Long-Distance Riding
If you want to explore America up close and personal, a long-distance ride on a touring motorcycle is the way to do it. Using the interstate system, you can easily find your way between any two destinations, no matter how spread apart they are, within the contiguous United States.
Before you head out, though, you’ll want to take the time to adequately prepare yourself for the long ride ahead. Touring requires that you properly gear yourself up and take some particular precautions in order to stay safe and ride without incident. This guide to long-distance riding by your friends at Road Track & Trail of Big Bend, WI, should get you on the right track.
Plan Your Route In Advance
Sure, GPS, paper maps and the helpful green signage of the Interstate Highway System all contribute to making navigation throughout the country very simple. That doesn’t mean you should hop on your bike in Milwaukee and expect to make it several states away without some planning. You’ll want to determine the best route to get wherever you’re going, taking into account the total mileage to let you know when to stop for gas as well as places to stay along the way.
Planning ahead also allows you to account for weather and traffic, including inclement conditions or construction zones, so you can pick a route that will be easy to follow. You can even investigate some tourist attractions in advance that you might not see from the highway!
Get Some Practice In
If you’re trying to go from riding a few miles at a time to riding hundreds of miles over the course of a day, you’re in for a world of hurt. You need to give your body a chance to acclimate to long-distance rides in order to remain comfortable and alert over hours of travel. Otherwise, you’ll experience eyestrain, muscle fatigue, tiredness and general exhaustion that could lead you to cut your ride short, or worse, experience an accident because you weren’t functioning on all cylinders.
Take some local routes to get yourself used to the idea of an hour or two’s solid riding. Escalate to longer trips that may take you the better portion of a day to execute. Finally, plan out an overnight trip or two only one state away before you tackle that two-week cross-country adventure.
Perform A Pre-Ride Inspection
Before you set out, you’ll want to make sure your motorcycle is equal to the task set before it. You don’t want to get a few hundred miles from home only to experience a flat tire or malfunctioning engine that could have been easily repaired!
Air up your tires to the correct pressure and check them for adequate tread depth. Make sure there are no embedded objects or worn spots. If you have any doubt about the condition of your tires, spend the money to replace them before your long trip, not after!
If it’s near time for an oil change, you’ll want to replace the oil and filter. If you’ve recently gotten a change, check the oil by removing the dipstick, wiping it, reinserting it and removing it again to check the color. If it’s clear and runny, top off the oil and you should be good to go!
Ride slowly around the block to test your brake function, lights and signals. If anything seems amiss that you can’t fix yourself, contact the service department here at Road Track & Trail so we can help you out!
Finally, always fill up your tank with gas before you hit the highway. You never know when a sudden detour might use up more gas than you anticipated! Being prepared will keep you from being stranded by the roadside.
Looking for new and used motorcycles in the Milwaukee, WI, area? Visit our Big Bend location today to see our full inventory of bikes for sale. Road Track & Trail proudly serves the greater Chicago, IL, region, as well as the cities of Kenosha and Waukesha, WI.