Dust to Dawson (D2D) or Bust

Greetings faithful followers and welcome to the continuing Adventures of the Horck. This year, 2012, we are forsaking the trusty Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classics for the reportedly reliable and least expensive adventure bike on the market, the venerable Kawasaki KLR 650. Yep, single cylinder thumper, no cruise control, no CB, AM/FM radio or CD player, and some 400 pounds lighter than the Harley-Davidson.

So, why would any presumably normal person opt for the little dual-sport over the mature person's Ultra Classic Road Couch? Because we, Lane Greenberg, my able riding companion, on his own KLR, and I are off to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, and the Arctic Circle from Santa Clarita, California, commencing June 10, 2012. We are expecting to return just before the Fourth of July, some 24 days later.

This 5,500 mile jaunt will take us over approximately 4,000 miles of paved roads and about 1,500 miles of gravel roads (mud in the rain) to Vancouver, British Columbia, Hyder, AK, Prince George, British Columbia, Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, the Arctic Circle, Inuvik, Northwest Territory, and then Dawson City, YK, for the annual Dust to Dawson (D2D) Dual-Sport gathering. Following D2D we'll head west over the Top of the World Highway through Chicken (hey, I didn't name the town and I'm not asking why they did) to Tok, AK. From there it's south to Whitehorse, YT, Dawson Creek, BC, the official starting point for the Alaska Highway, and on to Jasper, Alberta, and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Then continuing south to Olympia, Washington, Redding CA and home to Santa Clarita. Phew! I'm already tired and haven't even started yet.

We're going to cheat a little bit this year by trailering the KLR's to Olympia, WA, and riding from there. We've suffered the boredom of Interstate 5 from Santa Clarita to the Canadian border on previous rides to Alaska and Canada. The KLR is a great little dual-sport capable of highways and dirt trails, but freeway cruisers, they ain't.

While the original purchase price of a KLR is very reasonable, about a third the price of a Harly-Davidson, they have required considerable additions and modifications to make them true adventure bikes, capable of this type of journey. We have added hard side cases, top boxes, engine guards, center stands, tool cases, water-proof bags, extra gas containers, front fork braces, radios, GPS, beefed up both the front and rear suspensions, spare parts, extra inner tubes, special tires, touring windshields and variety of extra tools. Then, you fill all of the bags with what you think you might need. When the weight of the accessories, bags and contents equals the empty weight of the motorcycle, that is your clue to quit planning, packing and go!

We hope you will follow and enjoy our adventure as it progresses.

Sincerely,

John "The Horck" Vander Horck and
"Fast Lane" Greenberg