In this post, I will be discussing about the riding gears, luggage carriers, other accessories etc. Hope this will be helpful to someone
Luggage Carriers
If you are going for a long ride, you’re gonna have to carry your things. Your clothes mostly. There are different ways you can carry your things. Tank bags, saddle bags, normal bags etc.
Saddle bag
Saddle bags are great. They offer a lot of storage and they are a must if you are traveling long distance.
These are two of my favorite bags
1. Viaterra Claw
Product Link : Viaterra Claw
This is the bag I use. If you are riding without a pillion, choose this blindly. It costs around 3400 INR.
Pros
- Super stable, even at 150 Km/h (don’t ride at 150kmph on Indian roads. Seriously)
- Comes with a rain cover
- Plenty of storage (60L)
- Very good material
- No need of additional bungee cords
- No need of luggage frames
- Won’t go anywhere near the silencer (it depends on the bike though. It fits fine on CBR250R)
Cons
- A bit difficult to mount (I’m nitpicking here)
- Cannot be used with a pillion
- There is a chance that the bottom of the bag will get dirty during rain
Notes
The rain cover could come off at high speed on windy roads. So, make sure you use the velcro provided in the rain cover to close it up properly on the bag. You don’t really need to use any additional bungee cord with the bag, but I used it anyway just for the peace of mind (I used the bungee over the rain cover)
Make sure that you arrange your things evenly and properly on the bag or it would look weird on the bike. It might even hang onto one side. But it doesn’t cause any problems, just that it looks really bad.
2. Rynox Nomad
If you are riding with a pillion, this is another good option. The material is of high quality and offers ample storage. You have to be careful when you mount it, if it gets loose, the bag could touch the exhaust. If you mount it properly, it won’t happen
Tank Bag
Tank bags are not an absolute necessity, but very handy. You can keep your things that you might use often. Phone, charger, sunglass, whatever. If you are going for a weekend trip, you can keep your clothes too.
Magnetic Tank bag
Magnetic tank bags are the best. I use the Rynox Optimus M You can remove the bag from the tank just by lifting it up. And is super stable even at 150km/h. The bag comes with a rain cover, and the bag can withstand small rain without the rain cover.
Note: The magnetic tank bag can only be used on bikes with metal tank (stating the obvious)
Non magnetic tank bag
If your bike has a non-metallic tank, you can use the
Mobile phone mount and charger
This is something every rider should have. There are mobile phone mounts in different price ranges. It’s up to you on which one to choose. I use the original RAM Mount, which is a little bit expensive, but very very durable. Highly recommend this one.
I use a generic bike charger (costed me some 700 rupees), which is connected to one of the brake light wire and so the charger gets turned on only with ignition, and is connected through a fuse. Make sure you do it like that.
Riding gears
The importance of riding gears cannot be emphasized more. So many people don’t really give it much of thought, until they get into any accident. In our trip, there were many incidents where the riding gears saved our day.
1. A good helmet
You cannot put a price on your head. Spend some money and get a good helmet. This is the most important gear of all. Try to get a helmet that is DOT/ECE certified. You can get a decent helmet for starting 5000 rupees. MT, LS2 etc are good brands for entry level helmets
2. Riding Jacket
Armored riding jackets are a must. They have padding on shoulders, arms and back. These are the impact points and they help a lot in case of a fall. (Witnessed how helpful they are firsthand - stories coming up) Invest some money, go to a bike shop and get a good armored jacket. Rynox has jackets starting at 6000 rupees.
3. Riding gloves
Leather gloves with knuckle and palm protection. They come in different price ranges. Try to get a leather one.
If you plan to ride to very cold places (less than 10 degree celsius), a weatherproof riding glove is very handy. They will be very useful in rain too. Normal riding gloves won’t be much of help in cold conditions.
4. Knee guard
This is one of those things that could save a day very easily. I have seen a lot of people riding with all the gears except the knee guard. But, think about this, if you fall from your bike, the first and the most common part that will kiss the tarmac is your knee.
There are different kinds of knee protection you can have. Some of them will be hard plastic that you wear on top of your jeans. Some of them will have more cushion and can be worn inside the pants.
I use this one from Mototech and provides very good protection for your knee and shin.
One thing I don’t like about this knee guard is that, if you ride a fully faired bike, the bolts on the inner side of the knee guard could scratch the fairing. Take a look at what part of your knee touches the fairing and see if the fairing could get scratched.
5. Riding pants
Riding pants offers better protection and comfort than having a knee guard over your normal pants. But for me, I could not find a riding pants that fits me properly. If you could find one that fits you well, I’d strongly advise you to get one.
Accessories
Here are a few things that I found to be very useful
Earplugs
People don’t pay attention to this. If you travel above 100km/h on a motorcycle, you should be using earplugs. The wind noise can and will damage your ear permanently if it gets exposed to such high noise for long periods of time.
I have an article HERE about why you should be using an earplug
That is it for the time being. I will update if I come across anything else useful