The R1200R Photo Discussion Thread!

[MTBeemer]

Just about ready for our summer meander. We have around 20-25,000 miles planned, not including 2-3 day trips here in Montana.

[TT RDHS]

Wow!
That's a lot of gear...
Where are you headed?
Will you be camping, most of your trip?

[MTBeemer]

Just about ready for our summer meander. We have around 20-25,000 miles planned, not including 2-3 day trips here in Montana.

We leave Sunday for Branson, MO for Blitz to Branson. Then on to Ohio and Chicago to see family. Back to MT via the SPAM museum in MN and then Aerostitch in Duluth. The Black Hills, Spearfish and Custer Battle Field also on the way home. Refuel and rearm in MT (new tires & service) then head to Hyder, AK for Hyderseek. We'll hit the Fraser River Valley on the way then up the Cassiar to Skagway, then to Fairbanks for a week to see friends. We'll hit Manley Hotsprings while we are there (our favorite AK ride). Then on to Dawson City via the Top of the World Hwy for Dust 2 Dawson. Back south on the Alcan with a detour to Jasper - Banff. Home to MT for another refit before heading to Sedalia, MO for the BMW rally. We'll spend time in Yellowstone along the way. After that we will spend time in MT and southern British Columbia. Texas in September to visit my daughter and then the Moab on the way back. We hope to hit Glacier NP during August as well as some other in state rides.

[Lost Rider]

Awesome!
That's sound like a bunch of good riding on the Roadster!


It also looks like you could use a LOST decal for your journeys, shoot me a PM with your address and I'll mail you out one if you'd like.

[BigEasy]

Kevin that trip to AK and back to MT sounds great. If you have time to do a ride report or post your route I'd love to read it. Safe travels

[Rrider]

Sound like an epic journey is about to begin. Please do some write-ups with photos so we can "follow" along. My husband is also going to the Dust to Dawson event. Maybe you two can hook up. He's BouderEd on the adv site. Then the two of us will be riding through Yellowstone, Glacier, southern and western Canada, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado. Maybe we'll see you out there!

[MTBeemer]

Kevin that trip to AK and back to MT sounds great. If you have time to do a ride report or post your route I'd love to read it. Safe travels

I've pasted a post I made on another site that answered a guy's question about my top five places to visit in AK and a recommended route. There may be some parts that don't make sense in this context, but here's my best shot at a route. It is not original to me. We will be following a different route this summer because we want to ride the Fraser River Valley in BC.

Lifted from a previous post on ADV Rider: First the weather. Don't try to out guess the weather, just prepare for every thing possible. Chances are that you'll end up riding in rain for extended periods and in temperatures in the 30s and 40s. In May it is possible for you to hit snow that will delay your trip, but it is unlikely to cause it to end. Annie and I rode the Cassiar early last June and then the Yellowhead thru Jasper and Banff. We hit temperatures in the low 30s and light snow three times; just south of Whitehorse, in Jasper and in Montana on Flesher Pass. It was 68 degrees in Fairbanks when we left and 70 degrees in Prince George. You might also find yourself riding most of the time in warm temperatures and sunshine..... maybe. So plan to ride in the rain in the 30s and to ride in the sunny 70s and you'll have it covered.

I tell people not to get fixated on going to Deadhorse / Prudhoe at the expense of seeing the many other great places in Alaska. I put a low priority on the trip in my recommendation.

Route suggestion...... this is from a post by Fighter sometime in the distant past and augmented by me.....

Get to Bonners Ferry, ID.

N95 to Hwy 1 vicinity Rykerts

Hwy 21 to Creston

Hwy 3A to Kootenay Bay

Ferry to Balfour (free)

Hwy 31 to Hwy 6 to Nakusp

Hwy 23 to Galena

Ferry to Shelter Bay (free)

Hwy 23 to Revelstoke

HWY 1 to Banff Park

HWY 93 to Jasper (the ride thru Jasper Park is a must do)

HWY 16 (Yellowhead Hwy) to HWY 37 (Cassiar Hwy N.)

