Bike Touring Tips and Tricks

For some, a journey is simply the means to arrive at a destination. For riders, we know that the journey is the destination, each stop along the way is a new experience, and the ride itself is what exhilarates us. How many of us have planned an entire holiday around a beautiful journey shared with your motorbike. Exploring captivating bike trails while touring inspires a feeling of serenity within us. All this is easier said than done though, especially when you’re going in for the long haul. You have to have a few motor bike tricks up your sleeve, as well as keep in mind some bike riding tips.

Here’s an all-inclusive, quick guide to motorbike touring.

Your ride: There is a common misconception that ‘touring motorbikes’ are the only ones that can withstand long tours. That isn’t entirely true. Touring motorbikes are better equipped to ensure long distance journeys are more comfortable. A quality such as heavier body weight balances out the excess kg’s added by passenger and luggage.

Your seat: The average guess for a comfortable seat would be a soft seat, but to have a long-term comfortable seating position, counterintuitively, the seat must be hard, and as flat as possible. This is because you need to be able to shift your posture from time to time, which is only possible if you do not sink into your soft seat.

Your stomach: Staying properly hydrated and well fed is an important thing to remember. Make sure you are resting enough. Small breaks prevent you from becoming prematurely tired. Have a bite or two each time you stop, and don’t wait until you get hungry or thirsty to eat or drink. Stay ahead of your body.

Your ears: A bike riding tip you might not have heard of is the use of hearing protection (pun intended). Rather than the sound of the engine, the sound of wind can be stressful on the ears over prolonged periods. Using hearing protection does wonders for your energy levels, you’d be surprised at the difference between a stretch with and a stretch without them. You can buy the regular earplugs at a pharmacy. These block out all sounds including the harmful ones, or you could visit a motorcycle shop to purchase Alpine earplugs which block harmful sounds, but allow normal traffic sounds to pass through.

Your roads: Take the road less travelled while touring because there will be less traffic and also because these roads tend to be magnificently scenic.

Your route: You can either use the shortest route via GPS or live a little and plan your route as you go along, marking on a map the route you plan on taking, and then allowing yourself a couple of detours. It keeps things exciting!

Your daily miles: Keeping most of the tips in mind, an average ride can vary from 500-800 kilometers per day, depending on other variables that affect the ride.

Your fuel: Taking the road less travelled sometimes means that it’s going to be difficult to find a gas station every time you need one, so don’t let your bike run on reserve. Wherever you see a station, fill her up!

Riding style: Try to ride as even as possible, jerky driving won’t get you far. Give yourself a gentle reminder before you start to get agitated.

Visit Trails Of India, an online web portal for all things motorbike. Download our app from the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. Display your beautiful travels for your fellow riders, and the whole world to see.

A tech geek, who love to explore and share about the latest bike technology.