Episode 056 – Packing A Motorcycle for Trip 2.0

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Oh, the bottom line is this prioritize your essentials, minimize your weight and keep the critical gear easy to get to.

Todd: Are you talking about my weight?

tom: Minimize my weight. Well, that too. If the shoe fits. So today we’re really talking about our kind of a revamp of one of our early episodes packing guide, right? I mean um It’s not about bringing it’s it’s really not about bringing all your gear or all your clothes, right?

It’s it’s just enough Um, so we’re kind of going to talk about a few different things, I think Uh, but packing essentials, right? Um, what do you need? What do you don’t need? I think if you have to ask do I need this you probably

Todd: don’t

Uh, you want that. High quality, we, we’ve used a lot of Nelson Rigs, a lot of Frog Dogs. Um, and I would say that most of us are kind of put on your rain gear guys. I mean, there are kind of the next echelon of people that are more of the, um, what would you say? All gear all the time kind of guys. So they’re going to be the ones that, um, they’re going to be the ones that ride with gear So we, we haven’t quite hit that.

We’re a little, not quite that extreme right? Maybe, but, but a lightweight for the most part for us, uh, easy to put on. Mm-hmm . Gear is, is pretty good.

Todd: Yeah. That, uh, that Nelson rig that I have, it all rolls up in the, it’s got its own bag built in to the, to the rain suit. So it packs real tight. It’s real small, but it’s, it’s very waterproof.

So, and it’s

They have a lot of the reflective tape and yeah, it’s nice. And then I guess I think a lot about layered clothing. Now we’ve talked a lot about the Bon auto, uh, the Bon armor, um, but No matter what you’re doing, having many different layers kind of is good because you start with your base layer. And if you’re, if you’re looking at the bond auto, uh, geez, by the way, why am I missing it here?

Uh, a bond body armor, you kind of start with your armor. It’s kind of like you’re under your base layer. And then you build on top of that mid layers, outer shells for comfort. That’s what I love about it. And I’ve just really liked it a lot. You can kind of keep adding layers if you need to because you always have that base layer on Um, but you know, we’ve talked about this but like some of these coats can be very bulky Very

Todd: very

Uh almost when you’re when you’re riding, especially when it gets hot so I don’t know You you’re kind of in the middle. You just picked up something. I haven’t really used it,

Todd: right? I just got my bond armor. I haven’t had a chance. It’s winter here. So we’re not we’re not riding right now But, uh, yeah, I’m kind of looking forward to it.

Now I can use a different jacket that doesn’t have the big shoulder pads and things in it because I’ve, I’ve got the armor underneath. So

tom: I’m excited to try out more options here, but, but just the layers, like you’re going to want a couple of layers, no matter what you’re doing in case it gets cooler, colder, wetter, drier, um, hotter, hotter, hotter, really bringing a super, um, that’s where we tend to be riding mostly when it’s warmer.

So, so yeah, layers is key. And then, uh, you know, gloves is something we always wear, but then some sort of a waterproof glove too, because as soon as your gloves get wet, man, you get cold.

Todd: Yeah, and Gore Tex is a perfect waterproof

Um, a backup pair, we’ve also been big fans of the latex gloves underneath. Thank you. Of a regular glove to, uh, that really helps, uh, kind of put them in non waterproof gloves to at least get close. And I’ve found it keeps my hands warmer too. If it does get cold.

Todd: Yeah. It kind of keeps that wind from coming through.

Yeah. Yeah.

tom: Um, outside of that, I think, uh, this is kind of optional, but the boot covers, most boots are not waterproof when it comes to riding on a motorcycle. They find a way to get that water up and around. Um, That reminds me of one thing that I’d like to go back because your Nelson Reeds has a, has a hood.

It doesn’t rain here.

Todd: Yeah, and that’s, I’m glad you brought that up because that’s one thing that, uh, you know, when, when you stop at a stop sign, it’s, it’s raining. Water will run down your helmet. Generally, it would just run down the back of your neck. Right. So having this real thin hood built in. It’s almost nothing.

tom: when shingles are put on the house, you know, you put it so it doesn’t it can’t permeate. Yeah, so that built

Todd: in hood on the on the jackets and I really love

tom: like even sometimes when I had When I have a jacket that’s armored i’ll still put the rain gear over the top of that too.

