[ST] Planning Motorcycle Tour - What do I bring?

["Scott" <Tourmeister@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ibuprofen or something similar. Take a few the night BEFORE you leave
home. Then do one each morning, at lunch, dinner and before going to
bed. This makes a huge difference in your joints.

Stop every 100 miles or every one and a half to two hours and get off
the bike for a minimum of five minutes. Walk around, do some squats,
anything to get the blood moving. This will dramatically reduce end of
the day physical fatigue and soreness! It will also help you stay more
alert as the day wears on and the miles add up.

For the Sprint in particular, you might want to carry the socket for
pulling the rear tire nut, many non-triumph shops won't have one that
big and if you need a tire replaced for some reason, you will have a
hard time. Same thing for the hex head wrench on the front. I don't
recall the sizes, ping the ST list and they'll tell you.

Something to write on and with. I don't know if you take notes for a
post trip report or not. I do. I use a small digital voice recorder
that I keep in my tank bag. One memory card will easily hold 22 hours
of me yakking on my Olympus DS-2000. On a 12 day trip, I did not exceed
one hour total. Nonetheless, I thought I was yakking all the time
non-stop.

A clear and tinted faceshield for your helmet.

Ear plugs. These will help eliminate the low frequency buffeting noise
that can really fatigue you by the end of the day if you don't use
plugs.

Chapstick or something similar. Trust me.

Spare key, not on the bike. Preferrably in your wallet, jacket pocket,
or somewhere so that it will typically stay with you.

Emergency Contact card in your wallet. I took a piece of a 3 x 5
notecard (green but use any bright color) and wrote all my emergency
info on it and placed it in an obvious place so that anyone opening my
wallet would see it immediately. Include family members to contact and
their numbers; insurance carrier, policy number and phone number; any
known allergies. This one thing could easily save your life.

Some people have stickers on the chinbar of their helmet that states
something like, "If rider unconscious, do not remove helmet unless not
breathing." Most non-riders would not know to leave the helmet on you
if they are the first on the scene and their typical first reaction is
to remove the helmet. This can have SERIOUS consequences and make a
relatively minor accident a life changing event. I think you can find
these stickers online.

Hit whatever motorcycle lists or groups you frequent and ask if anyone
lives along your route, or close to it, that would not mind giving you
their phone number. Having another rider to call for help can make a
HUGE difference in how much hassle a problem can be.

Give the bike a good inspection before leaving. Check the chain for
proper slack, check the tires, oil, coolant, brake and clutch fluids,
battery charge with bike off, idling, and at 3000 rpm. You should get
around 12 V for the first two, and maybe 13-14 V for the latter. This
just ensures the battery is good and the charging system is doing it's
thing.

Proper attitude. Make a mental effort to simply stop thinking about
what you are leaving behind and focus on the road ahead. This is to be
a vacation so don't bring all the worries and stress from your daily
life with you, just forget about it all. Most of that crap will easily
wait for you to get back. Take time to notice things as you ride and
explore, look for things you might normally ignore, especially people.
People love to talk with cyclists on trips. Never miss a chance to let
a little kid sit on your bike with their parents' permission and
supervision. I do this all the time and the parents and kids usually
love it. Often times They take pics if they have a camera. Just be sure
to warn them if it is still hot. Who know's you might inspire the next
Colin, Nicki, or Rossi ;-)

Have fun!

Adios,

- -- 
Scott Friday
Tourmeister@xxxxxxxxx
2001 Honda VFR 800 Fi His in Red
1998 Honda VFR 800 Fi Hers in Blue - RED BODYWORK FOR SALE!!

http://BackroadMotorcycleTours.com/
http://sfriday.com/
http://twtex.com/    (Two Wheeled Texans Site)




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