paintingpeter
New member
I just finished a ride of 9800km on my Suzuki DRZ400 S What a trooper bike! I was the low man on a four person totem pole. One was a MotoGuzzi, one a Triumph Tiger 800, and the other a Suzuki Vstrom. I learned a lot on this, my first really extended ride. One thing is for sure, this bike likes 92 km/hr. Not 110 and definitely not higher, which is what the other three bikes preferred. Luckily I'm an early riser and my packing needs were minimal, so I was able to start right away, while the rest of the cats herded themselves to try and get going by 8:00am With a head start, my cruising speed kept me ahead of the others for many hours. The weather, as in many things, can be a deal breaker. I was lucky. Only rain between Quesnel and Smithers on the way up, and after that there were only occasional 40km long bouts of rain. We went to Williams Lake, Smithers, Teslin, Bell2, Beaver Creek, Fairbanks, then Anchorage. Denali park was limited because of bear activity. From Anchorage to Tok, Dawson City, a side trip up the Dempster Highway, 50 km towards Carmacks but then had to get the Guzzi towed back to Dawson with an irreparable flat tire. From there I went on my on to Teslin, Muncho Lake, Fort St John, Hinton, Tete Jaune Cache, Canyon Hot Springs, Kamloops and finally home. Gasoline was almost always available, but I did carry 2 Rotopax gas tanks just in case. Most of the wildlife was in Jasper/Bank. That included moose, bear, bison, elk, deer and porcupine. The biggest benefit of doing the ride was the personal reflection time you have while riding. You meet lots of interesting people, the bike community is awesome btw. The biggest theme with people living and choosing to stay in some of these small communities and raise families there, Contentment. Something many driven, go getter, A type personalities spend all there energy on trying to achieve. In conclusion, I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was worth the time and money, (we didn't camp, we stayed in motels) The bike is phenomenal on dirt roads, it was like skiing through a powder run. While the others where at 60 to 80 km/hr, the DRZ easily cruised through it at 90 plus. If you get a chance, take it and do a ride like this yourself.