Side trip to Hyder, AK (vic Meziadin Jct)

HWY 37 north to the ALCAN vic Watson Lake.

ALCAN to Whitehorse.

Side trip to Skagway. Look for the The World's Smallest Desert (Carcross Dunes) and be prepared for a great ride thru the pass.

North on Klondike HWY to Dawson, YT (it would be great to be in Dawson 21-22 June for Dust 2 Dawson)
While in Dawson City look up The dingle and buy him beer. He will be your BFF until your credit card melts.)

Top of the World Highway to Tok.... Alaska's front door.

Tok Cutoff to GlennAllen (While in Glennallen look up ALCAN Rider and buy him fudge. He will be your BFF until your credit card melts.)

Consider a side trip to McCarthy/Kennicott Mine and Valdez.

Genn Highway to Los Anchorage. Visit Alaska Leather for tires, good motorcycle gear and nice people. Put a notice on this forum that you want to see if you can make your credit card melt at a bar and you'll have multiple temporary BFFs. Someone may even volunteer to take you on a ride up Hatcher's Pass if it is open.

Head to the Kenai. Side trip to Hope then all the way to Homer if you think you have time, but at least hit Seward. The SeaLife Center down there is worth the visit.

Back thru Anchorage. Put another notice on this forum that you want to see if you can make your credit card melt at a bar and you'll again have multiple temporary BFFs. (The Anchorage folks are tenacious in their willingness to help riders).

North on the Parks Highway. Another tire and repair resource is the Abby in Wasilla. At Cantwell head east on the Denali Highway. Stop for coffee at Gracious House and for a meal at McClaren River Lodge.

Head North on the Richardson Highway at Paxson, thru Delta to Fairbanks.

See my sig line for a link to info about housing in Fairbanks the Shinning City on the Hill. Put a notice on this forum that you want to see if you can make your credit card melt at a bar and you'll have multiple temporary BFFs. The Silver Gulch Brewery in Fox is a good choice. If you need tires or other help then consider AdventureCycle Works and/or the Outpost/Trails End. There are also Kawasaki and KTM dealers in town.

North on the Elliot. Instead of heading up the Dalton to Deadhorse, stay on the Elliot all the way to Manley Hotsprings. Like visiting Mayberry. A good roadhouse for beer and food and a room, or camping right across the street. In the Roadhouse tell them you want to see if you can make your credit card melt and you'll have multiple temporary BFFs.

Back east on the Elliot and take a side trip to the village of Minto. One of the few native villages on a road system. Not too much to see but worth the small deviation.

Back to the Dalton Highway. North to the Arctic Circle (115 miles) then to Coldfoot for a burger (175 miles) and then to Wiseman to sleep (reservations required). Then head back south or continue on to Deadhorse (415 miles). Then back to Fairbanks using the same stops.

In Fairbanks Put another notice on this forum that you want to see if you can make your credit card melt at a bar and you'll again have multiple temporary BFFs who will pretend to be interested in hearing your tales of the Haul Road. (Like the Anchorage boys and girls the Fairbanks folks are tenacious in their willingness to help riders).

Side trip to Chena Hotsprings is worthy of consideration.

On the return take the side trip to McCarthy and Valdez if you did not before. Also add a ferry ride from Haines to Prince Rupert so you can see a bit of Southeast Alaska that is only reachable by boat or plane. Again the ride to Haines thru the Chilkat Pass is worth the trip.

Plan to take as much time riding up and back as you can. The ride through BC and the YT is perhaps the best part of your trip.

Bring a melt resistant credit card.
Bring bug dope
Bring a headnet
No handguns in Canada. No way, no how. Bear spray is permitted.
You need a passport or passport card to go though Canada.
You need to have the kit and ability to repair a flat tire all by yourself on the side of the road.
Start with good tires and a healthy chain and sprokets.
Heated gear is good. Very, very good.
Bring a camera and go crazy.

