To Rapid City

So far the rear seal has held up (الحمد لله),All thanks go to the staff at John Valk's in Vancouver for doing an excellent job, special thanks to John, Rusty, and the lady mechanic who fixed it.


After breakfast, and while packing I got a phone call from Ali to go check out the bike. it was covered in frost, the morning dew along with below freezing temperatures created a white sheet of ice on the seat and windshield.



We left early since we wanted to reach Rapid City before dark. We passed through the east part of the park, which was as breathtaking as the rest of the park, and met many bikers along the way who were interested in our travels, and asked if we were attending Sturgis, which is a big annual bike rally in Sturgis South Dakota.



When we reached Rapid City there were more motorcycles on the streets than cars and the rally officially starts on the 3rd of August, 4 days away.

Going to Yellowstone

We woke up really early since we knew the ride was going to be through nice country however it was a windy 12 Deg C which was more than what we were prepared for, so we stopped and put on our cold weather gear.


Also I managed to book two rooms in Yellowstone for the same day which is very difficult since it is usually sold out, as a matter of fact all the camp sites were sold out and all we could find were these two rooms overlooking yellowstone Lake.

We entered the park from north entrance, and and stopped at the natural hot water springs which some smelled like rotten eggs or Sulfur, and to us oil company workers (H2S).
We continued our ride through the park and reached the Park Ranger Museum, and found out that originally the army stater patrolling this park in the late 1800s and early 1900s to stop poachers from killing the animals,and preserve the wilderness.

On out way to the hotel we were confronted by a buffalo in the middle of the road, and later witnessed several along the way, every time on was seen the traffic stopped while tourists took pictures.


We reached the hotel around 6 pm, and found out there was no internet, TV, or cellphone reception. So we slept early.

Stop in Montana

Our next point of interest was Yellowstone National Park which was two days away, so we decided to stop in the State of Montana in Missoula which is a nice town overlooking the rocky mountains.


the ride was all on I-90 going through some very nice scenery along the way.

To Seattle

While we were at the barbecue some one broke Ali's CB antenna, so Ali and Husain left to fix it before going to Seattle, and I went to the BMW dealer to pickup my bike.


I left the dealer at 12:10 PM, while Ali and Husain went to three different shops until they managed to get the antenna replaced.


The Line at the border was long, it took me one hour and fourty minutes to get through while it took Ali and Husain 2 hours.


I ended up reaching Seattle around 5 PM.

The Bikes have Arrived

We went to John Valk BMW to wait for our bikes in the afternoon, and visited a local Italian Auto exhibition with Ferrari to Fiat cars, including one vintage Ducati bike.

The bikes arrived at the dealer at 4:00 PM, and while Ali and Husain got to ride their bikes, my bike stayed there so that they would get it fixed first thing tomorrow morning.


We then were invited to Bu Nasser's (Waleed Al Shuqaihi) house for a barbecue, and Ali had all the kids sit and start his motorcycle.

Sightseeing in Vancouver

Once we found out that the bikes would not arrive today, the doctors invited us to a lunch as well as a sightseeing tour of Vancouver.


We visited Stanley Park and crossed the Lions Gate Bridge to North Vancouver where we visited Cleavland Dam near Capilano Park.


We then went to Kashkool an Iranian restaurant for Lunch.



After lunch we visited the Capilano Fish Hatchery where they breed Salmon and release them into the river to maintain their numbers.


Finally we went to Robson street for some delicious Gelato.

Kuwaiti Doctors in Vancouver

While Ali was at the medical clinic Husain met a Saudi Doctor who was there for treatment. He mentioned that there were quite a few Kuwaiti Doctors in Vancouver, and called one of them Dr. Osama Alenezi who mentioned that they get together every Friday night for tea at a cafe near by. so we went.


For Ali it turns out that he has injured his shoulder but could still ride since his shoulder is on it's way to heal, and would not get any worse. In the picture is Dr. Raed Alroughani, Dr.Osamah Alenezi, Dr.Ahmed Alsarraf, Dr.Faisal Shehab, Dr.Aqeel Mehana, Dr.Aziz Aldifiri, Dr.Sadoun Alhasan.

Two to Vancouver

While I was in Vancouver waiting for Ali and Husain, they visited a Fire Station, and then delivered their bikes to Jason at Capital Towing to ship them to Vancouver, then they boarded the plan.
I visited John Valk BMW dealer who will be fixing my bike and looked at a beautiful 1973 R75 BMW for sale.

