By Walter F. Kern
Getting organized and packing your motorcycle for a long trip can be difficult. There is only
so much space on the motorcycle and so much stuff to find a place for. You need a motorcycle packing list.
The motorcycle packing list is alphabetical by Regular Stuff, Clothes, and Toiletries. You'll have to
select each of the three parts separately for ease in printing. I also have a more printer-friendly version below.
I like to pencil in a count of the number of each item next to the item. The
count will change depending on the length of the trip.
If you are pulling a trailer or running a sidecar, you might want to draw in another
column on the left or right where you can put an X if the item is in the trailer or
sidecar.
I hope this list will help you to get organized for that long trip.
For our last meeting on May 7th at the American Legion, I volunteered to explain how to pack a bike.
After I volunteered, I wondered if I was the wrong person to do this demonstration.
I'm now riding a trike, which you have to pack entirely differently from bikes that have saddlebags.
I do hope I was able to give some good ideas. Here is part of what I said and some things I forgot to say.
- I suggest that you start with a packing list. There is an excellent packing list on
Walter's Motorcycle Views website.
- Start planning what to take and do a trial run packing your bike a week before you leave.
That way you will know what you can and can not take.
- When packing your bags, remember to equalize the weight. I try to pack one bag with all the things I will need to take into a motel.
The other bag has things I may or may not need right away.
- Be sure to pack for both warm and cold weather.
You never know when the weather may get cold and you will need winter gloves and turtle neck shirts.
- If you are packing for a trip of a week or more, pack for only three days. On the third day, plan to do laundry at the motel.
Put on your bathing suit and put all your clothes into the washer while you hang out at the pool. Now you are set for the next three days.
Pack only clothes that have colors that do not run or need special washing so everything can be washed in one load. BRING QUARTERS!
- Do not forget UPS, Mail Boxes, and US Mail. You can ship things home or have them sent to your designation.
If you buy items along the way, have the store mail them for you.
- If your saddlebags are not waterproof, pack all items in plastic bags. T-shirts can be rolled up and placed into a bag to save space.
Pack your socks inside your sneakers. For toiletries, you have to think small.
Buy sample bottles of shampoo, DO, powder, toothpaste, etc. Take few cosmetics.
Take a small hair dryer with a metal round brush that can act as a curling iron.
- Do not forget to check your packing list. Remember to bring things like maps, camera, cell phone, jacket, etc.
Check the list and re-check the list over and over again.
- When you bungee items to your bike, always remember this very important rule: Make sure your rain suit is the item on the very top.
You do not want to have to go looking for your rain suit in the pouring down rain.
I always bring an empty bag to bring home dirty laundry that I can bungee to the back of my bike. It also makes for a great
back rest on your ride home.
Happy packing and have a great trip on your motorcycle. -- Jane Ann Kern
3. Recent Additions to the Motorcycle Views Website:
4. Fifty More Wild Motorcycle Tales:
I am now actively working on my sixth book,
50 More Wild Motorcycle Tales. Click the cover on the right to learn more about what was included in the first book.
If you have written any true motorcycle stories about your own motorcycle
experiences, send them to me for consideration in the new book.
The window for additional stories is quite narrow right now so please hurry submitting any story.
5. Five Motorcycle Terms:
I am featuring five (5) of my Motorcycle Terms in each issue of the newsletter.
6. Motorcycle Picture of the Month for July 2017:
Motorcycle Picture of the
Month - July 2017 - Custom Chopper:
See the latest Picture of the Month
and previous pictures.
If you'd like to be considered for Picture of the Month, send me a picture and description of your bike.
Submit Picture.
7. Latest Motorcycle Pictures:
See the latest received pictures by category.
(Send me a picture and description of your bike.)
"This is my tattoo that matches the artwork on
. . . more. -- John Sarubbi"
8. My Memoir, Normal Secrets, and My Previous Motorcycle Books:
I have recently created an author website to contain all my current and future books.
My
memoir, Normal Secrets, is a departure from my previous four motorcycle-themed books.
It covers much of my life and reveals some secrets that almost no one knows about me.
In fact, many secrets I didn't even know myself until recently.
You'll also find out how fate changed my course in life many times as I struggled to find
out who I was, what I wanted to do, who I would love, how I came to become both a motorcyclist
and a moto-journalist, and how I came to become an author in my late seventies.
It's a true story that begins in the Midwest and spans more than a hundred years.
The book is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. An audiobook is currently in production, and should be available in the fall.
Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.
My
book, Motorcycle Kick-Starts,
also available on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook (Audible) editions, contains
a condensed view of motorcycling for new
and returning riders. It's designed to whet your appetite for more while sticking to basic motorcycle information without
overpowering you with details. The book starts out telling you what motorcycles are
and showing you how you might learn to become an active, safe rider. Then ten short motorcycle stories, written by actual
motorcyclists, are presented. These stories allow you to observe some unusual things that happen
to people who ride motorcycles.
