Buying a (new) bike in Alaska

[Biddy]

Hi there!

I'm from The Netherlands and I'll be travelling through Alaska, Canada down to Florida in about 8 months, starting in June.

I'm trying to find information about how to buy and register a (new) bike in Alaska, type Honda Transalp or Yamaha Teneré. Has anyone done this before or knows how to go about?

Thanks,
Annemieke

[craig.iedema]

TwoMotoKiwis (Andi and Ellen) - have done this. I mentioned this thread to Andi, some hopefully he post a reply or just PM him.

[Island Hopper]

Originally Posted by Biddy

Hi there!

I'm from The Netherlands and I'll be travelling through Alaska, Canada down to Florida in about 8 months, starting in June.

I'm trying to find information about how to buy and register a (new) bike in Alaska, type Honda Transalp or Yamaha Teneré. Has anyone done this before or knows how to go about?

Thanks,
Annemieke

Both the Transalp and the 660 Tenere are not available new in North America... The Super Tenere is if you don't mind going that big...

One of the most popular and readily available bikes for travel over here is the KLR if your looking to go with a single similar to the 660... The KLR comes pretty well set up off the showroom floor already having a big fuel tank and tail rack.. Another single available is the DR 650, but going by the 2 Moto Kiwis experience I wouldn't put this bike at the top of the list.... Also the DR requires a bit of setup and money spent to make it travel ready...

If your looking to go Honda for North America the do have the NX 700X which they label as an Adventure bike... To me it looks a little more of a street oriented platform which may not perform so well if you go far off the beaten path, but for groomed gravel and long stretches of tarmac it should be ideal...

[Lonesome George]

I did this three years ago, although I didn't buy new. I bought a second hand BMW GS from Motorcycle Rentals, Tours and Self-Guided Adventures | MotoQuest. You could try them but the main, and I think only bike shop in Alaska is The Motorcycle Shop - Anchorage, Alaska.

It was easy to buy, registe and insure.

If you email motoquest, tell Phil that Dom from the UK says hello!

[Biddy]

Thanks for all your replies!

A Super Ténere is too big for this trip. At the moment I own a BMW GS 1200 Adventure, the bigest bike I guess But it is too heavy to use for tougher offroads and there's far too much electronics in there as well. Too bad that they don't have Transalps in Alaska! I will check out the KLR and the NX 700X.

I allready contacted Phil a few months ago and he offered his used bikes. But I don't want to have too much troubles on the roads....my old second hand bike (Yamaha Tenére) had a long trackrecord of failures, so I prefer a fairly new bike.

But I will email the Motorcycle Shop, maybe they can help me. And @ Lonesome George: do you need a residential adress in Alaska to register a bike?

Now I only have to figure out how to PM the TwoMotoKiwis

Cheers, Annemieke

[ajmac]

i had a bit of a bad run with the anchorage company and felt i was ripped off totally (it was corrected by emails to home in western australia and sorted out in edmonton canada but still left me out of pocket and with a bad taste in my mouth....prefer to be kissed before i get &*%$!!!).i spoke to the guys in fairbanks motorbike shop andn they seemed good price and fair to deal with.it would be good to email dan at www.advcycleworkscom he is a great guy to deal with for tyres etc (if your doing the arctic you need the nobbly factor from him) but i believe he will also be able to help and/or advize you.
alaska leather may be also of some help if you contact barbara she is helpful for travellers to alaska.be interested to see and hear on how you progress as i am waivering on flying my bike from oz again or saving the money and buying and registering exactly as you have proposed.good luck

[Lonesome George]

When I got my bike from Phil he went with me to the registration office and put down the address of the bike shop as the residential address. It worked, no one said anything.