harley sighting/ dalton?

[mark ward]

Tell me more about Dalton "HIGHWAY"? A few of us are looking to make the trip Next summer. ME I'm thinking of going a few days early to Visit (WORK LOL) in Seattle, then meet up with the others as they catch up.

--- On Sat, 10/22/11, wollybugger wrote: From: wollybugger Subject: [DSN_KLR650] re: Harley sighting To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com Date: Saturday, October 22, 2011, 9:27 PM I had just parked my KLR 650 and was heading for my appointment, when a fellow pulled up on a Harley and begin asking questions about my bike. It seems he and anaother fellow had made a run from Pargould, Arkansas to Deadhorse, Alaska. He said he and his riding partner had considered taking KLRs, but were afraid they wouldn't be adequate on the freeways between here and there, though he thought they would be ideal on the Dalton Highway portion of the run. They opted for BMW adventure bikes instead and were very disappointed. He said they were too heavy for the Dalton portion of their run. I assured him the KLR would do fine on the freeways and the Dalton Highway. Joe Grove Paragould, AR [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[wollybugger]

Mark, though I lived in Alaska for 30 years, I never had any inclination to ride the Dalton Highway. The road was consttructed as a service highway for construction on the Alaska Highway back in the 70s and was not open to the public for many years. A few years back, it was open to the public, but it is still very much a service road. The impression I get is that it is very much like the Alcan Highway of 40 years ago, when I drove it several times. Of course the Alaska Highway is now pretty much paved all the way, but back then, the weather determined how much of a challenge it was. Too much rain and it was all mud. To little rain and it was all dust. Just enough rain to settle the dust, and it was a fun drive. It is my understandding it is a day's run up the Dalton from Fairbanks to Deadhorse and a day's run back, with only one opportunity to fuel up. Google it or look for links on Adv Rider. The real risk is the trucks. You'd enjoy Alaska a lot more if you skipped the Dalton and rode to places like Homer, Fairbanks, Seward, Talkeetna, Chicken, Skagway, Dawson Creek, etc. Joe Grove