we are going on vacation

"If you survive the travel preparation, the rest will be just entertainment." Probably every motorcyclist will agree with this statement. The specifics of our favorite vehicle requires a lot of effort and money in preparation for the trip.

We pack everything we can think of into the car and go on vacation or vacation. Later, we don't use most things, but we use a few hundred liters of luggage space to the maximum - usually to the maximum pointless. Then all that's left is to get to your destination and start your vacation. Motorcycles are getting worse and better. Worse, due to lack of space for luggage, we cannot afford to take an inflatable pool and a mini-fridge into the sea. Better, because we start our vacation and relaxation the moment we leave the garage - the road is also a destination. However, preparing for the journey is not easy.

Motorcycle and rider training

Even if you don't ride too far and just for a day or two, the absolute minimum time you need to spend getting your bike ready for the road is checking tire pressure and checking the condition of the chain - tensioning and lubricating it as needed. You don't need to be reminded to check your brakes, headlights and indicators. It's all about your safety.

A long multi-day trip is another pair of rubber boots. If you ride for several days, covering 500-1000 km each time, you will hit any weather, exceed many limits, feel better or worse, and some parts of the motorcycle will wear out. You may even catch a flat tire or fall somewhere, forgetting to spread your leg when parking due to fatigue. You must be prepared for such situations. A motorcycle will help you prepare for professional service, but you have to take care of yourself - it's worth working out your shoulders, stomach and back in the gym. Also, take care of your hearing and bring earplugs for long highway trips.

A car that has several thousand. km, he should get new oil, a clean air filter, thick brake pads and serviceable spark plugs. Bulbs or fuses, if necessary, can be purchased at a gas station. Powertape and plastic mounting clips can also be useful, which can be joined into longer strands to create "mini tie-down straps". If you break the trunk in a fall, tape and clips are indispensable. Chances are your bike is rolling on tubeless wheels, as you can tell from the "Tubeless" lettering on the tires. Then purchase a tire repair kit, which includes: an awl, glue, a file, rubber stoppers and compressed air cans for inflating the wheel. Clean the hole in the tire, without removing it, with a file. Then, using an awl, insert a rubber plug coated with glue into it, and then inflate the tire with a cartridge screwed onto the valve through a flexible hose. You can buy such a repair kit for about PLN 45. If the motorcycle has tubed wheels (this is very common with spokes, but this is not the rule), then there is no need for tire levers and spare tubes - and it is best to use a vulcanizer, because. Putting the removed tire on the rim by hand and not damaging the new inner tube is a real challenge for two.

Belts with closed hooks tightened with a ratchet and a specialized trailer are a guarantee of safety.

weather anomalies

For longer trips, dress in clothing that you have already worn. A gloved finger that is too short, tight shoes or wind blowing under pants that are too short preclude such clothing. You can tolerate the inconvenience of an hour-long commute, but not sit on a motorcycle for 8-15 hours a day for a week. The worst and most common mistake is to go on an expedition in a new helmet. The helmet takes time for the polystyrene padding to adjust to the shape of the head. If it is too tight, riding in it will become a nightmare after a few hours; it can even damage the scalp. So it was in my case, when I put on a new mismatched helmet for a trip to the Swiss Alps. Two hours later, this began to give me discomfort, and after driving 1100 km, I could not stand it anymore. The helmet was not small and I still have it - just unfolded. On the other hand, a trip to Africa in gloves with a tight thumb led to the fact that after the first day of skiing one finger began to go numb and recovered only a week after returning home.

Pack your motorcycle raincoat in the trunk. After a few hours of driving in a downpour, even a theoretically waterproof jacket and pants will get wet, and rain or rain is sure to await you. Before leaving, it is also worth taking care of the shoes, washing them, and then impregnating them with a special spray that increases the waterproof properties of the material. You can purchase this spray from a sports supply store. Be sure to bring some chain lube with you.

Be aware of where you are going

If you are going to one of the EU countries, you will enter your ID-card everywhere and you will not even notice when you cross the borders of some countries. But still, it is worth arming yourself not only with payment cards or several tens or several hundred euros before leaving, because not everywhere it is possible to pay in cash. First of all, you need to know the laws and culture of the destination or transit country. Check whether you need to pay for the use of roads when driving through a given territory (for example, purchase vignettes glued to a motorcycle, or pay tolls at gas stations where you will only receive a receipt - your registration numbers will go into the database and if you are not there , you will pay the mandate). Find out what speed limits apply on different road categories. It is also useful to know basic phrases in a foreign language. It is useful to know, for example, that when in Albania you ask for directions by pointing to a point on the map, and an Albanian nods his head, repeating “yo, yo”, this will not mean at all what you expect. Especially if you grew up in Silesia. The word "jo" and a nod of the head in this case mean denial. On the other hand, dazzling religiosity can make Czechs laugh, who consider themselves the most secular nation in the world, and in the Balkans it is not customary to ask older people what they did during the war. If you are going to Serbia and then to Kosovo, you should also be aware that you may not return the same way, since Serbia does not recognize Kosovo. Getting involved in political discussions, as a rule, is no good. In the Moroccan marijuana-growing Rif mountains, you have to be careful when you enter and what you photograph - a simple farmer and his colleagues may not be thrilled when you take a picture of them while working hard. To sum it up – wherever you go, read about that place first. Be sure to check the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where you will find all the necessary information.

