Alaska 2028 Overview

As I have mentioned in other posts and videos, Alaska 2028 will be my motorcycle touring trip planned to start on June 23, 2028 and end on August 01, 2028 consisting of 11,781 planned miles.

The entire trip is planned to last 40 days including 7 days in Anchorage, AK family vacation where my wife (DeAndra) and son (Tristan) will fly up from Atlanta, GA and meet me in Anchorage.

I will camp for 13 nights, stay in hotels 18 nights, and 7 nights in an Airbnb in Anchorage, AK as part of the family vacation. There will be 4 two night stays during the trip.
– 2 nights in Coon Rapids, Minnesota – Short visit with my daughters and grandkids.
– 2 nights in Essex, Montana – Ride Glacier National Park / Train Nerd stuff & Laundry
– 2 nights in Fairbanks, Alaska – Motorcycle servicing and tires
– 2 nights in Kamloops, BC Canada – Motorcycle servicing and tires.

Full Loadout for Alaska (and other long distance tours)

I have been testing my Alaska loadout on Bruce (my ’25 Pan America 1250 Special) and have it complete. The bike is significantly heavier (about 120 pounds of stuff) but is the complete loadout to include clothing, tools, electronics, 6 Mountain house meals, riding gear, and camping gear). When hauling 2 gallons of water and emergency gasoline, this will add an additional 28.7 pounds to the load. I will create an updated packing list and video covering the “final” Alaska Loadout. I will be testing this configuration further during my Florida Loop 2026 – Motorcycle Touring Trip this coming April (4/04/2026 – 4/11/2026).

While this is still a heavy (Bike + packed gear) = about 787 pounds less water and extra gasoline, this is still 61 pounds less than Dexter (’05 HD Ultra Classic) wet not including the huge load I would pack onto Dexter (at least 1100 pounds). So, my total packed weight now is at least 300 pounds less than when I toured with Dexter (likely even more).

Test rides on Bruce with the full load were great with no issue in handling or ride, with the exception of stalling the bike when the engine was cold, resulting in a slow motion drop to the left side as I was engaged in a left turn. I have learned that this engine really needs to be warmed up properly before heading out. I have stalled it other times as well (no load) on a cold engine.

And of course, when testing mounting and dismounting techniques I dropped the bike on the right side while dismounting from the right side and my boot caught the seat. The good news is I was able to pick up the bike without too much effort with the full load on the bike. Of course, I would prefer not to drop the bike at all LOL. Also, I now mount and dismount from the left again doing a bunny hop to get my right leg through the seat (required when the bike has the full load).

Full Alaska Load Packed onto Bruce