Arctic Wolf Ride Report

[C-Stain]

Great Ride Report! Hopefully this won't be the last we see of gpsKevin and his pack of wolves....

[RUOK]

Awesome report, and great pics. Love the group dynamic, you all seemed to have a good time even when things weren't quite going according to plan.

[GrizzLee]

Out of curiosity...
What ever became of the KLR?

Did you get it fixed, scrap it for parts?

Nice RR. It was a pleasure to meet you all.

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by little foot

read every word, great job!!

We got of lot of cheering on from everyone, just want to say thanks to everyone. Adventures live on as we replay them in our heads.

Thanks Everyone

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by THX_337

Out of curiosity...
What ever became of the KLR?

Did you get it fixed, scrap it for parts?

Nice RR. It was a pleasure to meet you all.

The rest of the story of the Kawasaki: We Trucked the bike back home from Seattle and pulled it apart. The damage to the Head was not repairable, so we shopped, not being in a hurry helps a lot. A few week later we found a used head on Ebay and got it for $450. So we replace the head and it was back to running great. The bike for us was just to run to the Arctic and my son Jeffrey was headed off to start college, so we sold the bike for $4k. Now it is just a story, Now we just smile and laugh about the adventure and the 600 miles of towing.

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by rgp332

Great Ride Report !!
One more question where did you come up with the short legged chairs ?

Everyone loved the REI Camp Stowaway Low Chair, I had the Kermet Chair but I would buy the REI nowadays

[gpskevin]

Originally Posted by CharlestonADV

I'm really enjoying this RR. Nice to see the Versys doing so well.

Obviously, you've acquired considerable towing experience. While I hesitate to give advice...you might want to become familiar with the 'peg to peg' towing technique . It is quite stable and allows for quick release of the tow line when wrapped around the peg and held in place with the foot.

Just a side note, We love the Versys, while it is not marketed as an adventure bike, it does awesome, We have 20k miles on it and it has been through tough stuff. Been to Alaska, Mexico, and a bunch of USA. Missy can put it through mud and rock like no buddies business, and Jeffrey has put it through some really tough Sand Washes.

Missy can be quite the Fart Clown.



Video clip is from our High School Graduation Father Daughter trip to Alaska in 2011

[straightenarrow]

I spent the better part of today watching 12" of snow pile up on the ski hill and enjoying your report! I've been through those areas in a plane, can't wait to see it on my KLR someday (hopefully this summer) !

[gpskevin]

From Mug Shots

A few thoughts from Steve-
WEATHER---We had it all, except for snow fall. Warm & dusty first few days. Hot the last two days. As we worked our way North, temps dropped. Sometimes into the 30's. Rain on & off-never really a hard rain. MUD! we had mud. One of the biggest challenges of the 19 days.
FOOD---we all eat great. I actually lost 4 lbs! These guys enjoy their camp cooking. We did not do many restaurants. My best food story is about Tracy the Vegan. We stopped in this roadside greasy spoon for breakfast. Tracy orders up a veggie omelette with no eggs or cheese! The little waitress just stood there spinning and said no way! Tracy finally explained to her what he wanted-just the veggies. She still screwed up the order, but I got extra scrambled eggs this morning. CAMPING---we had great camp spots most evenings. Always next to a river or lake. Firewood was usually wet, but gasoline is a huge help as a starter.
MOSQUITOS!!!!!! I hate Mosquitos-they love me. Most nights I put up my tent in full M/C dress. Even learned to lower my face shield after these buggers attacked my lips & eye lids! Deets is my newest friend! All my camp gear worked perfect. My BIG Agnes zero degree bag & air mattress with pad and my big down pillow made for great sleeping in the wild.
CLOTHING---we all had heated jacket liners. What a wonderful thing! All my Klim gear worked great. Rain did not get through-never had to use my Frog Togg rain coat. Water proof boots and my Frog Togg pants-I was a happy camper.
THE MIGHTY KTM 690---What a great machine! This bike is a rocket ship! I geared it up 1 in front & 1 in the rear. I know for a fact it will go 97mph (gps) and it still has more in it. Almost Zero maintenance was required. One chain adjustment. Only problem with this bike is carrying equipment. Fueling in the rear took me more time than the other bikes. And, fuel capacity needs to be addressed. Love my PP mighty 690 (PP, short for pleasantly plump) so named by one of you. To just say I had a great time would not be fair. Camping is easy. It's just carrying all the stuff!
A life time experience is what it was. Great people to ride with, all great riders. I could go on & on about all these guys. They all were great to be with. Problem solvers and all with great camp fire stories. Missy was a true stud. She is one tuff young lady-she rides circles around most of us. I rode behind her for hundreds of miles. My favorite game was watching Missy and trying to "name that tune". Missy would stand on her pegs, pegtails and shoulders going back & forth to the beat of the music plugged in her ears-disco for sure! Not country! great fun for me.
GPSKEVIN---Huge thanks to Kevin. The master of GPS, Kevin put a lot of time & effort into making this a great ride-adventure, much appreciated-THANKS

[gpskevin]

Thanks again everyone for your cheering us on during the ride, I have realized that there are a lot of people passionate about riding, and a lot of people that seem to love the Canada part of this adventure. So what is next in Canada for me? Well, I am planning a British Columbia Railways adventure next summer, and now that I am retired, I have decided to invite other riders outside of my riding group. So if any of you readers are interested in joining me this next summer take a look at the ride I am planning:

I wanted to extend an invitation to riders who are experienced explorers and campers. I am hosting a British Columbia Railways Adventure this September 2013.

From Day2 Fav

This will be one of the great rides this year and it you are dying to explore BC Railway trails you might want to join us.
Below is my Video invitation to you

I made a web site to explain details of the ride and to sign up for the ride.

BC Railways 2013

I will limit the ride to 10 riders, and there are only 5 open spots left, so if you are interested you should consider deciding soon. If you have questions, you can either post them here and I will check back every couple of days, or you can send me an email directly.

[gpskevin]

Yes, a Vstrom will do great, the Railways ride is scenic not hard riding.