CBR250R to the Arctic Circle

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Wish I had 5-6 weeks that I could just ride. What a great adventure that guy had. I think we now need a picture of a NT at the Arctic Circle. Who's up for that ride?
 
How far north of the end of the pavement is the Arctic Circle?
 
It goes to show that you do not need a big liter plus touring bike to go on a nice adventure. Compared to the CBR250R the NT is a plush touring rig.
 
banjoboy said:
Hard not to be impressed with a young guy going 12,000 miles on his trip and planning Tierra del Fuego next year. Makes me feel a bit like a wimp.

Terry
Click to expand...

I was happy about the 20 mile ride I did yesterday in 40 degree temps. Either I'm easy to impress OR I too am a wimp.
 
Today's commute was 45 degrees. Cool but not excessive. BTW, it was 82 on the home bound ride. I will go down to 35 as a matter of routine. No special gear, no electric stuff, just suit, liners supplemented with sweaters ans scarves. Record cold ride, for me, was 25. It was COLD. (Also ran out of gas that night. Fairly hilarious story).
 
I visited all 50 states on a BMW last year. Next year, I'll try Canada on the NT. Since I only went as far as Hyder, AK last year, I'll have to have a shot at Deadhorse, too. The only two roads that cross the Arctic Circle in North America are the Dalton and the Dempster.
 
Rick,

Just do a "Edit Post" to see and reset the font type / size.... The small font is set as Arial and "1" now.... I deleted the Arial and Size in your last line to double check that and it went back to the forum defaults....

Docta and you doing these eye chart tests early in the morning are more than I can handle before a second cup of coffee! :D
 
Epic ride, great pictures. Thanks for linking it here.
 
I rode to the arctic circle sign in 2001. (I did not go to Prudhoe Bay.) I was on my 1984 Honda V65 Sabre. At that time, the pavement ended about 30 miles north of Fairbanks. It was another 160 or 170 miles on gravel. There was ONE MILE of chip seal about 50 miles south of the arctic circle. I was so happy when I crossed onto that, and so sad when it ended! I've heard that there is a lot more pavement now.

The gravel road was very good, as gravel roads go. Michigan has a lot of this type of gravel road - there's a good base under it and it gets regular road grader attention. Some states pave all the roads that they intend to maintain in any way, so when you find gravel it's awful, like riding on a dry creekbed or something. This was not that sort of gravel. This was good gravel, wide and relatively smooth. The scariest sections were actually the ones that were being actively graded. We passed through several areas where the grading crews were working. The grader is like a big snowplow, only instead of making the berm on the edge of the road, they make the berm in the center. So there would be a foot-high pile of loose gravel in the middle of the road. Then they come through and spread this loose gravel across the whole thing. Which makes it really squirmy to ride on. And when you meet that truck, or they meet you, you have to move over and can't pick the best path; you get stuck on the squirmy side. The grading crews also included water trucks that hose the road down.

So my friend Jason and I did the arctic circle thing as a day trip out of Fairbanks. Which was kind of crazy, thinking about it. A 400 mile day that's almost all gravel, is pretty exhausting. But we were there in June, so at least it didn't get dark while we were up there. Jason had no fear and would ride very fast on the gravel. I was pretty freaked out by it at first, but by the end of the day I was too exhausted to maintain that tension, and I rode fast too. Baptism by fire. I'm glad we didn't try to go to Prudhoe Bay. If I ever get back there I might try for it, but I really wasn't ready for such a thing at that time.
 
I'm still thinking that if I get an uncontrollable urge to go north of Fairbanks when I'm up there in '13 that my solution may be to rent a KLR.
 
Rick, I think the OEM undercowl would give some additional protection to the radiator. And I don't think it compromises ground clearance. Maybe the Skidmarx does.

From what I've read, I think the bigger danger would be clogging it up if the road happened to be wet. What ever they put on the gravel (or maybe the gravel itself) turns into a kind of paste that is pretty hard to get off.
 
I'm sure you could do the arctic circle on the NT. I did it on a 17-year old Honda with 100,000 miles on it, and the radiator and oil filter on that bike were less well-protected than the ones on the NT. The guy this thread started talking about, did it on a 250. Sure, something could happen, but frankly, you live in Nevada - you have roads practically in your backyard that are less well-traveled than the Haul Road, and your NT has so far survived your home state, right? If you want to test yourself on some isolated bad roads close to home, take a few days and run up north, take the direct route from Winnemucca to Gerlach, the infamous Jungo Road. If you can do that, you can do the Haul Road.
 
