Sport Touring Time!

[jch82]

I have a week of vacation time left at work and have decided to take a ride to my friend's place down in North Carolina. It will be about 1500 miles round trip and I cannot wait to get on the road!  

This will be my first long distance ride (taken a lot of short 2-3 hour highway trips) but I am hoping that I have done a good job getting ready for the road ahead.

A few "touring friendly" mods I have done are helibars, heated grips, cycle cat rearsets, gel seat, throttlemeister, and the ZG Double Bubble.

I have also recently invested in the 6K HID kit from Ryan at Xenon King, which, after looking at tons of info and pics online, I am very excited to get installed!

My luggage consists of the Rapid Transit Platoon Tail Bag and The Stack LT Tank Bag along with a set of Cortech saddlebags.

As for gear, I have the Gerbing's heated jacket liner and socks and my Joe Rocket mesh jacket and 5.0 Ballistic pants along with a pair of Icon Field Armor boots. The only thing I am lacking is a good pair of gloves. I have a few sets but one is made for the summer and the other pair is not waterproof....Any suggestions?

Last but not least, the tunes will be played through my Ipod...  

Anyone have any other suggestions for a newbie sport tourer?

Josh

 

[wizeguy]

tire repair kit. I had a tire go down 200 miles from home, I caught a nail. One of my traveling companions had a tire kit with Co2 canisters to reinflate the tire. Without it, I would have been in some trouble.

Ride safe brother and good luck.

P.S. You know we will expect pics when you get back right?

 

[KROOZER]

1-throttle rocker
2-golve WITH gel pad on the palm
3-extra fuses, tissues,
4-mag mini flash light (fits nicely in the tire kit mentioned above)
5-small can chain wax

Make sure bike is TIP TOP shape.
Ask the Lord to protect U and that U may return safely. Amen

PS:When U return safely, dont bother telling us about your trip unless U got pix

 

[BusaWhipped]

Get a camelback to keep yourself hydrated between stops. Dehydration will shorten your endurance dramatically.

Also, you would be better off with ear plugs than the iPod. Noise will also tire you out faster.

 

[blackcurtains]

yes.......take a pain reliever b4 you leave cause you're gonna need it. also, have fun and don't let your mind wander for too long.

 

[jch82]

Thanks for the ideas and I will definitely be taking pictures of the trip!!

Josh

 

[Jayabusa01]

All great advice guys,

I'm driving up to Toronto Canada from St. Petersburg FLA before the snow flies and I usually cross into Canada at Detroit. off I-75. I too will try some of your tips, especially the ear plugs.

One note Josh just trade the camel pack for a "Red bull" at each fill up. Also use a copy of Microsoft's Streets and trips, it is excellent for finding:

- points of interest along the way
- mileage and planning gas stops
- rest areas and restaurants

Good luck and stay alert.

P.S. Don't get distracted watching too many movies on DVD in the SUV's rear window. I must have watched 2 "in-flight" movies on the way down to FLA last fall. lol

 

[vman1300]

What part on NC will you be heading too?

 

[dm_gsxr]

I have this inventory list that I use when preparing for a ride. It changes from ride to ride as I add or delete things for the next ride I'm planning but it's pretty stable.

Enjoy the ride and take a bunch of pics

Carl

 

[Poppy]

(dm_gsxr @ Oct. 02 2006,19:59) I have this inventory list that I use when preparing for a ride. It changes from ride to ride as I add or delete things for the next ride I'm planning but it's pretty stable.

Enjoy the ride and take a bunch of pics

Carl

Carl, nice checklist. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[BusaWhipped]

Ok, here is my complete list of tips for touring. I've done multiple 600 plus mile days and 2000 plus mile weeks. I also ride with a number of certified Iron Butts, so this isn't just a guess at what will work.

