Project: Alaska Blaster

[octane25]

I have a friend who rode last summer up Cassiar and then around and back south on the Alaska Highway. He and his son rode a pair of V-Strom 650s. They said they enjoyed Cassiar much more and they wished they had just backtracked back down it to return south. 
I look forward to your report and pics!

I think we have decided to do the Cassiar with a stop in Hyder on the way north, but may do the Alcan on the way home - although I'm going to push to do the Cassiar both ways. I've seen several people who had the exact same experience as your friend, but we might end up doing it just for the sake of variety. We'll see what we feel like doing when the time comes. Thanks for your advice though.

[octane25]

You might need to check your insurance for Canada.

I'm all good for that fortunately, my bike is registered and insured in BC. You raise a good point about health insurance though, I'll have to see exactly how much I'm covered for in Alaska. Thanks for that. 
After much indecision I finally found a Canadian distributor for Seat Concepts and ordered a foam & cover kit. Kind of wanted to go for a Sargent but with the exchange rate and customs charges it would have been roughly twice the price. Anyone have any tips for installing the SC kit on the FJ seat pan?

[keithu]

I drove the Alcan in a car about 15 years ago. It was a beautiful drive, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more without my father in law in the car.

[wordsmith]

You might need to check your insurance for Canada.

I'm all good for that fortunately, my bike is registered and insured in BC. You raise a good point about health insurance though, I'll have to see exactly how much I'm covered for in Alaska. Thanks for that. 
After much indecision I finally found a Canadian distributor for Seat Concepts and ordered a foam & cover kit. Kind of wanted to go for a Sargent but with the exchange rate and customs charges it would have been roughly twice the price. Anyone have any tips for installing the SC kit on the FJ seat pan?
I have installed two (2) Seat Concepts kits (rider seat only), one their 'standard' replacement, the other their comfort 'touring' item.   Extremely easy, and they do provide easy-to-follow instructions with the kit.   First one I did with a hand-stapler - hard work although the finished job was quite OK. 
Second time I hired a robust electric stapler from a tool-hire shop, for $22.   So much quicker and easier!
 
It is easy - and suggested in the instructions - to do and undo then re-do the stapling if it goes a bit astray: the seat cover is very forgiving.   Good luck. 

[vijay]

Great Write-up.  FWIW I would seriously consider an Electronic Cruise Control.  It does a wonderful job of giving your back and arms a rest and allow you to shift to more comfortable positions while on the bike.  I got the MCCruise one.  About $500, so it is a bit pricey.  BUT, it is plug and play and the directions and accompanying pictures are flat out fabulous .... all the way to showing you and telling you which fasteners to take off and in what order.  I am truly an Electrical disaster.  But the directions were so (idiot proof) even I could understand them .  Took me about 4 hours to install .. cradle to grave.  Then about 1/2 hour to sync the cruise control.  
 
If you don't get that I would at least look at a throttle lock of some kind; GO, Kaoko etc.
 
Just a thought.

[octane25]

I'm all good for that fortunately, my bike is registered and insured in BC. You raise a good point about health insurance though, I'll have to see exactly how much I'm covered for in Alaska. Thanks for that. 
After much indecision I finally found a Canadian distributor for Seat Concepts and ordered a foam & cover kit. Kind of wanted to go for a Sargent but with the exchange rate and customs charges it would have been roughly twice the price. Anyone have any tips for installing the SC kit on the FJ seat pan?

I have installed two (2) Seat Concepts kits (rider seat only), one their 'standard' replacement, the other their comfort 'touring' item.   Extremely easy, and they do provide easy-to-follow instructions with the kit.   First one I did with a hand-stapler - hard work although the finished job was quite OK. 
Second time I hired a robust electric stapler from a tool-hire shop, for $22.   So much quicker and easier!
 
It is easy - and suggested in the instructions - to do and undo then re-do the stapling if it goes a bit astray: the seat cover is very forgiving.   Good luck. 

Thanks for the tips. I've got a Seat Concepts kit on its way. 

[octane25]

Great Write-up.  FWIW I would seriously consider an Electronic Cruise Control.  It does a wonderful job of giving your back and arms a rest and allow you to shift to more comfortable positions while on the bike.  I got the MCCruise one.  About $500, so it is a bit pricey.  BUT, it is plug and play and the directions and accompanying pictures are flat out fabulous .... all the way to showing you and telling you which fasteners to take off and in what order.  I am truly an Electrical disaster.  But the directions were so (idiot proof) even I could understand them .  Took me about 4 hours to install .. cradle to grave.  Then about 1/2 hour to sync the cruise control.   
If you don't get that I would at least look at a throttle lock of some kind; GO, Kaoko etc.
 
Just a thought.

My thoughts regarding electronic cruise control were always that I would upgrade the bike to something else before I ever went down that road. I would happily accept sponsors for that kit though... 8-)  unfortunately it just takes too big a bite out of my budget right now. 
Throttle lock for sure though. I've been using one that slips over the throttle grip and holds against the front brake lever, but I'll look into GO and Kaoko. Cheers.

[pieyed07]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Inuvik,+NT,+Canada/@68.3462299,-133.8618532,38147m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5114923f95f996d1:0x522391a237afb784!8m2!3d68.3607249!4d-133.7228394
 
octane25
If you really want to make a big adventure out of this trip you might want to take a look at Canada hwy. 8 to Inuvik, a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada. You would be one of the few to make that trip.You might even make the local news paper. I always wanted to do this but don't have the Cojones for it. This brings back so many memories of my younger days so whatever you do I take my hat off to you.
 
Good Luck. 

