Packing gear in my top case
After finishing my route planning and purchasing all of the gear recommended for long distance motorcycle rides, I concluded that I’d need a truck to carry all of the gear. The good news is that I feel relatively well prepared. The bad news is that I can’t fit some of the recommended gear in my BMW R1200RT’s 49 liter top case and two-32 liter side cases. That’s 114 liters of available luggage space, and I still need to leave stuff home. So, what gear I’m taking, and what have I decided to leave behind? Here is my rationale for gear selection.
After a some trial packing and test rides, I concluded it is best to pack mostly light stuff in the top case. Otherwise, the bike feels top heavy. The only heavy piece I’m packing in my top case is my laptop. It seems better in the top case, rather than making the weight imbalanced to the right or left in a side case. So, my top case will carry two bags: one with my laptop, and the other with my clothes. I’ll take these bags into the hotel each night.
The picture to the upper right shows everything I stuffed into my overnight bag. As you can see, most of my clothes are individually wrapped in ziplock bags. This not only makes it easy to find a clean shirt, underwear and socks in the morning, it also makes it easy to stuff everything else back into the travel bag after dressing each morning. In addition to the set of clothing I will wear, I have three additional sets of shirts, underwear and socks. All of these are UnderArmor clothing. The UnderArmor clothes are small, light and easy to pack. Even better, they are quick drying, and so can be washed in the hotel room in the evening, and be dry by morning (assuming you wring them out very well). I also have a pair of gym shorts and t-shirt to wear to bed, and, along with running shoes and some gym socks could double as work out gear if I get motivated to use a hotel gym. I also have a pair of light short pants.
Top case packed for motorcycle road trip
I would like to take a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, but they won’t fit in my bag. The sweatshirt is easy to leave home since my Frogg Toggs rain jacket is comfortable (although not very stylish) to wear even off the motorcycle. I considered trading off one set of under-clothing to take a pair of jeans, but that would mean washing under-clothes in the hotel more often. In the end, I decided to leave the jeans at home. That means I’ll either wear my shorts or my motorcycle pants when not riding. I won’t be going to anyplace requiring any degree of fashion. The remaining stuff in the night bag is my shaving kit, camera, iPod, book, passport and a small camping wash towel.
The picture to the right shows everything loaded in my top case. BMW sells a bag that can be used as a top case insert. However, I didn’t want to put everything, including my laptop in one big bag. I found that Kathy’s Journey Designs USA (available through bobsbmw.com) sells a nice overnight bag for cloths and miscellaneous stuff, that still leaves enough room in the BMW 49 liter top case for my laptop, roadmaps, water bottles and some food.
Left and right side bag contents for motorcycle road trip
In my side bags, I’ll pack stuff that won’t go into the hotel with me, and will stay on my motorcycle each evening. The right side bag has my rain gear, cooling vest, extra pair of gloves and lining for my mesh jacket and pants. I also have a tie down strap in case I need to strap wet clothes to the seat to dry. The left side is mostly stuff for my motorcycle such as a tire repair kit, tire pump, CO2 cartridges for the tire pump, a tire pressure gauge, windshield/face shield cleaner, oil, extra light bulbs, extra plastic bags and paper towels, flash light and first aid kit.
That’s about it. You probably noticed I’m missing something that would seem reasonably important. That is, tools. Some books I read had a long list of recommended tools. I actually have a complete tool bag for my BMW. However, it is relatively large and heavy. I only taking the under seat set of basic tools. I decided not to take any tools required to fix something I probably don’t have the skill to fix. So, the AAA card in my wallet would have to deal with any unplanned problems.
For information on my riding gear, see my post on my Road Trip Riding Gear Selection.
If you are interested in seeing more detailed lists, including stuff I didn’t take, check out the resources I discuss in my trip planning page.
Picture tag: motorcycle, dual sport motorcycle, off road, riding, motorcycle trip, motorcycle training, Raw Hyde Adventures, BMW Off Road Academy, Mojave Desert, Quarry Road, Panamint Valley
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