planned, home through the USA.

What are your thoughts on sitting out a wet day in a dry motel? I know that kind of kills the momentum but (and I hate to bring this up) it could save your life. We use that to justify not going to work on snow days. Could work on vaca as well.
That's always an option. But it'll have to be a monsoon.

Day 2, Wednesday June 8. Wawa to Dryden. Very cold, 2°, early in the morning, I was fully bundled up. 9° at lunch time, a very comfortable 18° at the end of the day. Bright, sunny skies all day. The ride from Marathon to Thunder Bay along the north shore of Superior very scenic. I missed the exit for the Terry Fox memorial, so no photos. Shame on me. Crossing into the central time zone gave an extra hour of riding. Critter count: two moose, two deer, and one wolf enjoying a tasty meal at the side of the road. 818km.

It'll be frosty tonight, so I'm staying at the roach motel rather than tenting. I've a a couple of beers and a Pizza Hut across the street. Perfect.

Hoping to burn across Manitoba tomorrow.

cd2251b30825265c4cd38581f7cd416a.jpg


f7d6842775fde0f175e45712cd785d12.jpg

Aguasabon Gorge

ce27adf960114ee72bf7d371c3fba7be.jpg

An unwilling and unfortunate passenger.

ec8d27c143ba738256fcbadceae9fdf6.jpg

Ignace, Ontario

600b4852fb5adcce4c940c4130809147.jpg

Top notch accommodations! ��

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True about Deadhorse, it's solely for bragging rights.

Then again, so is the Arctic Circle. I'd consider going a bit further through Atigun Pass, over the North Slope. *THAT* is spectacular scenery and is the highlight of the Haul Road. It's about 200kms north of the Arctic Circle sign.

If you're tired, there's a campground at Galbraith Lake 50kms north of Atigun Pass. No fear of running out of daylight when you're up there around this time of year though.

If you are going to head up that way, bring an extra gas tank. No gas station north of Coldfoot, so Galbraith and back is 500 kms.

Have fun!

Good advice, thanks Gene. I am not carrying fuel; range is about 350km, 400 tops. I will ride accordingly.


You sure picked a chilly day to start. I took a look at our sheduled first day at Rouyn-Noranda and it was 3 with snow flurries today ...hopefull warms up in 2 weeks. 8 is about my tolerance limit for distance.

This is invaluable for large scale weather and you look like clear sailing for a while anyways tho windy tho might hit rain at winterpeg...
http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php

You are riding into pretty serious heat.

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/mb-38_metric_e.html
Nothing serious. Have fun. K60s are great.

You gotta incoude Valdez and the Lulubelle as long as weather is good. Highlight of our Alaska trip.

https://500px.com/macdoc/galleries/baltic-cruise-7
We can always count on the weather geek. Thanks Mac. ?

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FYI, I had the heated grips burning all day. They are invaluable and most welcome. Mine are the latest version from Oxford. However, I find the grips themselves are very hard, not the least bit supple, and become somewhat uncomfortable after a long day.

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Good advice, thanks Gene. I am not carrying fuel; range is about 350km, 400 tops. I will ride accordingly.

You shouldn't have any problems - we had a similar range before I started looking for diesel when we traveled out there (I could stretch it to maybe 500K when towing if absolutely needed, but I'd typically fill up around 400) and never once had to stretch it at all. I carried 100L of diesel with us the entire trip for that sole possibility (particularly coming back through the USA as we traveled through Yellowstone, etc) but never needed it. I did end up using it in Yellowstone afterall, but it was simply to avoid paying inflated diesel prices in the park, knowing darned well that fuel wasn't going to be any issue whatsoever once we cleared the bighorn mountains and made it to Sheridan Wyoming, which I also knew we could easily do on that 100L of diesel.