[SF_Hooligan]

Finally have some pics worth posting. From this morning's annual pre-sunrise ride up Mount Tam. Not sure how many bikes - a LOT.







A few more pics here.

[Rrider]

Thanks for all the Alaska information. In spite of the bugs, bears, and bad weather, it will surely be an amazing journey.

[Rrider]

Must have been rough getting up that early. But to share the sunrise with fellow riders is cool. Those are great views from Mt. Tam.

[BigEasy]

Thank you Kevin. Just hope I can pull it off before the wheels fall off

[cestes]

MT Beemer, I really like the look of your bike with the after market panniers. Do you have any pictures of your bike with the panniers off? I was wondering what it looked like with the after market pannier frame. The reason I haven't gone with the Zega Pro panniers is that the BMW panniers go on and off so easy, and there isn't anything to distract from its beautiful lines once the panniers are off.

[MTBeemer]

MT Beemer, I really like the look of your bike with the after market panniers. Do you have any pictures of your bike with the panniers off? I was wondering what it looked like with the after market pannier frame. The reason I haven't gone with the Zega Pro panniers is that the BMW panniers go on and off so easy, and there isn't anything to distract from its beautiful lines once the panniers are off.

No pictures, I'm on the road in MO and will be for the next several weeks. Those are Hepco Becker bags mounted on SW Mototech mounts. The bags come off very easily; just put in the key and pull a lever and they are off. The mounts come off as well. They are affixed with zeus type fittings and leave only small fittings on the bike.

[Lost Rider]

MT Beemer, I'm most envious of your freedom.... No way to post any photos from the road? email them to me, I'll post em' up...

Ride far, take risks and live well. Safe travels.





I don't have any 12R new photos, having a new kid (bike) in the family and all... but I found this one of me, the Roadster and the FeatherCraft folding kayak I carried down to La Paz for some R&R a few years ago. Good times on the 12R.

[cestes]

Thanks for the info Kevin...I'm sure l'll recognize the bike if I cross paths with you while you are in Alaska.

[MTBeemer]

Thanks for the info Kevin...I'm sure l'll recognize the bike if I cross paths with you while you are in Alaska.

Are you familiar with Dust to Dawson? Checkout the AK forum over on Adventure Rider and/or go talk to Mike over at the Abby m/c shop there in Wassilla. See you in Dawson!

[Rrider]

It's hard to imagine what that kayak looked like folded up on the bike. Your photos never disappoint.

[Lost Rider]

That's Felipe, a photographer I was hanging out with and who took that last photo I posted.

The boat compressed a little more when strapped tight, but only weighed 35 pounds.






D2D..... I was there. I actually just happened to be there at the same time and when I pulled up and parked some guy who said he was with the Rally said I had to move my bike.
He told me the guys who organized the even were coming into town soon all the way from Anchorage and that was their parking spots.
Having just rode from Chicago, solo, only camping, in 9 days on a tight budget and the fact that the guy was a dingle about it, I told them to hoot off, didn't move my bike until I was done checking my email from the hotel wifi and didn't bother staying for their rally and moved on. Tell those D2D guys Lost Rider from Chicago says kiss my ass you poseurs!


My Yellow GS.

[Rrider]

LOL on the D2D story

That kayak must have provided good conversation at the gas stations.

[Lost Rider]

Thanks, not to sound like a dingle, but I was really caught off guard and thought it was quite rude, of course the guy didn't know my whole story but I got this elitist vibe from these guys who didn't really ride all that far that I didn't care for. ALL the way from Anchorage, been riding all day he said. Poseurs.

Now, I'm sure there's lots of friendly folks who go to the event, I'm sure MTBeemer will have a different experience and lots of fun, just don't think you can park anywhere.

If the weather is good, MT Beemer might as well ride the extra 400 miles up the Dalton to get the coveted Arctic Circle photo, the whole ride I knew the 12R was a better suited bike for the trip than the 800GS.


As for the boat, I fit right in with crap packed up high with the rest of the Gringos on bikes down there.