So

Todd: yeah

You’re like cold and damp It’s not good. Yeah, it’s not a good feel especially if you’re going back into the rain the next day. Yeah, uh, so So yeah, like maybe you can talk to about like kind of packing smarter not heavier. Like what methods have we used here?

Todd: Yeah. Well, I’m the classic overpacker and I’m getting better.

Um, I was

tom: laughing because I had vision you the night before just taking and dumping the drawers

Todd: into the, to the bags. I’m not too far off from that. No, I’ve, I’ve gotten better because I’ve been writing more to up, you know, my wife comes along and then, you know, we need five days worth of stuff on a bike with both of us.

So, um, I’m, I’m, I’ve become a big fan of the packing cubes. Yeah. Helps organize. So how does it work? Well, it’s just a, it’s a real, like a mesh bag and it’s real small. They have all different sizes. So, you know, I have tiny ones, I have medium, big, you know, and just unzip them, I take all my, like say underwear and I just roll it all up, stick, you know, five in there and then I can zip it shut.

Items kind of organized. It makes it easier when you’re just, you know, trying to, I need to grab an underwear. I know exactly where I’m going for it. So.

tom: Similar to that, I kind of use a system that’s similar. I, I do two waterproof bags and mostly because I think over the years I’ve had less, I’ve had a little less waterproof baggage on my motorcycle than I’ve ridden.

Todd: Oh, that’s

tom: perfect. So, so then I’m rolling a shirt, pants, underwear, and socks up into one. That’s great. Yeah. And then kind of just the tubes, like you’re talking about, and then when I stop, I just grab, grab one set and it has everything in it. That’s a great idea. It works out pretty good too.

Todd: Yeah,

tom: similar idea.

I might try that. I haven’t, I haven’t done it that way

Todd: before,

tom: but what I really love about the two bag is clean clothes in one, you don’t feel like you’re getting the dirty clothes and the clean clothes together. And then also, you know, we talk about packing a pair of swim trunks. Um, then that wet swim trunks can always go in the, in the dirty clothes bag.

It doesn’t get the clean clothes wet

Todd: because those are waterproof bags. So they’re all, yeah, that’s a great idea.

tom: Yeah.

Todd: You know, I’ve always wondered too. Um, I I’ve seen these Clear plastic bags that you can get that has a little vacuum, you know, and it sucks the air out and it really squeezes everything down like a, it’s like,

tom: it’s like a vacuum

And I’ve kind of been interested to try something like that is haven’t pulled the trigger and bought one, but that seems like it would be a great space saver. Yeah,

tom: I think the only thing would be, how do you vac, I mean, if there’s a way to vacuum it. Every time. Yeah. Because otherwise,

Todd: I’ve got all this extra stuff.

No. Yeah.

tom: Todd, you also use like a fitted saddle bag too, right? So like when you get off the bike at night, you open the saddle bag and kind of just pull the whole thing out.

Todd: Yeah. It’s got handles and it’s, it’s the shape of my saddle bag. Now I’m on a Honda Goldwing, so you know, I’ve got the hard cases on the side, but these bags are the same shape as that.

So at the end of the night, open up that saddle bag and I just grabbed the handles and I pull that whole thing out and walk into the hotel. So that’s, That’s really nice to have those you can find and i’m

You know trying to minimize the

Todd: Carrying everything in everything out Three

tom: trips, right and it’s like oh, yeah, how do I get three trips, you know, like what the heck? And then you kind of got to be careful of what you pack, where and how, right? I mean, me packing on top of the backseat does bring the weight of the bike up, um, which isn’t always perfect, right?

I mean, lower center of balance, the better.

Todd: Yeah. Try and, uh, pack your heavy stuff as low as you can into your bags. Keep that center of gravity nice and low, um, tools, you know, uh, laptops or, you know, chargers and that kind of That kind of has some ways not charges, but the battery pack. Yeah. Yeah.

tom: Yeah.

