How do others pack for a trip ? On my Ultra with saddle bags and a Tour pac I still don't seem to have enough room.
In the right bag I keep tools and a small packaged set of jumper cables. In the left bag I have cleaning supplies. The Tour Pac contains 2 half helmets (not always on the head but I like to take it along), Jackets, Road atlas, The wifes purse and gloves.
The bags have some room in them but I can't really picture trying to pack for 2 people for a 3 - 5 day trip. What do es everyone ealse do with all your clothes, rain gear and any other thing you may need ?

 

I have the pull out bags for the saddlebags and tourpak. I top that off with the Dekker Supreme touring bag for on top of the TP. In the left saddlebag I have a small tool kit, air pump for shocks, my 1st Gear riding/rain pants, Power Trip riding/rain jacket,and Choko rain boots. Right saddlebag has my wifes riding gear (same as mine), m/c cover, cable lock. I pack my clothes in the TP bag, including a pair of sneakers for both of us. My wife gets the Dekker that fastens to the TP luggage rack. Helmets are always worn so there is no
problem of them taking up valuable space for neccesities. I leave the cleaning stuff in my garage. Space is limited, so I pack for my trip and clean it when I get home. I mix my packing to put the heavier stuff in the lower bags whenever possible.

 

The more trips we have taken the less we seem to take. I now give my wife a side saddlebag insert and say here's your suitcase for the week-10 days and I use the same. The helmets we wear although we do occasionally take them off for a run but usually after dumping the rest of the stuff in the room. I have the harley expandable bag (91753-92) that mounts on the tourpak luggage rack that the helmets will fit in if I decide to make a run without them. I use it for maps and rain gear only. Everything else is in the bags and trunk.

My main advice is to lay everything out and then look at what you "REALLY" need. Unless you are riding a '53 Panhead you probably have way too many tools that you'll never use. You can always wash a load of clothes at the hotel 1 evening. You really don't need 9 shirts for 1 week and don't need 3 pair of shoes.

Think necessities only.

FLRYDR

 

Heavy stuff in the saddle bags - on my Road King they are the hard bags. All the clothing and personal items in the Kuryakyn Full Dresser bag.

I have LidSaks on the saddle bags. The stuff sacks are 9" in diameter and 20" long. They hold jackets or other light, bulky gear.

I leave the extra boots, the laptop computer, pillows, the dog, the roll away tool box and the arc welder at home. I pack light and use a laundromat after three days.

 

Wear as much as possible (ie: leather and helmets) to free up space. It is safer anyway. Much Much more room with those items not packed. Light on the tools and no cleaning supplies.

I have a Road King and therefore not tp. In place of it, I have a detachable luggage rack which I think is ugly, but I love it. Wife and I can pack a hiking backpack she used in Europe....tons of room and although we have to pack light, there is a greater allowance on how much we can take clothing wise.

 

Not being a smart a@#, but here's what we do. We keep the helmets on our heads and leave the cleaning supplies at home. That creates allot of room. I wear T shirts most of the trip, so i fold them and roll them up tight and rubber band them. An extra large T shirt can roll up to about the size of a beer can. You can pack plenty of them in the saddle bag. I use the leather drink bottle holder on the left side and the regular saddle bag guard bag on the right. You can stash tools and some small items in those. They are pictured on page 428 of the new HD accessory catalog. As for the cleaning supplies, I figure I'm going to clean the bike when I get home anyway, so I don't clean it on the road. Another neat little trick that I use is to buy a pack of cheap T shirts and underwear to ride in. At the end of the day, just throw them away. When you get home, you have more room than when you started ! Or sometimes I'll go through my T shirt pile and pull out the oldest ones and ride in those and ditch 'em along the way ! I hate packing dirty clothes back in the saddle bag with my clean ones. Just my style and not for everyone, but that's how we pack and travel. Have fun and enjoy the ride !

