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Thanks for the update. I am following a dual-sport buddy on the road now. It is tough for sure. Everything seems to be out to get you. Our med evac person went from Fort McPhersen to Inuvik by plane and then on to Yellowknife. There were something like 18 med evacs the 2018 season. We only made it to Eagle Plains that year as they were snowplowing by the Territories border on Sept 4th. We were kind of late but the colours were phenomenal. We almost struck out in 2019 (rained all night and morning in Eagle Plains) but started out at about 2 pm. Almost white out at the border but then down hill and it cleared until bright sun. Arrived Tuk after 1 am.

I watched your offroad course video and I do not think you will have any difficulty on the Dempster. I hit that thumbs up button! You need good weather, everyone does, but it is just a wide gravel road that can be greasy, slippery, dry, dusty, or freshly graded. Or all of that within 100 km. You just have to pay continual attention and do not outdrive the conditions. Once you are near Dawson City, if the weather is good in 3 days you can cruise up and down it. One of the things I did between trips 3 and 4 was switch from a Ducati 1200 Multistrada GT to a Halfrica Twin (the CB500x with the Rally Raid conversion). That was a perfect change for me (much lighter / less stress), but it is just 2700 km from Calgary. I did miss the 140 HP, especially when passing on the highway, but ah! it is not a race. I am 5'8" and my bike is lifted another 2 inches but shorter than the AT. I did want to get the AT Sport at one point but did not. I also tend to ride some rougher stuff so lighter and shorter is better. I think the AT would be a great bike for the entire trip. If you would like any other info on the Dempster I put together a bit of a 'pdf' package. My contact info is in the description. Email me and I would be happy to send. Thanks for watching.

@@dougiverson4297 Thanks for the great reply Doug :) I find mud and loose gravel to be the most challenging. I'll see how the 4 day trail ride goes first lol.

@@baldandbiking Hint: No one really likes loose gravel or mud. Loose hands on the bars, look ahead, stand up if you have to (can feel better), and every time the bike gets squirrelly - by then you are past it. So all good. Ha.

looking forward to hearing about it. do keep in touch.

Enjoy the trip. Please pop back in and comment on anything you would add to this. Just be steady. I met riders that came a long long long ways to ride the Dempster, but when at the gas station they spoke to riders coming off it and decided not to go. They went to Dawson City and we rode to Tuk and back out. Just one milestone at a time. Watch out for the views they are captivating and one moment you go from being "in a groove" to being "in a rut". Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

I would like a map of every gas stop along the route, and a lug it in to my gps

@@davechavis4275 If you email me (my contact info in the description) I can send you some details I put together for people. Put Dempster Info request or something in the subject line. In there you will find links to: www.bellsalaska.com/ themilepost.com/route/ www.dempsterhighway.com/maps-guides From the above you can get all the gas stations whether you travel the Alaska Highway or the Cassiar Highway 37. I recommend you travel one of them up and one out. My experience, is there is a credit card fuel station at km zero (no attendant). Then at Eagle Plains (fuel basically 8 am to 930 pm (guess), then at the Coop in Fort McPhersen (if you catch them, Sundays might be iffy), I found 24 hour fuel at the car wash in Inuvik (there are other normal hour gas stations as well). It looks like there is fuel in Tuk, but I have not seen it myself.

Thank you for that. I just watched another video of a few riders that made it to Eagle Plains on fumes. And yes, I did that on my first trip as well. Kind of, anyway. My tank was near empty, but I had ten liters with me and a partner with a 30 liter tank I could have siphoned from. I do not think those riders understood the risk of having to bail without sufficient fuel. And although you do not need a back up for everything, awareness and anticipation is essential. Safe riding.

You are correct, it can be difficult to know what is below the fresh gravel surface. In this case though, I walked the tire track and it seems for sure the small gravel ridges along the direction of travel were the contributing factor. Once one wheel is on one side, and the other is not the wiggling begins.

If you are resourceful you will be fine. I would highly recommend, given it is an in and out trip, to cache all unnecessary gear at the start. The amount you can cache will depend on the weather forecast. Lets hear how it went!!!

Glad you enjoyed it!

