North to Deadhorse: End of the Public Road is now for sale on Amazon! This is my second book to chronicle one of my Far North motorcycle journeys. So far, it's only available in e-book form, but the paperback should be out before Christmas. Get yours now by following the link below!
AMAZON / North to Deadhorse: End of the Public Road
Yes, I finally made it all the way up the Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean! This journey was seven years in the making, including three failed attempts with two previous motorcycles, and two years of international border closings due to the pandemic! The village of Tuktoyaktuk in Canada's Northwest Territories lies at the end of over 500 miles of unpaved road. And while some of it was relative high-speed bliss, the majority was a challenge, and some parts were nearly impassable. Throw in days of extreme heat and wildfire smoke on my way north, days of nonstop rain on my way south, and my worst bout with stomach illness in a decade - and you have my most difficult motorcycle trip ever!
But the above photo serves as photographic proof. Mission accomplished! Of course, at this point, I was only half done. I had to largely retrace my route back to South Dakota - for a total distance ridden of 7,070 miles! Multiple locals in Tuk said mine was the only Ryker they had ever seen! Hardly an official first, I'll admit. But I'll take it!
I'd like to say that winter in South Dakota is over, but I know it's not. We did have a few incredibly nice days recently though, and I backed the Ryker out of the garage for a short jaunt! My established fans may recognize this spot. It's one of the first places I took the Ural sidecar rig, after retrieving it from Oregon a couple years ago - Dakota Point. That's Sheridan Lake in the background. It's still completely frozen over!
This shot shows some of my winter projects a little better. Up front, I added wind deflectors to the handlebars. Those are the yellow and black plastic things between the bar-end mirrors and the windscreen. They keep the cold wind off my hands a little - and look really awesome!
On the back, you can see I mounted my old black tool box to an aluminum plate that I mounted to the rear fender. Sticking out near the bottom of the box on each side are mounts for 1.5-gallon fuel jugs. I left them at home, but they'll be in the next post.
Finally, on the starboard side of the rear wheel, I attached the leather saddlebag that my good friend in Tillamook made for the Ural. I had to modify it slightly (and purchase a mounting bracket from Can-Am), but I'm very happy with the result!
Oh there, that highlights the box and bag even better. The Point is less than 30 minutes from my house - up a nice twisty paved road through the Black Hills National Forest, then a couple miles down a gravel road. It's never too crowded there, certainly not in early February! It's a nice place for a picnic, if you're ever in the area.
Just before hitting the pavement again on my way back, I pulled over into a still-frozen trailhead parking area. Except for a couple very small patches on the gravel portion to the The Point, it was Ryker's first time on the ice!
I didn't try to do too much there, but I didn't get stuck either. I considered it a rousing success!
This shot also shows one last winter addition. I repurposed Ural's seat cushion by trimming it to fit the Ryker. Not only is it nice and comfy, it raises the seat height a bit. That's better on the knees, and raises my shoulder blades above the level of that hard plastic toolbox.
So is it ready for an extended tour yet? Maybe. I'm still going to trim down the windscreen some, but that may be about it - for the first long-distance test, anyway. There's some snow coming again this weekend though. I've got time still to think about it.
