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I made it to Tuktoyaktuk NWT today. It was by far the most difficult road I’ve ridden to date. Now I’ve been as far north and south as you can ride in the Americas!

Nine days on the road (so far). Touring Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum tomorrow then heading to GA. Next up, cherahola skyway, deals gap, BRP, the snake and back of the dragon

Well, I can't say I did it today, but after years lovingly wrenching on my older bikes, chucking money aside for the better part of a decade, I bit the bullet on a machine I can trust to not leave me stranded, hammer my spine on bumps or be hopeless when gravel appears. I just completed installing the major farkles I wanted on this bike and so far, I love it to death. Claims it's boring are vastly wrong. Also, hey, I haven't been on this board in a long time. The last few years have been kind of...weird.

I’ll be heading back to Dawson and then taking the ferry over to Alaska. I’ll do the Dalton then, so I’ll be through Tok. Too bad you didn’t have time. It would have been a trip to run into you Nevin. And thanks. This has been a crazy road. Still not sure I want to do this last stretch to Tuk tomorrow. My leg still makes it hard to even walk. One fuck up and it could be bad. It’s probably stupid for me to be doing this shit still. It’s all I know now, and one of the few things that make me truly happy.

Picked up a new retirement project bike to ride the backwoods this fall.

Amanda and I had our maiden voyage on the RT. We took OH-212/93 to Roscoe Village for BBQ and then came home via 60/62/83 into Smithville/OH-21. Good weather. Good roads. Good food. Good day.

Weather for the start of the Arctic Circle journey was looking iffy so I did two things: I delayed the start a few days so I wouldn’t be riding through rain to start the trip, and I also booked a small cabin at Cannabis Creek Cabins in Luther Michigan. They are as affordable as a motel and includes a nice gift bag with some tasty treats! Should be a great end of the first full day’s riding on the 15th after an overnight stay at my Father’s. Sunny 2.0 is completely loaded and champing at the bit to get going. You’ll be able to track my progress through the Yukon and Alaska with this link to my Garmin Inreach Mini satellite tracker! https://share.garmin.com/HWJA4

Just back to Ohio where I’ll begin prep for YT and AK departure on the 12th. I attended the Horizons Unlimited travelers meeting near Appomattox and had a great time hanging out with like minded people that don’t think you’re crazy for cashing in and leaving “normalcy” behind to create your own normal. On the way home I was hosted by Lauren and Paul Brenner at Rainbow Farm near the New River Gorge in WV. Aside from running an organic chicken farm and riding the world in their spare time (check out their YT channel “the other end of the Rainbow) they run the Appalachian Motorcycle Adventure tour company. Lauren took me for an awesome 250 mile loop through some crazy WV dirt roads. They cater to all skill levels up to hard enduro (they have one day ride with over 100 water crossings!). If you’re interested in using their services (highly recommended), their web page is here: https://www.appalachianmotoadvtours.com/ Some pictures from my last week Mystery hole! friend and we’ll-known motorcycle travel author Sam Manicom publisher Michael Fitterling

Congratulations! I plan to inform my company next Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to look at a potential retirement gift for myself.

It's official. I have informed the company I am retiring the end of April.

Home. 2468 miles, 5 states one province, two countries and 5 casinos.

On our third day of five days to the Ozark. Mrs. Durk is killing it averaging close to 500 miles a day. No complaints about speed or cornering too hard. She gets a little green feeling at times so does request at times to back it down a bit. MO 125, AR 125, AR 123, AR 7 are some good roads. Peel ferry is a cool deal, can’t believe it’s free. Did take a route around Lake of the Ozarks that was a nice cruise and had a fun little loop from Camdenton down towards Devil’s Elbow and back up to Bridal falls this morning.

Got it fixed! First I planned to pull the oil pan which meant draining the oil that had less than 50 minutes on it. Then I had to remove the exhaust and the lines to the oil cooler before the pan came off. The only useful thing I could see up there was that the part I needed to access was in the clutch compartment. So now on to removing the clutch cover and clutch basket. I probably could have realigned the shift shaft gear without removing the clutch but, WTH, I'm already this far... After removing everything, it was a simple job to align the shifter end and spring. Shifting seemed like Iike it was good, so I put it all back together. New oil and a ride around the neighborhood confirmed that it's fixed!

