CumminsPusher
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Embarrassed? Proud! Makes the new accessories pop is what I say
AKRider
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I usually do a better job cleaning it up. There was just so much crap packed in all over that I spent most of the time blasting it out. It's nice having the full skid plates, but man, they sure do collect a lot of mud and debris.
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CumminsPusher
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Mine have no clean outs whatsoever but it's worth it! No sticks! When you getting back out ? A review would be b****en
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AKRider
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I didn't get out to test the new shocks this weekend. I decided to fix a trailer wiring issue yesterday that should have been quick. It wasn't. I planned on going today, but woke up to some pretty intense wind... 40 to 50 mph gusts... which stuck around all day. I decided a test run wasn't worth frost bite and my knees aching for the next week. If I don't get it out during the coming week they might get tested back up on the Denali Hwy next weekend. A buddy wants to fill his sons caribou tag and I hate the idea of someone going out alone with only one machine. If the herd is near the Hwy we might not need to ride at all. We'll see!
AKRider
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Finally got out to test the WE front shocks. One word. AWESOME! 1000% better than the stock shocks. I'll post a video and better review soon. They are well worth the money.
CumminsPusher
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I'm glad they made a good difference AK! No regrets on the bad shock being deciding factor it sounds like. Really wanted to hear a review on just the fronts so that's great!
Awesome! I am thinking about replacing the front shocks as well. Bottom out way to much, especially with the extra weight of the doors and such. Did you notice the machine level out after the test ride, or was the front still sitting high? I think I'm going to go with WE also, as the Elka options are just too much $$$.
AKRider
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It seems to have leveled out really well. Here's a pic from the rear. I'll upload a couple more once I get the video off the camera and ready for upload. Probably later on tonight. After I unpacked from the trip this weekend I had just enough time settle in for The Walking Dead
@Hondasxs , notice what's on the muffler cover? I had one front and center on the roof but it came off somewhere on a ride. Not sure why.
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Here's my review of the front Walker Evans shocks. As I said before, they are 1000% better than the stock front shocks. I honestly didn't get to ride them too much. I only put about 15.5 miles on them... on the same trail. There's a story behind this. If you want to know, keep reading this. If you just want to read the review and see the video and some pics, scroll down. Here's the story.
A friend's son still had an open caribou tag. The season opened again on October 21, and he decided he was going to head up to the Denali Hwy to teach his 14yo son more about hunting and to fill that tag. His son had already taken a cow moose earlier, and my friend filled his caribou tag on the Denali Hwy with a decent cow caribou. I didn't draw for anything this year but have helped him on both those hunts, for which he graciously gave me a lot of meat. We each boned out about half of it each, and paid to have different things processed, which left us with a variety of all kinds of good stuff that we shared. I have a feeling come spring I will be asking him what meat he is out of and giving a lot back to him. It's just how we do it here. I didn't want or need meat, but I also didn't want him up there alone with his boy. Just last month a guy we both know was up there alone with his 6yo boy. He was about 10 miles in, harvested a caribou, and got stuck on the way out, eventually drowning his machine. They had to hike 10 miles out, only to return the next day to get his machine and the caribou. My wife was interested in going, and we decided that while my buddy and his boy were hunting caribou that we would hunt stupid chickens... i.e. ptarmigan and/grouse. Whichever one presented itself.
Anyway, back to the story. We left for the Hwy on Friday afternoon. It had snowed all Thursday night. It had quit where I live, but we ran into it again as we headed east on the Glenn Hwy towards Glenallen. We had some whiteout conditions and some pretty interesting driving. From Glenallen we headed north on the Richardson Hwy to Paxson, where we would head west on the Denali "Highway". I emphasize that because it's anything but a highway. The first twenty miles is paved and not too bad, but it gets worse from there. The weather was getting better, but it was windy, and the temperature was dropping. We found a spot about 29 miles in to camp. We set up camp, got a fire going, and proceeded to enjoy the evening around the fire with food, adult beverages for the adults, and story-telling. It was overcast most of the evening but cleared up later. The Northern Lights were awesome. I don't believe the temp got too much below zero that night.
The area where we stopped is an archaeological area. There are trails, but you cannot take your machine off the trails. You really need to know where you are up there so you don't get in trouble with Fish and Game. When we woke Saturday there was about 15 to 20 cows that had bedded for the night not too far below us, just over a drop that opened into a large flat area. I assume they used the drop of the bank to block the wind. My friend and his son attempted to stock them but they were spooked. It wasn't going to be that easy.
