Two Moto Kiwis Arctic To Antarctic May 2012...

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by Shaggie

are they indicators in your handguards Andi?

i looked on the barkbusters website and couldnt see them

S

Bright LED marker lights only Shaggie

Originally Posted by hondav2

Since Andi is just to buzy to reply to u I will answer your questions

Bout time you turned up, good to have an international secretary doing our stuff while we are playing

Originally Posted by Hewby

Subscribed. I am currently heading up on the inside passage that way- north to Prudohe and south to Ushuaia on my F650 over the next year. Maybe we will catch up on the road?

Coolio, we may catch up alongs the way

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Greetings ADVers, we have been away from wifi etc for a week and half ish so have not been able to get back to here prior, hopefully the following will enlighten you to the hard work and torment we have had to go thru JUST so we can come back and tell you

Friday 25th May

We were originally planning to go to Prudhue Bay with Amy and Jack however with the bike 600 mile service needing to be done, my bike still not running right and no big tank there was too much hanging in the air to confirm.

So in the events that followed, my Safari tank arrived, our bikes were serviced however my bike was still not running right, after a scrap with Suzuki and some stern words from Barb into appropriate ears they “found” some time to take serious look at it to sort it out and that was Thursday night then Friday morning, I am pleased to say my bike now runs like Ellens does and finally acts (almost) like it should.

With not being able to go to Prudhoe we took off to Valdez on Friday avo to camp at King Mountain reserve, great place and great scenery, Dicon and Leslie left after work and soon caught us up at camp.



Ellens new PINK Chair arrived so that seemed to be the camp fire fun for the evening ... weird people.



Leslie had a go...



Dicon sorta had a go...



Then the camera had a go



We were also generously donated 4 Goose eggs to have for breaky as a New Zealanders welcoming present by Nancy the camp host...too cool.



Greta night really without TV .... Food, wine, fire, photos, sleep.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Saturday 26th May

Saturday morning dawned gray, we packed up almost dry and continued on our way toward Valdez .... mum nature decided we all needed a shower .... boy did it rain and it dropped to 32 f or ZERO in the metric world, at that time I thought we had better take off our shorts and carry on in our riding trousers.

On the way Kiwi decided it was too fookin cold behind the screen and jumped off, dumb idea at 70 miles an hour, I turned round went back and picked him up, he was breathing but was hyperthermic, things were serious



So a stop at Glenellen for bike and human fuel, hot coffee and food ... life saver... and time for Kiwi to dry out ... see the stain he left on the seat



We also turned off to Cooper Centre to the newly burnt down building, that was not a good thing to see and sad for the owners who ARE rebuilding.





As we headed to Valdez the weather came and went, this time with mum nature offering views of snowy mountains and beautiful glaciers, it was still fookin cold but looking out the window made it very worth while Thompsons pass being quite spectacular.









Upon arriving at Valdez we were greeted by heavy rain and just above freezing so the weather had improved quite a bit, we faffed around looking at a camp site at which the cost seemed more comparable to purchasing the site rather than just staying there the night so we went outa town to the Airport camp ground.

We got to the camp, it was a matter of finding a site with the LEAST amount of snow on it, we won. We set up and leslie organized snacks fit for a King so snacks, food, wine fire etc, great night.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Sunday 27th May

Sunday morning Ellen went for a run and was confronted by a brown bear, she stood still, the bear eyed her up and down for about 20 seconds and musta decided he didn’t wonna eat Chinese for breakfast and took off into the bushes, I am grateful for that as I don’t know how to change our ride report to “One Moto Kiwi”

The day started as a gray day (surprise) and was not wet then turned to shit BIG time as we were packing up so everything got wet (again), we shot back to town to tank up and go to a shop which was closed so we left Valdez, a little disappointing we could see Valdez in all her glory because of the weather but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

The assault on Thompsons pass turned out to be an assault on us, as we climbed to the summit the rain turned to snow (again) ... this is now becoming the norm for us so we stopped to take photos, saweeet .. met another BMW rider at the summit with an unhappy wife as she did not see the funny side of the snow or freezing temperatures, just as well we were not wearing our shorts or she mighta thought we were weird.







So what is a man to do but indulge in the locale



So from here the weather started to turn in our favour and we found the roads drying and the cloud lifting enough to expose some of Alaskas beautiful mountain sides so we were lucky, we arrived at destination Pippin Lake where Dicon and Leslie carried on back to Anchorage and Ellen and I were heading to Kennicott Copper mine.



We continued to Chitina for a bite of lunch and tank up then carried on to McCarthy on 60 miles of shingle roads with more potholes and corrugations than you can poke a stick at.

We arrived safe and sound and set up camp dry WOHHOH, we some dinner we went into McCarthy township ... this place is a step back in time.



