Well pg, you are actually making me have second thoughts about this. I may have to meet up with Neal in the Hill Country to do some off road riding on the Savage to see how it handles.

I would suggest a trip to the Grand Tetons and or Glacier National Park on the savage.  That would be well within the capabilities of the bike and extremely enjoyable as well.  

Best regards,

A Miata, how about a KLR.









Best regards,

just load more stuff on the KLR, the suspension compresses  
actually there are lowering kits for all the adventure bikes
As for the S40 off road, you can tell Dave has never ridden with Neil  
Not that the s40 is ever going to be a KLR, but if you slow down, she'll do it, with a few mods as PG suggested

most important mod: a route that uses NO INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS
America's state highways are so much more interesting

Gas and Tires... those are the key factors that would cause me to select something else other than a savage.

With under 3 in the tank you have to carry a lot as luggage on a bike that already has a lot of weight on the rear tire.

From what I seen, most want a dual sport tire to handle the roads.
Not many are available in 140/80-15.  I'd want a common size and tubeless for sure.

Weather
http://www.usa.com/anchorage-county-ak-weather.htm

I'm sure someone's done it on a thumper.  Back in the day you didn't go buy a special purpose bike, you used what you had and made due with it.

I am definitely in agreement about the tires and the fuel capacity.  There are places you'll need to do well over 200 miles to get to the next fuel stop. Just think about those frost heaves with and inch and a half of suspension travel. There's hundreds of miles of gravel, hard packed to loose and squishy. Turns into a slick muddy mess when it rains.

That would be an awesome ride.  I'd love to see all that scenery first-hand. I've been wanting to do that for the last couple of years.  But, I can't take the time off from work and I certainly don't have the funds for a  trip like that.

Here's a link to a girl that did the trip from Virginia to Alaska and back on an old Yamaha Radian.
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/virginia-to-alaska-and-back-on-an-86-ya...

This one's a guy who did it on a dual sport. He's got lots of information about stops, costs and stuff in his write-up. http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/alaska-adventure-broken-bones-kamikaze-...

Both of those links will probably put you near the end of the write-up, just go back to 1 and start reading.

I wish I could do it but I doubt I will ever make it. Maybe if I win the lottery or something.

The more I read about Alaska, the more intimidating it gets and in all honesty it is not the road conditions, the distance or the mosquitoes, it is the thought of riding in cold rain that does me in. Rain in hot weather is fine, but not in cold weather. Oh well, if I do it it is still a long ways off.