12,000 miles on a dual sportster via Inuvik

Before and after of the sportster






build thread is linked in my sig

Here is the newly added spot link http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0qyqVcbyLafnQDfueRBTqR9uKOkPqZqe1


My mom and dad have raised me on the back of motorcycles; I have been on them in one way or another for 30 years. They have dragged me from one end of the states to the other; we use to do bonsai vacation runs that would be 6,000 miles in two weeks with lots of interesting stops. I have great memories of those days and they grow dearer to me as I get older. I now have a job and a family so the times of riding with my mom and dad are very rare and a cherished. So this trip is a very exciting time in my life as the first leg of my Alaska trip is two Washington State with my mom and dad.



We leave out at 4:30am on Sunday morning the 10th of July. The purpose is to beat the heat and head west as fast and straight as possible. The goal is to stay in Amarillo and to get there we still have over 100 degree weather. At that point the Roadcrafter gets packed and the airflow goes on. Our first real stop is in Oklahoma city at the stockyards for breakfast. The waiter tells us of the 110 degree high that day and hopes we stay safe on the road. I have a 3liter camelback that makes staying hydrated easy. I will have to fill it 3 times before we stop for the day.



The first piece of adventure happens on the interstate when my mom’s face shield blows off. She loses the peak as well as the shield. The screws backed out and allowed the whole event to happen. Once we’re on the shoulder and asses the issue we end up just putting her shades on. This helps on to see but does nothing for the wind and sun burn.


Just as a side note, my dad would have given his face shield to her, but just before we left he had skin cancer taken off his nose, with a skin graft to cover the whole. He is suppose to keep it out of the wind and sun with no lifting for a week. O well he is hard headed


The motel in Amarillo is welcomed as the sun has sucked us dry and tired; the room is cheap and clean. I have developed a carb leak so at the motel I tear into it and find trash in the float bowl and remove the float needle and clean the seat. Put it back together and all is well. This sportster is easy to work on, I just took the air filter off and did the rest on the bike, took about 15 minutes. Within walking distance there are two steak houses, a Road House and a mom and pop place. As standard fare we choose the local flavor and skip the chain. It was a Great steak house, decision well made!



The next day we head out at 7:30 am and head for the higher elevation. Our plan is go through Clayton and over Johnson mesa, take two lane roads from Walsenburg to Buena Vista. The ride is grand and one of my favorites as I get to see the change in country side from dessert to Mesa to the Rockies. Here are some pics that speak better than I can.







This is a neat little church up on Johnson mesa, I like to stop here just for a break and look see




Mom like to play the piano, she just can’t help it




We run up to Westcliff where Dad has a favorite restaurant they cook in a large homemade brick oven. This is a interesting town and there is normally a guy sitting on the side walk with his GSPD and tells stories. He wasn’t here this time and I missed being able to talk with him. Maybe on the way home from AK.









Tuesday should be a nice cool fun ride as we leave from Buena Vista, weather is suppose to be good and a cool ride. Once we fire up the bikes and head north to Aspen things change we end up riding in rain and lots of it. This is hardest on mom since she has no face shield and only dark sun glasses. After fighting with the weather for a while we called it quits for mom’s safety. She couldn’t see for the rain and the darkness, plus the glasses stayed fogged over, short day. We are in Vernal, Ut. This morning may hold a surprise in it for mom, We will just have to wait and see.

You have a neat set of parents!!!
Looks like a great trip for you ahead, enjoying this and looking forward for more

Have a safe trip!!

Fantastic Trip ! The Sporty looks set up nice too with all the storage.

Keep the KEEPERs riding.

Good RR here john

Subscribed to this one! Go John!

Wish I had known you were coming thru OKC, I would have liked to see your bike. I've watched your build from the start.
Did you guys eat at Cattleman's Restaurant? If you come back thru OKC let us know. There are 3 of use that would like to look at
your bike. Maybe catch a burger or something.

where's the google map of the CONUS route?

Thanks for all the comments, I'll try to get some pics up Internet is scarce right now. Tomorrow I'll be at happy-trail picking up some supplies. So I'll hold up in boise for the weekend

Oh thank God...that sporty is really going someplace!!!

I'll follow this one since Vinny is too big of a wimp to ride to Alaska!!!!

The envy I feel is immense.

cool start riding with mom and pop.

that bike will attract lots of attention along the way on both sides of the border.

safe travels.