I’ve been off grid for a while, riding the Denali Highway and camping. This is something you folks should make a bucket list item. It’s doable on a road bike if careful. Stunning scenery everywhere you look. Camp sites as far as the eye can see. I have lots of pics and video to download. Here is a cell phone photo from my tent last night Before hotels and motels Alaska had “Roadhouses”. There are some still around. Tonight I’ve got a room at Meier’s Lake Roadhouse near Paxon Alaska at the end of Rt. 8, the Denali Highway its raining hard. Relaxing and wondering what’s to come. Tomorrow it’s into Palmer Alaska and reuniting with a girlfriend I haven’t seen since 1989 !!!

Been on the road since May 5. Should be home tomorrow. Twisted sisters in Texas, cherahola skyway, dragon, moonshiner, blue ridge parkway, snake, back of the dragon. Whew. Who knew there were so many roads with funny names 🤣

Valve inspection, wheels installed, plates renewed. Quick little shakedown run up to triple digits and all is good. Once again no balancing. I just left the weights that were on the wheels prior to my tire change 🤷‍♂️.

I informed my company on Friday that I am leaving effective 3/14. I did give them an option to pay to retain me as a (very) part time consultant for 90 days to ease the transition. 50/50 if I want to stay on as a consultant or just be done. Wheels are in motion.

Bought this 2013 Kawasaki Versys. I am the 2 nd owner. 34,000 miles. Loaded with S & W moto extras. He had it set up for dirt. It has big block knobbies on it. Going to turn into a good street bike that can do back roads, but no off road. It’s 200 pounds less than my FJR.

Rode it to work Thursday and found this when I got home. Saturday I patched it.

Got New rubbers at wheelers

Yesterday I took Mystery for a ride up Hatcher Pass not far from their home in Palmer where I’ve been staying while resolving issues on the bike. With all systems go now, it’s time to explore a bit. As we ascended and descended the pass, I handed the Nikon to Mystery and she was the trip photographer. Summit Lake at the top of Hatcher Pass AK watching hang gliders descend afterwards, live music at the Palmer Alehouse

Made it to Seward Alaska and the best crab I’ve ever had!

Today Work on my new DR.650 Project. 1. Wind screen 2, Bark Busters. 3.Bar risers 4. Skid Plate 5 Peg/Brake lever Lowers. 6. Center stand 7. Rear Rack. 8. Sealed rear Rim & Installed Mitas E-o7 tire https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsBAaDfZkbxULiV3c5MohnA

Sorry couldn't update here as the forum was not loading for me. Some kind of error , ty again for coming out in the cold @Gpaw @durk @B-Mac so nice to meet familiar faces again. we got back Saturday night itself. It was a fun day getting to meet yall and riding with you again. Hopefully get to do it again in fall. missed meeting you @Tonikand @Pauly till next time

Done and done. Thank you Michelle! Thank you Procycle! So far I’ve only ridden probably 3-400 miles of dirt roads in the last week, and on only a few were under dusty conditions where I was following a pickup. I was surprised how much dirt made it into the fork seal area with those cracked boots. Much better now. Confidence restored. Heading NW towards the Carway border crossing tomorrow

There are friends I don’t hear from much anymore that still frequent this site, and their signatures on my bike are a steady reminder of fun times in the past. So I’ll keep updating here as well So I decided to stay an extra night here in Pettibone ND at Chris’ cabin in order to do a maintenance day on Sunny. There were a few things to address, namely getting the horn working and a few other things. Well, things never are as simple as that are they? During cleaning and inspection I see multiple cracks all over both front fork boots. These boots are criticize keeping dirt and grime away from the fork seals. I contacted Procycle and they are shipping no cost a new set a day ahead of me where I can do the install (which requires both fork legs to be removed). So guess where I’m heading tomorrow? A long day SW to Custer South Dakota where I’ll be visiting and staying with friend and Moto-author (and fellow contributing author with me in the Moment Collectors book) Michelle Lamphere !! I last saw Michelle when leaving Denver heading back to Ohio right after getting out of the wheelchair! Also will be visiting friends Shana Sanderson and her husband Eugene where I can do the work changing out the fork boots. So all in all a productive day. Horn repaired Chain cleaned and lubed Carb breather filter cleaned Small section of fuel line replaced with one the correct length Two pounds of bug guts removed. Yuck lol. Highway peg pivots cleaned and lubed so much blood disassembly begins horn now works again

Random campsite in MN near the ND border. One week out

Bought this one a few weeks ago because my standards are low and why not... Actually, I let the wife pick it out with the only criteria being rear seat comfort...it came with a $700 Mustang Touring Seat. I also considered the weird 2014 Valkyrie F6C even though stock tire sizes are basically out of production. It was cheap, like new with low miles, so why not...