Also, don't forget about insurance. For a motorcycle, purchase a so-called green card, which outside the EU is proof that you have purchased third party liability insurance – the insurance company from which you purchased third party liability insurance must issue you such a card free of charge. Hide and protect the documents you received at the border - it may turn out that without them it will be impossible to take the motorcycle out of the country you are leaving. Help in the event of a breakdown will also be useful (for example, PZU - "Super" version of insurance for about PLN 200-250). You must take out travel medical insurance with the possibility of covering the cost of transport to the country for further treatment. Such insurance is provided for a certain number of days and is very cheap. If something happens to you abroad, there is no insurance 

Pack your way

You can pack a lot of useless things on a motorcycle. However, you will see that as your experience grows, your baggage will start to get smaller. All you need is a rear central trunk with a capacity of approximately 45-50 liters and a tank bag, the so-called. tank bag. Hide money and documents in several pockets. Take a photo of your documents and email them to yourself - no one will steal this from you. Put everything in the trunk except water, food, and a camera that will fit in a tank bag. The tank bag attaches to the motorcycle with straps or magnets to the fuel tank. It's always in front of you and you don't have to get off your bike for a drink or a photo. In addition, it usually has a built-in card holder so that the card can be turned in front of you even while driving. Disadvantages? This makes refueling difficult and adds weight to the front wheel. Too big is an extra crosswind sail and if you choose it wrong it will shade your watch. Water, camera, sandwich, gloves - you don't need a big tank bag.

And how to choose a trunk? I suggest a plastic oval shape. It doesn't look as good as cubic aluminum, but it's more practical. It will fit more, it is flexible and it is difficult to tear it off when dropped. It creates less air resistance, which affects the ride quality of the motorcycle and fuel consumption. However, if the trunk and topcase are not enough and you are traveling with a passenger, you can still invest in panniers. They have the advantage that they do not increase the bike's center of gravity like a center buggy or tank bag, but they remain more difficult to access and allow for a wider vehicle.

Highways and local roads

You already know where you want to go and have planned a route. You go there for fun, so you don't have to rush, because unlike a car, the journey itself will be fun. If you drive no more than a few hundred kilometers, include side roads and less frequented roads. When you have an enduro on the road, you can even cut your way through dirt tracks and potholes. Riding a typical road bike, you can choose winding roads through towns and villages that are far from the main highways. Thus, you have a chance to find interesting places that you could not reach by car. However, if you are limited in time and have a few days to get to your destination, it is worth considering whether to use the safe and fast highway or the expressway and use the saved days for your stay at your destination.

During the long route, you will definitely get wet, sweat and freeze. I mean, you could, but you won't if you're well prepared.

For rain, you have the already mentioned rain kit. For cold weather - a windproof lining and a third thermal lining. You can ditch the thermal lining by wearing an extra layer of clothing instead. Thermal underwear will be indispensable. When it's really cold, ignore the fact that your companions may want to go further, and whenever you feel the need to do so, ask to stop at the nearest place with hot tea. When you get very cold, you can regret it for years. Good motorcycle clothing should be warm and have as many panels as possible to open in hot weather. The most coveted leather clothing is the least useful for the motorcyclist. They protect well when falling and scratching the asphalt, but in the cold they freeze, and in the heat you sweat, stopping at a traffic light. It is better to have lighter protective clothing with multiple ventilation holes that can be used normally and put on additional functional layers if necessary, than to carry it under your arm or carry it in the trunk in Italy in the middle of the summer. The jacket and trousers made of wear-resistant material are designed to be used as carriers of protective and functional linings. Think about it if you are trying on clothes after 5 minutes. in the fitting room of an air-conditioned store. What to do if you went out into the sun in 30-degree heat, and your outfit is unbuttoned?

When you get hot, get dressed

When it is very hot and the air temperature is above 36 ° C, undressing does not cool down at all! The effect will be the opposite. You will start to heat up even more because your surroundings are hotter than your body. Experienced travelers know that in such a situation you need to dress properly in something that absorbs water. Put on a cloth moistened with water around the neck in the area of ​​the arteries, a wet balaclava under the helmet, moisten trousers with water in the area of ​​the arteries. Then, despite the fact that you dress in winter, you will feel cooler than if you were riding in flip-flops and without a helmet. Evaporating water removes heat from your body and cools your blood. Undressing at temperatures above 36 ° C becomes simply ineffective and even dangerous to health and life. When you feel numbness in your legs and arms, cramps in your lower abdomen, headaches, dizziness, and lack of sweating, your body is overheated and dehydrated. This is a potentially life-threatening condition.

