Prep for touring (LA to Seattle)

[VEGASRIDER]

With a 5.1 gallon fuel tank, cruising at highway speeds, you should not have to worry about fuel. You should get close to 250 miles a tank or more, the bare minimum would be 200 plus. Just plan your stops. Now if you're riding up the Dalton Highway up in Alaska, different story.

Personally, I do not bother with a camelback, as I tend to rehydrate when I stop to refuel and just buy my drink there. I might carry bottled water with me in my tail bag.

You may also want to consider purchasing a Spot tracker. A GPS tracking device which people can follow your movement in real time, and you can send messages to anyone once you reach your destination safely each night. Keyword "Spot" if you want to do more research. Sold at your local Cycle Gear or mountain climbing retailers.

 

[Motogiro]

With a 5.1 gallon fuel tank, cruising at highway speeds, you should not have to worry about fuel. You should get close to 250 miles a tank or more, the bare minimum would be 200 plus. Just plan your stops. Now if you're riding up the Dalton Highway up in Alaska, different story.

Personally, I do not bother with a camelback, as I tend to rehydrate when I stop to refuel and just buy my drink there. I might carry bottled water with me in my tail bag.

You may also want to consider purchasing a Spot tracker. A GPS tracking device which people can follow your movement in real time, and you can send messages to anyone once you reach your destination safely each night. Keyword "Spot" if you want to do more research. Sold at your local Cycle Gear or mountain climbing retailers.

Spot is pretty cool and the real reason to have it is when there's an emergency and there's no phone coverage. this can uplink a message through a satellite to say you're okay or SOS. Here's a link where we discussed it a bit:http://www.600riders.com/forum/safety-equipment/35491-spot-gps-locater.html

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Spot is pretty cool and the real reason to have it is when there's an emergency and there's no phone coverage. this can uplink a message through a satellite to say you're okay or SOS. Here's a link where we discussed it a bit:http://www.600riders.com/forum/safety-equipment/35491-spot-gps-locater.html

Thanks Cliff,

I forgot the most important reason to have one:spank:. Yes, an SOS, just press the button and they have your long and lat. I'm just use to using it for other reasons, to stalk Cliff.

 

[Norbert]

you should be fine without spare fuel...but get a MSR fuel bottle as cheap insurance :thumbup:
you can use it for your stove if you go camping, just remember to fill it up the next time you go to a gas station.

(i personally use a jetboil as a camp stove, so i cant have that nifty dual use.)

get some moisture wicking synthetic underwear from under armour or target. i prefer target since it's cheaper. that's a must for long distance riding....

synthetic travel clothing is good to have, too. it's more versatile and compressible than the non-synth.
you know, the cheesy pants with legs that unzip to convert to shorts, or those shirts with the fold up sleeves.
quick and easy to wash and dry. put it in a compression bag and it takes a lot less room than jeans, etc....

another vote for just stopping to get a drink and rest.....but when Cliff is carving up the canyons he doesnt want to stop i guess.....

 

[Motogiro]

you should be fine without spare fuel...but get a MSR fuel bottle as cheap insurance :thumbup:
you can use it for your stove if you go camping, just remember to fill it up the next time you go to a gas station.

(i personally use a jetboil as a camp stove, so i cant have that nifty dual use.)

get some moisture wicking synthetic underwear from under armour or target. i prefer target since it's cheaper. that's a must for long distance riding....

synthetic travel clothing is good to have, too. it's more versatile and compressible than the non-synth.
you know, the cheesy pants with legs that unzip to convert to shorts, or those shirts with the fold up sleeves.
quick and easy to wash and dry. put it in a compression bag and it takes a lot less room than jeans, etc....

another vote for just stopping to get a drink and rest.....but when Cliff is carving up the canyons he doesnt want to stop i guess.....

When you're out playing in the heat your better off with a hydration pack on your back. As I found out last year, you can be in trouble really quick and with out water That's sort of the problem with me. Once I start having fun all my other sense get put on the back burner. Even food and my middle name is "Hungry"! LOL! so if I got to the mountains or desert I take water.

When I was a kid I dug out a snow drift to where some dog biscuits were hidden because I was so hungry and shaky but didn't want to go in cuz my mom would keep me in when she saw my lips were purple from being cold and wet. So yeah I ate the dog bisquits and stayed out to play! :BLAA::rockon:

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

AHAHAHA! wow! Awesome posts!

Great advice, and a lot of funny stuff. Thanks so much. Wow, there's a lot of stuff I need to check out.

I have a cargo net with plastic clips, I use it all the time! I've been looking at 12volt plugs, would be excellent to plug my phone in. I'm pretty sure iphones have satellite coverage for emergency calls, but that GPS tracker looks like a good idea. I was thinking about getting something like that and just keeping it in my car in case it gets stolen....hotwire it so it always stays charged.

