When you try a service from a company, and you had a particularly good experience due to a staff member of their team, it makes an impression. To MotoQuest, our staff members are passionate, helpful, knowledgeable, good natured, and sometimes vehicles. Take for instance Jethro and Smokey.
Jethro
Smokey
Smokey may look like a Dodge truck, but he is much more than that. He is the sincere solution to many of our problems on the road during our organized motorcycle tours.
Smokey is a bare bones, no nonsense long bed work truck that can pull without effort and is capable of storing all luggage and a bike, when needed.
Here he is in Baja, Mexico posing beside a giant cactus.
OK, maybe some nonsense.
And Jethro, our custom aluminum-bed support truck, doesn’t have a bad bolt in his entire chassis.
He stopped for a quick pic on the scenic Glenn Highway, Alaska.
Jethro boasts a custom aluminum box with large, gas shock doors that enclose luggage and tools. He has a water cell, an external fuel cell (to fill up all bikes in case of need, like Prudhoe Bay runs), generator, and a central loading sled, so you can load and unload a motorcycle at will. It is rumored that Jethro got his start during the Valdez oil spill, rinsing off seals with his water hose.
Though these are nicknames and just vehicles, after you spend a week on the road with them, they come into their own as fellow travelers on the road.
Smokey’s enjoying the views in Death Valley on Wonders of the West.
If you have ever ridden with us on one of our North American tours, you have likely met these characters. Whether you ride with Jethro or Smokey, you have a peace of mind, knowing that they are there to support you. Need a bike? Have a flat tire? Want to take a time out and not ride? Want to know where cocktail hour is? To all of this, they are the answer.
Jethro loves showing off the glaciers in Alaska.
Smokey and his motorcycle friends calling it a night in Kernville, CA.
Though COVID-19 has descended on the tour industry like an anvil, Jethro and Smokey have kept busy throughout, many times on the road at the same time, and sometimes, crossing each other way out there in the thither. Indeed, they were on the road most of the time and continue to be so.
Check out what they have been up to this year. Smokey is in green and Jethro is in blue.
Smokey’s 2020 Tours
Baja Southbound
Baja Northbound
Colorado Rocky Mountain High
Wonders of the West
American Southwest
Death Valley Dual Sport Explorer
Jethro’s 2020 Tours
Best of Alaska
Prudhoe Bay
Alaska Backcountry
Alaska Northern Lights
Custom Tours
Smokey and Jethro are still sorting their availability for 2021 MotoQuest tours, but you’ll befriend at least one of them on these adventures:
 2021 North American Tour Schedule
Baja Southbound – February 7 – 16
Baja Northbound – February 18 – 27
Southern California Inland Explorer – February 20 – 27
Baja Southbound – March 6 – 15
Baja Northbound – March 17 – 26
Southern California Coastal Explorer – March 6 – 14
Wonders of the West – March 27 – April 3
Death Valley Dual Sport Explorer – April 3 – 11
American Southwest – April 4 – 13
Moab Explorer Scouting – April 10 – 17
Pacific Coast Highway Northbound – April 30 – May 10
North to Alaska – May 14 – 25
Alaska Kenai Peninsula – May 25 – 30
Prudhoe Bay – May 30 – June 8
Best of Alaska – June 11 – 20
Best of Alaska – June 25 – July 4
Prudhoe Bay – July 24 – August 2
Alaska Backcountry Explorer – August 6 – 15
Alaska Northern Lights – August 21 – 29
Cassiar Scout – August 29 – September 11
Trail of Lewis and Clark – September 13 – 26
Colorado Rocky Mountain High Dual Sport Explorer – September 28 – October 9
Pacific Coast Highway Southbound – October 7 – 17
Wonders of the West – October 16 – 23
American Southwest – October 21 – November 2
Death Valley Dual Sport Explorer – November 6 – 14
New Year’s is Baja Scouting – December 24 – January 6
Ode to Old Blue
Old Blue was Jethro’s mentor and did many a mile in Alaska before Jethro and then Smokey made it on the stage. Old Blue never failed, and always did it with style (Alaska Style), hence the custom paint job.
Old Blue used to host “Camp Tours” on the Dalton Highway, AK before we used lodging with walls and indoor plumbing.
That’s Dalton Highway Mud with just enough paint exposed so no one forgets Old Blue’s on a mission to the Arctic Circle.
Old Blue would still be with us today, dutifully shuttling riders around Anchorage, if his career was not cut short by two sudden and mysterious thefts that left Old Blue, at 260,000 miles, discolored and listed.
When I say listed, he only steered to one side after the second theft. Too bad, but if you think about it, what vehicle does not want to be driven like it’s stolen when it’s out to pasture?!
Pic to the left is Old Blue during the Alaska off-season.
We miss you, Old Blue!
Old Blue on his final voyage across the Denali Highway, Alaska.
To all of our support vehicles we tip our hats in praise, pride, and cheer. They are the backbone of our supported trips, always willing and able to go the extra mile, and are eager to please and help anywhere, anytime.
Honk! Honk!