Speed Touring: What is an ECU and why should I care?

An Electronic Control Unit is the computer that makes modern machinery run. Without it our fancy cars, trucks, and motorcycles stop running. The ECU is what stopped my motorcycle dead. So says the service technician at Anchorage Motorsports. That and it may take a week or two to get a new one. Time to adapt.

This morning, I secured shipping for my bike back to California through Federal Transport, the company endorsed by the American Motorcycle Association. I also booked airfare back to John Wayne for Friday morning so I should be sleeping in my own bed Friday night. Don't worry; I will wash the sheets first.

Am I giving up? Sure, what do I care? I successfully road the length of the Alaska Highway and then some. I won't be making the return trip but I have already seen that route and have no desire to repeat it. It would have been nice to ride the ferry back but the schedule was difficult and almost as expensive as shipping the bike back. It is an inglorious end to an endeavor that was probably insane to begin with. At least, that is what everyone has been saying.

Considering I've only seen B.M.Ws, Harlies, and KLRs the whole trip, maybe taking the Multistrada was not the best idea. But you know, I tried and I tried in style. Truthfully, the Multistrada is wasted up here with the slow speed limits and the endless miles of highway. When I road up the Kootenay Rockies in British Columbia, there were miles of highway but there was the reward of fantastic curving roads like scenic rout 31A and marvelous places to stay like the Windsor Hotel in Trout Lake and fantastic food like at Café Kas in Nelson. This trip has simply been a right wrist-numbing drudge with more stress than I care to admit to.

From the moment I chose to take this trip, I've been driven for reasons I cannot seem to elucidate. Failure was probably inevitable simply for the fact that I was expecting it at any moment. What ever. Enough of the existential crap.

I spent the evening walking through downtown Anchorage and started to enjoy myself. I had a fantastic King Crab dinner and tasted some local brew. Downtown is geared toward the tourist with many native craft shops, tour agencies, a large bus station, and an FBI office. I guess when you are the FBI, you want to be downtown where the action is.

The Port of Anchorage is near and you can see huge container ships entering the harbor. There is a three-story height change in the tide here so you can actually see the water coming in over the mud flats.

It is interesting to watch the tourist and try to guess why they are here. The sportsmen are usually easy to spot. The hunters are carrying sent block camo and the fishermen are wearing Columbia fishing shirts. There are a lot of young couples dressed in versatile gear that can be converted for any situation. Many of the tourists, though, are older folk. Many seem to be German or Dutch or Chinese or Japanese. Maybe it is the time of the year but I have heard a lot of German spoken along the way.

Now for the popular part of the tour: Photos.