[steveb]

Great Write-up.  FWIW I would seriously consider an Electronic Cruise Control.  It does a wonderful job of giving your back and arms a rest and allow you to shift to more comfortable positions while on the bike.  I got the MCCruise one.  About $500, so it is a bit pricey.  BUT, it is plug and play and the directions and accompanying pictures are flat out fabulous .... all the way to showing you and telling you which fasteners to take off and in what order.  I am truly an Electrical disaster.  But the directions were so (idiot proof) even I could understand them .  Took me about 4 hours to install .. cradle to grave.  Then about 1/2 hour to sync the cruise control.   
If you don't get that I would at least look at a throttle lock of some kind; GO, Kaoko etc.
 
Just a thought.

My thoughts regarding electronic cruise control were always that I would upgrade the bike to something else before I ever went down that road. I would happily accept sponsors for that kit though... 8-)  unfortunately it just takes too big a bite out of my budget right now. 
Throttle lock for sure though. I've been using one that slips over the throttle grip and holds against the front brake lever, but I'll look into GO and Kaoko. Cheers.

 
Check out the "NEP CC-2 Cruise Control/Throttle Lock ("Fits: many OLD Yamaha w/ 7/8" handlebars"). I've been using it on my FJ for the past 2+ years. It's meant for a single throttle cable (different setup than what we have) but fits very easily with just the use of a small zip-tie (or in my case a narrow strip of velcro cable tie) to keep it in position. Nice and thin so it doesn't have any trouble fitting in the gap between the throttle grip and the mounting clamp.

[betoney]

Check out the "NEP CC-2 Cruise Control/Throttle Lock ("Fits: many OLD Yamaha w/ 7/8" handlebars"). I've been using it on my FJ for the past 2+ years.  It's meant for a single throttle cable (different setup than what we have) but fits very easily with just the use of a small zip-tie (or in my case a narrow strip of velcro cable tie) to keep it in position.  Nice and thin so it doesn't have any trouble fitting in the gap between the throttle grip and the mounting clamp.

 
Sorry for laughing, but when I read that I envisioned skeeter and bubba wrenching on "ol' blue", while its up on blocks in the front yard.  Fixing their car-bu-ray-tor with bailing wire and fresh chewed bubba-licious bubble gum.
Um - never mind... sometimes I just think funny thoughts.
 
 

[octane25]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Inuvik,+NT,+Canada/@68.3462299,-133.8618532,38147m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5114923f95f996d1:0x522391a237afb784!8m2!3d68.3607249!4d-133.7228394 
octane25
If you really want to make a big adventure out of this trip you might want to take a look at Canada hwy. 8 to Inuvik, a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada. You would be one of the few to make that trip.You might even make the local news paper. I always wanted to do this but don't have the Cojones for it. This brings back so many memories of my younger days so whatever you do I take my hat off to you.
 
Good Luck. 

I'd love to, but won't have time during this trip. If I ever make the run up that way again it'll be on the new highway to Tuktoyaktuk. I'm only 26 so I have to do it while I can... Baja and Japan are high on my list as well for the next 2-3 years.

[octane25]

My thoughts regarding electronic cruise control were always that I would upgrade the bike to something else before I ever went down that road. I would happily accept sponsors for that kit though...   unfortunately it just takes too big a bite out of my budget right now. 
Throttle lock for sure though. I've been using one that slips over the throttle grip and holds against the front brake lever, but I'll look into GO and Kaoko. Cheers.

Check out the "NEP CC-2 Cruise Control/Throttle Lock ("Fits: many OLD Yamaha w/ 7/8" handlebars"). I've been using it on my FJ for the past 2+ years. It's meant for a single throttle cable (different setup than what we have) but fits very easily with just the use of a small zip-tie (or in my case a narrow strip of velcro cable tie) to keep it in position. Nice and thin so it doesn't have any trouble fitting in the gap between the throttle grip and the mounting clamp.

That looks very interesting, and quite affordable. I think I'll give it a shot. Thanks so much.

[octane25]

Made some progress on the bike... my friends and I tossed around the idea of highway pegs a while back mostly as a joke, but I found a setup that works great and well worth the ~$45 in eBay parts I invested in it. They aren't really positioned well for my feet, but I can stretch my legs out fully and the top part of my boots rest on them perfectly making it very comfortable when cruising on long straight distances. Now that I have them I would never go back, especially at 6'3". Quality seems very decent for what they are.
 

 
Next up was another eBay purchase, a 3L "LongHaul" fuel container which included the mount for around $50CAD. I did lots of research before I bought this, they are well-reviewed for being of good quality and more importantly had better dimensions for my mounting location vs. Rotopax, at less than half the cost. This is what I came up with here, not ideal but can't really think of any alternative. It doesn't look as ridiculous in person, it's still not as high as your average top box and certainly no higher than my SW Motech Drybag that's going to be sitting right in front of it. The Pelican case will have a very light selection of tools, parts, tire inflator/repair kit, etc. inside and along with 3L of fuel on top I am still within the weight capacity of my rear rack.
 

 
And finally here's the bike as it stands. I also installed a new interim rear tire (Dunlop Roadsmart 3) and chain (EK 525 gold x-ring). Seat Concepts kit and revised clutch cable will be here any day now, I have to order a Sena to talk with my friends on our trip and it'll be getting an oil change and a set of Continental TKC-70's right before I go. About 1.5 months from today... 
 

[OutlanderBC]

Do you have a link for the foot pegs you got?
 
 

[octane25]

Do you have a link for the foot pegs you got?  

Brackets: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/182011878799 Footpegs: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/372198863429
 
Turns out that it was only about $30 total now that I look at it again. For what it's worth both items feel very solid and high quality. I just needed to get some slightly shorter (M8x25) bolts and they worked out beautifully.