Crazy Canuk takes the long way home.

[Kneeslider]

Hi All
I just returned from a trip over to the States where we went to attend the annual Oshkosh air show, also used it as a chance to hook up with a few buddies of mine on that side, drinking good cold beer under the hot Wisconsin sun and generally talking kak for a week.
One of my mates is a Canuk who lives in Montreal, so it was a two day ride down for him.
After the air show he was not content with the two day ride home, so he decided to take the long way home, via the Arctic Circle, on a GS, no, not a Botswana Motor Works GS D/S, no siree Bob, a '83 Suzuki GS.
I thought you may enjoy the story.............................

Hi all.

I am on vacation. A traveling vacation.

I have Internet, a roof and some time right now, so please let me share, show and tell. And brag of course.

I will start by quoting myself.

I am staying at camp today. I am at one of the "Hot Spot" and the only thing hot here is the temperature. But i was able to upload pictures from here.

Today Dale is with is father and the Springbucks are at the Seabase.

My bike when I got to Pickering in Toronto:

After I visited with argonsagas: (Thanks a million)

Going to Kinnisis lake I formed on "Motorcycle Mamma". Who said Ontario Chick Bikers were feeble?

Kinnisis Lake:

My GK by same lake:

Crossing into Port Huron

Dale's International Garage: South African, Canadian, American bikes.

There are still parts bolted together so Dale as to fix that:

 

[Kneeslider]

Home away from home: (I recommend living right next to South Africans as they are intimidating the wildlife)

A GS can also double as a clothe line.

I dare any Guy here to take a leak in that Tupperware toilet:

Aluminium overcast (B-17):

Toy for weekend warriors KC135 I think:

The shops / flea market:

I wanted one of those when I was a kid:

Dave came and went with is veteran father. 26 years of service Korea and Vietnam.

The Springbucks are still out there.

 

[Kneeslider]

I spy with my little eye a Junker: (Dale wanted to dismantle it but Stan talked him out of it)

Love those flying boat: (Malard)

More Piper Cubs thatn you can shake a stick at:

Touching makes them real:

On those "Round" engines oil leaking means there is oil in the engine:

Springbuck and Canuck reflecting on the luster of Panchito.

Jim Bede's BD5J: (I don't think it flies anymore. It just sells books)

Bugatti racer:

Millions of dollars of airplanes and look what Dale found:

Dale and I learned how to fix a clutch cable "On the road". And that Zip ties hold the world together:

 

[Kneeslider]

Good morning all.

Saturday we got some visit from Dale.

Yesterday morning we parted the group.

I don't think they were planning to stop in Chicago. Unsure here.

Hi all.

Glad you are back home Stan.

I am doing ok. So is the bike.

I am in The North West Territories. In Ft Smith.

I have Internet and a roof over my head I will send some pics a little later.

Right now I have to call family and send emails.

 

[Kneeslider]

North Dakota.

Replacing my rear tire in Bismark ND.

My skid marks after I fell.

Don't asume a new tire mean it's road ready. The tire was coated with "****".

No harm done. I fell on my shoulder and it the back of the helmet. The bike guards I will fix

 

[Kneeslider]

Saskatchewan is flat.

Once a farmer looked at is dog running away for 4 days before he lost sight of him.

Saskatchewan guard dogs playing with me

Alberta is mostly flat too. But with bumps on it.

Best fuel price I have seen in a long while.

Got bugs?

Peace River AB.

Burnt forest in NWT.

Some form of tribute. Don't know. I find it creepy.

Water bomber CL-215.

With the "Round engines"

 

[Kneeslider]

Good morning all.

I am in White Horse in the Yukon.

The weather as turned cold. More like September than August.

The Internet is slow so I only uploaded a few pictures.

Louise fall in the NWT.

Trestle bridge Alberta.

Huge rig I saw in Northern Alberta.

Alaska Highway in British Columbia.

Sign post forest in Watson Lake.

And one for Flyboy. He fly them. We put them on posts to use as windsocks.

This one is in White Horse by the Airport.

Today I will see about replacing my front tire. Then I will relocate to Dawson City.

I was going to go to Deadhorse but was convinced by another biker to change that to Inuvik. So after Dawson I will go to the Artic Circle and Inuvik.

 

[Kneeslider]

Sorry, no pics tonight.

I have plenty but I am on a limited Internet account.

