The most common advice that you will come across about packing your luggage for motorcycle road trips is to pack light! But in winter it might not always be possible to pack light because there are a lot of winter clothes and other things that you need to carry which will eventually make the goal of a ‘light luggage bag’ impossible to achieve. Of course, you can invest in a pair of motorcycle luggage bags and a top box to carry all of your winter apparels and warm clothes but even then, there is a limit to how much you can carry. Let's find out how you can optimize the space on your motorcycle and pack the right number of things properly.
Multi-purpose warm clothes
Instead of packing a lot of different warm clothes, be smart about packing only multipurpose warm clothes that you can use as both an inner and external apparel in different situations. Huge fur coats may look good but they are not really practical when you are on a bike trip. Leave such things behind at home and pack small but effective apparels that are made of leather or other thin but thermally optimized materials such as nylon or silk.
Thermals
Invest in at least 2 pairs of thermal innerwear (both lower and upper) because they are the perfect things that will keep you warm without taking a lot of space in the luggage bags or make you feel bulky when you put a jacket on top of your clothes. Thermal wears are usually made of woolen materials which are great for keeping the heat inside your body even under a continuous assault of bone chilling cold wind. The other great thing about thermal wear is that you can go to sleep in them at night without the need for wearing anything else on top of them. If you are planning to be on the route for several days at a stretch it might be a good idea to have at least two or three different pairs because thermal wears sit really close on your skin and over time it can pick up the smell of your body which will make it really unhygienic for use throughout your journey.
Woolen socks and skull caps
Don't make the mistake of packing your normal nylon socks for winter road trips. Get woolen socks, preferably those there are made for defense personnel which you can get a defense overstock supply store. In addition to these, invest in a pair of nylon or light woolen skull caps that you can wear under the half face and full face motorcycle helmet to keep your head warm even when riding in cold and foggy conditions.
Waterproof boots
Snow slush and mud is something that you will eventually come across when you are riding a motorcycle during the winters. In hilly and mountainous regions, snow starts to build up gradually from the beginning of november but because of the impact of regular traffic, the snow melts and creates muddy puddles. The last thing you want is to step on one of these mud puddles and get your shoes completely wet which will be very uncomfortable to continue your journey with. Waterproof boots are very effective at preventing the moisture from getting inside, which will keep you dry and comfortable even when riding across dewy and foggy landscapes.
Chapsticks and winter-care lotions
The cold temperature can wreak havoc on your skin so you need to take special care to keep the skin from breaking up. The simplest and most effective way of doing it is to apply winter-care lotions on your skin before beginning your daily ride and also use a lip balm (or chapstick) to prevent dry, cracked lips.
Last but not least, always remember the fact that there will be shops and malls in the destination that you are traveling to, where you can get a lot of things which you don't necessarily have to carry with you in your bags. A word of advice about packing electronics as to keep them protected against the mustard which is evidently present even if you keep it inside a motorcycle luggage bag make sure to wrap it with a plastic protective cover so that any form of water or moisture cannot get inside and damage the electronics. Also, mobile phone batteries lose charge easily in winter, which is why it is a good idea to carry power banks to keep the phone charged at all times.
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