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C14 to Prudhoe Bay

Memac63

Memac63

Tricycle
Long term dream ride for me.  Has anyone ridden their Connie to Deadhorse AK?  Is it too tall and top heavy for that kind of ride or maybe not enough range in the tank or too much pow for long stretches of dirt?
 
Just depends on how big your boys are I guess. :-\ ;D  You should watch all his concours trip videos. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDrDfRO47e4 :motonoises: :motonoises:
PS Just noticed he must have meant C14....I think if you can ride it on a C10, then you should be able to do it on a C14.  Do I want to drive down muddy roads like that on a C anything?  Not me.  R1200GS would work though.
 
Wasn't this guy a member of COG?  For anyone curious, he switched to a madstad windshield.
 
Good stuff, thanks.  I enjoy riding my connie a lot, though I do need to make some ergonomic changes for long ride comfort, Alaska is the only U.S. state I have not visited so it's high on my bucket list and a road trip from Tucson to Deadhorse has loads of appeal to me.  If I can make it happen I'd really like to take the trip on my connie, it's my fifth bike and easily my favorite.  No room to make such a ride this summer so plenty of time. I have just checked into some of Rick's videos and will make time to watch more.
 
I've been up there twice but both times on my Yamaha Tenere. Chose not to take the Concourse and believe it was the right decision. It all depends on the weather.
Rain and wet = very slippery muddy conditions.
You would probably want to carry an extra gallon of gas to be on the safe side and for the comfort level. 
 
Just had this conversation the other day with a buddy of mine who is planning to make this trip next summer.
I'm considering tagging along, but I'll be on a very different bike than the C14 if I do.
He's planning to ride up to Anchorage on his BMW F800, and then renting a bike for the final leg up to Prudho.
...something about lots of salt used on the road, and not wanting to expose his bike to the abuse.....

I don't even like riding my c14 on a hard packed gravel-road (which I had to do just the other day) let alone a sloppy loosely packed gravel/mud road with lots of trucks on it for many hundreds of miles.  Nope.

Choose your tools wisely, make it a Pleasurable journey.  :beerchug:

gr
 
woodie said:
I've been up there twice but both times on my Yamaha Tenere. Chose not to take the Concourse and believe it was the right decision. It all depends on the weather.
Rain and wet = very slippery muddy conditions.
You would probably want to carry an extra gallon of gas to be on the safe side and for the comfort level.
Click to expand...
My hat's off to ya Woodie!  Watching Rick's videos, it looks like there were some miserable conditions to ride through.  You're an inspiration to many! :great:
 
Before I start rambling, let me just say that I've watched almost all of Rick's videos.  He's my hero.
 
The C-14 is NOT the machine for a Prudhoe Bay adventure.  Even if you are a good (bordering on excellent) rider.  I've taken my C-10 on roads similar to the Alaskan road on Rick's video, but only for a few miles.  Nothing like - what did he say? - 500 miles!  I can't imagine doing that. 

The C-10 was skittish enough.  The C-14 is worse, despite the lower center of gravity.  The back tire is wider by about 2 inches, and while it provides excellent traction on asphalt, on loose gravel or, heaven forbid, mud, it tends to 'float' more.  Also, consider that the C-14 has no radiator guard which can be a problem on loose gravel roads. 

And, one last thing.  You should not underestimate the terror of roads doused in calcium chloride.  Not only is the treated road surface very slick - slicker than a snail's snot, according to Rick - the chemical is known to be very hard on aluminum components.  The C-14 is mostly aluminum.  I shudder to think what condition your lovely ride would be in after several days of that.  Also, the mud/calcium chloride combo dries to the consistency of concrete, just so you know.  I've spent a many a merry afternoon trying to pick this stuff out of my radiator.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide.  You are a brave soul.             
 
I did the Prudhoe run with my son 5 years ago, he on his KLR and me on my V-Strom.  Had a blast and would do it again, but it would not be any fun on a C14 or similar.  We had really good fortune with the weather for the trip, and were flying along standing on the pegs for many miles at a time.  However, a couple of squalls on the run instantly turned the surface to slime.  Fortunately we knew such would happen, and had brought our speed way down in preparation.  In one particular instance, we were coming down a hill slippery as could be, just trying to maintain a semblance of traction to the bottom, where we could see the opportunity to get onto some better gravel surface on the "shoulder".  We were essentially idling along about 15mph, and the rear end of my bike slowly swing out about a foot or so.  If I hadn't been standing up at the time, it probably would have just gone out from under me.  As it was, I had enough presence of mind to give very slight throttle, bringing the back end in line and getting to a comfortable line with no further drama.  We were both using 80/20 tires for the trip, and on the Dalton knobbies would be a much better choice.  I cannot imagine taking a pure road bike on that, but I know it has been done successfully.
 
More good stuff.  Great points about the slimy conditions and what the road coatings might do to my purty C14.  Plenty of time to think about it.
 
I have made the trip to Prudoe Bay twice on my KTM 1290 SA. The trip North to Fairbanks can be done on just about anything. North of Fairbanks is very weather dependent. If the weather is nice you could make it on anything. Check out C90adventures on Youtube. There is plenty to see south of Fairbanks where the roads are a little bit nicer.
 
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