After getting some food and properly gearing up, they both headed out again. My wife and I headed to the south side of the highway with a Savage model 64 .22 and a pellet gun. I figured we could take some chickens with the pellet gun without making too much noise for the caribou hunters with the 22. Oh, I was also carrying a 44 on my chest. You never know. We did this for a couple hours without seeing any, so we headed back to camp. I glassed out into the area where I thought my buddy and his boy would be. I eventually found them. We were also in contact via GMRS radio, but you have to be careful with that. You can stay in contact for safety, but you cannot use them for hunting. We kept out chatter to a minimum
About an hour later I heard 2 shots. The boy was carrying a 270, and that's exactly what it sounded like. A few minutes later my buddy contacted me on the radio and said they had one down. I asked my buddy what he needed and how he wanted to proceed. He told me there was a trail to the west that was closer to him than he was to camp. I unloaded the P1K from the trailer and headed out to meet him. They had to hike about a mile to the trail. They gathered what I brought, including a meat rack, skinning knives, etc, and headed back out. My wife and I waited until they radioed that they were back on the kill, then hung out for a while, glassing and checking out the area.
Interestingly enough, I had conversations with three different hunters that wanted to check out the machine. I gladly showed them everything that I could. I had the bedliner in so I couldn't show them the back seats. I was honest with them and told them about the seat heat issue, that some had experienced issues with the clutches burning up, etc. None of them seemed too concerned with those issues. One guy was driving a ranger, that was his buddies, and had his Honda Rubicon back at camp. He told me he was a Honda guy, but had a Ranger in the past, only to sell it before the warranty ran out because of the numerous issues he had with it.
We headed back to camp to eat and use the Luggable Loo. I know, Too much information. Get over it. A little while later my buddy radioed that they were headed out and would be on the trail in about 25 minutes. I met them there. Let me tell you, although it was only a mile, that was a hell of a packout. Up and over a ridge, and traveling through frozen muskeg. They had two quarters, backstrap, etc. They headed back out for the other two quarters, head with rack, and misc meat. I hung out and waited for them. Meanwhile, my wife was getting the fire going back at camp. They returned back to the trail about an hour later. I loaded the rest of the meat into the back of the P1K and we headed back to camp. A side note to this... Over the many times we had been out together, my buddy had never rode in the P1K. He seemed to be impressed and really liked it.
We got back to camp, got the meat put away, ate some food, and proceeded to have another night around the campfire with adult beverages. The only difference was that it was a completely clear night. We had a really good fire going, but if you got more than five feet away from it, it was freaking cold! I would venture to say it got down to anywhere between 10 and 20 below that night. We were all prepared with Big Buddy heaters and really good sleeping bags. My wife and I had Wiggy's sleeping bags. If you've never heard of these... check them out. They have been around since the late '80s and are an online retailer. They have one storefront... in Anchorage. Imagine that. They have a great selection of all kinds of outdoor gear.
Wiggy's – The World's BEST Sleeping Bags, Outdoor Gear & Clothing
I would say they are the best sleeping bags for the money. My wife had -60 degree bag and I had a -20 degree bag, and they make overbag's that boost the former to-80 and the latter to -60.
We "slept in" Sunday morning and got on the road for home around 12:30. It was an awesome trip.
Oh yeah, I was supposed to be reviewing the shocks. Hey, I'm getting old. My mind wanders.
Although I really couldn't put them through a lot of testing, I rode enough to know that they are well worth the money. They can be adjusted in 16 steps from soft to hard. I had them on 4... fairly soft. Although it's hard to tell in the video, I know I would have bottomed the stock shocks out a couple of times. The ride was excellent. The handling was a huge improvement. I'm really excited about these. I purposely tried to hit as many potholes as possible on the way back to camp. It was amazing how well it handled. They are pricey, but in my opinion, well worth it. My wife, who has her eyes closed half the time... lol... noticed the difference and really thought the machine rode better. They were a little squeaky, but nothing I couldn't deal with. Hopefully that is break-in and also attributable to the extreme cold.
Here's some pics and a vid of the machine and the area. I hope you enjoyed the story and like the review. Now that I have my wife comfortable with the gear we have, there might be some more cold-weather trips in our future!
Audrey in her Wiggy's...
A friend's son still had an open caribou tag. The season opened again on October 21, and he decided he was going to head up to the Denali Hwy to teach his 14yo son more about hunting and to fill that tag. His son had already taken a cow moose earlier, and my friend filled his caribou tag on the Denali Hwy with a decent cow caribou. I didn't draw for anything this year but have helped him on both those hunts, for which he graciously gave me a lot of meat. We each boned out about half of it each, and paid to have different things processed, which left us with a variety of all kinds of good stuff that we shared. I have a feeling come spring I will be asking him what meat he is out of and giving a lot back to him. It's just how we do it here. I didn't want or need meat, but I also didn't want him up there alone with his boy. Just last month a guy we both know was up there alone with his 6yo boy. He was about 10 miles in, harvested a caribou, and got stuck on the way out, eventually drowning his machine. They had to hike 10 miles out, only to return the next day to get his machine and the caribou. My wife was interested in going, and we decided that while my buddy and his boy were hunting caribou that we would hunt stupid chickens... i.e. ptarmigan and/grouse. Whichever one presented itself.
