T Minus 6 Days - Skills acquired in Clown Car College

Today I finished packing for the trip. Yeah, almost a week in advance. But really, packing for a motorcycle trip is like a horrible game of Tetris, where you end up throwing out that straight piece that would give you a billion points because the damn thing just won't fit right.

Yeah, it's a crap load of stuff. And that doesn't include clothes. I tend to err on the side of caution though. Ideally there won't be any problems on the trip, but I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road because my headlight went out at night, or I pick up a flat, etc. I read up on tips online for touring and what to bring, and the lists ranged from "Credit card and keys" to "Everything under the sun, including a fire extinguisher." Seriously, one list recommended a fire extinguisher. If my bike sets on fire, I'm going to take it as a sign from the gods and walk home.

With alot of planning and some creativity, everything fits nicely into my motorcycle luggage. I have two saddlebags, a tail bag, and a tank bag. I REALLY tried to see if I could just take the tank bag and the tail bag, but there's just no way I could swing it.

On a side note, I really need to pimp this luggage. It's all by Cortech, which I think is a sub-brand of Tourmaster. It's not overly expensive, and works very well. I used this stuff last year on a camping trip out to Whiteshell. That trip was even harder to pack for since I was camping. In the next picture, the bags are fully expanded, and I had to add a bag on top for a foam pad, tent, and sleeping bag. It was a little much but I made it there alright.

This trip I won't have any crap strapped on top, and the saddle bags won't be expanded, so the load will be much easier to manage. I'm hoping that handling isn't hurt too much, since really what I'm looking forward to the most for this trip is hitting the twisties.

Tomorrow will be going over the projected plan for the trip. Or rather, the lack of plan. :)