Road Trip Tips
By, Jesse Apanda
It All Starts As A Dream
Who hasn’t dreamed of a cross-country motorcycle road trip? You and your machine, the open road stretching out into the horizon in front of you. For a lot of riders, a cross-country trip is a dream, but if you don’t know what you’re in for, you might have a bad time. The dream is achievable, but it’s easy to let poor preparation turn it into a nightmare. This article will hopefully give you some things to think about when gearing up for that trip.
It Kinda Sucks (But You Can Prepare For It)
Cruising from block to block, bar to bar on your chopper is one thing, but racking up hundreds of miles a day is a different game entirely. Fatigue is very real, and very dangerous. Riding long distances is a true test of physical and mental endurance. Your fingers will numb from constant vibrations, your ears will ring from wind and engine noise, and your nether regions will hurt in new, awful ways. If you have slammed shocks or a hardtail, your spine will hate you.
If you have a sissy bar, look into grabbing a sissy bar bag or packing your luggage such that you can get a bit of support and shift position. You may want to check out some gel grips as well - they don’t look cool, but they’ll help absorb some of the vibrations from your bars. You can get earplugs or a full-face helmet to mitigate some of the noise, too.
More than any accessory, conscious, purposeful breaks are your secret weapon. If you’re not on a bagger, you’ll probably be stopping a lot for gas anyway, so use these breaks to hydrate, grab some grub, and pop an Advil before you need it. Walk around, and let yourself feel somewhat back to normal before heading off again. Alternatively, if you don’t need gas but see something cool ahead, go check it out! The point of a road trip isn’t strictly crushing miles, but seeing a side of the world you might not see on the interstate in your car.
Make Sure Your Bike Can Hack It
You’ve probably heard an old-timer say something about T-CLOC, which stands for Tires, Controls, Lights, Oil, Chassis. These are all things you should have squared away before heading out, especially if your trip involves serious mileage or remote areas. If you’re on a custom bike or an older model, something unexpected might rattle loose or fail, so make sure you have a tool roll along with things like electrical tape, fuses, electrical wire, cable ties, and maybe even some fuel hose.
You should also do a few longer shakedown rides before your big trip. Inspect your bike before you leave and after you come back. Especially with older bikes, or bikes that aren’t ridden often or long, things will vibrate themselves loose or act differently when the bike is hot versus cold. Learning any quirks your bike has will be handy should you notice anything odd on your trip, since you’ll know if it’s normal or requires more investigation.
Have A Plan, Then Throw It Away (But Not Really)
It’s easy to plan the life out of a trip. You should plan your route and where you’ll stay, but have some backups in mind. It’s easy to say you’ll do 500 miles on your third day out, then do 250 and realize you’re cooked. And that’s okay! You should have a couple motels scoped out for every day. This also gives you the freedom to stop and check out the world’s biggest pumpkin pie or roadside attraction you weren’t expecting. You might have a great conversation with a random person at a diner, and having a backup plan means you’re free to do as little as as many miles as you feel is right.
Cell service can be spotty (or you can drop your phone and smash the screen like I did), so I’d recommend bringing along a basic list of your route and the motels and towns you’re aiming for. Something simple like “Take I-45 to I-35 heading towards Ft. Worth” will keep you in generally the right direction in case your phone/GPS fail, and having motels and towns will help if you need to ask for directions on the side of the road.
Enjoy This, Because You’re One Of The Lucky Ones
Everyone wants to be a cool dude riding their bike through the backroads on the way to adventure, and you’re actually doing it! Savor it. It will suck at times, and be majorly uncomfortable. You might break down, and you will certainly forget something at home, or any number of random things might go wrong, but it’s all part of the package. Maybe you reached your destination, and maybe you didn’t, but the most important thing is that you wrote a new story. You’ll look back on these memories forever.
Author Bio: Jesse Apanda is a lifelong rider, wrench-turner, and storyteller who’s been elbow-deep in bikes and gear for years. When he’s not wrenching bikes or racking up miles behind the bars, he’s capturing the ride through a camera lens. A proud alum and veteran of J&P Cycles, RevZilla, and Cycle Gear, Jesse brings road-tested expertise in motorcycle parts and gear — and a voice that carries the grit, humor, and heart of life on two wheels.