I am currently in Dawson City YT.

The GK developed an electrical problem.

I was all loaded with fuel, oil and gusto. My voltage was 12.8V.

I got on the Demster anyway but the voltage kept dropping. So I am back in town.

I checked all the usual things. No smoking gun. I was hoping I would find corrosion on the battery terminals, a loose wire from all that rattling or my voltmeter was defective.

No such luck.

I am reading my way through the stator paper. Not getting anywhere fast.

I down tooled for the night as the motel here is filling with mine workers for the night. I will resume in the morning.

Yesterday I had my first mechanical problem. A broken Choke cable. If only life stayed that easy.

I am in health, the bike is on concrete and in the shade. Could be worse.

If all else fail I will get a huge deep cycle battery, pull the headlight fuse and charge it every night. The battery not the fuse.

Long way to get home. I would rather repair and finish the Dempster before turning tail

I have direct connections to the R&R.

I replaced the battery just before departure from Montreal. It should be alright. But you are right it could have boiled out. I will check tonight. That's a quiet check.

Could a low water level prevent the battery from taking a charge? Or should it just have no strength? I have been starting it over and over and it still as 11.5V.

I have bypassed the ships battery and connected a deep cycle battery.

Wish me luck.

I will try to post pics if I ever get a good connection. They tell me Internet is 30 time more expensive than in the south.

And I thought satellites were up there for all to see.

 

[Kneeslider]

I am in Inuvik. I am well but I am tired.

I have uploaded tons of pics but have to checkout. I am still tired.

I have fallen twice south of Fort McPherson. They are working on the road but right now it looks like it is coated with 5 inches of cow ****. Slicker than goose snot on a frozen pond.

I was travelling the other way before I fell.

I am back in a hotel in Inuvik.

There is Yamaha dealer in town and he has a battery for me. To properly charge the battery it need 10 hours so no departure for me today.

I did a bit of shopping. The arts and craft are superb. Nothing this guy really want and can survive a bike trip home.

 

[woody1]

Lekker !!! Suzuki 850 by the looks of it.

 

[Kneeslider]

Hi Woody, GS1100GK

The story continues......

Northern Alberta:

Just out of Peace river AB:

Beaver dam:

Almost into the NWT. On my way to see my buddy in FT Smith:

5 yards shy of the 60th parallel and the NWT:

Forest Buffalo south of FT Smith:

I was so excited to see the Buffalo but after a while It was just; Another damn buffalo on the road.

 

[Kneeslider]

The sun is setting on the NWT.

My bike after doing 65 KM in dirt to Ft Smith:

Then they told me the witish stuff isn't mud it's Calcium Chloride. Road salt. It is used to keep the dust down.

So I cleaned the GK at the airport. Cleanest GS in the NWT:

In order for me to go "North" I have to travel "South" first and then mostly West.

Louise fall NWT:

Trestle bridge:

Now who doen't love monster trucks?

Got spares?

 

[Kneeslider]

Tombstone?

Never heard of it.

Alaska Highway. In BC.

I was looking for that boot. Glad someone put it where I could find it.

 

[Kneeslider]

More BC.

The picture are OK but they don't convey the size of it all. Just amazing.

More damn buffalo on the road.

 

[Kneeslider]

This is how you know you are entering the Yukon:

Dawson Creek. Signpost forest. It's still growing.

Made me wish I had brought something for it

My first mechanical problem:

Redneck Quickfix:

Now I am one step more modern. I use a half clothes pin.

New front tire. Believe me when you need one it's a big deal.

 

[Kneeslider]

The broken choke cable reminded me to cover a broken clutch cable. As seen in Oshkosh:

My version:

Leaving White Horse:

Dawson City. A small mining town with a reputation.

Getting some groceries for the Dempster.

 

[Kneeslider]

On my first attempt to leave Dawson City I went on the "Dome Road".

I have this permanently mounted digital voltmeter on the GK and my voltage was being lost.

I had to undress the GK to get to the battery and wiring.

I could not find the source of the problem so I got a Deep cycle marine battery. Which I mounted on the passenger foot peg.

The battery would not take a charge past 11.5V. So I bypassed it.

Everything with a weight was moved to the left side. If a shadow had a weight I would have ridden with the sun on my right.

