Glacier, NP, Icefield Parkway and The Alaska Highway

One of our first fuel stops after Zimmerman was in Rothsay, MN. Rothsay claims to be the Prairie Chicken Capital of the World and they have this huge Prairie Chicken to prove it. Erica rode her scoot up to the chicken to say hi. That's Cris in the background checking out the information plaque.

After Minnesota and North Dakota, we went to Montana and Glacier National Park. We entered Canada from Rt. 93 in Montana and then continued up, crossed over the continental divide into Alberta and started along the Icefield Parkway in Lake Louise. Some of the pics that I took along the way are shown here.

Lake Louise at the beginning of the Icefield Parkway.

The beginning of the Alaska Highway is in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, just West of the Alberta line.

During that stretch, I began hearing strange rattling noises and finally deduced that the air cleaner was the source of the noise. Upon further investigation I noted that the Screaming Eagle Air Cleaner had kind of disintegrated. But none of the pieces ended up in the engine (remember Screw Loose's experience). I was able to repair the cleaner with Duct-Tape and that held together until we got to Whitehorse, the capital of The Yukon Territory.

We managed to get my Air Cleaner replacement parts in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. I had to pay $150 for the full Screaming Eagle conversion because the Harley Dealer in Whitehorse did not have just the filter element.

The pic shows two of us (Ron and I) working on installing the new air cleaner and Lee working on the Voltage Regulator. I had been getting check-engine codes that indicated an Over-voltage condition. Lee thought it was due to dirty contacts on the Voltage Regulator and he decided to clean the dirt out. In the end it did not help and the problem was eventually traced to a short in the trailer wiring.

We crossed over into Alaska on July 9 and spent the night in Tok, AK. We stayed at Thompson's Eagle's Claw campsite which was VERY nice.

When we got into Tok, AK and were trying to figure out where the Eagle's Claw camp was we stopped at the visitor's center on the Alaska Highway. When I went to start the bike, a bunch of sparks shot from under the seat and everything quit. No electricals, no nothing. We checked fuses and everything else. When I checked the battery voltage with a frame ground, it measured about 4 volts. When I checked directly on the battery, I got 12 volts. This pointed to a bad ground connection from the battery. We pulled the battery and found that the (-) terminal was loose and had arced and then the bike shut down. When we tried to re-seat the connection, we found that the terminal bolt had been cross threaded and it was impossible to get it to go in or get it out. When I tried to back it out, the bolt broke. I tried to use a bolt extractor to get the broken piece out but then the extractor broke.

By this time we had made contact with Brian of Thompson's and he came out with a truck full of tools. I was able to drill out the lead contact and then using a large, self-threading screw I managed to get the contact securely fastened. Then everything started up ok, again.

I think the guy at the Dealership that installed my NEW battery just before we left managed to cross-thread the terminal bolt which accounted for the loose connection. I am going to take it back to the dealer and see if they will install a new battery for me. We'll see.

Today, July 10 we spent the day riding to Delta Junction (the Northern Terminus of the Alaskan Highway) and then on to Fairbanks. Along the way I got a pic of a cow Moose and her offspring.

Well, we made the 1422 miles across the Alaskan Highway. The road was pretty muddy/gravely in some spots. A lot of the mud ended up on my scoot. It is not just mud, but it is mud mixed with Calcium Chloride that the highway workers spray on the road in order to keep the dust down. Only problem is that the stuff hardens on the bikes and it is as hard as cement.

We will be heading for the Arctic Circle tomorrow. I have decided NOT to bring the trailer so a little packing will be in order tomorrow. We will leave the trailer in Fairbanks and just take the bare (think Bear) minimum of supplies and clothing.

We are now down to five participants. Dan "Screw Loose" Cunningham decided to break away from the group and head for Anchorage. We may hook up with him on the return trip but for now he is travelling solo.