Since I ride my motorcycle - a lot more now with gas prices, it seems - I was thinking about what I bring with me. Obviously, space is at a premium. I also thought this would be helpful for the newbies out there just getting into riding.
What I’m referring to would be items that you bring with you while riding your motorcycle. I’m not talking about the gear you wear / don’t wear – this isn’t a discussion on the merits of full body gear and helmet. We all know it’s a good and safe idea to wear the abovementioned items (and I for one do), but this isn’t a discussion about “I prefer the wind in my hair” vs. “do you want your head still attached to your body.”
I always bring with me the following:
Cell phone – update people if I’m going to be late, or have to call a tow truck or whatever possible reason.
Water – If you’re out riding, you tend to get thirsty, and if your bike does break down, you’ll find out really quickly how much you want that water.
Old shirt or towel – to wipe down the bike if it rains, wipe my hands if I fiddle with the bike, etc. It also doubles as an insulator for my water bottle – I wrap it around the bottle to keep it cool.
Sweatshirt or fleece – if I’m out riding in warm weather, there’s always a chance it will cool by the time I’m headed home.
What other items do you bring with you? I keep all “goodies” in my Joe Rocket ™ saddlebags – I hate wearing a backpack.
Cell phone
Garage door opener
iPod and wireless remote, if I’m going to be on the bike for a while
Extra earplugs
Insurance card
Wallet
Glasses/sunglasses in case, whichever isn’t on my face
Jacket liner, if it might get cooler later
Water
Luna bar, in case the blood sugar drops
Watch
Kitchen sink
Ok, I’m kidding about the last one, but I almost never manage to travel light.
Saddlebags are way better than a backpack in the case of an accident. If you highside, or lowside and start tumbling, your jacket will protect you much better if you don’t have a hunk of stuff attached to your back.
My list looks pretty similar to Turek’s except for rides shorter than an hour I don’t pack consumables.
I’m going to be looking at helmets this week, so I’ll probably answer my own question then, but how are you for hearing environment sounds through a helmet and earbuds?
Reading glasses
cell phone
Ipaq w/GPS blue tooth wireless
extra helmet
rain gear
two sun glasses
insurance info
bottle of water
tool kit
flashlight
garage door opener
first aid kit
gloves
AND I can still stop at the grocery and get two bags of stuff with a 12 pack of soda
The tool kit, registration, and insurance information are all under the seat. In my backpack I carry a quart of oil in a zip-lock bag, my mobile phone, and possibly a large handkerchief (to wear bandit-style when it’s cold).
You guys are giving me some great ideas. I’ve never been much for preparing before I get on a bike. Then again, I’ve never gone on a long ride, either.
That’s just it, you don’t need to go on a long ride to need these things. 10 miles, 50 miles, 500 miles, these are the basics. Sure, you can ride without them - but you want to be riding at 60 degrees, when it changes to rain with no gloves, etc and you’re 10 miles from home? That’ll be the longest 10 miles of your life…
Good point, although 1) living in LA, that’s unlikely to ever happen by surprise, and 2) I never ride without gloves (or a jacket, for that matter).
But I definitely get the point of what you’re saying. The motorcycle I have now doesn’t have room for carrying anything, unfortunately. But my next bike will definitely have saddle bags at a bare minimum. For now, I generally ride with a backpack.
It’s amazing what you can carry with a couple of bungees. I don’t remember what kind of bike you have, but I’ve carried a lot of stuff on my Seca II. The passenger seat and the rider’s seat are one unit. So I could bungee a box a foot square and a couple/three feet long (depending what was in it) behind me. So I sat on the front of the seat, the front of the box sat on the back of the seat, and the middle or end of the box would sit on the littlw 6" x 6" rack and/or hang off the back. It was always quite secure. Of course you could bungee a box or a milk crate behind you if you needed to. Between bungees, boxes, and a backpack there’s a lot that can be carried on a motorcycle.
(FWIW, I haven’t needed to ‘load up’ the YZF-R1 and the passenger seat is a separate, higher unit and it doesn’t have even the tiny rack the Seca II does. But I’m sure I could work something out if I needed to.)