Between stories, some practical advice about motorcycles is given in the form of ten motorcycle How-Tos
and ten motorcycle Tips
that you will need to know to become a proficient rider. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it
on Amazon.com. The Audible audiobook edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.
My
book, 50 Wild Motorcycle Tales,
contains a collection of stories that originally were only available on my website. Fifty of these stories were selected,
intensively edited, and compiled into the book. I wrote five of the stories.
The book is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and
audiobook (Audible) editions. Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.
The Audible edition is also available for immediate download on iTunes and Audible.
My
book, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, was first published in 2011 but only as a Kindle edition.
It was revised in 2014 and also made available in a paperback edition.
Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.
My
book, Motorcycle Haiku Poetry, also available on Amazon.com in both paperback
and Kindle editions, contains
haiku poems about motorcycles. Haiku is a simple poem of three lines
with five syllables in the first and last lines and seven in the second line. Each of the nearly 60 poems is coupled with
a motorcycle picture and description related to the poem. I wrote seven of the haiku poems.
Click the book cover to learn how to buy it on Amazon.com.
I hope you will take a look at my five books, available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com.
My new book, Normal Secrets, is a memoir about secrets in my life. The other four books are motorcycle related.
These books make great, inexpensive gifts.
In fact, you can purchase all five for less than $40 total (less than $15 if you buy the Kindle editions).
I have reduced the price of my five Kindle editions
to $0.0 (FREE) IF you also first purchase the corresponding paperback edition.
That way you can always have the
book with you if you have a tablet or smartphone with you. None of the paperbacks has color pictures in them owing to
the high price of producing a book with color. However, every Kindle edition has color pictures, so
Normal Secrets, Getting Started Riding a Motorcycle, and
Motorcycle Haiku Poetry Kindle books have full-color
pictures (excepting original black-and-white pictures).
9. Here are some very popular articles on the Motorcycle Views Site. Take a look:
10. Newsletter Archive:
I now have a Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive to store all my newsletters.
The archive gives the year, month, day, and subject for each newsletter.
Each newsletter contains many links to the Motorcycle Views website.
A link to the archive will also be included on the Home page of the site
and on the page where users can join the newsletter list.
Visit the Motorcycle Views Newsletter Archive
11. The Motorcycle Views Website is also on your Smartphone or Tablet:
Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC?
Remember that all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone.
It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.
12. Social Media:
See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.
13. 2016-2017 Polar Bear Grand Tour Motorcycle Runs
I have completed the Polar Bear Grand Tour Pictures of the Year for 2016-2017.
These also include the Best videos. Take a Look.
The Polar Bears consist of 550 riders from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware, who ride each Sunday
to a different prescribed destination where they sign-in and receive points. There is, usually, a restaurant at or near the destination.
It gets cold, windy, and snowy on these rides. I've been a Polar Bear member for more than 20 years, and I built and continue to maintain
their website.
The picture to the right was taken at Hillbilly Hall, Hopewell, NJ, and is one of the Pictures of the Year.
14. Help Grow Motorcycle Views:
The Motorcycle Views Website is here for you. We encourage you to submit a story, picture, poem, salvage yard
recommendation, user review of your own bike, tattoo, YouTube video you made of your bike, motorcycle tip, etc.
These will be evaluated for inclusion into one of our major features.
Send us a submission today and share part of your motorcycling experience with our
many readers. Read how to make a submission.
Thanks again for coming along for the ride in this edition of the Motorcycle Views Newsletter. -- Walter
For New Subscribers:
Expect newsletters on the first Sunday of each month.
Please understand that the Motorcycle Views Newsletter is NOT the Motorcycle Views website.
The newsletter provides a few links to content on the Motorcycle Views website.
Once you click a link in the newsletter, you'll be getting access to content on the Motorcycle Views site.
If you'd like to view any of our past newsletters, just go to
the newsletter archives page.
Thanks for signing up for the Motorcycle Views Newsletter.
Using this Newsletter, I'll keep you up-to-date with what's going on
in the Motorcycle Views Blog,
the Motorcycle Views Website, and the
Motorcycle Views Forum.
Not sure what a blog is? It's like a daily readout of what I'm thinking about, similar to a diary at times.
Most often, I'm using mine right now to tell my visitors what has been added to the Motorcycle Views site.
See me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube.
The Motorcycle Views Website is also on your Smartphone or Tablet:
Are you relying more and more on your cellphone or tablet and less and less on your PC or MAC? Remember that
all that great motorcycling information on Motorcycle Views is as near as your cellphone.
It's also in a new format designed to fit your portable screen. Check us out anywhere you need motorcycle information.
END OF NEWSLETTER
All Previous Newsletters:
2017
2016
2015
2014
All Newsletters
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