Alaska at Eighty

Looks like you are doing a great job of staying clear of the bugs and making some good mileage.  👍

Over 850 miles in two days.  Impressive!  🍻 

Excellent pictures, Jan, as usual from you. You have a knack for bringing your pictures to a new dimension, almost alive.

Safe travels, mi' amigo.

Safe travels Jon .. What an amazing trip!

Staying a couple of days in Angel Fire, NM. watched the small mountain village July 4th parade...

Next morning was the local Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast... $15 donation.

Had a nice chat with neighbors and locals, yet most "locals" are people from other states. Angel Fire is a ski resort village that attracts people mainly from Texas and Oklahoma. Why? Because Texas and Oklahoma don't have ski resorts.

The Texas Aggie joke is, if God wanted Texans to ski, he would have made bull sh*t white.

Then there are the Albuquerque residents who come up to the 8200' elevation to escape the hot summers.

Now that Colorado ski areas have gotten so expensive, more and more people from Colorado are buying here as it is their closest, still affordable, ski resort.

Tomorrow it's back on the road heading northwest.

Dig the local community spirit! 😎 

Jan, on your upcoming announcement that you now have a flat rear tire on the bike, and....it's a Run-Flat Car Tire.....my first question will be do you have a scissor jack in the sidecar trunk, so you can place it under the bike, and lift that rear tire off the ground.

My next question is, do you have a Tire Plug Kit, and air compressor, in the trunk of the sidecar ?

If NOT on all these things, once you get On The Road again, and buzz up to your relatives' house in Portland, then drive by my area on your way to the ferry in Bellingham, I will meet up with you along the way and hand you the requisite scissor jack, and Tire Plug Kit, and Air Compressor that I keep in the trunk of my sidecar, so you can use these on the remainder of your trip.

If on a long distance ride, like this, and far from home, I have run 1000's of miles on Plugged REAR tires, and if plugged correctly, it lasts the remaining miles of the tire.

Yes it's a concern to be heading of to the wilds if a simple puncture can stop progress in civilisation. 

Update on the Olde Man going for the Record on the IBA UCC Challenge....

After a phone call with him, He does not have a scissors jack with him, so of course I lectured him about that , he does have the squiggly worms tire plugs, which work well enough if you are good at employing them into the tire, and he has a working air compressor, now that he replaced the blown fuse to the air compressor.

He says it is a SLOW leak, possibly a valve stem, more likely a valve stem CORE, but he needs to get that rear tire OFF the ground, rotate it around, inspect the tire very carefully, and I suggested buying a small pack of extra valve stem COREs to have along, as sometimes that little tiny rubber seal on the CORE can cause a leak. Almost any auto parts store in the US has bicycle valve stem cores they sell as a pack, and they will probably have a scissor jack.

No need for the expensive all aluminum Porsche scissor jacks that were popular with the sidecar owners, due to their lightweight....but just buy a standard all steel scissor jack, and stuff it into the trunk of the sidecar, as it is added ballast, and...you hope to never use it.

Go...Jan...GO

FM, what tire pressures are you running in Goldwing?

Posted by: @jan-2

↑

FM, what tire pressures are you running in Goldwing?

Jan, 40 psi in the front tire...and 35 psi in the Rear tire, that is also a Run-Flat Car Tire.

35 psi in the sidecar tire, because it is also a 140/70-18 Bridgestone BT-46 rear tire, mounted onto a Honda Goldwing front wheel, but is the sidecar tire.

The shortest answer to your question is...40 Front, and 35 Rear.

Found the screw in the tire, the local True Value sold their only scissor jack. Take a few days to order one in. Tire is losing air as fast as the Cycle Pump puts it in. 

will inspect all of the tire at the auto repair shop in the morning, plug the hole, slime the inside and look for a jack on down the road. 

Am running a 205/60-16 run flat on the rear. 

Thanks Fm for confirming the pressures.

Might be worth reconsidering the Slime, unless you plan to remove the tire(s), and clean the rims when you get back home to Texas.

https://slime.com/pages/will-slime-tire-sealant-damage-my-rims

Good point on the Slime, but that is the only product available here... As my hispanic wife tells me, "No hay mal pan cuando tienes buen hambre",

translates to "there is no bad bread when one is very hungry."

Jan, an idea.....

I can order a brand new Run Flat tire, or.....non-Run Flat....your choice, and have it here at my shop in a couple days.

You swing by here....I  am 12 miles off Interstate 5, whilst on your way towards Bellingham....and we do one of two choices.

Option 1:  we toss your Sidecar rig up in the air, on my car lift, and remove the rear wheel,  take it, and the NEW tire to my local Les Schwab tire store, they dismount the bad tire, then mount the new tire, back to my shop, we reinstall the rear wheel to the bike, drop the sidecar rig 6 feet to the ground,  then send you to Bellingham. 

Option 2:  we install MY rear wheel and tire onto your bike.....send you on your way to Bellingham. 

Time difference: Option 1 will take a total of 2 hours...90 minutes longer than Option 2....which is only 30 minutes. 

If you select Option 2, then after your olde butt leaves, I will have the new tire installed onto your former rear wheel at the local Les Schwab, then install it onto MY bike.

The local  Les Schwab sells size of tire we want, but NOT in  Run Flat model. If we want a Run Flat (and I agree it's the smart choice) then I need to order one from TireRack.

What say ye ?

Miles, thank you for the thoughtful offer. If there is more than one penetration, then I'll option to get a new tire. In that case your option two to swap wheels seems ideal, quick, fast and back on the road.

If the only issue is one darn screw, I'll option to plug the hole with worms, Slime the inside and ride on. If we cannot get a good seal with worms than getting to Washington will be an issue.

I am trying to keep my speed about 2100 rpm, or 65. No high speed interstates roads on this trip, so worms should be able to handle that. 

Have plotted the route from Deadhorse avoiding interstates when possible. Ride five days, rest one. Average 350 miles a day, that puts me in Key West in 24 days. Fewer daily miles per day north of Dawson Creek.

I see the Parks Road from Anchorage to Fairbanks is closed due to fire.That removes the Homer Spit from my must see list before starting the UCC run.

Jan