Tips for Travelling Cross-Country in Your Motorcycle
The American countryside offers everything from the driest of deserts to the most luscious of agricultural landscapes. Everywhere in between, you’ll come across mountains, gorges, and plenty of other scenery, making it the perfect place to take your motorcycle out on a touring adventure. However, there are some difficulties that go along with cross-country travelling on a motorcycle, which is why you need to learn how to plan and prepare efficiently before every journey. At Road Track and Trail, we put together this guide to help you through your adventure, so you can safely and comfortably navigate the vast network of American roads and highways. Then, when you’re ready to buy your next touring motorcycle, come visit us at our dealership near Milwaukee, WI.
Create an Itinerary
Before starting your journey, it’s a good idea to prepare with a flexible itinerary. This method will help you determine what to pack, where you’ll need to stop, and what sort of special gear you should bring with you. For most riders, a touring adventure is as much about the journey as the destination, so it’s very important to factor in long periods of rest time. With longer trips, sometimes you might even want to spend an entire day at a campsite or hotel to recover. Overall, it’s important that you don’t try to rush yourself through it. Any time on a motorcycle is quality time, and you’ll only ruin it by giving yourself a strict timeline to follow.
Pack for Weather Changes
After figuring out an itinerary and route, you should consider the type of weather you’ll be up against. If you’re sticking around here in the Midwest, you’ll never know what you’re up against, so it’s important to pack a variety of gear that’s appropriate for drastic changes in weather. During the summer, make sure you bring along some cooler riding gear that won’t leave you worn out after half an hour of riding. But if you expect to encounter some colder weather, you should carry extra layers with you to keep you safe on the road.
Cargo
Along with riding gear, there’s a lot of other cargo you’ll have to bring with you, and it’s important to learn how to pack it all efficiently. Using a packing list is the best way to do this, because you can keep track of all the necessary equipment without piling on pointless weight. For one thing, we recommend bringing a small toolkit. This will help you out with basic mechanical problems should you encounter any. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere can be a miserable experience, and you don’t want to be caught out there without the proper tools to get the job done. A first aid kit is the other vital cargo that you should bring along with you. You never know if you might get scraped up, so it’s nice having something for wound care, along with some burn cream and a few anti-inflammatories.
After you decide what to pack, think about how you want to pack it. Make your list of everything you need before you buy it. That way, you can look for the lightest version of everything you need. Weight is extremely important on a motorcycle, because the heavier your bike gets, the worse your performance and efficiency will be. But if you pack appropriately, you’ll have a much more comfortable, cheaper, and dynamic adventure.
Touring the countryside is a rite of passage for all motorcycle riders, and when you learn to plan appropriately, you’ll make the experience the best it can possibly be. So if you have any question or need a quality bike to take out on your next adventure, come on in and visit us at Road Track and Trail. We’re located near Kenosha and Waukesha, WI, and also serve customers from Chicago, IL.