Preparing and Packing for Long Motorcycle Rides

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Everyone has their own opinion. If you've never done this before, this might help. If you have already done a long trip or two, then you probably already have your own list. Also see BamaRider.com. He's a bit more into camping than I am - I sleep in a motel at least every other night, probably four nights out of five on average. Here is a checklist to help you make up your own list of what you wish to bring.

These ideas are for people who are travelling on a budget. If you make $350,000 per year or more, all you need is your bike and your American Express card. Don't leave home without it.

Small Gadgets

I don't carry a first aid kit. I consider that this is probably the single biggest weakness in my packing. I haven't yet thought about what I want to carry, and the commercial first aid kits I've seen are either huge or useless. What you need if you fall off your motorcycle in the middle of nowhere is very different from what they give you.

Cameras

Digital cameras are very small, very light, and you get to see your pictures instantly. Pictures are free, no developing costs. You can delete pictures you don't like in seconds. If you buy a 256 meg flash ram (about $50 5/03), you can store between 200 and 700 photos; a spare 256 meg ram takes up less room than a book of matches. When you get home, you plug the camera into your computer and everything happens auto-magically. The pictures load up on your computer in minutes, and you can email them to all your friends until you don't have any anymore. You can take a class in PhotoShop and learn how to erase your ex-wife from your photos. They said "Pictures don't lie," but that's sooooo 90's. You can get "real" prints made from your .jpg files at Wal-Mart, 20¢ for a 4x6, or 14¢ each at Sam's Club. Sam's club will also make coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc out of your photos if you wish to completely humiliate your children.

The downsides of digital cameras are:

They are quite expensive for a decent one. Expect to pay about $300 or more. You can get a 1 megapixel camera with a fixed optical zoom for $100, but the pictures will be pretty marginal. Forget about "digital zoom," it's next to worthless. They eat batteries almost as fast as a 9 year old boy. Get two sets of NiMH batteries and a portable recharger. If the camera does not have a flash, it's going to be useless indoors or at night. The photos don't have much permanence. If you post them on the internet, it's a decent bet that in 10-15 years the jpg format will be outdated and no one will be able to read them. If you print them on an inkjet, in two or three years the ink will fade. Of course, you'll be replacing your computer within 4 years.

Digital camera recommendations:

Resolution: Higher resolution (more pixels) cameras cost a lot more, can make bigger prints, and take better pictures due to their more expensive internals. A 1024x768 picture taken with a 3 megapixel camera is going to look a lot better than a 1024x768 picture taken with a 1 megapixel camera. If you just want to post or email pictures, almost never print them, a 1/3 or 1/2 megapixel camera is ok. Expect to give or throw it away in a year. Expect to pay $35 - $75. If you want 4x6 prints, get a 1 or 2 megapixel camera. Expect to outgrow it in a year or two. Expect to pay $100-$200. If you want 8x10 prints, get a 3 or 4 megapixel camera. Expect to keep it for several years. Expect to pay $300 - $500. If you want to pay more than that, you'll need to get your advice elsewhere. I don't know anything about professional quality cameras. Memory: Avoid SmartMedia, it's limited in size and becoming an orphan. Get CompactFlash, or xD, or SD/MMC, or Memory Stick. Your camera will come with 8 or 16 meg of ram. This is not enough. Bare minimum: a 64 meg ram. Better: get a couple 128 meg rams or 256 meg rams. The 16 meg ram is good for letting your kids or grandkids or dog use. Batteries: Alkalines are expensive and don't last long. Get at least one set of NiCad or NiMH batteries and a portable recharger, and carry a spare set of NiCads or NiMHs or alkalines to get you through until you can recharge overnight. I prefer NiMH, just because the name reminds me of the National Institute of Mental Health. Zoom: I recommend an optical zoom. Forget about digital zoom. Connections: make sure you get a USB or FireWire connection. A serial connection takes forever to upload pictures. Other Features: don't worry about them. Any decent camera will have more features than you can learn or remember to use. Manufacturers: Cheap camera, less than 1 megapixel, no zoom. Get whatever is on sale. Shop price, you'll feel better when you give it away. Decent camera, 1 or 2 megapixels, maybe an optical zoom. Kodak, HP, Fuji or Olympus. The Kodak DC280 used to be the camera of choice in this price / performance range, but it appears that Kodak's quality has slipped on their newer models. (5/03) I like the Fuji 2650 in this class. Good camera, 3 or 4 megapixels, optical zoom. Canon.

