I’m going to give you an idea of what I have on my bike and different ways to pack. I have several different types of bags and stuff, and I could bring all that out, and this could be a three hour video, but I’m not going to do that. It’s going to be a really kind of a quick overview.
These are suggestions, to help you pack safely and efficiently. This is my Heritage. It’s pretty much my daily ride. I keep some things on my bike all times. That’s why I like my bike to have luggage. If I’m just going to go out and play, I’m going to take my FXR. It doesn’t have luggage. So I usually take the Heritage on trips.
So in my right hand saddlebag, it always has tools, bungee cords, first aid kit, trauma kit. Because I am an EMT and I am a first responder. I keep a packed trauma kit on my bike so that I can get to it in case something happens. And unfortunately, I have had to use that. I do have my rain gear also in that saddlebag. So that’s how big is full. And it pretty much stays there all the time. And it’s got a few things, like my winter gloves, you know, my cold weather gloves and my cold weather mask. That’s all kept in there, stuff that I hopefully don’t need very often.
But if I need it, I really need it so that stuff stays in that saddlebag on this side. I actually keep a half gallon jug of fuel, a jug of octane boost. And then this has my spare gloves in case my gloves get wet. I have extra pairs of gloves in here. I usually carry a hoodie in here. I carry a couple bandanas. And just odds and ends. My jump pack to jumpstart the bike. I keep that in here as well, and this one’s got a flashlight in it, so that’s handy. I have a windshield bag. My windshield bag has another smaller set of tools for just common things that would happen to shake loose.
Clear glasses I keep in there, plus a kickstand plate puck, whatever you want to call it. And then my registration and insurance card in a Ziploc bag are kept up here.
I also have a tour pack for when I take long trips or I go to work because I have a computer that I have to keep locked up when I’m going back and forth to work. this is a 2016 heritage. This is a tour pack off a 2020 Heritage. We retrofitted it on a quick release and it fits on here nicely. I don’t usually ride passengers, so I moved this so it is in place of my passenger seat. It is actually big enough that I can put a full face helmet in here. And this is where normally when I travel, this is where my clothes for my trip go, and my toiletries, all that stuff.
If I have more stuff because it’s like I need extra layers. I usually have a hoodie in my saddlebag, but if I need a little bit heavier coat, my leather coat, I know I’m going to need it. I don’t want to wear it, or if I have to take it off, during the trip.
I that’s why the bungees are there and I can bungee stuff. I have cargo nets that I can go over the top of this and hold things on so that I can keep everything nice and neat and tidy while I’m traveling.
Some things to remember and some helpful tips. When you are packing a bike for traveling, you want to put heavy things low. You want to keep your center of gravity low. I don’t want to put all my heavy stuff up here on my top box, because that throws my whole gravity off when I’m riding. Could you handle it? Yeah. You know, it’s not that. But if you hit up in a really bad windstorm and you’ve got a tour bag that is packed and it’s got a roll bag on the top, and it’s taller than you, taller than your windshield, and you get in a bad wind that’s going to push you all over the road.
I saw a rider wreck. I was behind him. He had it was a a road glide. He had a tour pack on the road guide and on top of the tour pack he had a t-bag. The back seat was full of other bags. Everything was put together with bungie’s. He went down the left lane of the of the highway between two semis. He went to pass the two semis. The air between the two hit him, knocked him in to the gravel.
He lost it, couldn’t save it, went into the median, flipped it end to end. Had to be life flighted out. So be aware that when you’re traveling by bike, you want things not to get caught in the wind. You want things as low as you can keep them, especially heavy things. You might want to keep things in your saddlebags on the sides of the bike if you’ve got them. Most people will use a sissy bar if you’re not riding a passenger. I usually put the sissy bar on my back seat and then I can use it as a backrest. I have that set up for shorter trips or longer trips, depending if I’ve got more stuff that I’m taking.
If it doesn’t fit inside my tour pack or my little trunk thing that I’ve got here, then I’ll run a sissy bar with a luggage bag and I’ll strap. I have a great big dry bag I’ll put on there and put everything in that, because it holds more than the trunk that I’ve got on right now. But, and we’ve all seen those pictures of those guys in India and China and they’ve got the little 250 bikes and they are piled with four people and stuff hanging over the top of them that are huge. That’s what they have to do for their living. If you have a choice, make sure that you want to be safe. And on our roadways, you know, everything’s going to shift and move because none of our roads are really good. Our infrastructure sucks right now. So, this is just my just my suggestion.
Pack heavy stuff low. Also pack things you’re going to need where they’re easy to get to, rain gear on the top of the bag. So you’re not digging on the side of the road trying to put rain gear on. You don’t want to dig to the bottom of your saddlebag to find it. When I travel, I start early in the morning, and I usually ride into the night. So I’ll start out with the hoodie or my leather coat, but halfway through the ride it’s going to come off. I throw it on where I can get to it. Easy to put it back on if I need to. So that’s what I get about packing. Like I said, I could talk like a three hour thing on bags and packing and and all that, but I’m going to keep it short.
You guys get out there and ride and be safe.