Speaking of which, do you have a route back east planned yet? If not, consider dropping down into Yellowstone out to Greybull and then taking 14 or 14A through the Bighorn mountains and down into Sheridan - it's very adventurous and VERY scenic. We took 14 because of our size (40' 5th wheel behind us and 14A was NOT recommended) but I hear it's even more scenic. We were warned to NOT take either road as night as mountain goats and deer apparently swarm the roads.
 
FYI, I had the heated grips burning all day. They are invaluable and most welcome. Mine are the latest version from Oxford. However, I find the grips themselves are very hard, not the least bit supple, and become somewhat uncomfortable after a long day.

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Grip puppies still work well with heated grips. You can apparently save a bit if you get Crappy Tire foam bicycle grips which are similar.
 
Hmmm...no problem getting the grip puppies over the Oxford grips??

I didn't put them on the Wee as I wondered about the heat . Mind you the Oxfords put out a lot. Thanks for that info.
I had them on the CBF1000 andthey worked the charm on my hands.

I hate disturbing my hand guards as the Tusk are finicky but worth the efoort I think....Rouyn-Noranda and Gaspe are notorious for a chilly June.

Mind your gas on the Yellowhead .....one station we counted on was seasonal/weekends only - kid ran out but the Wee made to fuel. Unexpected.
 
Grip puppies still work well with heated grips. You can apparently save a bit if you get Crappy Tire foam bicycle grips which are similar.

To late now as you are on the road, but I prefer these to Grip Puppies... Grip Buddies. They wrap around what you have already, hold up (so far) in the rain. Are plush, let the heat through from my grip warmers and much easier to put on compared to Grip Puppies. I put them on immediately after buying my new bike last year. Partially to thicken the grip as I found it a bit to narrow for my hands. They stick well to the throttle and never any slipping. I have about 6000 kms on mine so far with zero issues, would definitely buy them again.

http://www.wunderlichamerica.com/motorcycle/R1200GSALC/14881111.html
 
Oh that's great for me....don't have to remove the hand guards thanks

14881111b-Grip-Buddies_540x360.jpg


I just emailed them for size suggestion as the DL650 is not mentioned - I imagine they can be trimmed
 
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Oh that's great for me....don't have to remove the hand guards thanks

That was the reason I gave them a try initially. I had used grip puppies on my last 2 bikes and they were a pain to put on. I decided to try these with the new bike and have been impressed. No need to remove anything, they fit my grips perfectly, heat goes through, fits my hand better then stock grips... no negatives that I can think of so far.
 
Hmmm...no problem getting the grip puppies over the Oxford grips??

I didn't put them on the Wee as I wondered about the heat . Mind you the Oxfords put out a lot. Thanks for that info.
I had them on the CBF1000 andthey worked the charm on my hands.

I hate disturbing my hand guards as the Tusk are finicky but worth the efoort I think....Rouyn-Noranda and Gaspe are notorious for a chilly June.

Mind your gas on the Yellowhead .....one station we counted on was seasonal/weekends only - kid ran out but the Wee made to fuel. Unexpected.

I had the grip puppies over oxford grips on one bike. With a squirt of hairspray they go on pretty well and stay put. I'll look at those wrap around ones too, they look interesting as long as there isn't a seam that bulges somewhere.
 
I'll look at those wrap around ones too, they look interesting as long as there isn't a seam that bulges somewhere.

There is a seem, but you can wrap it so it is out of the way and not noticeable. It looks like it is coming loose in this picture, but it is very sturdy and held with velcro, it does not budge. I probably could have made it tighter when wrapping it. As I have said before, had no issues with it, grips tightly, heat goes through and has stood up in heavy rain.



I know I have no issues and do not notice it on my GSA.

 
FYI, I had the heated grips burning all day. They are invaluable and most welcome. Mine are the latest version from Oxford. However, I find the grips themselves are very hard, not the least bit supple, and become somewhat uncomfortable after a long day.

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Mine were just like that back in 2007. Probably the same moulds with updated electronics. Gave me a loonie-sized blister on each hand when I did my first weekend trip. I think I prefer heated gloves more.
 

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