With all the unessential fuses pulled out. I started with 12.8V and was loosing 0.1V per 16 to 17 km. Depleting to to 9.5 meant:

12.8v - 9.5v = 3.3v
3.3v x 16km = 528 km

Call it 500 km. I could make Eagle Plains and the Arctic circle. I have been waiting 30 years for this...So...

At km zero of the Dempster there is a gas station / Hotel that does excellent business. I met with these collectors riding in a column of WW2 vintage military vehicles.

 

[Kneeslider]

Past the sign warning you that there is no services for 375 km.

Did someone mention "Tombstone"?

Every mountain is a sight on it's very own. The picture do not give justice to the place.

While eating my dinner by the side of the road Rob stopped to see if I was in trouble.

He, going South, me North.
He, newer, me older.
He all terrain, me cruiser.

He is the "Real thing". He has done Alaska, Honduras and Mexico. He laughed when he saw my battery. He did that in Honduras.

Rob after commenting on the Battery: How far are you going?
Me: All the way.
Rob offering is hand: You are the man. An iron man.

It felt good to have "The real thing" tell me that. I don't think of myself as an iron man. Just a notch above poser.

On the whole the Demster is a good gravel road. The sides are soft (Not compacted) and dropoff sharply.

When there is fresh gravel it then to do "Wind rows" of nasty ball berrings that grabs your wheel and drive for you.

Where the gravel has been pushed away from the road by tires the surface (When dry) is as hard as concrete.

My first drop was due to the soft shoulders...

I had gone through some Wash board and I notice my voltage was going slowly up. Happiness ensued.

 

[Kneeslider]

So there I am fat, dumb and happy. Nice warm day. Ridding the dempster with voltage going up.

Then The engine quit.

The connector I installed by the battery was a bit Myckey mouse so I taped it over so it wouldn't disconnect...It disconnected anyway.

I steered to the shoulder of the road stopped and tried to get the kick stand out.

You see the road are built with a sharp curve to get the rain off. The are built above the terrain. Me the Canuck I figure that is to keep the top above occasional floods, allows wind to get the snow off. Also with the bike loaded the side stand is in effect too long and the bike is almost upright.

I went to far to the right. My right foot was on the very edge of the road and it gave way. The bike was with the tank lower than the wheels and I had no way to push it up. I started removing top heavy items. Then Rob the trucker. Cancer survivor showed up. Then Nina and Alex the German tourist.

We all got the giant bike up and on the road. I lost some gas and electrolytes.

Lesson learned:

Stay away from the edges.
Park 45 degree to the road on the side. Less of a left incline that way.

Like that:

I also had a piece of wood I travel with to put under the stand on soft surface. I found I can use it to dig a hole behind the stand then I can roll the bike backward so the stand can rest in it. I need a metal spike really. That stuff is hard.

I fixed the connector issue with some Zip ties.

There is cuddly teddy bear in there.

NOT.

I saw him (Her?) cross ahead of me. I took the pic while riding at about 30 kph.

He seemed as curious about me as I was about him.

Bear: I wonder If bikers taste like chicken.
Me: How fast can a Grizzly cub run?
Me: Where is his mom?

Why did they put the road there?

Calling it a night.

 

[Kneeslider]

everywhere I stopped there were wild rose fruits.

I just checked they are called rose hips. And they are edible. Just cut in two throw away the hairy seeds and enjoy.

https://northernbushcraft.com/topic.p...=edible_plants

I will try that. hey are full of vitamin c too.

While doing my daily walkaround I found that my base gasket has a leak.

The road kept going up and up. I stopped at a fork going to a road construction stock pile.

And started carving a flat stone.

I will give it another go on my return trip.

I am here touching the sea floor of an ancient ocean. That is now turned to rock and on top of a mountain. Makes you think of how small a man and is life span is.

The mountain tops are very much like tundra here.

Right side of the road. Sloping down.

Left side sloping up.

Out of gas.

I had never emptied the tank yet. Now I know. I can do 360 km on a tank.

Look a sign further up.

Another half liter and I would have made it.

Back to front. Main tank. Aux tank on the left passenger peg. Drop tanks.

I poured the drop tanks in the main (11L) and proceeded.
Pump man: You didn't use much gas.
Me: My bike is very good on gas.
Pump man: Your bike looks like a Harley.
Me: It's an old Suzuki.
Pump man: Well all other bikes are KLRs.

I had an excellent meal at Eagle Plains. Good price too for it's location.

The US military caught up with me.