I left Southern Ca early August with a fresh set of the PR 4 GT's and rode up through the Yukon and up the Dalton and back on the same set of tires. They held up well. I think the few of us from So. Cal put close to 10,000 miles on our bikes. Not sure how everyone else's tires turned out, though a buddy of mine on an RT had even longer life on his tires. His were not new when we left and he rode them for a month or so after we got back. He wasn't on PR's, not sure what he used.
For the most part, The Dalton is compacted dirt with golf ball size rocks scattered all over the road, either loose or embedded in the dirt. It is pretty bumpy and rattled the C14 pretty well for the entire ride. The bike held up well and made the ride with no break downs or significant issues. Your bike will handle the road, just take it easy and recognize that your speeds will vary greatly depending on the road conditions and terrain in each section.
We were fortunate in that we had no rain and only a few sprinkles for most of the entire trip. Since most of the Dalton is hard packed dirt, the bike rode well. In some places the road was composed of an inch or so of loose packed dirt. When it was dry it was comfortable. The road crews continually wet sections of the road they are working on with a solution in order to keep the dust down. This created a very slippery surface. I think some have referred to this as "slippery as snot" in other forums. This is pretty accurate. The bike wanted to fish tail a little bit as well as pitch to one side or another. If you go slow, you can ride through it. I think I was down to 10-20 MPH, just to get through it. These areas tended to be a mile or two at a time, though it felt like 20 miles. The bike made it , though the radiator was caked over with this red clay like mud. As someone suggested bring water to wash off the radiator when you can.
There was gas up and down the highway when I went, though you do have to plan it out. Riders the day before us found one of the gas stops was out of gas. I called on our departure day and that stop had been refueled. Two of us brought gas cans for our group and we didn't need them. I can tell that if I was going again, I would bring them. The siphon hose is a good idea as there was enough traffic on that rode that you should be able to flag someone down, for a gallon if needed.
Riding up the Yukon, one of our group ran out of gas. Like someone already said...what was there before may not be there. One of our group decided he could make the next gas stop. "The "next" gas stop on his GPS was out of business. We wound up using a siphon hose to get him going again...lesson learned.
We didn't experience a lot of mosquito's, on this trip, though when we did, they were big and relentless. Riding gear and leaving the helmet on seemed to work.
As others have stated also, the animals you hope to see are right there along the side of the road. I have pictures of Bear, moose, bison, mountain goats, etc. . In some cases the bear walked out onto the road as we were approaching. Getting past them took patience and caution. Since reverse isn't an option we stayed way back a ways until they moved on and or off the road. The Bison were laying down on the road along the both sides of the Yukon Hwy. They had no interest in getting up or moving either, so we had to slow roll past them, one at a time. Made for some great pictures on the Go Pro.
I got a lot of my information for this trip, from the Adventure Rider forum (Advrider.com) . Lots of Alaska info and ride reports to help.
It was the trip of a lifetime and something you will always remember. Enjoy and plan out your stops.