Anyway, back to the story. We left for the Hwy on Friday afternoon. It had snowed all Thursday night. It had quit where I live, but we ran into it again as we headed east on the Glenn Hwy towards Glenallen. We had some whiteout conditions and some pretty interesting driving. From Glenallen we headed north on the Richardson Hwy to Paxson, where we would head west on the Denali "Highway". I emphasize that because it's anything but a highway. The first twenty miles is paved and not too bad, but it gets worse from there. The weather was getting better, but it was windy, and the temperature was dropping. We found a spot about 29 miles in to camp. We set up camp, got a fire going, and proceeded to enjoy the evening around the fire with food, adult beverages for the adults, and story-telling. It was overcast most of the evening but cleared up later. The Northern Lights were awesome. I don't believe the temp got too much below zero that night.
The area where we stopped is an archaeological area. There are trails, but you cannot take your machine off the trails. You really need to know where you are up there so you don't get in trouble with Fish and Game. When we woke Saturday there was about 15 to 20 cows that had bedded for the night not too far below us, just over a drop that opened into a large flat area. I assume they used the drop of the bank to block the wind. My friend and his son attempted to stock them but they were spooked. It wasn't going to be that easy.
After getting some food and properly gearing up, they both headed out again. My wife and I headed to the south side of the highway with a Savage model 64 .22 and a pellet gun. I figured we could take some chickens with the pellet gun without making too much noise for the caribou hunters with the 22. Oh, I was also carrying a 44 on my chest. You never know. We did this for a couple hours without seeing any, so we headed back to camp. I glassed out into the area where I thought my buddy and his boy would be. I eventually found them. We were also in contact via GMRS radio, but you have to be careful with that. You can stay in contact for safety, but you cannot use them for hunting. We kept out chatter to a minimum
About an hour later I heard 2 shots. The boy was carrying a 270, and that's exactly what it sounded like. A few minutes later my buddy contacted me on the radio and said they had one down. I asked my buddy what he needed and how he wanted to proceed. He told me there was a trail to the west that was closer to him than he was to camp. I unloaded the P1K from the trailer and headed out to meet him. They had to hike about a mile to the trail. They gathered what I brought, including a meat rack, skinning knives, etc, and headed back out. My wife and I waited until they radioed that they were back on the kill, then hung out for a while, glassing and checking out the area.
Interestingly enough, I had conversations with three different hunters that wanted to check out the machine. I gladly showed them everything that I could. I had the bedliner in so I couldn't show them the back seats. I was honest with them and told them about the seat heat issue, that some had experienced issues with the clutches burning up, etc. None of them seemed too concerned with those issues. One guy was driving a ranger, that was his buddies, and had his Honda Rubicon back at camp. He told me he was a Honda guy, but had a Ranger in the past, only to sell it before the warranty ran out because of the numerous issues he had with it.
We headed back to camp to eat and use the Luggable Loo. I know, Too much information. Get over it. A little while later my buddy radioed that they were headed out and would be on the trail in about 25 minutes. I met them there. Let me tell you, although it was only a mile, that was a hell of a packout. Up and over a ridge, and traveling through frozen muskeg. They had two quarters, backstrap, etc. They headed back out for the other two quarters, head with rack, and misc meat. I hung out and waited for them. Meanwhile, my wife was getting the fire going back at camp. They returned back to the trail about an hour later. I loaded the rest of the meat into the back of the P1K and we headed back to camp. A side note to this... Over the many times we had been out together, my buddy had never rode in the P1K. He seemed to be impressed and really liked it.
We got back to camp, got the meat put away, ate some food, and proceeded to have another night around the campfire with adult beverages. The only difference was that it was a completely clear night. We had a really good fire going, but if you got more than five feet away from it, it was freaking cold! I would venture to say it got down to anywhere between 10 and 20 below that night. We were all prepared with Big Buddy heaters and really good sleeping bags. My wife and I had Wiggy's sleeping bags. If you've never heard of these... check them out. They have been around since the late '80s and are an online retailer. They have one storefront... in Anchorage. Imagine that. They have a great selection of all kinds of outdoor gear.
Wiggy's – The World's BEST Sleeping Bags, Outdoor Gear & Clothing
I would say they are the best sleeping bags for the money. My wife had -60 degree bag and I had a -20 degree bag, and they make overbag's that boost the former to-80 and the latter to -60.
We "slept in" Sunday morning and got on the road for home around 12:30. It was an awesome trip.
Oh yeah, I was supposed to be reviewing the shocks. Hey, I'm getting old. My mind wanders.