One to Vancouver

I started working early morning on finding a way to ship the motorcycle to Vancouver, The only way was to have it shipped via Capital Towing from Whitehorse, and I take the first flight out to Vancouver while Ali and Husain would continue and I would meet them in Vancouver once they arrived.


After making all my arrangements Ali was not feeling good so he visited the local medical clinic. There he mentioned that he had problems with his right shoulder, The doctor there recommended that he stop riding until he reach Vancouver and seek better facilities to better diagnose his condition.


So we made further arrangements for all the bikes to be shipped to Vancouver while Ali and Husain would fly tomorrow since it was too late to book the flight.

Into Canada

We left Tok at 9:35 on our way to Whitehorse in Canada. it took us about 2 hours to reach the border.


Entering Canada was easy and straight forward, however our cell phones didn't work, so we stopped at a gas station along the way to use the pay phone to call the hotel and make a reservation. well we didn't have any Canadian currency, and the phone does not accept credit cards.


So we continued until Burwash Landing where we filled with fuel, found a public phone that accepts credit cards, and had pie along in a restaurant overlooking the lake.


We then had a 2 and a half hour straight ride to Whitehorse, where we stopped at a local restaurant for dinner and noticed that the leak on my bike got significantly worse with oil splatter on the tire.


There was no way that it would survive the 2700 km ride to Vancouver where the nearest BMW Dealer on our route is.

Tomorrow we will make some phone calls and see how to move the bike to Vancouver.

To Tok

Before we left we went and met Peter who does bike tours in Alaska.



We then went back through Keystone Canyon and then went past the glaciers, we then drove through smoke due to a forest fire in the area.


While stopping for a break we noticed that the rear shaft seal was leaking again. The dealer in Anchorage said that it was cleaned and goo to go, apparently not.


We reached Tok in the afternoon, and then called TriStar, they contacted the dealer in Vancouver since it was the closest on our route, to prepare for the repair. Since it was a minor leak with only traces of oil on the dust cover we decided to continue tomorrow in to Canada and monitor the leak.

Got Bike will Travel

We picked up our bikes yesterday from the shop, and stated to organize our stuff.


Ali and Husain met a biker named Byron who advised against going to Denali especially since it was overcast and we would not be able to see Mt. McKinley which is the highest peak in North America.


So we decided to take his advice and the advice of Elmer and Sharon Hayes, who were touring on their GS with a sidecar, and went to Valdez.


Although it was at times raining, the scenery on the way to Valdez was breathtaking, especially passing glaciers and passes. At times we wanted to take pictures but couldn't because of the rain.

Back on Schedule

We went early to the shop after they opened to give them the keys to the bikes.

We then visited a custom bike shop called Dream Catcher, and found a great custom pan head. We then visited the folks at Alaska Leather where we bought the sheep skin seat covers for our bikes online before we left Kuwait.

We went back to The Motorcycle Shop before it closed and found that they had finished Ali's bike already, and were almost finished with Husain's bike. We were told that we can pick up our bikes tomorrow at 2:00 pm, which puts us back in schedule with our itinerary.

Getting lucky

Yesterday we were informed from our agent in China that our bikes will not arrive on the 15^th as planned but will be delayed one day and will arrive on the 16^th. So we visited the local Harley shop here and waited since we expected that the bikes would not finish customs until the 17^th.

This morning we made all our phone calls, and found out that the bikes will arrive at 1:00 pm, so we visited The Motorcycle Shop where our bikes will be serviced, and then went to the airport to finalize the customs, and delivery logistics.

The customs officers were supper friendly, and it took 45 minutes to complete the paperwork which is a record fast time for us. We had the bikes in the shop 4 hours after the plane arrived ready for the crating to be removed. The Motorcycle Shop will start working on the bikes tomorrow.

To Anchorage Alaska

We returned our bikes yesterday and drove to Arcata to see family, and drove through a tree in the red woods; we then drove down today to catch the plane to Anchorage.

When we arrived around 11:30 pm it was about sunset except that it does not get really dark here. It is like it is around sunset and sunrise all night.

Monterey to San Francisco

We continued after breakfast on route 1 going through Santa Cruz, and the strawberry farms.

We Stopped briefly for some sweet cherries, and admired the view, then continued to Half Moon bay.

We reached San Francisco around 3 in the afternoon, and after checking in to the hotel we went down the twistiest road in the world on Lombart Street.

We then went on to ride the Golden Gate Bridge, and visit the fisherman's Warf for dinner before getting back to the hotel.