[Draeger]

Just returned from my second long trip on my 2015 Stryker, "The Lizard"... just under 7000km. Two years ago I rode to Tijuana, Mexico on the Stryker... that thread is somewhere without any of the pictures I uploaded, so I was kinda demotivated to take many pics.

This one the wife snapped of me loaded up on the way out.

The week prior The Lizard had been talking to me. Weird glitches on the electronics... so knowing that electrical issues are 99% related to the battery I got a new Yuasa. Installed it and 2 mins later the headlight blew - I had probably been running under voltage for a while. Replaced the headlight with a nice LED... and The Lizard snarled in approval.

Left Vancouver Island on the ferry 10 minutes after work finished on a Friday evening. Most motorcycles I have ever seen on the ferry. Must have been almost 30.

I was 200km from the Yukon border by Monday evening camp, so I was hauling. My first bear sighting was Just north of Kitwanga, where the Cassiar Highway begins. An oncoming pickup broke a pitman arm, swerved crazily down the road towards me but managed to stop in a smoking heap. Just then a black bear wandered onto the road directly in front of me. Crazy how crazy stuff happens in sequence on the road.

It rained the first 2.5 days. Good rain gear, I didn't care. And miraculously kept getting campsites with canopies. Just by askin'... also lots of places wouldn't let tenters stay because of the Corunka Virus (no bathroom, so only RV's) but I always found someone who rolled their eyes at the hype and told me 'just go over there and throw me $15 bucks'.

The rain broke as I hit the Alaska Highway. The tobacco chewin' dude at the lone gas station gave me a "scary as **** book" which occupied my evenings. It was actually pretty good.

Headed towards Whitehorse...

 

[Draeger]

The road was pretty decent, except for the massive potholes (easily dodged), the weather cleared up, the scenery spread out gloriously in all directions. Sometimes no other vehicles for 20 minutes. Peaceful.

40k outside Whitehorse I saw a sign that read "Yukon Motorcycle Park" I figured they might have a Moto Guzzi fenced in that I could pet (never snuggled one before) so I pulled in. The owner, Bruce, was building canvas cabins just for bikers. Looks like a good future place. I stayed there and tarped over the bike, with a few bear repellant weapons nearby. Threw my sleeping bag in a half finished canvas cabin and all was great.

The next day I headed towards Dawson City. The road became super rough asphalt, made from apparent obsidian knife chips, each glance downward luring me to an instant shredded death. Then came the construction. I rode to the front of the line of trucks and the pilot car guy told me to go to the back because "you guys drop your bikes all the time in here and we don't want anyone running you over". The next half hour was a nightmare of deep mud, blinding dust. I have no idea how I kept The Lizard upright. After it was passed I pulled up to the pilot car to express my shock, and he said "There's another section up ahead. Longer. And worse." That time I let every truck go ahead two football fields and picked my own lines. I rode on the grader pack, wherever I could, and screw the complaints. Made it through, offered a prayer of thanks and headed to Dawson City.

Hard packed dirt. Fascinating little town. A raven flew down, followed me a while and said hello to The Lizard. Good omen, cuz I had to head back through the hellish construction the next morning.

 

[Draeger]

Somehow I made it back through the construction. I had stayed in The Bunkhouse (shared bathroom) for my only 'hotel' of the trip. I had wifi so watched video of WWII dispatch riders on Harley's in the French mud... and gained a lot of confidence. If those hard boys could do it so could I... the way back was better. Picked my own lines, light on the bars, played the clutch like a Stradivarius.

Then two days riding towards Fort Nelson.

 

[Draeger]

Somewhere along the way I picked up a nail in the back tire. Those tire plug kit things WORK! I pulled, reamed and jammed in a plug, filled it with air... kept me going.

Near Hudson Hope I had the closest call of my riding life. A narrow two lane on a 17% down grade, facing a B-Train Gas tanker truck as we both headed for a washout which narrowed the lane to single. It was all so slow, and so fast, as he (not being able to stop on the upgrade) just moved over into my lane, I goosed it, saw the bugs on his crash bumper to my left... all at around 50 km/h. It was surreal. I stopped at the next campground by the river and counted my blessings.

(ya, like I'm gonna burn that hunka log?)

From there on it was smooth sailing. Oh, lost my horn at some point, just fell off. Besides that The Lizard was a beast. Fantastic ride.

Spent the last four nights at an RV park in Oliver BC, just sunning, swimming and relaxing before heading back through awful traffic in Vancouver.

Only to start planning the next ride... gonna take my Yamaha WR250R to Tuktyuktuk.... ???

All in all, the bike held up great. Got an oil change in Kelowna, a new back Bridgestone 210mm in Penticton (no longer have my fat 240 but that's ok!). I'm super impressed with this bike. Can't be beat. Anyone who tells you the Stryker isn't a 'touring' bike has been smoking too much weed.

Thanks for reading.

PS: Ron, been thinking 'bout ya. We need to ride sometime!

 

[RustyJake]

Thanks for sharing another one of your rides. Envious....but probably not something I'd have done.

 

[Dmotwani]

Somewhere along the way I picked up a nail in the back tire. Those tire plug kit things WORK! I pulled, reamed and jammed in a plug, filled it with air... kept me going.

Near Hudson Hope I had the closest call of my riding life. A narrow two lane on a 17% down grade, facing a B-Train Gas tanker truck as we both headed for a washout which narrowed the lane to single. It was all so slow, and so fast, as he (not being able to stop on the upgrade) just moved over into my lane, I goosed it, saw the bugs on his crash bumper to my left... all at around 50 km/h. It was surreal. I stopped at the next campground by the river and counted my blessings.
View attachment 123442

(ya, like I'm gonna burn that hunka log?)

From there on it was smooth sailing. Oh, lost my horn at some point, just fell off. Besides that The Lizard was a beast. Fantastic ride.

Spent the last four nights at an RV park in Oliver BC, just sunning, swimming and relaxing before heading back through awful traffic in Vancouver.

Only to start planning the next ride... gonna take my Yamaha WR250R to Tuktyuktuk.... ???

All in all, the bike held up great. Got an oil change in Kelowna, a new back Bridgestone 210mm in Penticton (no longer have my fat 240 but that's ok!). I'm super impressed with this bike. Can't be beat. Anyone who tells you the Stryker isn't a 'touring' bike has been smoking too much weed.

Thanks for reading.

PS: Ron, been thinking 'bout ya. We need to ride sometime!

Sounds like an extraordinary trip. Thanks for documenting it. It's a beautiful lizard.

 

[preacherman]

Brother you are the official Stryker tester/tourer. Love the stories and captions. U ever make it East through PA, please reach out. You won’t need a tent or bike cover, the lizard will have climate controlled accommodations as well as the rider! I see Dawson City all the time watching the gold mining series.

 

[Draeger]

Why thank you very much, gents! I love this bike and glad you enjoyed the story & pics.

 

[R!ot]

enjoyed reading your ride thanks for sharing

 

[brooklyn]

so how many miles per day you averaged?

 

[Maademperor]

Nice story, thanks for sharing!

 

[R!ot]

thanks for sharing I enjoyed it very much