Riders: Gareth Morgan, Jo Morgan, Dave Wallance, Mike O’Donnell, Roger Clausen
Motorcycles: BMW R1200 GS
Distance: 22,096km
Countries: United States, Bahamas, Mexico, Canada
Trip description: A journey of discovery from the Rio Grande to the Yukon, Bimini Island to Death Valley. Gareth & Jo tour through USA, Canada and Alaska sticking to the backroads as much as possible.
These offshore motorcycle expeditions are big undertakings and there are a lot of people involved apart from the riders. Our group has got through this 29,000 km traverse of Canada, Mexico and 26 States of the US without significant mishaps to machines or people. That is a commendation to all those who helped put this […]
This tour we’ve experienced some weather extremes – such as the heat in the deserts of Chihuahua and Death Valley where temperatures got up into the fifties and adjusting for ground radiation, the eighties. But also we’ve been in some severe cold such as on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and in the sea […]
Yes we were guilty on the Silkroad tour of blaming the affliction of diarrhoea after lunch on the unsanitary conditions encountered in the eating establishments along that route. But this explanation looks suspect now that we have encountered a similar fluidity soon after digesting at highway food outlets here in the US. The last couple […]
You know how I told you how wonderful it was in the bike shop a couple of days ago. The bike felt strange and heavy and I decided the new fork seals had really changed things. About 50 miles down the road I did the routine chain kick to see how it was holding up […]
Today it has been 115 degrees as we have come south from just above San Fransisco. My face is burnt red from the wind after a few minutes with the visor up. Motorway travel is really hard in these conditions especially as I got a screw in the new rear tyre about 20 km before […]
One of the features of this ride has been the amazing network of New Zealanders across America that have heard about our journey, have made contact and we have enjoyed catching up with. There are too many to mention here and our programme has not enabled us to meet them all but a huge […]
I’m sitting in the showroom of “Ride West BMW” they provide coffee and snacks and a computer to live your life while you wait. I think I’ve sold a bike for them so I might get a t-shirt for free. Today we are doing rear tyres and an oil change and I am doing my […]
Frankly Alaska’s Inner Passage got a bit boring after 4 days – maybe we were just missing our bikes. But sitting on ferries staring at pine & spruce trees-covered islands ad nauseum is for old folks. The whales were great but it’s such a long way and so much motorcycling is sacrificed that we agreed […]
The show must go on, but our riding companion for the last 4 weeks has departed now to rejoin his family who graciously have sacrificed some of ther US holiday while their dad indulges his passion for motorcycling expeditioning and joined us from Utah to the top of the world at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. MOD […]
If you’re riding a motorcycle in the Northwest, you’re never lonely or wanting for conversation. Up here bikerdom is a fraternal order. All the bikers wave (even most of the Harley riders) and at gas stations fellow riders are quick to wander across and compare notes on roads, campgrounds and stories. Its a truly liberating […]