You can learn a lot about digital cameras online. CNet is good for beginners looking at $50 - $500 cameras. Digital Photography Review is for more experienced people looking at $400 and up cameras. You can also learn a fair amount at EBay, once you have some general ideas about what you want. The really good cameras simply don't show up at EBay. The more disappointing cameras are in great supply. The "outgrow" thing is very apparent here. Olympus uses EBay to sell their reconditioned cameras, which they supply with a 90 day warranty. If you're willing to buy a factory restored used camera, these can be quite good deals.

You will also want a camera case. The smaller the better. All you need is something that holds and protects your camera and a set of spare batteries. I got the smallest Samsonite at Target for $4. I then cut off the front flap whose primary purpose seemed to be to advertise Samsonite, and the shoulder strap. It fits very nicely in my left glove box now, and takes up almost no room - it's just a little bit bigger than two packs of cigarettes. A small portable table-top tripod comes in handy too.

I use a Canon A70 3.2 megapixel camera, 3x optical zoom, 256 meg ram, and about 100 features I have no clue about. I paid (5/03) just under $300 for the camera delivered, $40 for a 256 meg ram, $20 for four NiMH batteries and a portable recharger, and $4 for a case. That's it.

Communication

Sign up for an account with OneSuite.com. You put $20 on deposit with them, and then anywhere in the country from any phone you call their 800 number, and then dial whoever you want for 2.9 cents a minute. Use your expensive cell phone minutes for short calls, if you're going to talk a long time find a land line. Remember, when you're on the road, unless you have a nationwide plan, you're roaming. Roaming means you're spending 50¢ to 70¢ per minute to use your phone.

If you already have a cell phone, you can call your service provider and get your plan changed from a local plan to a nationwide plan for the month you'll be travelling. This will save you serious money on roaming charges. When you get home you can switch back to local to get the increased minutes.

If you don't have a cell phone and want one just for your trip, you can get something relatively inexpensively. A "normal" cell phone requires a 1 year contract, typically for about $40 - $50 per month, so this is a $500 to $600 cost. Tracfone will sell you a reconditioned phone and a plan which is good for 60 days and 100 minutes (50 minutes if you're roaming, and you will be) for about $30. You can buy more access time and minutes later if you like.

Or, find a friend who has an old cell phone that they no longer use, and ask them for it. This phone will most likely have a dead battery, and only reliably work when plugged into 12 volts - if your bike battery is dead, the phone likely won't work. The old phone is also likely analog, which means reduced coverage areas these days. If the phone turns on, it will respond to 911 whether it's activated or not - by law, the service providers must supply 911 coverage for any cell phone for free. You can call the original service provider on the phone, and most likely they will activate the phone for a pay-as-you-go plan. You buy an airtime card for about $10 - $50, and get about 15 to 90 minutes of roaming service, good for about 90 days. This idea sounds neat because of the free phone thing, but it's actually not so great: there's a good reason why your friend quit using his old phone.

These days cell phones work in all cities with populations over about 1000 and on all interstates. However, west of the Rockies, if you're on county roads away from a city, it's unlikely you'll have service. AT&T Wireless has an only slightly optimistic map that you can use to see national coverage for phones.

The best deals on cell phones are available on-line at LetsTalk.com. LetsTalk also has a great plan / phone comparison tool. Hint: pick your service plan, then your provider, then pick your phone last. There are basically two service plans available: a local plan, where you get several hundred minutes of anytime use and unlimited nights and weekends, but you pay roaming charges if you're more than about 75 miles from home. Or, a national plan, where you get a few hundred minutes of anytime use and unlimited nights and weekends, and there's never roaming or long distance charges. If you also want text messaging, pictures, or fancy ring tones and games, your monthly bill is going to go up quickly. Be careful if you get a family plan with shared minutes and have a teenager - they can trivially spend $250 in a month on optional extras.

GPS units are becoming more and more popular. I don't use one. These are good for getting un-lost, for finding basic services like gas stations, and for simple route planning. Currently (11/04) the Garmin StreetPilot is the most popular unit for motorcycling. About $850 - $1100, depending on how much software you buy. Also popular are the Magellan Meridian hand-held units, about $150 - $400.

FRS radios have lately become very cheap, so it's well under $100 to get a bike-to-bike radio communicator. All the FRS radios are compatible with each other - you don't have to worry about brands. I have a NADY. I never use it. Turns out when I'm on vacation, I mostly don't want to talk to other people.

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