Motorcycle Riding in the Minus 40s

Chistochina, Alaska - Motorcycles here at temps in the minus 40s?  Is spring here?  Wow.  A team of two, a husband and wife team here in Alaska. They are a couple from Switzerland who are now starting a one year tour of North and South America.  They started in late February, from Anchorage. They pulled into Red Eagle Lodge at Chistochina Sunday night. That was March 2. Their daily rides are short with the temperatures running well down into the minus 40s.  

They related their overnight stay at Eureka Lodge and found the temp had dropped to -40 F there.  Their Honda would not start thanks to that very cold temp.  For this possibility they carry fire sticks which were lit under the engine block. Flames burned, 8 to 12 inches high, giving off enough heat to allow the motorcycle to start.

Preparing for this trip in Anchorage, they took time to add studs to their motorcycle tires.  While the machine had knobby tires, they added a stud to each and every knob on both tires. These studs stuck out a good quarter inch which gave them super traction on the snow and ice.  It was noted that they’d rather drive on snow and ice, rather than asphalt.

Their goal for this trip is Patagonia, South America. En route they plan to hit Seattle, then our nation’s National Parks;  Yellowstone, the Redwoods of Northern California, Yosemite along with Sequoia National Park. Interestingly, several years back they’d ridden to Malaysia via Eurasia.