I wanted to ride this road while in AK this summer but in looking up info it seems to not open till July. Will be this area the last week of June and wonder what the chances of the road being open? I am on a V-Strom and my riding partner on a big metric cruiser.
Your riding partner MAY have a problem, as the road form Palmer to Willow side is dirt/gravel and not exactly cruiser friendly. But hey, anythings possible.
I can see issues with the terrain for a cruiser on the Palmer side. Grades and Gravel. It will level out and smooth out but you never know. Take it easy and slow I guess.
Thanks for the replies, hear the scenery is fantastic and I do not want to miss it. Guess if my bud survives the TOW after D2D and the Dalton up to the Artic Circle he should be able to make it through the Hatcher Pass road. Looking forward to meeting ya'll in Dawson.
So what exactly is he riding? The ride up to the Arctic Circle isn't too bad, any further up the haul road and it gets challenging. All bets are off if the weather falls out...And what kind of tires is he planning on running? Rider skill plays a BIG part in being able to handle various road conditions, but it only gets you so far, or too far...
He has one of those big Yamaharleys, beltdrive even. Tried to talk him into a DL1000 as he rides some 2up with the spouse, but he likes his cruisers. For tires he said he put on new Metzlers, not sure what model though. Have not seen them as he lives in WA and I am in TX. Will meet him in WA and ride from there. He is pretty comfortable riding FS roads so I guess he'll be OK. I hear some folks ride Goldwings and big Harleys all the way to Deadhorse. Not my idea fun though riding an 800lb+ bike on gravel/dirt. My wee strom is bad enough and I would much rather ride my DR650 on gravel/dirt.
This guy is obviously extremely intelligent. I hope you and your friend have a safe journey to, from and within our wonderful state!
This guy is obviously extremely intelligent. I hope you and your friend have a safe journey to, from and within our wonderful state! I actually thought about riding the DR to AK but for the thousands of miles of pavement the Wee gets the vote. What I need is a tranformer bike. I have seen those cars on TV that change to fighting robots, seems a Wee to DR should be easy. Been on the TV, got to be true. Anyway thanks for the kind words. 29 days till I head north. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
Back in the good ol' days I know that my Dad rode it on a 1980 Harley Tour-glide, and a Suzuki GS1100E. It's pretty dang rough in spots and some rocks that could do some brutal damage but your buddy will just have to slow down a bit or crank it on like Ryan Dungy in a set of whoops.
I've seen scads of cruisers do that road/trail and they manage fine. Just take your time. My perspective; it's kinda like riding in Denali Park, but compressed. It is a fantastic place and you should not miss it.
Went up and scouted it out today. Still quite a ways from opening... It was spitting snow and the backcountry ski folks were still out making some runs. It's supposed to be sunny and highs around 60 all week though and that'll really start knockin' the snow out.
