Heading North Again

One last photo from Seward. This was taken on Tuesday after the reunion was over. Much of the extended family met at a coffee place right on the water next to the Sea Life Center for breakfast. We sort of took the place over. The skies were clearing up for the first time since we arrived so this may be remembered as the damp reunion. On Tuesday, I just rode back to my brother's home in Anchorage where they hosted a cookout with moose burgers and caribou hot dogs. As you may guess, they were a hit with the family. Yesterday, I rode back to Fairbanks in wonderful weather. Mostly 55°F to 70°F for most of the trip. No heated anything needed. No pictures on the return trip. Denali was almost cloud free but the scenic turnouts were tourist clogged including multiple tour busses at every stop.

The Ural ran great on the trip. I had adjusted the clutch which got rid of most of the tendency to creep when stopped in gear. The creeping seems to return a little when the engine is hot. The battery monitor I installed showed no green lights while running down the road. There has always been one green light showing and it is that way until the engine really heats up. This suggests either a failing battery, voltage regulator or alternator. Something to dink with when I get back.

I brought my radiant thermometer to measure the head temperature after some of the long grades as the CHT seems really inaccurate. Left was usually about 400°F and right was about 380°F. The gauge showed left of 320°F and the right 440°F. So both sides are inaccurate but still usable to measure changes. Oil consumption was 200 ml which seems about right for the 1000 mile round trip. Gas mileage averaged 31.2 mpg based on the stock speedometer. Performance and economy have both improved since the engine rebuild.

As the title suggests, I'm sitting in the Fairbanks airport again waiting for my flight north. This time I'm flying from Fairbanks to Deadhorse then continuing on to Barrow after a several hour layover.

Update - Now I'm waiting in the Deadhorse airport. Here is the world famous Prudhoe Bay hotel that all of the motorcyclists seem to be longing to get to. It's right across the parking lot from the airport. I have a 4 ½ hour layover here before my flight to Barrow. Getting on the plane were a couple of motorcycle passengers. They didn't see any reason to ride back to Fairbanks on the back of a bike. Below is a pano of Deadhorse. Pretty scenic, eh?