expo riders gear checklist

[scarysharkface]

Good resource, thanks man. I had looked before and it confirmed my earlier thoughts. My only concern now is very specific definitions. The plan is the carry the gun unloaded with a pair of loaded clips nearby. Legit?

If you don't have the permit, the gun should be locked away in a pannier or such, unloaded, and inaccessible to you while enroute. Otherwise it's highly open to the officer's discretion, should you have a mishap or be stopped for something.

John

 

[scarysharkface]

44 pounds of box is a lot of weight. Add in 40 pounds of gear, and the bike gets heavy pretty quick. When I hit the dirt with the 800, I lose the hard bags due to the weight and the added risk to the tib/fib.

I had 30mm ammocans on my first KLR, and certainly they did make it heavier. I packed more stuff back then as well, so they worked well for travel.

On my present KLR I've got the Happy Trails aluminum boxes, which are significantly lighter (and smaller in this case). I don't feel much difference at all between having them mounted or not (unless they've got stuff in them, of course) and they're stout. I still pack too much stuff.

I think the next iteration of travel bike will have soft bags of some sort, mostly just to try something different. I'd kind of like to come up with an elegant way to mount a couple of ALICE packs to the back, so I could remove one to hike..

John

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

If you don't have the permit, the gun should be locked away in a pannier or such, unloaded, and inaccessible to you while enroute. Otherwise it's highly open to the officer's discretion, should you have a mishap or be stopped for something.

John

Not true in Arizona and a couple other states

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Talk to me. Why not aluminum? Or are you referencing metal panniers altogether? And what's the problem with using them?

Well, the boxes have their place. I will never and would NOT recommend using them on bikes taken off road. I have met 2 folks who have broken their legs in off road accidents directly caused by the metal panniers.

I had the boxes on the bike for one long trip before I ditched them for a better soft luggage setup. I will say that the boxes on my bike were WAY too big. A narrower set would have been much better. I do not remember if I had the 9 or 10.5" boxes. For my XR650L, I'd go with the 6" boxes if I did it again.

Why did I buy them in the first place? I was planning to ride the bike to Panama and back and knew locking boxes were the way to go. Thinking about it now, I'd get the 6" boxes now, fill them slap full and then have a small duffle bag on the back.

 

[dirtysouth]

What kind of bikes are the guys taking, and where are they going?

From quickly glancing over the list, they have way to many tools. Usually the stock tool kit will do most anything that you can do on the side of the road, especially if combined with a good multi-tool. If you plan on rebuilding the engine, by all means take the tools, but if you do your maintenance before hand, you should be good to go unless you have a flat, blown fuse or bulb.

Another thing that caught my attention is the hatchet, entrenching tool, and fixed blade knives. I am a knife guy and have way to many but seriously, I have never needed a hatchet or fixed blade knife in 100k + miles of two wheel travel. Leave the flashlights at the house and get a headlamp, a lot smaller and easier to handle if working on the bike or setting up camp. Ditch the canteens. The camelbak should hold enough water to get you from one watering source to another, unless you are in the desert.

I'm thinking that half of the stuff gets shipped home or thrown away. Either way, good luck to them.

 

[scarysharkface]

Not true in Arizona and a couple other states

Definitely true in Utah, last time I checked.

John

 

[Motojournalism]

Here's what I took for a seven-month trip from Canada to Panama.

Clickity click on the pic to see what's what on Flickr.

I swapped out the Solo12 tent for a Rock22




It was about 55lbs packed

Medium 640

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

reply to old thread. one thing I didn't see (did not look too close) are spare bolt / spare bolt kit. and then a "crucial spare bolt kit." For example I keep the bolt that locks the front sprocket (engine side) on the bike. On the KTM many bolts interchange so this is huge if bolts rattle loose. I also carry a small tube of blue loc tite (small) if bolts are fixed in the 'field.'

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

one more link that might be helpful

http://www.cycleworld.com/2013/03/19/packing-your-adventure-bike-for-world-traveling/

this one (from the first page) was hugely helpful...

http://micapeak.com/checklists/mclist.html

 

[Cabrito]

The Micapeak check list is handy and you can make your own custom list with only the stuff you want and or add what you want.

 

[ExpoScout]

The Micapeak check list is handy and you can make your own custom list with only the stuff you want and or add what you want.

Yep, that is very handy! Thanks guys.