A package of parts from Germany arrived this evening – perfect timing.  I let Touratech know that I was leaving on a trip and they were nice enough to rush the parts here, even had them labeled “Urgent!”  They were super responsive and let me know they were rushing them out – Thanks!

Achtung! Schnell.

The oil issue appears to have been resolved, no more leaking oil so it looks like it was just leftover oil spilled on the center stand during the oil change.  Nice of them to wipe it off after.  I mounted up my Spot GPS which will be sending the map updates, also tossed some fork socks on to keep the rocks and mud from doing some damage.

Spot GPS

I was looking to upgrade the horn so I went with the Fox40 EcoBlast.  Super loud and looks cool.

Fox40 EcoBlast Marine Strength

With a bunch of work to finish off tomorrow morning I’m not in travel mode yet, but that should change the moment I pull out of the driveway.  A few years ago in Cuba I watched a guy crash the rental scooter 3 times in the parking lot before they revoked his rental, I’d like to prevent a similar Elegant Departure.

With only 2 days to go I decided to ensure the electrical wiring for my electrical devices was working as planned.  As its a new bike I also wanted some practice taking things apart, nothing worse then trying to figure how to remove a side panel at night in the middle of nowhere.

Running some power off the battery

Its late, I’m tired and as I roll my bike into the center of the garage I see a small oil slick under where my bike was parked.

Oh oh – Fresh Oil Under the Bike

My bike never leaked any oil before taking it in.  I check the drain plugs and try to trace where the mystery oil is coming from.  Cant seem to find anything obvious, everything looks good.  The only thing with oil on it is my center stand.  I’m hoping that its as simple as excess oil left on the bike from the recent oil change, I wipe down the undercarriage and will check tomorrow – the day before I hit the road.

About a month ago I started a list of gear I needed to bring, however, I left it until today to actually try packing everything in the small bags I have.  Soon after starting I realized that I have significantly more gear than space available.  Like a kids hockey team I start making cuts.

Rain Gear – you’re cut, it never rains in the arctic

Polar Fleece – you’re cut, its summer

Thermos – you’re cut, I’ll drink right from pot

Either this works out or it I may be finding myself wet, cold and thirsty.

With the bike ready to go, I decided to fabricate some velcro straps for my Ortleib saddle bags.  Not exactly the pre-trip hardcore wrenching I was expecting, but nonetheless a required piece of equipment.  I also thought it may be a good idea to start acclimatising myself to the Arctic with a cold Yukon Gold.  Suddenly I no longer worried about trivial articles I’m leaving behind.

Fabrication

With 5 days before I head out, I headed down to Blackfoot Motosports to pickup my bike. I had taken it in for its 1000km initial servicing and wanted everything ready before I left.

A large component of my trip is up the Dempster Highway .  The Dempster is 736km (457mi) of tire popping crushed shale gravel.  Tire punctures are very common and I really wanted to prepare my bike to mitigate having to replace a punctured inner tube on the side of a cold muddy road on a rain soaked day.  A good way to prevent such situations is to purchase good tires and to use thick inner tubes.

I purchased a set of Heidenau K60 tires, one the highest rated dual sport tires available. When replacing the tires I had asked Blackfoot to replace the tubes.  Nope, they forgot, but they did offer to sell me new tubes (after paying $450 in servicing).  I’m not a mechanic, but I assume you need the thick tubes in the tire for them to work.

New Heidenaus compared to the stock Metzlers

In the end I settled on buying a set of regular tubes to carry with me as replacements.  Blackfoot was kind enough to knock $2 off the sale price to compensate me for the inconvenience of having left the factory tubes in the tires.

Part of any adventure is the excitement of uncertainty.  Planning for the unknown is the first step to overcoming adversity on the road, but sometimes sh*ts going to happen regardless.  Maybe I’m making this a bigger deal than it is,  either way I’m dedicating my first road side tube repair to the fine folks at Blackfoot Motosports.

I’ve been planning a trip up north ever since returning from a road trip to Mexico a few years back.  I had intended on including Mexico and Alaska in the same trip, but vastly underestimated how difficult it is to cover long distances on an enduro motorcycle.  Riding through extreme heat was unpleasant, however I have a feeling extreme cold will be no more pleasant.  Having never been further north of Edmonton  I’m not entirely sure what to expect.  I plan on camping and being as self sufficient as possible, not riding on busy freeways or passing gas and fast food stops every 20km is very much part of the appeal.  This is truly one of the last frontiers on earth.

With the impending expansion of our family unit I figure this summer is my last immediate opportunity to head out on a bit of adventure.  The next trip report will likely have pictures with Mickey Mouse ears, line ups and drool.

As my riding partners slowly backed out (you know who you are), I decided to head out regardless.  I set a date for June 15th, which should coincide with relative warmth, relative dryness and some civic holidays to give me some extra time.  In total I’ll have 18 days to make it from Calgary to Inuvik and hopefully on to Tuktoyaktuk. Below is my intended route up and down including the Dempster highway:

Calgary to Tuktoyaktuk

The most common response when people hear about my intended route is Why?’  This is typically followed by one of the following:

• Mosquitos
• Black Flies
• Bears
• Wolves
• Mud
• Rain
• Cold