In November of of 2021, I emailed a group of friends a: “How about riding the Dempster starting July 9th” it was 270 days out. Then each month I sent a new update with a countdown, cause that is what I do. If you email me (I will put my email in the description for a week) I can forward to you as it helps with the thought process. Also, as leader, I think my Part 8 video of the Dempster helps with group riding. What went well and what we missed. That is in the description also. It is a fantastic trip. Where are you travelling from? Also the Dust to Dawn rally is often on at that time in Dawson City. Doug

@@dougiverson4297 Thanks for your reply! I’m taking a small group up. Well we are going to attempt it! Two of them tried last year but failed just north of Eagle Plains due to mechanical issues. Myself and one other guy haven’t been north of Dawson City. We’ve been planning this trip for about a year. My truck is going as a support vehicle that will carry everything so the bikes will be unladen. It will be driven by one of the three wives going. Two of those are riding their own bikes to Dawson (Rykers) and leaving them there. We are giving ourselves 3 extra days for weather and two more to attend the D2D event on the way back from Tuk. I have told everyone that we will not be traveling in rain or on muddy roads due to lack of experience with two of the riders. Fires are another concern.

Congratulations on making it to Rock River. Yes, Covid put a damper on many plans when following the guidelines. We had planned on the trip in 2020 then 2021. When I stayed at Rock River, July 2022, the mosquitos were pretty persistent. We arrived there at about 1 am on our way back out, That morning we started just north of the Mackenzie ferry, went to Tuk and then south. You will enjoy the rest of the trip. The views remain spectacular. Some nice winding road just north of the border and then the weaving thru all the lakes north of Inuvik is wonderful AND you get to see it all again from the other direction out. You are so correct. The scenery is hard to imagine until you are there with nothing around you for miles. At times we would drive an hour and see no one. That meant about 150 km (or more) between us. Stunning. And the views go on forever. That is what makes it difficult keeping your eyes on the road. Hope the video helps you with some minor details but sounds like you have it wired. Safe travels!

Much appreciated

Thank you Martin. The Dempster is like playing 3D chess, nothing is quite as it seems

Thanks for tuning in. I got my bike to be an adventure bike and go a few more places than my large Ducati 1200. If you want to see me banging around on the 500X, just click on my name and then click the "videos" tab, which should list them. I am just figuring out the video editing thing but here are a few you may enjoy from the list: Lost Knife Steep Sections Lyndon Creek Road DHI CB500X KTM790 Lost Knife Lost Knife Switchbacks (short) Lavina Attempt Sept 2021 Margaret Lake videos Also search, Jenny Morgan Rubicon trail Love to hear how you make out with yours. Mine has the Level 2 Rally Raid conversion

My brother in law rides a bit differently than I do and he fitted his 500X with a 16 front. He says it is really enjoyable for in town riding and for on the highways. I am pretty convinced, if I went on a long trip that was non-technical in nature (first gear only for starting out and not in difficult terrain) then I would consider putting a 40 tooth (down 1 tooth) on the rear for the trip. I would only take about 40 minutes for me to make the swap. I have had the sprocket for almost two years and never even tried it. Previously, I completed 80,000 km on a Ducati 1200 Multistrada GT with 150 hp so I, for one, certainly understand the difference. For me, Honda got it absolutely correct, especially for the range of applications I have for this bike. I take it places many people would not and am cognizant of the fact there would be many bikes better suited for that. More on that later. Thanks for watching and responding.

for cruising around main roads, 16t is perfect, that's why i got the 16t, also is cushioned with rubber of course if you ride off road regularly, the 15t is better, maybe even a 14t would be nice for off road usage

@@Tonyx.yt. I concur, the 16T is probably ideal for some riding styles and / or routes. My adventure riding tends towards the dual sport side whereas many others tend toward the main route adventures. The 15T is also available in rubber cushioned from JT Sprockets. I did think about a 14T front but my riding capabilities are not good enough to warrant that, Also I have not seen one available. Has you considered doing the rear sprocket instead, or perhaps both (front up to 16 and rear down)?

You don’t really understand gearing at all. 15/41 is perfectly suited for a lot of applications. 16/41 serves a different purpose, as would 14/41. On paper a 6% change doesn’t seem like a lot but in real life at higher revs it feels significantly different. And it makes every gear taller not just 6th. Just as a 14 increases torque in every gear, not just 1st.