I've got 1 1/4" bar risers, moded pegs for more leg room, AudioVox Cruise Control, double bubble screen, stock seat. If you are planning on running long distances, here are a few tips:

1. You should work your way up to it. There are ways to build up your endurance, but it requires lots of riding. Seat time is the best way to increase your riding distances. I know, I know, it's a sacrifice

2. Earplugs! I can't stress earplugs enough. The constant wind noise, and engine noise will wear you down. Not to mention the damage to your hearing.

3. Hydration is VERY important. If you can stand wearing a small backpack while riding, I'd suggest getting a Camelbak, and learn how to drink from it on the move. It's not too hard to get the bite valve up between the chinbar of the helmet and your chin. Getting dehydrated will seriously tire you out, and you'll be taking alot of extra time at gas stops if your trying to rehydrate standing still. I drink about a liter of water per tank of gas. A redbull at each gas stop won't keep you hydrated on a long ride.

4. Compression shorts (aka bikecycle shorts under your leathers) believe it or not these can reduce saddlesore a great deal.

5. Do not rely on pills and caffine to get you through. A regiment of aspirin or Ibuprofin can mask the damage your doing to yourself.

6. Meals should not be huge, but modest in size. So no double quarter pounders and fries for lunch. Too much food will cause what some of us call 'food coma' not a good thing to go into while trying to ride. But don't try to exist on Powerbars and Gatorade. Eat sensibly.

7. Something as simple as a Throttle rocker (less than $20), can help exend your range. A cruise control of some type is better, but they're more expensive and depending on what you get can take some adjusting to get right.

Hope this helps.

 

[shortBoarder]

Invest in spare brake + clutch levers. If you tip over somewhere (stupid things happen on long rides) and break one, it's super easy to fix and ride away. About $80. for both (new) and they hardly take up any space.

 

[bigoltool]

In addition to what most others have said I never leave home without my Surefire E2E light and Spyderco Spyderrench in my bag. Also a small assortment of various sized zip ties and if you have it a small length of Safety wire! A decent tire pressure gauge is also a must on the open road! I like to pack light if possible but these are the things that are always in my Tankbag or in my tool roll.

Oh and electric jet hand dryers at the rest areas/ gas stations are a godsend when your cold and wet out on the road! I froze my begonias off riding into Norcal one time and they saved me from Hypothermia.

 

[jch82]

vman1300: Heading to Harrisburg to visit some friends. Will be in NC the whole week. I see you are pretty close to The Gap, that would be sweet to ride to while I'm in the area!

dm_gsxr: Great checklist! Very informative!

BusaWhipped: Thanks for all the good tips! I am going to get a pair of earplugs for the trip and look into a camelback setup.

bigoltool: Definitely will be bringing a small assortment of tools/zip ties/flashlight/etc.


I am not on any set schedule so I an planning on leaving Monday and riding until I get tired/uncomfortable, then stopping and staying the night somewhere if I need to and finishing up the trip on Tuesday.

Thanks again for all the priceless information! You can't get help like this on any other board on the net!! I love this place.

Josh

 

[vman1300]

(jch82 @ Oct. 02 2006,23:38) vman1300: Heading to Harrisburg to visit some friends. Will be in NC the whole week. I see you are pretty close to The Gap, that would be sweet to ride to while I'm in the area!  

I will be out of town all next week on vacation.

If you are going to be in the area the following weekend, I am planning on a Gap trip that Friday and Saturday.

 

[qarnaj]

One thing to add to the list - a spare key. I saw that one on somebody's checklist when I was preparing for a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of years ago. My initial reaction was "how dumb do you have to be to lose your keys on a bike trip?" I threw a spare one in the luggage anyway because it didn't take any room to speak of. Sure enough, out in the middle of nowhere I manage to get fumble-fingered and drop my key while I'm trying to get it in the ignition. There's nothing quite like the 'tink.... splash' of your key disappearing down a grate when you're 1000+ miles from home! Needless to say, a spare key is now permanently on my packing list and I was never so glad to have checked what other people were bringing!