I removed more paneling and the arm rest brackets Amanda said she would never use. Reinstalled the giant wind deflectors, which are hideous but very effective. Changed the oil and filter. Rode it to work yesterday. Turned 27k on the ride home. Also rides like a dream at 85mph.

Began the process of spooning on some new shoes for the Wing last night. Just removed the tires lasts night. I spooned the new ones on today. Pain in the butt to spoon off as well as on, but new tires are on.

I've wanted an adventure bike for a while. I've ridden many gravel roads on the Goldwings, Connie, dirt bikes, and sport bikes. I came across a leftover 23 Husky, so I finally pulled the trigger:

I'm just glad I opened this up to pictures of a vehicle and it wasn't a new testicle like I was fearing

I bet you hear that a lot.

Maybe I'll jump in this conversation. So I'm at the point where I "could" retire early. Way different circumstances from most of you all. My situation is I am debt free, have almost five times my annual salary in my 401k, almost 29 years of pension build up, and I have a sugar mama that is about to get promoted. That last one is the key for me. I've worked my entire life at a bullshit corporate industrial job to raise my family and put food on the table. Many you probably remember me posting in the past about working all weekends and barely be able to get away and do things. Years ago my wife wanted to go back to school and so I worked so much overtime and weekends to make that happen. The agreement was that I could retire early and she would take care of me in the future. So then last year she went back to school again to get her master's degree in healthcare administration. And in the very near future the manager of her office is retiring and my wife should be a shoe end to take her place which also comes with a substantial pay increase and benefits. And while the thought of retiring early is enticing I'm just happy that I'm at a point to where I could just walk away and say fuck it at any time. I mean that peace of mind is paying dividends as we My work is so slow right now and they're actually talks of layoffs. and it doesn't bother me in the least a little bit. I'll stick around as long as I can or as long as I feel like. I mean let's face it, every year I work is more pension dollars and 401K savings(which I'm currently stashing 30% of my paychecks into my 401k) At this point my income is the play money, and we like to play. So that's where I'm at, debt free, a nice nest egg, empty nesters and a spouse that loves what she does and doesn't mind doing it. Now when I actually do pull the trigger and retire, I don't think I would retire completely either. Would absolutely want to pick up a gig that I like or love. Maybe bounce around different jobs like motorcycle shop or parts counter or even just turn wrenches in my own garage.

I retired in Aug '22 as soon as I was eligible for Medicare. I'm holding off on collecting SS until I'm 70 and can get the max payment. I had planned to not work and bought an $800 project bike to keep me busy. Then I started getting offers for jobs... My last employer asked me to come back as a 1099 contractor doing my old job (machine controls software) but I wanted nothing to do with that - I left that place for good reasons! I landed at a small scale (<10 employees) automated machine builder and I've been having a blast working around 20 hrs/week on 1099. My advice for coping with retirement is to take a month or 2 and consciously work on detoxing from being employed. Learn to enjoy relaxing, drink your morning coffee in the back yard listening to birds, and avoid going to stores on weekends.

I made it into the Arctic Circle!! I’m riding with a couple of Johns on big Beemers that I met at the D2D Rally. We have conquered multiple sections of the infamous Dempster Highway together already. Dawson City to Eagle Plains. Eagle Plains to Fort McPherson. There to Inuvik where I am. Two of the locations were out of fuel. Many bikes stranded. And the fuel truck carrying two tanks nearly took me out when he passed going the other way! And it indeed deserves its horrid reputation. Two motorcycle deaths in the past week I rode past the remains of one of the BMWs laying in the ditch. The Police tape wrapped on its remains caught my attention. I’ve had several close calls with Semis coming the opposite direction. Thank God for the new knobby tires. Seriously. I don’t care how long they last. They’re worth their weight in gold. Now we are stopped in Inuvik where we got gas and are waiting for John 1 to catch up. We were separated at the McKenzie River ferry. There were two ferry crossings today. Nothing like wet steel ramps and fresh dug dirt hills to start your grand exit. We may get rooms here and attempt to ride to Tuktoyaktuk and back to here again tomorrow. Or we may regroup and ride to Tuktoyaktuk tonight. We’ll see. It doesn’t get dark at all anymore. RIP GS pilot

Replace oil cooler that ate a stone, oil & oil filter change, air filter change, replace spark plugs, check/top-up transmission and final drive fluids. Should now be ready for another few 1500+ mile trips.

This is it! I give you Casey IL. They have pretty much the biggest and largest everything.