Aftermarket Moto Design 280 November 2022 AMD280 November 2022 | Page 54

Biltwell ' s Arctic Expedition

" There and back again "

Words : Libellum Raceday /// Photos : Geoff Kowalchuk
In 2018 , Biltwell co-founder and brand manager Bill Bryant and his wife Carrie drove from their home near the company ' s headquarters in Temecula , CA , to the northernmost reaches of Alaska ' s treacherous Alcan highway in a well-equipped overlanding rig - the fourwheeled kind . It was during this month-long family vacation that the seeds for Biltwell ' s most recent Internet-busting adventure were sown .
Even by Biltwell ' s lofty standards for two-wheeled fun - remember , this is the company that finished the NORRA 1000 Baja desert race on a custom Sportster in 2018 - ' Operation Numbnuts ' required considerable time , treasure and manpower just to leave US soil . Building a support vehicle large and robust enough to chase nearly a dozen riders , drivers and media personnel across
Alaska and Canada ' s Yukon territory was job one on Operation Numbnuts ' to-do list . To that end , Biltwell teamed up

' bravo Milwaukee '

with an overland Jeep customizer and adventure man , appropriately named Yeti , to source and help customize a
decommissioned US military allterrain transport vehicle . After nearly two years of building , fine-tuning , road testing and reengineering , ' The Pig ' was ready for deployment in the early summer of 2022 . To avoid killing their combination cargo truck , bunk house and mobile motorcycle workshop on the miserable drive from SoCal
to Puget Sound , Biltwell trucked ' The Pig ' to a ferry terminal in Bellingham , WA . By the time they reached Fairbanks , Alaska , after four days at sea , everyone on Team Numbnuts was ready to ride . And oh , what a ride it would prove to be . Five of the riders aboard were bike people who knew the brand and what to >>
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