@@elwood62 And what is it you think I do not understand about the gearing? I made this video specific to a discussion on the cb500x.org forum. Many riders there opt for the 16/41. I suspect they are riding mainly asphalt, in which case the application works for them. What the discussion on the forum did not take into account was: where they were riding. My point was, the 16/41 may change the difficult areas one could ride, which I do ride. I would not ride the difficult areas with a taller gearing. A better rider could manage I am sure.

Thanks for the question. I relooked at the title slide and had double clicked on the 2. I am trying to change it. I have a 2020 model. This one seems to have 15 or 16 available for the front and 41 or 40 available for the rear. Earlier models seemed to have 15 or 16 for the front and 41 or 39 for the rear.

David. Great hearing from you. As to a backroads sequel, I did get the phone number for range control (Sgt. Slaughter was a nickname I heard for them) and was planning on contacting range control to see if we could schedule a ride through there sometime. say enter from the south near Ian’s place and 5 mile lake (slough) and drive the fire guard up towards Med Hat, then cut across the to the north and circle around the tank training area. Stay on the roads, but we would probably need a support truck to get a bike out if there was a problem. I am cautiously optimistic, as a No means maybe, and maybe is definitely a yes. Ha. I did get to work on the Suffield base in about 2000, on three different seismic projects. One was on the south side of the range just east of Suffield crossing south across the Trans Canada and up into the range. The other two were on the north area of the base. it was fun dealing with the people as no one knew who I was. I still keep in contact with Ian, Ivan, Jimi, and periodically run into Greg. I think the design of the village of Ralston was an interesting concept and should be adopted more places. Best wishes to you and yours. If you pay TH-cam some money they might help you with your filters. Ha. Ha.

You are welcome. I will do a brief summary of all 4 trips and the key things to get correct

A very old gopro with no stabilization but a fun ride.

Thank you for the comment. Much appreciated coming from your channel.

There are 5 more cameras to see coming up in the next couple of videos, although 1 tipped over during the shock wave.

There is a lot in that sentence. I drove a little Datsun (became Nissan in 1986) so must have been built over 38 years ago for a photo shoot a couple (actually implies 2) years ago. That is fantastic. I remember the Datsuns, mainly the 510 but would never forget the 240Z. I did drive, the paved section, from the north to that intersection on my Honda VFR 800 but stopped at the gravel. It is surprising how much stuff I missed just by having street bikes and minimal (virtually none, I did ten km of gravel over 150,000 km) courage to attack gravel. I am making up for all that now. Thanks for the comment. Would love to see the pictures. I was focussed on getting home and not filming.

@@dougiverson4297 I looked back at some of the pictures. It was actually 2018 (time flys!) 1974 ish Datsun 620 pickup. Thanks again for making these videos.

I am sure there is a lot of interesting exploring in this area with all the erosional surfaces and the known finds. The work and planning palaeontologists and archeologists do is fascinating.

Thanks for the support Don. While neither really a dual-sport or adventure ride it was more of an experience ride. Just nice to be out and about on the roads less travelled and or roads I have not been on before.

Thanks for the response. Whether solo riding, a pair, or a group managing expectations is a huge challenge. If you have any questions, please reach out. Best wishes. June - early can have snow beside road. Check out the D2D in Dawson if you are there over June solstice. Also check out Top of the World Road, Telegraph Creek, and the Canol Roads.

Thank you for the comment. You are absolutely correct. As I think about these videos and review the watching profile, I am thinking I should do two videos. A short video with the brief highlights and then provide a link at the end for the people that would like to see the entire thing, or say more of it. Much appreciated.

I had 20,000 km on the bike so decided to do the chain before we left as I had a few stiff links. The sprockets were still fine. I did however order a 16 tooth sprocket for the front in March and it did not arrive until September. We did the trip in July, so that failed. I wanted to try that gearing as most if the riding was highway or gravel roads, nothing technical. Many CB500X riders use 16/41 for highway type riding. The normal for my bike is 15/41. Had it come in, I did have a new 41 in my garage I would have put the set on with the new chain. In late June, when it was obvious the 16 tooth sprocket was not going to make it, I went the other route and ordered a 40 tooth rear sprocket, as I also had a new 15 tooth front sprocket. That 40 tooth sprocket arrived when I was 100 kms into the trip. At about 32,000 km, I put on the new 15/41 sprockets I had with the chain I changed at 20k. The 16 and 40 sprockets may never get used. But, we did have one rider that hoped his chain would make it. By the time we headed south his chain had stretched so much there was no adjustment left. I had a chain break but we did not have a master link. He babied his bike to Prince George for parts as we headed to Stewart planning to catch him the following day. We caught him in Prince George and we changed his chain and sprockets. Of the 5 bikes that started in Calgary, mine was the only one with a new chain. 3 bikes all had about 10 k km on their chains and one was a drive shaft BMW. So as long as you still have adjustment available you should be good. My first trip on a 1200 Ducati Multistrada I adjusted the chain twice in the 10 k km. On my CB500X, I just adjusted it once.

