I'm interested in riding the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. As familiar and reliable as my trusty Kawasaki ZR-7S is, I know from experience up north and in Baja that it is truly a menace on dirt or gravel roads and would be no fun at all on the Dempster, particularly if there's fresh gravel or rain involved.

My current thinking is to go light and acquire a quarter litre-ish dual sport. Having previously ridden up to Whitehorse, I have no need to do that again, so I'd trailer the d/s up and begin riding from there. Therefore, high speed highway travel is not a real concern, although I would like to do some touring into Alaska as well.

There's plenty of choice available around here including the Suzuki DR200SE, Yamaha XT225/250, Honda CRF230L, Kawasaki Sherpa and the Kawasaki KLX250S. I've sort of ruled the KLX250S out because it's much taller than the others and has the unecessary complexity of liquid cooling. The seat looks dirt bike uncomfortable as well.

Occasionally, a DR350 or Honda XR250L comes up for sale but they're typically of a certain age and rare here so I would not consider them.

Other than that it seems to be a toss up. Has anybody done the Dempster on a bike of this sort or have any strong preference or dislike to pass along? Are the electrical systems on these bikes capable of powering a vest?

Thanks.

Normw.