Bike Maintenance Day and Editing Day

July 2^nd, 2026

Soldotna, Alaska

Up at 8am this morning and quickly got showered and geared up.

Today we will take the bike over for an oil change as we have done roughly 5000 miles since the last one which was done a few weeks prior to my departure on the trip.

I found a local shop that was able to get me in this morning and can do the job.

Doug’s Motorcycle Shop and Hauling Service.  He is located on the north end of Soldotna and works from a building at his home.

Was a short ride up there this morning, and arrived a few minutes before my appointment time of 9:30am.

Doug came out shortly after I pulled up and after quick introductions, he went over and opened up the shop and then pushed the bike inside and onto the lift.

We talked about various things while the worked on the bike.  Have to remove the crash plate to access the oil drain plug, so takes a few extra minutes to perform the job.

Doug works up on the oil fields near Prudhoe Bay, but has every other 2-week period off, so I was lucky he was in one of those and could get me in.

Once done, we rolled the bike outside and let it run for a bit to make sure nothing was leaking.

We then talked a bit more and I gave some attention to one of the horses in the pen next to the shop that came up to the fence.

Finally decided to get going, wanted to ride a few miles north toward Kenai to get the bike some exercise after the change and Doug recommended a restaurant in town to try.

Once back to the highway, headed northward, but I had noticed that I would arrive at restaurant just a few minutes before it opened, so decided to ride up to the last populated spot on the road before it goes into the wilderness. 

Turned around there, and then headed back and made a quick stop at the Visitor Center in Kenai to check out a fishing boat on display in the yard.  Walked around a few other displays outside and then drove over a few buildings to the restaurant.

The Burger Bus is a small burger place built inside an actual bus.  Looked to be an older 1960s era school type bus which was gutted and the kitchen built inside.  Bus was skirted like a trailer around the wheels and front and had an enclosed space built on the side to keep people out of the colder winds while ordering.  Original door was still the entrance and you ordered from one of the windows.

Checked out menu, then waited my turn to order, busy place already.

Once food was ready, I walked over to some picnic tables in the parking area and sat down to eat.

Got to talking with another guy there who was also travelling around the state, but in a pickup.

Food was excellent, and was priced nicely for this region.

Once done eating, I got back on the bike and then rode back toward town.  I decided to take the bridge over the Kenai River which Doug had mentioned just to see something different.

This brought me down to the loop road I was on yesterday, and came back into Soldotna from the south like then.

I stopped at the fuel station to fill the tank as was pretty low by now, and this would save me time in the morning.

Once back at the motel, we secured the bike and changed into normal clothes, then sat down to convert more videos.  Eventually had to lay down as I was falling asleep, and ended up taking a 2-hour nap.

Woke up, finished my conversions and then completed a video and got it scheduled for release in a few days.

Also did some packing and such during exports.

I took some time to research my plans for tomorrow, looks like I will make a fairly short riding day, not much for places to stay once I head north, only a few and most are just outrageously priced ($300+ a night for not that great a place).

Looks like I will be camping tomorrow, but found a decent campground and then from there I can hopefully make a long day’s ride and get well north of Anchorage region, prices are just crazy here for lodging, and those affordable are in sketchy parts of town.

 Going to try and knock another video out, might not complete it, but at least get it half way done so I can finish it tomorrow perhaps.

Catch ya down the road.