Packing for Motorcycle Adventuring - The Essentials

Thanks Noraly!

Good to hear from you and cannot wait for the next season!

Jonathan

Hi Noraly,
I wish you all the best on your shipping challenges, look forward to hearing about it.
There is so much concern about Mexico these days. In hindsight, do you have any tips for passing through? It would be helpful and I know it is a hot topic for so many riders. Appreciate all you do, Dale

Dear Noraly : anxiety is very understandable.
You are very generous with your advice.
I travel alone through Argentina from Buenos Aires to the north, Córdoba, Tucumán, Salta. I carry essential parts, tubes, air compressor, spark plug, brake and clutch cables. I go to hotels or use the rental app.
The best for this new season.
Good routes!! f.b.

Hi Noraly; thanks for your advise on what to take on a bike trip. I pay attention to what you say because the information is always practical and useful. The post on the rebuild of Alaska was especially interesting. Thanks again and will stand by for season 7. Bonne chance en route.

Noraly, It’s great to get your newsletters and to read your blogs. I’m glad that I am 109 Ithchy Boots episodes behind so I have “new” ones to watch every day. I know you are working hard on the next adventure, so thanks for that.

Bonjour Noraly.
Super d'avoir de tes nouvelles !
Ca fait beaucoup de choses a prendre sur sois. Je comprend qu' Alaska soit autant chargée !!
A très bientôt et fait attention a toi !

I have always been the bike in my husband and my travels that carried all the spare items needed. While my husband rides around looking cool with his nearly empty bike, I look like I am packed for a trip around the world twice lol. The waiting for Alaska must indeed be making you live up to your name. The paperwork needs are always good info to know as well as your other knowledge on packing lightly but most efficiently. Hoping your wait ends soon! Great blog, Noraly.

It's also important to know your bike, the more you know the better you know what you need.
Tip for the air filter, use a K&N or foam filter, those can be washed and re-oiled so you only need 2 small spray flacons (cleaner and oil). Filters also can be easily damaged when crushed and can have inconvenient shapes.
All the daily items are the same if you go a week or a year in my mindset, you are on a motorcycle and wear your bike gear all day and the normal clothes only at night. A week is in this case the same as 1 day in term of hours you wear them.
Take hiking pants instead of jeans, they are light and pack small plus when you need to wash them they are dry overnight.
When going through different climates consider heated gear, i have a Gerbing heated jacket and gloves. The jacket is useful as an evening jacket, when it gets fresh you can use it unplugged as a mid layer and when it gets cold you plug it in and your fine until far below zero (Celcius). The gloves are powerd via a cable fitted in the jacket and are also mid season and cold weather. One little downside is that you are connected to the bike, i changed the cable for one of those curly ones for a bit more freedom standing and less change of breaking when i do an involuntary dismount.

It is not just mechanical woes which can strand you. It is bulky and hard to find space for, but a spare helmet can come in handy, especially in jurisdictions where there are mandatory helmet laws. Those tend to be where helmet theft is common. There is no slack to those laws--the police will not just write you a ticket or warning and let you ride on. If you get your helmet stolen, tough luck. This just increases the motivation to steal a helmet. (Motorcyclists do not tend to get any slack from the authorities, especially in areas with mandatory helmet laws, which mean motorcyclist voters are thin on the ground.) A spare helmet cam also come in handy if you want to take on a passenger.

Top boxes, which are used for helmet stowage, tend to have flimsy attachments, so you have to be sure yours is secure. And, if you leave your helmet on your motorcycle to go into. say, a bank which does not want customers to wear head coverings, you should have a bike lock cable or some similar attachment to tie it to your machine.

Mandatory helmet laws sound like a good idea, but they have consequences which can strand you.

Hello Noraly. Well it sounds like "Alaska" is truly on a "slow boat" to the next destination; one of those "hurry up and wait" situations. The waiting will make the eventual start of the next leg of your journey all the more exciting both for you and for the rest of us following along.