Although I really couldn't put them through a lot of testing, I rode enough to know that they are well worth the money. They can be adjusted in 16 steps from soft to hard. I had them on 4... fairly soft. Although it's hard to tell in the video, I know I would have bottomed the stock shocks out a couple of times. The ride was excellent. The handling was a huge improvement. I'm really excited about these. I purposely tried to hit as many potholes as possible on the way back to camp. It was amazing how well it handled. They are pricey, but in my opinion, well worth it. My wife, who has her eyes closed half the time... lol... noticed the difference and really thought the machine rode better. They were a little squeaky, but nothing I couldn't deal with. Hopefully that is break-in and also attributable to the extreme cold.
Here's some pics and a vid of the machine and the area. I hope you enjoyed the story and like the review. Now that I have my wife comfortable with the gear we have, there might be some more cold-weather trips in our future!
Audrey in her Wiggy's...
Last edited:
N
I really enjoyed the write up even more about the hunting, camping and adventure than the shocks. I too like winter camping although below zero it usually takes substantial preparation and starts to be just a bit of work. I think if I were just a bit younger, not married I would likely move up there. My wife just chuckles when I mention it
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AKRider
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Thanks @Ned. It was a fun adventure and I wanted to share it. I thought about making it a separate post but decided to leave it here.I really enjoyed the write up even more about the hunting, camping and adventure than the shocks. I too like winter camping although below zero it usually takes substantial preparation and starts to be just a bit of work. I think if I were just a bit younger, not married I would likely move up there. My wife just chuckles when I mention it
Cool write up!
Do you plan to add the rear shocks eventually as well?
I am wondering if some of the other shocks like Elka's will make up for the front while keeping the stockers in the rear. I am afraid the WE's in the front would be limited by the stock shocks in the back and you won't get the most out of them compared to if you had them on all 4 corners. Thoughts?
AKRider
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Thanks @amc019! I really like the stock levelers in the rear and they seem to work well with the WE on the front. I honestly don't think I can answer that. I haven't put the machine through enough to make that call yet. Right now I'm just really happy having the stock fronts gone. If this winter is mild I might be able to get out and do more riding, but the big snow is just around the corner. We'll see!
CumminsPusher
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I'm agreeing with the others about the story. I'll be honest I watched video earlier and read part but had to get back to work. I usually save the stories for night reading and I found this very cool! We camp in the cold as well but not quite as cold as you polar bears lol. Very cool ak I appreciate you taking time for others to read I really enjoyed it. Stay safe when out there and keep enjoy enjoying our great wilderness!
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AKRider
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Nothing like getting out there to get your head straight. The best part about many of the areas I go? No cell service... lol
CumminsPusher
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I have to admit I do ride to service sometimes to check in with everyone here but other then that I could care less.
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AKRider
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Me either. I always have it as a clock and possible emergency tool, but it's usually in airplane mode to save on battery life.
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Wanting to move to an area like Alaska is a big deal. You guys can have it. I grew up in an area where I remember -29 degrees at night for over a week, and it not getting up to 0 during the day for the same period. I've seen the weather man call for a "dusting" of snow and I wake the next morning to 18inches of fresh snow.. Snow and Cold are both 4 letter words, and they are not fun I don't care how much it gets romanticized. If you've lived it for 50yrs you don't want to go back to it... lol. No doubt, it makes you tougher. Warming up is a whole lot harder than cooling down. I'll take the 90+ weather anytime...
AKRider
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I grew up in NW PA, have lived in CO, ID, NM, and NC. I've lived through lake effect snow, microburst winds, tornadoes, hurricanes, and, knock on wood, minor earthquakes. I'll take the freedom and open space I have here over any other place I've lived.
Hell, my hometown gets snowiest city of the year awards all the time, while Anchorage got something like 25 inches last year.
I'll die here, whether by freezing to death or bear mauling. Or maybe just one wrong turn in the P1K...
Hell, my hometown gets snowiest city of the year awards all the time, while Anchorage got something like 25 inches last year.
I'll die here, whether by freezing to death or bear mauling. Or maybe just one wrong turn in the P1K...
N
I'm exactly the opposite. I spent my childhood years living in the suburbs of Chicago and the family did most of our vacationing times in Northern Wisconsin. Early in my 20s I moved to Kentucky with a friend, married and have lived here for the last almost 35 years. I hate the 90's. I don't like the 80's, can live with the 70's and start feeling alive at 65 and below. Most of my adult vacations have been to or around the Quetico in Canada or around the northern borders. My wife, who is a native Kentuckian gives me grief about choosing a life down here and complaining about the heat. She's always right and because of her, I will stay. I love the fall and winter, cutting wood, hunting, camping. Now starts the very best time of year to be outside riding. I live on a bit of acreage and ride some almost everyday. I have nearing 600 miles on my Honda, almost everyone of them on my property. I say bring on the cold and let the seat keep me warm
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