need ideas..me and the wifey wana go on a road trip but she is unsure if we can take enuff stuff for a week. how so you all travel? do you put clothes in tourpak and junk in saddlebags or what?extra boots fill them up fast.just want some ideas , maybe something we havent thought of(trailer has crossed our minds but might not use it enug to justify) ONE DAY WANA GET TO STURGIS

 

Wife and I just went on my 06 Road Kind, no tour pack. Have a rack and T Bag.... Wear boots and bring 1 set of other shoes.... Keep tools, extra qt of oil, shoes, etc in side bags. Put cloths in top. Try to keep weight as low as possible.

We went to the mountains for 3 days, had everything we needed including rain gear... There is enough room... You just need to explain it right.... Good luck.

We did 800 or so miles from Sunday to Wednesday...

 

We're in CO for two weeks right now, from TX. Roll all clothes as tight as possible, will be relatively wrinkle free when unrolled. Wear clothes a couple days then wash where possible. Works great for us, usually only carry 2-3 changes.

 

heavy stuff in saddlebags. Light stuff, like rain suits in trunk. wear a pr of jeans and pack 1 pr and shorts. Wear shorts when you wash. Pack 4 t-shirts, and underwear/socks. Wash on the 5th day. Old rule of thumb: figure out what you need and how much money. Lay everything out on the bed--- cut stuff in half and double $.

 

Take one extra pair of jeans. Wear them till they walk without you. Buy t shirts as needed along the way. Clean socks and undies everyday. Mail dirty laundry and souveniers home. Who wants to vacation at a laundry mat? GoldBond medicated powder is your friend. BullFrog sunblock gel is an excellent product. Take lots of money, a cell phone, and a pistol.

 

I am using the Streetglide with no tour pack, and although I dont have too much trouble with packing our supplies leaving home......but when we are visiting I can keep her from buying a bunch of needless junk. All I have to say is...."I dont think that will fit in YOUR saddle bag. Its worked so far, but I have been told by the higher ups that I will be needing a passenger back rest and a sissy bar with a rack, so we can get a T-bag set to carry more stuff. I said if your getting a back rest.....then so am I......so you see in the end everything works out!

 

For two up touring you learn what few items you really need. A tourpac, rack on it with large lugage bag on top and you'd be surprised what all you can take when packed tight. I always start with waterproof bag or rain cover. Next I carry a waterproof river bag packed folded in tourpac. I also carry a bungie cargo net. When traveling in months where it might be 78 degrees one day and 42 the next you almost have to carry the bulky items like jackets and cold weather gear. When not wearing these bulky items they are under the cargo bungee net on top of the luggage. The river bag is stuffed with these items if raining under the net. I wear waterproof boots, and carry good raingear. I usually have at least two pair of jeans extra and 5 to 6 shirts, wife same. Almost all chain motels have coin washers that we stay at. About every 3rd or 4th day we do the laundry after reaching motel. We carry so much that it is unbeleivable how much will fit on the bike. On our last little ride to Las Vegas from Houston in April we had temperatures from 42 degrees leaving to 93 in Tucson. We even carried bulky heated jacket liners and ski pants. We were loaded up but had more clothes than we really needed, big tool supply, lots of bathroom neccesities and makeup for the wife. Packing tight and learning just what you will actually use helps. I have ski masks, several pairs of gloves, several sunglaases, water bottles, cleaning towels and supplies, just a pluthera of gear and I have the chopped tour pack. Extended trips no problem. You will see how muck you can take. Now for camping with sleeping bags, tent, sleeping pads etc, it gets a little tight without a trailer. Although I love camping I don't cobine the two any more. I'm getting to old to just sleep on top of a picnic table any more and call it fun. lol I can only say so much in one post but I'vebeen touring since I was 17 so I did learn a lot over the years and methods and gear have come a long ways since the bungy cord method of 40 pounds of duffle gear on a ten pound rack lol.

 

Quick tips - Keep weight LOW (saddlebags) so it doesn't effect handling. Don't overload (see manual) and to save some space, roll your clothes (it works great!). They'll fit much better and not get wrinkled.

 

Girlfriend and I have been on several 10-day + trips on both the Dyna with detachable saddlebags and no tourpack, and on the Ultra. Never had any problems packing what we needed, but we both are pretty low maintenance and do not need tons of stuff. One 10-day trip to Sturgis we took the Dyna and managed to pack camping gear for our stay in Custer St. Park. We bungied the tent and coats on top of the saddlebage and used a luggage rack bag to hold the rest of our gear.

 

tools raingear bungees and leather shirt in bags. sac bag for clothes anything else is not needed