Tourers Safety and Tips


Touring motorcycle
The fact that "touring motorcycles" form a separate category might be interpreted as if other motorcycles are not suited for long distances. But that's a misunderstanding.
A touring motorcycle has several properties that make it capable to cover huge stretches of interstates (or Autobahn), loaded with luggage and a passenger, offering comfort all the way.
Those properties are: heavy in weight (so you will hardly notice the extra weight of luggage and a passenger), heavy in performance (so you can easily ride Maximum kilometers an hour with all that luggage and your passenger), a lounge stair for a saddle, and a fairing that makes it feel like you ride in a car.
Interstate or no interstate?
It seems so efficient, taking the interstates to reach the place where you want to spend your holidays. That's what you are used to in your car, and after all, it's the fastest way to get there.
And if you're a bike rider, it gives you the possibility to open the throttle a bit on the Aurobahn, on the way to the Alps.
But do think about it:
The car is a means to get you from A to B, from your home to your holiday destination. The motorcycle, on the contrary, is a vehicle to enjoy riding while you ride from A to B, while you're riding from your home to your holiday destination.
Long distance motorcycles
When you travel on smaller roads, your holiday starts right at your front door. And when you travel that way, you will experience that in fact almost any motorcycle is a long distance motorcycle.
Saddle
A saddle that stays comfortable is, counterintuitively, hard. Not hard like a stone, but so hard that you don't " sink in" it when you get on your bike.
If you do sink in your saddle, there will be only one way to sit: you will have to stay in one posture. And when you spend hours in the saddle, you will have to be able to change the way you sit from time to time. A hard saddle allows that.
Knees and legs
When you are able to sit more at the front or at the rear end of the seat, your knees will be glad too, as they will be bent in a different angle, each time you change position.
Take a break
Make sure you take a break before you get tired. Stretching your legs from time to time will have the result that you are able to ride much longer before getting tired. When you find the ideal place for a break, enjoy it for a while.
Eating and drinking
The same applies for eating and drinking: eat or drink before you get hungry or thirsty.
Put some candybars and cartons with soft drinks in your tankbag (buy them before you leave, and when they're finished, buy them at gas stations): in that case you will always have something to eat and drink during a rest-break.
With respect to dinner, all depends on your priorities. McDonalds (or likewise) is ideal for when you want to be finished soon (or for when you want to have warm food twice a day, which works very well when you are riding the whole day); dinner in a picturesque restaurant costs more time, but adds lots to your trip. A third posibility is to prepare your own food on a camping. In that case, you might want to stop riding before it gets dark, which shortens your mileage.
Choose the right roads
If you want to cover many kilometers, you'd better not choose the really narrow roads: you won't get far.
Some countries have designated routes as an alternative for interstates (or motorways).
Details
Something that you can only check while riding, is how a map shows detail-situations: sometimes a T-junction on the map is, in reality, an ongoing road with a byway to the left. Using such a map, you very easily make mistakes.
On the road
If you navigate using maps, and you have a passenger, you can fit the map on the back of your coat (in plastic). Depending on the motorcycle and the way of riding, the passenger doesn't always have his or her hands free to use to hold the map, and holding a map in your hands all day isn't really convenient.
Secure your bike
On the big ferries, you will have to secure your bike. Always put your bike on the side-stand; not on the centerstand: there will be less chance that it will fall that way.
There is always rope on a ferry, but to be sure, take some extra straps with you.
Pull the rope under the buddy, to secure your bike. When you would pull it over the buddy, there is a big chance that you will damage it permanently.
Remember that a boat may roll and pound. So the bike will not only try to move from left to right and vice-vesa, but also forward and backward and up and down. So, apart from securing the bike with rope, put it in first gear and keep the front-brake in with a piece of rope or something like that.
In most ferries, all bikes are put together. In that case, try to help others when they don't know what to do. This is for your own concern as well, because it's not a nice sight when you return, and your bike did not fall, but your neighbour's bike did, on yours...
Take it easy
When you're traveling long distances, you'd better not chase the other guys .That doesn't mean that you should be slow, but it means that you'd better stay off the brakes, and don't open or close the throttle.