Frank Wheeler's ride to Alaska

[relic]

I doubt I'm alone in loving the old bike magazines from the 1960's and 70's? My brother finds them for me at flea markets and antique shops etc and has recently gifted me another pile. I lucked out this time as one of them is the June 1968 Cycle World with the "World's Most Complete Daytona Report". There is a short paragraph and a photo of Harry Taylor's 100cc Sportsman Class win. For interest sake: it was a ten lap race on the 1.63 mile course and the winning time was 15 minutes, 44.13 seconds for an average speed of 62.152 mph.
Pabatco/Hodaka advertised in just about every issue of all the popular motorcycle mags back in the day and again I enjoy seeing all the ad's. One that I'd never come across before, (September 1967 edition of Cycle) features a line drawing of Frank Wheeler on the Ace he rode to Alaska, along with three small photos taken along the way. The ad reads in part: "Alaska and Back! 7000 miles in two weeks on a Hodaka." It goes on to mention that he made it to Anchorage in six days! That is some impressive daily mileages from Athena.

I've read the fairly detailed account of the trip to Baja with Marv Foster but I'm wondering if anything similar was ever recorded about this Alaska ride?
The Ace looks super cool with the fairing, tank bag and luggage tied on the rear rack and seat. I'm always fascinated by folks who do long distance rides on small bikes and I'd like to know more about this one. If anyone knows about a written account, mag article etc on the subject of Frank's amazing Athena to Alaska trek I'd appreciate it.

thanks,

Relic

[Bill2001]

I'm thinking of hitting the TAT on my Hodie some day.

[relic]

Bill, you've probably seen and read about the fellow who rode to Hodaka Days aboard his Road Toad from Tennessee on the TAT?
That would be a fun ride for sure.

Relic

[Bill2001]

Relic, no I've not read that. Where is that article published? Reading about that experience would save having to totally reinvent the wheel.

[relic]

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/1 ... at.893598/
Bill, above is a link to the adv rider website. If you've not visited it before, its HUGE. I don't think you have to register to view. The link is for a ride report that the Road Toad rider did. Its a great read with lots of photos and good descriptions of the entire trip.
Should keep you busy for a while

Relic

[Bill2001]

ADV Ride Report, it will be a very good read. I am a member there, "Bill Harris"
I'll check it out later.

[Bill2001]

Riding a Hodie solo all the way to Athena would be an Epic undertaking at my age. And might not be survivable.

Two options:
Go with a team and a chase RV. That would almost be luxurious. It would take a lot of planning, but would provide a "bail-out option".
Or fit a sidecar frame to the BMW and outfit the frame as a bike carrier for the Hodie. And for carrying camping and travel gear. Just a frame, no bathtub, that will save weight. This would give a nice transcon bike trip to Oregon, but via the "best route" and not the TAT.

Three ways of do-able.

[relic]

I carried my xl100 on my CB750 rig once. Short distance to a vintage dirt bike event. I removed the tub and bolted a piece of channel on. Worked well and got lots of looks on the highway.


Relic

[Bill2001]

I'd "heard of that" being done, but had never seen it. So the idea is do-able. A 200 pound Hodie is about the same as a passenger plus luggage. And a bare-bones sidecar frame, less tub, would be lighter and allow more cargo to be carried. And2 a bare frame might be easier to find or even fabricate. ADVRider has a sidecar forum-- I'll run this idea by them and see what hardware suggestions come up.

A TAT transcon trip would be s challenge, but a transcon motorbike trip would still be most excellent.

[Bill2001]

I'm making progress on the Hodie Toter idea over at ADVRide. Here is a link to the discussion in the sidecar section:

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/s ... r.1190810/

[danshale]

Hi relic, are you still on club site?

There's several amazing details about this trip you kicked this thread off with. One is he slept in a trapper's cabin in AK and had some snow in May-June to contend with. His trip was up into Fairbanks.

[MTrat]

I rode a 500 Suzuki solo to Anchorage and back in '76, The ALCAN had 1100 miles of dirt then; 400 miles of mud up and 700 mi of mud back. 4 1/2 days northbound and 3 1/2 back. Nothing as epic as Frank's ride but still a memorable adventure.