Our rider is doing well. I think it was more of an insult to him than injury, but we were lucky. He rode it in like a champ, probably preventing greater injury. This is a pretty good link for planning and basic information. You will see tires factor in many times. www.iti.gov.nt.ca/sites/iti/files/dempster_adventure_motorcycle_research_final.pdf Steady is best. The Dempster is a logistical challenge but weather could foil you every time. We will be doing a rider synopsis of this over the xmas holidays. Do not hesitate to reach out on any questions about the trip. Than k you for the comment.

We were lucky it was such a nice day with very little traffic and road work. It was enjoyable to do it both directions. I have done it at least once in snow/ice crystal fall, once quite wet, once very dusty, once quite smoky, and once quite wet and slippery. That is what is enticing, the road is always a bit different. Thank you for the comment. Much appreciated.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you Mark.

Thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoy the ride. That was the intent of the video, to share information.

Thank you so much for the reference. I looked them up online. They are even visible from Red Rock Coulee just south of Seven Persons. Fantastic. I think I may venture down there next year and circumnavigate those hills. Looks like you can ride to the top of Mt. Royal as there seems to be a small town up there.

Was in that area a few years ago. Great times. Cypress Hills and Grasslands as well. From Ontario.

They say any bike can be an ADV bike, but it is nice to have: range (large tank or good fuel economy), carrying capacity, and reliability amongst many other things. And yes, more relaxing than contemplating Lost Knife again. The route around to the Cypress Hills, via Wildhorse border crossing and into Sask passes near Consul. The fuel station was not opened on Sundays which is part of the reason we never got to the location in 2021. We were coming the other way around. Note: We were in Consul to partake in some excellent baked items at the bakery after the standard oatmeal for breakfast. Highly recommended.

It really is! Lot's of learnings everytime.

You're welcome

Thank you for the comment. It was fun playing around trying things. Makes me appreciate the people there dedicated to all of this.

Thank you for the comment. On my first trip in 2016, the road heading south was really greasy within about 60 km on either side of the NT/YT border. I was so focused, I did not turn on my gopro. I did get some stills of it though. That would have been good footage. I had the same wet greasy experience through that same section in 2018 when going north. I think I have some footage of that. In 2018 I had breakfast at Grandma's kitchen and in 2022 we had lunch there. Both meals were very good. In 2018 we were the only three in the back of her house. In 2022 there was a dining area and was a little more crowded because of the time of day and the fact the road was becoming more popular. I have a video that I have not posted yet that explains the incident we had by Midway. I think there was an important learning there I should share.

It is a 2020 Honda CB500X sometimes generously called a Halfrica Twin. Mine has the Rally Raid (RR) Level 2 upgrade (but I did not do the spoked wheels another bunch of $$$$$). I have the Level 2 suspension (Tractive from RR), RR bashplate, RR racks, Bark busters, Pro Taper bars, Scorpion exhaust, Double Take mirrors. Happy to tell you more but there are lots of videos on the Rally Raid upgrade. Some of my videos show some of the rougher terrain I have been on (search DHI Lost Knife Trail or stuff in my channel). I camp with it carrying 110 lbs of gear and it is fine. Can still do about 75 mph (120 kph) into the wind loaded. Has 50 hp, so a far cry from my Ducati Multistrada 1200, but currently the perfect bike for me. Thanks for commenting.

Hello. Thanks for the info on Sweetgrass Hills.

You are correct on the corners. This is just to drive on remote type trails near Calgary.

@@dougiverson4297 o yes I’ve been to Calgary not too much in the way of bends in the rads but the mountains are amazing

There were two cameras, both GoPro Black and both set at 2.7 k and 59.94 frames per second.

Sorry I missed your email. My best wishes are with you for success. It is a long travel to be thwarted, but every component of the adventure is worth it.