Packing for a Motorcycle Tour

What will we be taking?

Our thoughts are starting to turn to our packing list, what will we be taking indeed. This is always tricky deciding what you need to take with with you on a two week motorcycle tour of somewhere new.

The best advice I can remember reading was to place everything you think you’ll need on the floor in front of you. Then split it into two piles “essentials” and “extras” then go through the “essentials” pile again to wheedle out any other “extras”, then disregard everything in the “extras” pile🤣.

 

Obviously we’ll need our armoured, protective riding gear – helmets, jackets, bike jeans, boots, gloves, etc. We did initially think that we would be taking our Knox Urban Pro mesh riding shirts with layers over for the cooler days as it had been suggested to us that temperatures would be above 20 degrees Celsius most days.  But after watching Vet & Beanies Canadian Rockies Tour on YouTube – this is pretty much the tour we are doing – we have had second thoughts. They encountered conditions from 30 degrees Celsius down to 2 degrees, heavy rain, thunderstorms and snow in June! 😮.

So rather than summer mesh jackets we will be taking our all year round adventure jackets (Kate will take her Triumph Ladies Navigator jacket and I will take my Klim jacket) that are designed for all weathers. Waterproof, windproof and breathable Goretex with opening vents to allow some air flow if required.  We’ll have two pairs of armoured riding jeans and our riding boots. Added to the list will be two pairs of gloves each and thanks to the advice from Vet & Beanie in their videos a good set of waterproofs for added protection from the elements.

Dress codes are fairly relaxed in the USA, so I assume it is also fairly relaxed in Canada too. I imagine a few upmarket city restaurants will require a higher dress code, but typically, any clothing is acceptable – T-shirts and jeans\shorts. Which suits me fine…

The main items in our “off the bike” casual wear will predominantly  be made up of lightweight, breathable, washable, quick drying sports technical  materials. Moisture wicking T-shirts roll up into really compact little cylinders, zip off walking trousers are comfortable and don’t take up a lot of room either. A pair of lightweight shoes for the evening too to give our feet a break from our bike boots. I also want to do some wild swimming in the lakes so swimming shorts are on my list. Though I have been advised that the lakes are fed from glaciers and melting snow so are “bloody freezing”. So, perhaps the swimming shorts will go unworn, unless the hotels have pools.

Our Rukka base layers I suspect will be worn most days on the bikes too. I also feel that we’ll need some warmer mid layers too as we will be riding in the mountains more often than not. So, fleeces and jumpers will probably be most welcome additions some days.

On top of clothing there will be all of the gadgets that we can’t seem to live without these days. Having said that, modern mobile phones are more than capable these days of providing additional functionality such as Sat Nav, HD video and pictures, music, TV, etc. I will be taking my laptop on tour so I can keep up with this blog. Kate will probably want to take her iPad too.

We will taking our own intercoms and action cameras to record some of the amazing roads and scenery we’ll encounter.

Orange & Black are providing us with a Sat Nav for each of the bikes pre-programmed with the days riding routes and any Points of Interest.

All of these gadgets will require charging overnight of course. So a selection of cables and chargers, along with adapter plugs will also be added to our luggage. And spare cables as we do have a bit of a habit of leaving cables in hotel rooms😖.

All of this will have to be carried with us everyday in four side panniers, a top box and our textile Oxford tail pack.

 

The hard panniers\side cases supplied on the bikes do not come with inner liner bags so I have purchased some holdalls that should fit the side cases provided on Kate’s Tiger Sport 660, and a set of BMW Vario pannier liner bags. This is a bit annoying because we had bought a set of these previously when Kate had her BMW F750GS with BMW Vario side cases and let them go with the bike when we sold it😡.

 

These inner liner bags make life so much easier when we arrive at our hotels for the night. Simply unlock the side cases and lift out all of the liner bags containing all of your gear and carry them into the hotel. No removing the fitted heavy side cases and heaving them to your room, or trying to carry armfuls of loose items in as few trips as possible from the bikes to your room for the night either. Our Oxford tail pack also simply unzips from its base and can be carried or worn like a rucksack – a nifty piece of motorcycle luggage.

This set up will also save a great deal of time loading the bikes each morning. Just pack the liner bags in the hotel room and fit them into the side cases when you’re ready to leave – after a hearty breakfast of course!

So for the fifteen day road trip, and the three days pre-tour to acclimatise, all of our clothing, gadgets and other items will have to fit in to two cabin baggage sized holdalls, two side bags and one rucksack in the bike top box. We will have to leave some space for souvenirs and souvenir T-shirts too of course.

There will be no need to take too many toiletries as the hotels will provide these, and you can always get complimentary items from the reception desk if you’ve forgotten anything. Wal-Mart and CVS will probably be available in most towns and cities.

One thing I am planning on carrying on the bike is my small tool-kit which has come in useful a couple of times. One example being when I needed the cutters to snip, wire-by-wire, through a bike lock when a certain someone – you know who you are😁 – brought the wrong lock keys with them. The long weekend road trip nearly ended at the first rest stop.🤣

So, basically, for the duration of the road trip the two of us will be living out of four very small suitcases. Packing light is an art form, and packing for a motorcycle trip more so. I’m not 100% sure we’ve fully mastered it yet, but were pretty damn close. We’ll pack ourselves enough clothes for seven days and either use the hotel laundry facilities or wash the quick drying stuff in the shower – sorted!

