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Alaska on an RT

edbeattie

New member
Thinking of joining my buddy for a ride to Alaska this summer. I live in Nebraska and he's from Arizona, so we would probably meet at some logical point and ride together from there. He has a 999KTM dual sport and I ride an RT. The plan is to go on all paved roads, including the AK highway up to Fairbanks. I'm aware that the AK highway is under construction and repairs every summer, so my question is: will an RT be OK for this trip, or do I need to find a GS or some other type of dual sport bike? Again, we're planning to be on pavement for the ride, other than the road construction sections.
 
Folks have been going up ther on everything from Vespas to Dressers it will get plenty dirty though!
 
RT will do fine. I've made the trip 3 times on my old R1200RT with no problems. Have friends who both made the ride on R100RTs last summer. No problemo.......
 
Thanks for the input and it sounds like my RT will be fine. If I do get a GS it will just open up some off-pavement opportunities for us. Thanks again, Ed
 
I made Nova Scotia on my RT. us hwy 1 in Maine was dirt, they said under construction, I say dirt.! I can't imagine Alaska would be worse.
 
I went to alaska last summer with a friend on an RT. all the paved roads, evan with the inevitable construction areas are fine. we went across the top of the world high way and that was fine too. You can do the dalton if the weather is dry....if you have rain it will be greasy...and the mud/concrete will mostly clog your fenders and you will have to stop and chip it out. still doable but more of an adventure.

the Dempster is worse....think about how much adventure you want

but like some said...it's all been done before...evan with a vespa
 
My K100LT made it up to the north side of the Yukon River; just too (darn) muddy to go the rest of the way.
And the mosquitoes & horseflies at Liard River Hot Springs are known to carry off pets and small children.
 
but like some said...it's all been done before...evan with a vespa

When I worked at the U. in Fairbanks I saw two 70ish year old women head to Prudhoe riding two-up on a Vespa. They made it up and back without incident. A strapping young lad on a KTM 990 left on the same day they did and returned to Fairbanks claiming the road was impassable.

This guy, Sjaak Lucassen, is up in AK again trying to pull off a new stunt. He flew this rig (Yamaha R1 and trailer) to Barrow. Rode across the sea ice to Deadhorse (the wheels come off the trailer making it a sled) and is now heading down the Alcan to FL (Yes, all the way to Key West on those itty-bitty rear tires... he hopes). It is supposed to be a test run to see if his idea of riding to the North Pole is feasible. The trip across the sea ice did not go well. He had to enlist the aid of a local and a snowmachine to tow the trailer at times and his specially made retreaded tires started to delaminate.

sjaak6459519_njpg-original_zps8799b1df.jpeg
 
In 2009

The first bike to Deadhorse was an RT. I was second (or third) on a GS. And the RT did not have especially good tires. It's all the rider.
 
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