Riding to Deadhorse, summer 2012?

[woodly1069]

Since I already have a set of slightly worn TKC80s for my R1100GS I think it would be silly to buy more in Fairbanks or some place close to the haul road. That being said, I was thinking that I would just run my normal street tires for the ride up and switch once I get close. I was wondering if strapping them on the back of the bike would be a good idea or if I should ship them instead. If shipping is the correct call, should I contact a dealer that would do the install for me? Will a dealer even do that? Wouldn't they want to sell me some new ones? Anyway, just wondering, any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

[holckster]

A set of TKC's at Yukon Honda in Whitehorse was $600.00 mounted in 2007.
If you change in Whitehorse you can ride the Dempster, Top of the World and Dalton Hwy's and change back on the way home (every road in Alaska goes thru Whitehorse twice).
They stored my Tourances for the return trip and I carried the still good TKC's home, no big deal, could hardly tell they were on the back.
If you're going to carry tires up, make sure they are good enough to cover the distance you plan to cover.
Might be smarter to take new so you are riding on the new part of the tire, not left overs.

[KHuddy]

I've seen, conservatively, a couple thousand people pass thru Fairbanks on their way to up the haul road. I estimate around 5% of them haul tires on their bikes. Those that do look like the Clampets on their way to Beverly Hills; it can't be a positive thing to turn your bike into a freight barge and have to deal with unloading and loading tires repeatedly. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. Call the guys at Adventure CycleWorks and have tires waiting for you. Next time you ride to Prudhoe you can haul tires for 3000 miles.

[heetseeker]

Send them or buy them there, but to carry them is a PITA. There may be an inmate who will let you have them delivered so you won't have to strap them on for the road section of the trip. When I did the trip to Prudhoe, I had the TKC's put on by an old dude named George out of his home in Fairbanks. Not sure if he's still in business though.

[woodly1069]

good thoughts heetseeker, anyone here want to sit on a couple of tires for a few weeks in June? I'll bring the BEER!

[KHuddy]

Originally Posted by heetseeker

......... I had the TKC's put on by an old dude named George out of his home in Fairbanks. Not sure if he's still in business though.

Careful there heetseeker. George might agree that he's a tad old, but I wouldn't want to be around him if he heard someone calling him "Dude". He can still change a tire using only a couple of irons as fast as most people can with a pneumatic machine,

This is George leaving an Airhead tech session last March. Around 25 studly riders attended, but only ole George rode a bike up the mile long, steep and icy road. I had to pull a 4 wheel drive pick-up out of a ditch as he went by.

[BMW Kurt]

I did the Haul Road on Tourances. No problem.

[willys]

Just a thought.....why can't you change your own tires??? If you guys ride such great distances and need to, who ya gonna call......? It isn't that difficult....just practise at home and learn. It'll pay for itself the first time you pay someone miles from nowhere to do it for you. Not trying to take food from others but seriously fellas...We're called adventure riders for a reason ....aren't we.....or is that ....well I'll stop there I guess....lol

[AKtracks]

Originally Posted by woodly1069

good thoughts heetseeker, anyone here want to sit on a couple of tires for a few weeks in June? I'll bring the BEER!

Feel free to send them to us, we can get you taken care of.


Adventure Cycleworks
c/o Your_name_here
362 Snowy Owl Lane
Fairbanks, AK 99712

[heetseeker]

AKBeemer,

"Careful there heetseeker. George might agree that he's a tad old, but I wouldn't want to be around him if he heard someone calling him "Dude"

What the heck was I thinking? That California slang just won't leave me, dang it... Yep, he would tear my ass up for that one... Almost as bad as when I showed up at his shop before he had coffee. Whew! You did NOT want to see that...

[Alcan Rider]

Originally Posted by AKBeemer

I've seen, conservatively, a couple thousand people pass thru Fairbanks on their way to up the haul road. I estimate around 5% of them haul tires on their bikes. Those that do look like the Clampets on their way to Beverly Hills; it can't be a positive thing to turn your bike into a freight barge and have to deal with unloading and loading tires repeatedly.

+1 Same here. Only see a few come through with tires strapped on, and it's obvious these are the ones who did not get the memo.

[joe a]

Originally Posted by BMW Kurt

I did the Haul Road on Tourances. No problem.

Same here........

[builderdan]

Mr Woodly- Alot of good advice. I agree that pain to haul tires. If you need them have them set up to put on at Advcycle. No need to schedule as Dan is available. Link to his site is listed previously. I did the trip last summer and rode up Alcan on Anakee and had the TKC80 put on in Fairbanks. You don't have to have the tkc BUT if and when it get wet you are going to be glad you had them on. Not sure what your riding but for me on the 1200GSA was glad I had them as along with the Dalton did the Denali, Taylor, Top of World, Dempster and Cambell. It can be a long haul on slippery mudd. Not sure where your final distination but my rear was shot when I got home with 5K on it. Also links for the dorm rooms at the college is a great deal. Used it going up and returning from Dalton. Don't over plan. Take a good camera. It will be a blast.

[creidADVrider]

I did the Haul Road on tkc80's. I could have done it on slicks as it was sunny the whole way up and down. If it had rained.........I would have been thankful for knobbies. Every man for himself.

[gary5410]

I rode up there in '08 and had made arrangements with George at Trail's End BMW to throw some TKC 80's on before the ride to Deadhorse. Got there on the 4th of July and Geroge was taking the day off......Weather looked good so we headed out without swappin' tires....

That's me on the right. I really enjoyed this trip!





You don't even need a fancy "adventure" bike, My new found friend, Nathan rode up on his Ducati 990 Supersport!



Without soakin' rain you don't need them. We had rain on the way back and it got slicker than shit.........and gave Nathan's Ducati some "been there" scratches!



....but slowing down helped prevent more of the above. This was "bursts" of rain, so we never had any thing more than a slick film.....didn't need knobbies. That said, I would put them on if I rode it again....... why not give yourself the best chance of having a GRAND time!