Todd: Yeah.

Todd: Yeah,

tom: um, and then pack that at the top So it’s like the easiest first thing I can get out. Yeah, that’s a great tip. Yeah, um And then maybe just like an extra set of gloves Uh up there at the top too You you don’t want to be looking for it all because not only are you getting wet while you’re waiting But everything else is getting wet while you’re waiting.

Yeah I know that when turk and I ran into Rain and going on seattle usually you can find like an over we pulled underneath the bridge, which is nice Too and you can usually find something. Okay, but sometimes I know we’ve sat out in the middle of nowheresville and just Quick get your stuff the unfortunate thing about the no chains and no interstates, right?

But like

Todd: not if you’re going to a mom and pop hotel,

tom: right? Yeah,

Todd: sometimes there’s no plug ins They’ve got the TV the TVs and the lamps are using up the few There’s only like two or three sometimes outlets in those right older hotel rooms. So yeah, I like the idea you you have Yeah, you bring up like an extension power strip power strip.

That’s got USBs, it’s got C power. It’s got It’s

tom: really, it really is nice because by the time you calculate, I’m charging up two or three cameras or batteries, charging up the headsets, charging up, uh, your phone charging, you know, pretty soon you’re like, good Lord, and power bank, I’d like to keep that topped off.

Todd: But this is such a great tip because I’ve been in that situation. You get there and go, okay.

I’ll re, I’ll charge my phone now, as soon as that’s charged, I’ll re, I’ll charge my headset, and then I’ll charge my camera. And then you forget. Yeah, right. And then you, yeah,

tom: exactly. Yeah. Um, what things would we say not to pack, maybe, Todd? Well, like me, you don’t need a

Todd: pair of pants for every day. Seven days, of course.

Right. You don’t need a, a new pair of pants every day. You know, we’ve

tom: ran into a number of. Places that you can usually find, uh, if you really get desperate, like there’s monitor laundry services in most every hotel. Yeah.

Todd: Yeah.

tom: Throw a load in halfway through and you’re pretty good. Yeah.

Todd: Yep. So I, you know, now I’m, I’m cutting that down.

Um, just bulky jackets. If you can, you know, simplify that a little bit, it’s kind

tom: of what drove me nuts when I kind of flipped over to bond. I had my rain jacket and my big jacket and all these jackets. And pretty soon I’m like, I need a trailer just for the jacket. You know another thing I don’t understand why nobody has like why isn’t someone come up with a hard drive That I can stick my memory card in and it just backs it up.

Todd: Yeah,

tom: but wouldn’t that be nice? There you go

Cause

Todd: they custom fit. Yeah. You know, Harley’s

tom: have great ones. Yeah. Old wings have great ones. Even the Yamaha, they have some nice ones. And then if you don’t have. An exact thing there’s a ton of places that’ll make a bag or even just But i’ve i’ve got a huge bag that I put all the tools in and it is like this monster bag super thin And then I just shove it in the bottom of my saddlebag and it’s way too big for what it is But it’s just on amazon or one of these places just a super thin bag, but it’s kind of like a Tough bag.

Todd: Yeah,

tom: and it works great. You know, it is just a generic.

Todd: Yeah.

I mean those are just almost invaluable Even at night I found um You know, when you run out, if you run out of places, that’s another place to charge something up all the way. Microfiber towels. We talked about that. I think, uh, last episode, cleaning off like camera lenses, uh, they work good for, um, if you get the, the, uh, windshield soaked down there, really, uh, get that.

I mean, when you get into the bugs, I mean, I just, even every day, just, uh, just the lights and everything.

Todd: When you wake up in the morning and there’s do all over your bike, including your seats, you

tom: need something to, yeah. When you forget to put the cover in and do that.

Todd: Yeah.

tom: And then just, I’m a big fan of the boot dryer that really, uh, I didn’t, for the first few times I used it, I was like, well, this doesn’t work at all.

Todd: Keep the spirit of adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads.

The stories ride forever. Take care