There will be a number of documents that we will have to carry too. Orange & Black will supply us with a Road Book which will contain route details, hotel bookings, emergency information, etc. We will need to have our Passports, UK Driving Licences and travel insurance documentation on us at all times. Plus, I’m one of those people who likes to have everything printed out and placed in a folder in the order that it will be required. Things like flight details, ESTA\ETAs, bike rental agreements, etc. Plus having it all saved to online storage😁.

So, that’s that… our rough packing list. So, until the next post.. Take care everyone!

First Time Riding In Canada

Some Traffic Rules and Differences

As this will be my first time riding in Canada, and Kate’s first time riding anywhere other than the UK, she has always travelled as a pillion on past transatlantic adventures, I thought it might be prudent to do a little research. From the investigations I have carried out- mainly reading other blogs and advisory websites – Riding\Driving in Canada is an absolute joy; wide, open spaces and a lot less traffic than we are used to in the UK. Not to mention the magnificent views😁. We are hoping that riding in Canada is going to be a spectacular experience.

There will be some things that may take a little time to get used to. Riding on the right for Kate will initially seem quite a challenge I imagine. I have driven and ridden in the USA a number of times – bike tours, Florida holidays, etc. – not always successfully I hasten to add. See this post here of our unfortunate Route 66 ending. It doesn’t actually take that long to get used to riding a motorcycle on the “wrong” side of the road, if you take it easy, and concentrate, for the first few miles. I think it is easier than driving a car as you have more room to manoeuvre in the carriageway. So, more room for mistakes or poor positioning. These are something we will be hoping to avoid of course.😂

One thing that will probably take a little time to get our heads around is the switch from Miles to Kilometres. Canada adopted the Metric system sometime in the late 1960’s, unlike it’s southerly neighbours who still use the Imperial system of weights and measures. So speed limits and distances on road signs will not “compute” initially. Though, obviously the bikes speedo will also be calibrated in Km, so matching the speedo to the signage shouldn’t be difficult. It just may seem that we are travelling slower than we are used to.

For example motorway speed is generally 100km/h (62 mph) but in parts of British Columbia it can be as high as 120km/h (74mph). In built-up areas it is usually 50km/h (31mph), and can be much lower around schools. Canadian police are also, apparently, very keen to enforce speed limits and are often seen parked at the side monitoring drivers to ensure they are adhering to the posted limit. If we do get pulled up for speeding I will put on my best British accent and apologise profusely 🤣 in the the hope of a caution, rather than a ticket.

Obviously all drivers in Canada are required to have a valid licence, and in most provinces you can start driving from the age of 16. While the precise requirements vary from province to province, as tourists in Canada we will be allowed to drive with our UK licences providing it is valid for the type of vehicle considered for hire. And, of course, our UK driver’s license is valid, unexpired, and includes a photograph for the duration of our stay. And because our licences are in English there is no need for us to apply for an International Driving Permit. Also the minimum age to hire a vehicle in Canada is 21, so we just about satisfy that requirement.🤣

Road signs and markings do not appear to be too dissimilar to those found in the USA, like the use of yellow lines to signify the centre of the road where there is two way traffic. Yellow lines separate traffic travelling in opposite directions. Similar to the UK a solid line means it is unsafe to pass or overtake.

 

Individual lanes are then marked out using broken white lines, as in the UK. It is advisable to travel in the far right hand lane unless passing other vehicles. Passing is done on the left, with trucks barred from the far left lane.

Which brings me on to one point that is very different from UK roads. Throughout most of Canada, turning right is permitted on red lights, unless a sign indicates not to do so. You must first yield to traffic from the left and cyclists and pedestrians crossing the road. It is also advisable that you stop in the left hand lane if travelling straight ahead to allow those who wish to turn right the opportunity to do so.

It is also illegal in all Canadian provinces for motorcycles to filter or lane split. So we will possibly have to get used to queueing in traffic for periods of time in the cities.😟

The one type of junction we always seem to fall foul of is the “4 Way”. These are cross roads which have a Stop sign at each road junction, it’s basically the person who arrives at the stop sign first who has right of way. It takes us a little while to get used to, and we make the occasional error at these, but in the end it makes sense. I’m sure that some drivers get more than a little frustrated with foreign drivers hesitating or moving off too soon.

 

Canada has a reputation for its wildlife, so while we’re riding around the country we’re hoping to come across some amazing animals on the way. We will need to watch out for large animals on the roads – there should, hopefully, be signs to alert us to their possible presence – advice is not to ignore them! Deer, elk, and moose can be a hazard for cars, let alone motorcycles, especially at night when they are more likely to be mesmerised by headlights. The  recommendation is to drive slowly, particularly around corners where animals are likely to present themselves. In Alberta, Big Horn Sheep are common, which could cause some serious damage in a collision – not to mention distressing these beautiful creatures.

 

Another thing that we will have to keep our eyes open for on the scenic routes are “Animal Jams”; cars stopping for pictures of bears, elk and other wildlife on the roads.😁

So, once we have got used to the nuances of Canadian road etiquette I’m sure we’ll have the most amazing road trip.

If any of you have any tips for riding\driving in Canada I would love it if you shared them with me.

Not quite sure when the next post will be as there is not a great deal to share yet, but please subscribe to the blog and you’ll be notified when I do post an update.