Alaska?

[Wayne H]

I'm planning a trip to Alaska, all the way to Deadhorse, and have been planning to take my older '04 GSA but I keep wondering how the Multi (2011 1200S Touring) would do on the trip with a fair amount of gravel on the Top of teh World Hwy, Denali Hwy, Dalton Hwy, etc. It is about 7000 miles there and back from Oregon.

Anybody made this trip on a Mts 1200S? What tires were used?

Any thoughts about teh GSA vs MTS?

Thanks,
Wayne

[Aztec]

I can't help you, but wow what a ride

[DUC_54]

Made this trip 2 springs ago on my '10 F800GS with Heidenau tires up from Washington State to the artic circle on them Dempster, and over Top of World hwy etc etc. Now That I have a '11 Multi......my thoughts are, I would not ride the multi in some of the weather encountered on the "oatmeal" like gravel roads up there. They are so very slick and usually 6 inches deep. That being said, the multi could go everywhere else on the frosted heaved partially paved hwys in Alaska. I just wouldn't want to lay this bike down, especially if it had the stock tires. Just my 2 cents.

[cyclops]

I haven't done it on a bike but have driven these roads all the way to Deadhorse in an Ford van a few years back. All the gravel roads were in pretty good shape, some of it was corrigated as could be expected, from memory there wasn't much soft stuff and the pot holes weren't to bad either,some of the sealed roads had a few frost heaves but on the whole not to bad. Make shore you take a good puncture repair kit,we were warned about punctures but never got one.
I was up there in July,August and the almost 24hr day light took a bit of getting used to. Also take some mozzi repellent, there are millions of these little suckers especially North of the Brooks Ranges. Anyway i think the Multi would handle it fine, i see on here there is a posting for off road tyres, might be worth looking at. Have fun, will be a good ride.

[multibike]

I just did this trip from Los Angeles to Anchorage and back on my 2007 multi. It is an incredible riding experience! 90% paved, some gravel, but did fine on street tires. I ran into a guy at Laird hot springs (a must stop) on a 2010 strada, he had no complaints about riding from So. cal. to Dawson creek. I say go for it! Oh, and Banff national park is also highly recommended!

[curvesurfer]

People do it in RVs and on Harleys, the MTS can do it on street tires.

Still, I'd opt for the rugged simplicity of a GS rather than the complex, fragile Ducati.

[Sock Monkey]

Hell yeah I'd do it on my Multi, especially now that Conti is going to produce their TKC 80 in sizes to fit our wheels. Bring on the oatmeal!

-SM

[idahoskiguy]

+1

Originally Posted by Sock Monkey

Hell yeah I'd do it on my Multi, especially now that Conti is going to produce their TKC 80 in sizes to fit our wheels. Bring on the oatmeal!

-SM

Have done this ride and you will need to plan on doing at least one rear tire replacement given the miles traveled.

[U235Power]

I did Alaska on my V-Strom a few years ago... The soft mud on the roads will be the only challenge... If you are planning a TKC from beginning to end, you may not have enough tread to be worth anything by the time you get to the mud... You could plan a clear route up and hit the mud after you throw on a new set of tires up north... I ate a Perelli Scorpion on my V-Strom on the way up. The Multi can definitely handle it all. Be prepared to be digging mud and bugs from parts of the bike you never new existed...

Top of the World Hwy was awesome... The ride up and back to Eagle was pretty good...

[mmcannava]

All but the several hundred miles N of Fairbanks to Deadhorse would be 100 times more fun on the MTS. Went from Soldotna to SoCal early September of '11...awesome (stayed the night at a friend's in Albany, OR).

For my money/time...I'd skip the desolation, dust, gravel and trucks of the haul road to Deadhorse and take the Richardson down to Valdez...side trip to Chitina...that's an amazing ride, beautiful pavement.

Mat