This outstanding property took our interest as it is for sale

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Monday 28th May

Dawned a fine day, couldn’t believe it, the weather Gods had finally taken pity on us and gave us a break and the bears had not flogged our fud



We packed up camp and rode into Kennicott Copper mine, WOW what a place and the history behind it is amazing, we took heaps of pics and sifted around, we met up with Klaus again, a German adventure biker living in Australia and touring for a month in Alaska, hard case and nice guy so that is three of us I know of now.









After we finished at the mine we piled back onto our trusty steads and rode out, Ellen made it in and out of Kennicott without biffing her bike once, I think she will be ready for world moto x champs next week.



We also stopped at the famous Kuskalana Bridge .. it is slightly high!







Then .. .she left me!!!


On stopping at the Salmon wheels on the Copper river I had to execute our first field repair, I noticed the tank was wobbling and the left hand bolt had vibrated almost out, so I RTVed the bolt and screwed it back in ... sweetas.







We ran outa cash and only had a 5er left so it was time to find a dutchie camp which we did, well the camp turned out to be the best site we have had thus far and it was gratis. We met a dude from Anchorage on a CT 90 who was looking around so we ended up camping together and borrowing his fire as we had an epic fail on our Coleman cooker which we have to fix.

This is his trusty steed a less than 1000 mile old CT90, what a weapon, I suggested he keep it under the covers so the Russians don't see it

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Tuesday 29th May

We woke to a nice warm morning, Ellens good weather mojo had kicked in and life was good, we packed up and proceeded to head back to Anchorage to what was an uneventful trip with a combo of sun and a few clouds a bit windy in a few places but nothing team TMK couldn’t handle.

Liberty Falls on the way out to the main road ... vary noice



Check it out what a day



Some mirror art





And that concludes the Anchorage to Valdez and back again trip, there will be no more reports until the next one.

[Harvey Krumpet]

Stunning. I'm reading a book about the history of Alaska at the mo & those photos are making it very real.

All the best..

[Shewolfnz]

love it..I'm not going to complain about the chilly rides to work after seeing your photos

[Kiwi Dave]

Great to see you two are having the time of your lives. I know how it feels to be living the dream and it's great your getting to live yours. I hope the weather is not getting you down.

Had the urge to get the Beemer out for a run a couple of weekends ago and went to Franz Josef for the night. The weather outlook for the following week was so bloody good I decided to continue on up the coast and just kept riding. A couple of days later I found I could go no further as I was at Farewell Spit. 16C and the skies were stunning.

I'll send some of our blue sky vibes your way.

Love the ride report and thanks for taking us all along.

Dave

[BcDano]

Loving it, already looking very epic.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by Shewolfnz

love it..I'm not going to complain about the chilly rides to work after seeing your photos

Heya Shewolf ... cold is cold girl ... and when it is wet and cold its so still the same.. North or South , hope all is going well in NZ.

Originally Posted by Kiwi Dave

Love the ride report and thanks for taking us all along.

Dave

Heya Dave, great to get out for ride eh and great to be taking you along for our ride.

Originally Posted by BcDano

Loving it, already looking very epic.

Dan hope your plans are coming together mate, we are using all the bad weather up so when you get here there will be none left!!

[hondav2]

You guys sure r getting the good weather , glad u went to Kennicott Mine . The day I was there it was Blue Skies and hot but that was in July. I didnt see much in Valdez due to low cloud but I had a great ride out of Valdez, had the 6fidddy nailed in 4th gear , it ran around 80mph all he way to the top off the hill . Good to see the lil Kiwi , I have a bigger 1 here and its a battle to keep it, all the kids want it . Keep the stories coming. Have a look in my smuggy and u will see what I have been doing. Had to put the Kenji Superbike in shop for new crank and bearings , new chain , new rear axle , seals and bearings , adjust gears ect 2-3 hours labour cost 305 Pesos about $9NZ , so expensive to live here . Whats your smugmug address ???????. Cheers Toddy

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Heya Toddy good to hear from you mate, all is good here, we leave North to Fairbanks etc om Monday, where is CJ based?, do you have a ph no or email as we will catch up with him too. PM it thru if you can.

We joined Smuggers then cannned it, way to slow compared to photobucket for posting pics and internet time is precious when you are on the road.

In am SMR_Dude of photobucket.

Catch up later dude.

[hondav2]

Just sent him a message , Im sure he is back in Tok and going to D2D . Its a nice day ride from his place over top of world highway to Dawson City .I rode that road 5 times . Have fun , just waiting for moto gp to start . Cheers Toddy

[Shaggie]

great update Andi n Ellen!!!!

awesome

Cheers

S