I have to get gas every so often anyway, so i might as well just have a drink. You're right...it would be nice to have something to sip on, but all it's going to do is make me have to pee more often, lol. Piss breaks cost too much time, and I can't just re-use the gatorade bottle I just drank out of like I can in a car. It's gross but we've all done it

I think one of my bags will be just tools, extra gas and emergency provisions. The other will be some clothes, and tank bag for all my other stuff. I generally pack light.

 

[Motogiro]

AHAHAHA! wow! Awesome posts!

Great advice, and a lot of funny stuff. Thanks so much. Wow, there's a lot of stuff I need to check out.


I have to get gas every so often anyway, so i might as well just have a drink. You're right...it would be nice to have something to sip on, but all it's going to do is make me have to pee more often, lol. Piss breaks cost too much time, and I can't just re-use the gatorade bottle I just drank out of like I can in a car. It's gross but we've all done it

No Man! You get another hydration pack and some duct tape and you don't have to stop!

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

lol! rig up a home made catheter?! hey you did eat a dog biscuit after all.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

It's not like your riding to Vegas or Phoenix where the temperture gets well into the 100's. If you remain along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington, you'll most likely freeze your ass off and get wet like I did last summer. So you better plan for rain, nothing worse than riding while your cold and wet.

I wouldn't worry about carrying extra fuel either, as long as you plan your stops there will zero issues. I suggest you carry one old fashioned paper map, rather than relying on your GPS 100% of the time.

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

I should probably get a waterproof jacket and pants then...also some trash bags. Cutting up some trash bags saved my life one night. It was SO cold and it was raining cats and dogs. lol

of course, there's the non-ghetto version of that....rain ponchos. probably a better idea, haha

 

[Norbert]

make sure all of your accessory wiring is rain proof as well.
you want to be able to charge the gps or smart phone while riding in the rain.
tank bags are good for this. i use a handlebar bag.

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

ooh! Handlebar bag, now that's a neat idea.

 

[Norbert]

ooh! Handlebar bag, now that's a neat idea.

dont forget tank panniers! even neater! carry more crap and shift the weight upfront!

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

honestly, that thought hadn't ever crossed my mind. That's a fantastic idea. That's almost a must have for touring because of all the things i can have quick and easy access to. I only really see Wolfman tank panniers at a decent price, is that a good brand?

 

[Norbert]

honestly, that thought hadn't ever crossed my mind. That's a fantastic idea. That's almost a must have for touring because of all the things i can have quick and easy access to. I only really see Wolfman tank panniers at a decent price, is that a good brand?

wolfman is highly regarded on advrider, so yeah they are good.
i've seen some from mountain sun touring in person, looks pretty good. i'm sure there are a lot online....you just have to do some research. you can put your msr fuel cannister there. (see attached pic).

i'd like to have some tank panniers on my bike, but i have crash bars that reach my radiator and it would be kinda bulbous....

 

[Norbert]

are you interested in a dry bag?
i bought an ortleib rack pack 24L from Bike Bag Shop | Bicycle Panniers, Racks and Bags.
seems the cheapest around for that item. shipped quick.
i bought 2 of them and with my hard pelican cases, i have MORE than enough room....
i think it's good to be able to expand your luggage capacity, just so you can add more stuff on the road....like souvenirs or more serious things like engine oil....you know, what if something happens and you need to carry more crap?

for LA to Seattle you'll be fine....i'm planning a 6k mile trip to labrador and newfoundland towards the end of the summer.....

 

[Motogiro]

lol! rig up a home made catheter?! hey you did eat a dog biscuit after all.

Hahaha! Lots of em! :rof:

Frogg Togg is a name I see around for rain gear: Frogg toggs

 

[Lucifer Caitiff]

I ordered a cee baileys windshield yesterday. Cost a chunk of change but I'll find out soon enough if it was worth it. Next purchase will probably be a throttlemeister. After that I need to get the scala g4, then storage. I'm not putting the highest priority on storage, as long as I get SOME storage I'll be fine. I pack light.

For now I'm thinking a good tank bag and tank panniers will be all I need. I have a small tail bag that i can use for emergency equipment, and then throw the cargo net over that if I want to bring anything extra back there. I can save my money on saddlebags now, and get much nicer hard cases later on. I also probably won't have time for crash bars and extra foot pegs, which won't be a big deal. It would be nice, maybe for a future trip though.

Has anyone bought from Ram Mounts before? It looks like they have a mount for everything, one for my iphone and one for my satellite radio. That's pretty much all I'll have, at least on this trip. I can cover everything with plastic in case it rains.

I also found Sanger_a2's brilliant accessory rail thingy. I'm definitely doing this one! All I need after that are a couple of 12 volt plugs, or one and a splitter, and I'll be ready to rock.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/18278-my-new-ingenious-sat-nav-mount.html

 

[Norbert]

ram mounts are legit.
i have one for my gps.
i keep my iphone in my handlebar bag.
i bought from gpscity.com in the past.
i think they have a discount coupon somewhere.........

don't forget to go on small trips to prepare for the big one.

 

[Norbert]

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