Tuned in
Jim

We left Westcliff and headed to Aspen. This is a beautiful route that has great views, with nice curves. A perfect paved road for general riding. On the way up Independence pass we run into construction, it was the first day to start pea gravel the road. We were lucky in the fact that they hadn’t got a lot done by the time we went through, just good timing.











me and mom, yea we favor some









sometime mom needs a little help with the roadcrafter



It looks like we may be a little rain in the forecast



Not just a little, it poured buckets, so we stop and get a room and some goggles for mom. Trouble is it was a dealership, so they had new bikes there. Dad was looking for a bike that would really suit my mom. We found something that looked like it would work, but had to wait for the next morning for mom to try it on and take the test ride. After the test ride she loved the bike and for the next 6 hours they do the paper work and get the bike ready to roll :eek1. Dad unpacks the BMW and loads the Road king with his stuff and packs mom's gear in the new roadglide ultra. Now the road king will not hold near as much gear as the Happy-trail outfitted gs would so he looks like a hillbilly rolling down the road with all his gear under a bungee net.

Seriously? :huh New bike mid-trip!!!!

Im in old boy...I take it the 'ol man is fly'n back to get the GS later...?
Or'd he trade it on Moms new Hog?

Glad to see ya here Jim, you will just have to wait on the story on the bike. At this point the bike is in storage at the Harley shop. We are not real sure how or when we will get it back, but we have a few options.


After the purchase we head off to Pinedale, WY. It’s late in the afternoon when we leave and we still have to make it a few hundred miles. We leave on empty stomachs not having and food while work on get the bike out of Beers Harley dealership as soon as possible. On the way we go through Flaming gorge with its breath taking scenery. This day is a good one as we will find only a few minutes of rain.









The Hillbilly Harley at our stay for the night

I'm in, this is going to be a good one. Nothing like picking up a brand new Harley and immediately riding it to Inuvik!

Late night and early morning, we need to be in Bosie this afternoon. We have a good ride for about half the day to day as we ride through Palisades. Great cool morning and the Hoeback junction makes for awesome scenery and comfort. If you have rode Harleys much there are a few things that are common to have issues with if you do not stay on them.
We are riding along construction area’s before the crews are out and lots of little dirt road detours. After a few mile the morning cobwebs are getting blown out and we begin to settle into the ride, then all of a sudden my dad hits his brakes and pulls off the road rather abruptly. Mom passes him then pulls over and I pull up beside him to see what’s up. He had blown the muffler off. Typical Harley issue number one





So we take the heat shields off of the Vance and Hines exhaust system was not put on properly and the muffler had been completely on the header pipe. Gotta love used bikes when the dealership had done all the work 
After about 15 minutes we are rolling again, and enjoying the ride. This area of Wyoming and Idaho are beautiful with tall rugged mountains and smooth clear lakes, it’s like a rolling post card. Riding in this type of landscape with my 60+ year old parents is surreal. We get on each other nerves sometimes, get tired of the pace that is set, and disagree on what type of food we should eat. We never really voice the disagreements but it adds tension at times. These moments pass as quickly as the lines in the road and only lets us know that we are a typical family and are having a great time with each other, as only a strong family could do. What lingers in the back of my mind is how awesome it will be when my kids are riding with me, and my parents in the lead. That will be three generations of Ogdens rolling down the road enjoying motorcycling as it should be. This has always been a strong tie for us.

Once we get to Idaho falls the cool weather is beginning to fade and the landscape flattens as we head out toward Arco and cross by the moon rocks. Just at the Idaho Falls city limits common problem #2 takes place as Dad’s hill toe shift comes loose and stops his ability to down shift for the traffic light. Off to the side of the road again.

We are heading toward Happy-trails and the V-strom event that will be taking place this weekend at Happy Trails. The weekend will be spent with old friends and new discussing the finer point of motorcycling.













We have made it to Happy-Trail and the event, upon arriving we get a free bike wash. Tim and Jason take care of us and do a complete wash job on the bikes. Thanks guys…what’s that…yea it’s a Harley…its called a sportster endure…yea I built it myself. This is the normal conversation at gas stations and dealer ships alike.







I have an appointment set up at High Desert Harley to get a small leak fixed. The high pressure oil line is seeping some, about 3-4 drops over night. So I had called in a week earlier to make sure the parts are in and they had time to get to me. When I arrived this big burly Harley mechanic came out and in a deep voice said “Hey your on ADV aren’t you?” He has been following my build thread. It was great to have the bike in a dealership where someone was familiar with my bike build. This ADV group is pretty far reaching. They did a great job with the bike and I am now leak free going north. 



Next on the agenda was to fab up some way to work on the bike on the trail. I have no way to get the back tire off the ground and my sorry kick stand wouldn’t hold if the bike is leaned on it with full weight. I had an idea of what I wanted to do and Jason had some additional thoughts on the matter as well. What came out of Happy-trails fab shop is cool and works well to keep me going in case of flats.



I told dad he couldn’t zip up that jacket, it’s a small and he’s got a gut. Like a good father does he said o yea watch this. He put the jacket on and had too large a gap to close it up. So he took it off and zipped it up. The with this smart eleck voice he said “See I put in on , and zipped it up”

YeeeHaaa