Hi Guys,
After last years mechanical re-build I was looking forward to a great summer of riding which did happen - with a twist.
I took a job in northern British Columbia up near Alaska. Normally it would be fly up and drive a company vehicle while there but the thought of a 1600km trip with a destination and paid expenses was too much to miss. The old girl ran great. Much better than my numb butt! One trip up for orientation then all the way back to Vancouver for regrouping and orginising some shipping. The next trip up was with the panniers and Givi top box loaded and everything hanging off the sides. It was glorious. Lots of waving to the other bikes and chatting with others making the summer tourist trip to Alaska. 
For those not from around here- Alaska is a bucket-list trip for many riders and the west coast route takes highway 97 north from the U.S. border to the Alaska and Dempster highways. Side note to those making the trip. Buy your tires in the U.S or close to the border and I'll tell you why.
Prince George is the last city where you will decide to head north to the Yukon and Alaska or turn West to the pan-handle and then north that way. On a map this looks like an ideal place to stock up on gear and it is with the exception of motorcycle parts. There are 3 dealerships none of which are Bmw. The Harley dealer who will turn up his nose at any other make and a Honda/Kawasaki dealer who is more into quads and snowmobiles and a Yamaha dealer who is friendly but hadn't even heard of Heidenau tires. 
Which gets us to the subject of tires.
On my first trip back to Vancouver my Metzlers were getting a bit "skinny" and I decided to price out a new set but I procrastinated and thought I'd be OK to make Prince George an 800km jaunt) and get a new set of slicks on the lay over.
Here's how it went. No tires of the size I need in town (of any manufacture) but could be brought in for MSRP. "Oh well" i'll order them and have them installed on the way back.
"No problem" they say "would you like them installed on the bike or will you be bringing just the rims?" Oh oh, i'm starting to get a bad feeling! "How much?" I angelicly ask.
"oh that will be $135.00 on the rims or $270.00 on the bike. Yikes! Quick math in my head says $425.00 tires + $270.00 install + 12% tax = $779.00 I've bought motorcycles for less and these were not the top-of-the-line tires either.
Long story short I passed and as it was Summer riding I soldered on with what I had. A bit of a ramble but all I am saying is if you plan to go to Alaska (a great trip don't get me wrong. Plan ahead.
But I am not finished yet. 
I am back in Vancouver and have stripped the plastic bits of the bike for a nice new paint job DIY in the garage in the middle of winter because that's just how we roll isn't it.
Cheers,
Rob
p.s. new tires on rims in Vancouver $335.00

Good to hear you had a great trip Rob. The Alaska trip is one I have always wanted to do but the money has run out so it will have to wait till my next incarnation. I have been caught out having to get tyres in out of the way places in Australia and they are just as bad though with the advent of social media the word gets around quickly nowdays.
At least you get an off season when you can do jobs like painting in your time.
Of course you know that pictures of the trip are almost mandatory here, we would love to see some.

Good story about a great ride, K-wopper. Thanks.

Having ridden in and through most of lower Canada, all of the 48 lower US states and Hawaii, and much of Mexico and centra America, I have yet to ride to Alaska. I simply have not got round to it, plus, working in the motorbike bidness one can't get the ideal months off - June through early September.

My partner lived up there on and off for 16 years working for Alaska airlines in the '80s and on pipeline support in the late-70s. She's been urging me to more seriously plan a trip to AK. For sure, it is a 'bucket list' ride. I will be sure to have some K60s, Anakee 3s or TKC80s on the bike before we go. Especially now that we are close to the border (were in Vancouver/White Rock over the last weekend!).

There's a dealership in Anchorage that know Beemers, but they are off the track, and, lengendarily, charge for the full meal ticket. It's a captive audience.

I started this thread to talk about painting the bike but then thought i needed to explain why i was doing the painting which reminded me of my trips and it all ran on as long as this sentence.

On a map there are 2 ways to ride to Alaska. Most people want to start at "mile zero" in Dawson Creek which mean either coming from the east via Edmonton or from the south. Prince George is the last real city (100,000+) to stop at for provisions. It's actually a nice place but as I iterated you can get just about everything you want as long as it doesn't involve BMW's.
I'm mentioning this to offer an alternative route by heading West on highway #16 Yellowhead through the Bulkley valley for about 700kms of mountain majesty to New Hazelton and then hanging a right at the Petro-can (fuel station) and head up the #37 Cassiar highway. You can make a stop at Hyder Alaska on the panhandle and continue North to meet up with Highway #97 in the Yukon. If you feel compelled to do the Alaska end-to-end the this route make an excellent loop. Just sayin' but the best roads aren't always the most popular.

Now back to painting. 4-8C and 80% humidity. Not the best results but I am having fun doing my bike my way.

Cheers,
Rob