 

I take a few trips and am gearing up for another 15 day trip next week. Going to the Smoky Mountains again. Here is what/how I pack... for tools, I only take the tool roll that came with the bike plus a small flashlight and a leatherman multi-tool. I also take a really small pair of jumper cables. The tools go in the bottom of my saddle bag and the jumper cables go in a gym bag on top of the tour pak. My wife gets a saddle bag, I take the other and we share the tourpak. The gym bag gets stuff like shoes, rain suits, maps & road atlas, and generally stuff we pack in ziploc bags that can get wet. Our last 15 day trip we each took clothes for 4 days, 3 pr shoes EACH (including the boots we wore) hair dryer, curling iron, electric razor, road atlas. AAA state books for 4 states, rain suits, jackets, toiletries, medicines, etc. etc. etc. and we STILL had room left over... We did laundry every 3 or 4 days and believe it or not we had clothes that we didn't even wear. In fact, we packed too much and still had room left over. You'll be suprised at what you can get on an EG... If you don't have the HD bags for the saddlebags and tourpak, I highly recommend them. They make packing really easy and once you get to the motel/hotel you just lift them out.

 

I travel a lot so packing is second nature to me
3-5 day trip
Three sets of every thing wear one pair and pack two.
Best way I've found to conserve space is to roll a complete set.
Smart pack - plan ahead if you are going into the mountains then you'll need the clothes that you are going to wear into the mountains on top so you don't have repack every time you change clothes.
Laundy takes about 1.5 hours and usually costs about $3.00. I usually start a load of clothes then go and get cleaned up then on my way out to get something to eat I put the load in the dryer. Time I get back from a fast food run there dry.
Besides clothes
rain suits, leathers, road emergency kit, leatherman, and factory toolkit are all I carry.
Riding solo last year I traveled to a 2 week job with whats listed above plus hard Hat, boots, and coveralls.
Biggest thing - plan ahead and pack before you go. Then take the bike for a short spin. This lets you know what the bike handles like with the load.
Always wear helmets so they don't take up room
Hope this helps
[sm=trust_me.gif]

 

Well, I'm not trying to be smart either but----get yourself a Bushtec trailer, that's Bushtec. There are others but IMHO John Preston at Bushtec makes the best. Be advised that they are not cheap but neither is a H-D. Wouldn't catch yourself pulling a trailer, no matter what?? Well, that is certainly a personal preference. I will tell you that I've pulled a Bushtec since 1990 behind Gold Wings and H-Ds. Trust me, it takes touring on a motorcycle to a completely new level. The flexibility it gives you and most importantly the wife is wonderful. Yep, I know H-D, Honda and I suppose everyone else says, "don't pull a trailer". However, in my experience it is perfectly safe IF you exercise the safeguards which you should already be using anyway, i.e don't grab a bunch of brakes on a slippery road, etc. etc. Now, mind you, I'm not talking about those 350lb all in one, pop up campers. My Bushtec weighs 125lbs. empty. It's a complete lie to say that "you won't even know it's back there". You'd better know it's back there but in all sincerity the motorcycle is fully capable of performing this task and your wife will love you for it. All I'm saying is, give it some thought.

 

Some additional suggestions to those listed above:

Rain gear and leathers in right saddlebag -- with rain gear at the top for easy access in short order. Put 'em on the right so if you have to pull over, you aren't on the traffic side of the bike.

Bike tools/supplies in left saddlebag.

Wife gets the soft bag for the tour pack -- I get the Saddleman case that sits on the luggage rack on the tour pack. She also gets some space in that.

Biker shorts instead of underwear is a great substitute! Wear, wash at night and hang to dry -- and they are ready the next a.m. Also, prevents binding and cutting circulation on thighs...

Here in the summers, I wear the longsleeved sport shirts -- wicking material that keeps you dry and cool. Again, wash at night, hang to dry, and ready the next day. Only 2-3 additional shirts necessary, and those rolled up take very little room.

Just in case the temp drops, we have a pull over fleece shirt. Takes very little room, but is good for cool nights and for wearing while riding if necessary.

Hope that helps!