Some good info on the Dempster there. That's the road up to Inuvik, NWT. The Dalton runs up to Deadhorse, AK., which is the northernmost place you can ride to in North America. The Dempster is supposed to be a beautiful ride. Hope to find out next year.
 
And this guy just rode the bike. Didn't spend the world on extras or spend years in the garage modding. Just rode the bike and had an "Adventure" how cool is that.
 
Guys,

Couple of thoughts regarding the ride to Deadhorse, presuming a non-winter trip:

1) You don't need an "adventure bike". Sorry to disappoint, I know that statement may well raise a few eyebrows but think about this for a moment: Road clearance isn't an issue, you won't be riding in deep mud or gravel anywhere along the way. Yes there's both mud and gravel but no worse than you'd find any number of other places, never more than an inch or two deep and usually a lot less. It would be dead simple to do on a Ninja, a bit more challenging on a Gold Wing. Even KLR's are way overkill but they look cool so maybe they're a necessity for some.

2) Regarding radiator shields: My Aprilia's radiator became clogged with mud and crud to the point a large area several inches in diameter became compacted. Overheating never occurred and when I arrived home I got most of it out by hosing with a sharp stream of water. I've never had any issues to date but if I were going to make that run again I'd try to come up with some sort of shield to prevent this.

3) Towing charges on the Dalton: When I was there in '08 the rate was $6.00 per mile BOTH ways. That would be a disaster for most riders. Generally towing becomes necessary when guys ride off the road or T-bone a moose, not because of breakdowns. Reason is most guys do a thorough prep of their bikes prior to the trip.

4) Flat tires: S**t happens. Carry a spare innertube and repair kit plus a small pump. I've been lucky to the point I don't even worry about jinxing things by mentioning the flats I've had occurred when I ran over something and it was on good ol' USA highways, never in Alaska, etc. Start trips like this with new tires properly inflated and you'll do fine. If you're going all the way to Deadhorse you might call the dealer and ask if they stock whatever tire you use and if not think about shipping a set to them in advance. I hauled spares with me and had them changed out in Fairbanks on the way home although I could have made it without doing so. Someone mentioned using that gooey stuff and I agree, I did and my tire life was much better than my buddy's.

5) I experienced breakdowns twice, one electrical which I fixed myself and the other a clogged air filter, again an easy fix. I won't include what happens when you inadvertantly pump diesel into your tank but it will keep you busy along the roadside undoing it. Although it didn't stop me chain wear was severe as well as both sprockets, rollers, anything connected to that area. I oil my chains and check adjustments religiously but bad things still happened and I had to replace all the components when I got home. One more plus for the shafties...

6) Cosmetic damages: They'll occur regardless of how careful you are, the roads in Alaska and northern Canada ensure that. One poster said he didn't care about such things so for him it's a non-isssue to the ride. My earlier comment was posted as an alert to anyone thinking they could walk away unscathed. I fall into the crowd of people who use bikes as they see fit but I happen to like the way my NT looks and I'll do what I can to keep it that way; if I were going back I'd probably ride one of my other bikes. One poster mentioned renting a Kawi for the ride; I saw a lot of those up there and it's probably not a bad idea for obvious reasons.

The ride to Deadhorse is truly one of the best adventure rides you can do in our part of the world and I strongly recommend it, you'll have a lifetime of memories to cherish. If you're not up to that consider other areas like Hyder or the Denali peninsula, all great rides and the scenary is breathtaking. I'll be more than happy to share information with anyone interested.

LL75
 
One more thing I just remembered, the hotel in Cold Foot was charging just under $200 a night when we were there.:eek1: Being frugal types we elected to head north 7 or 8 miles to Marion Creek campground where my US Golden Eagle got us a site for $4.00 Free firewood was provided, it was clean and well maintained and only one posted bear warning nearby. Although it rained like the blazes during the night by morning it had stopped so we rode back to Cold Foot for breakfast at the hotel, then continued north to Deadhorse.

LL75
 
Any properly maintained bike sold can make The Arctic Circle sign. And if you get a good 2 day weather window, you can make Deadhorse. You might have to carry extra fuel though. I did it with a VTX 1800 but only had time to do the Circle.

If the road is wet, you will need to keep an eye on your radiator. Mine got full of the calcium crap they lay down to keep the dust at bay. It is/was evil snot.

Next time I will stay at Wiseman and make Deadhorse from there. There are 2 really nice National Park employees that own Boreal Lodging at Wiseman.
 
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