Danimal

Finally it stopped raining long enough to get outside and change Sunny’s oil. 
Im leaving on the 21st for a week long trip down to Appomattox Virginia to attend the Horizons Unlimited Traveler’s meeting. 
There in addition to camping and hanging out with like-minded vagabonds, I’ll also be giving my first solo public presentation about my travels, and will also be doing a reading from my chapter in Sam Manicom’s travel anthology “the Moment Collectors”. 
Then the next day I’ll be doing a seminar on modifying and maintaining DR650 for extended international travel!

nervous as hell but I’m sure it’ll be fun. 
 

And yeah Tony, this spring has sucked bad. Very few nice days. 
Really looking forward to the ride down. 
Staying at Mark Swepston’s in Kingston Ohio the first night out. 
Second night will be at the Koolwink!!

hope everyone is doing ok

Saw this near-new low mile Wing with a great price and thought of you ladies. 

https://advrider.com/f/threads/2024-gl1800-goldwing-manual-2950-miles-se-wi.1785149/#post-52520833

On 3/15/2025 at 4:05 PM, durk said:

I’m guessing you purchased the 1000?

Right. Because we ALL know a 650 is far too underpowered for a real man lol

Thinking of wandering around Ashtabula county tomorrow to check out covered bridges. 
anyone interested? Tourist pace. Lunch. Maybe a fatty by the lake

After having the camera fail on two iPhones attached to my handlebars I went with a 5” CarPlay unit. It survived my three months trip through the Yukon NWT and Alaska without issue, and that included all three “D’s” (Dempster, Dalton and Denali highways). It was a Carpuride model. Less than $100. 
Now my iPhone is safe and sound, plugged in and in my tankbag. 
And I also am running Fobo2 TPS sensors that are linked to my phone and CarPlay compatible, so I get my tire pressure on screen. Works fine with my Klim Dakar gloves

And happy holidays to my friends here. 
 

you know who you are lol

I was out for a ride the other day and was passed in the opposite direction by two riders. The front bike looked like a Beemer ST model and was filled by a Goldwing. Both riders waved. 
iIRC it was on Diagonal Rd. 

Possibly Pauly and Jim?

I’m the cheapest bastard here, but probably the only one who always has spare brake pads with me. Changing them is easy AF. They’re as disposable as tires or chains or sprockets or even rotors (assuming your attachment hardware isn’t frozen) and would be thrown out if soaked in any petroleum products. That said I’ve ridden with fork oil-soaked pads and they can negatively affect the rotors surface as well. Rotors being harder to source when traveling, it’s just not worth it. 

Some day you’ll roll out the after lunch details I’m sure

Sure you didn’t 

8 hours ago, Tonik said:

This is pretty much a steal at this point. Someone needs to buy it.

Go for it Jim. You’re rich and in need of a real motorcycle 

Great deal. GLWS

Got word while in Alaska that my Dad was hospitalized with congestive heart failure issues. He’s now home but the prognosis isn’t good so I’m making a beeline back to his home in Ohio, now slugging out long miles across Alberta. Fun time is over for now. 

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!

Correction:

the second crash (the one I photographed the remains of) was as a rider from Michigan who survived and in critical condition in Whitehorse Yukon

https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/news/2024/second-motorcycle-collision-week-the-dempster-highway

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

I’m in Dawson City Yukon, at the entrance of the Dempster Highway. Tomorrow morning I’ll depart in an attempt at making Tuktoyaktuk NWT in three days at the Arctic Ocean and then returning. There are hundreds of Moto-travelers here attending the Dust to Dawson rally. I won’t be alone in my attempt, which is good. The Dempster took another motorcycle rider’s life yesterday in a head on with a gravel truck. He was trying to change “slots” in the deep gravel as he saw the oncoming truck. He lost control while trying to go through the deep stuff. 
 

Aside from trepidation and fear, I’m having a great time meeting people I’ve known online and making new friends. 
I took a flight above the Yukon River and filmed the famous ferry taking vehicles to Alaska