Ride with a passenger

Riding with a passenger is possible on any motorcycle that can accommodate two people. On the sports model, after 50 km, the passenger will feel discomfort, after 150 km he will only think about stopping, and after 300 he will hate it. With such a motorcycle, the two of you plan rather short trips, and for yourself you choose trips to weekend rallies. Manufacturers of these bikes are aware that they are not suitable for travel, so sometimes you have to work hard to buy some accessories to make them easier to carry luggage. At the other extreme are touring vehicles, often equipped with sports engines or all-terrain suspension. They sit high, upright, on the couch there is enough space for the passenger and driver. The list of travel accessories in this case is very long. Side and center panniers and tank bags designed for these models are now available in dealerships. However, before you stock up on them, grab a calculator and figure out how much your bike can carry. Information about the permissible gross weight can be found in the registration document under item F2. If, for example, for the very popular Suzuki V-strom 650, paragraph F2 in the data sheet says 415 kg, and the motorcycle weighs 214 kg (2012 model), then we can load it ... 415-214 = 201 kg. Including the weight of the driver, passenger and luggage. And don't be fooled by the fact that the bigger the engine and the bigger the bike, the more you can load on it. A larger bike carries more weight, and it may be that you carry a lot less on a big machine than you think.

Safety issue

Safety Considerations The passenger must know what to expect while riding, how to behave when the motorcycle leans in corners, what to hold on to and how to signal that they are thirsty, for example. For the first person to sit on a motorcycle, it will not even be obvious how to get on it and how to get off it - the driver or passenger gets on first. So when you sit on the couch and hold the motorcycle firmly or support it on the side stand, the passenger sits in. He puts his left foot on the left footrest, holds your hand, puts his right foot on the sofa and sits down. So instruct the person in the back on these matters and you will avoid panic and, for example, straightening a passenger in a turn when you just need to lean the motorcycle so as not to fly straight into a ditch.

Also be prepared for the fact that a loaded motorcycle requires some preparation. An additional few tens of kilograms in the back seat will weigh down the rear wheel and unload the front. This means that the car will be less stable when cornering, the braking distance will increase, and the front wheel may even come off the road when accelerating hard. To avoid this, drive more carefully until you feel how the car reacts to unscrewing the throttle. When braking, keep in mind that if a passenger is not holding on to the handles on the sofa, for example, because they are not on your motorcycle, then he will begin to slide on you. When braking hard at high speed, a passenger may even push you against the fuel tank and you will lose control of the steering wheel. To save yourself, you'll have to stop braking, which might be a bad idea. To minimize the negative effect of increased weight on motorcycle handling, inflate the rear wheel to approximately 0,3 bar above the manufacturer's recommended condition (for example, 2,5 to 2,8 bar) before boarding a passenger. Increase the rear shock spring tension further - you will do this with a special key that should be included in the set of keys supplied with the motorcycle.

Driving in a group

A group of motorcycles riding together, which is considered large, is 4-5 cars. Riding in such a group is still quite comfortable, but requires good group coordination. A separate guide could be written on this topic, but we will limit ourselves to the basics.

1. We always go to the so-called. passing. When the group leader moves from the side of the road, the next rider exits from the side of the road for 2 seconds (distance depends on speed). The third motorcyclist again follows the axis of the road, behind the first car, and the fourth from the edge of the road behind the second. And so on, depending on the number of cars in the group. Thanks to this formation, the riders behind them retain enough room for emergency braking.

In the group we go to the so-called. passing. When we slow down, the bikes get closer to each other.

2. The leader of the group knows the route or has navigation. It rides at a pace adapted to the skills of the least experienced riders and the lowest performance bike owners. Motorcyclists with great experience and in the strongest cars ride last, so that they can easily catch up with the group if necessary. The group leader maintains eye contact in the mirrors with the trailing group and plans overtaking maneuvers with him so that the entire group can perform them together and safely.

3. Refueling frequency depends on the capacity of the smallest fuel tanks and when one person refuels, everyone else refuels. Only those who ride on a tank at least twice as large as the motorcycle with the smallest fuel tank do not have to fill up every time.

4. Leaving the gas station, the group does it smoothly and efficiently. Motorcycles, keeping in line, are approaching. No one pulls forward alone, because when, for example, he is already 2 km away, perhaps the group closing the group will still try to leave the station. Then, in order to catch up and form a group, he will have to race at great speed and overtake cars, which at that time will be squeezed among the group members. The same principle applies when approaching traffic lights, roundabouts, etc. Motorcycles slow down and converge to pass such places as one capable organism. If the leader jumps on the green and the others do not, then he drives at such a speed that the group can catch up to the next traffic light without panicking.

Motorcycle transport

Sometimes it happens that for various reasons you need to transport the motorcycle to your destination by car in order to start moving there. Having a category B driver's license, you can drive a combination of vehicles (car + trailer + trailer with a load) with a permitted total mass (GMT) of not more than 3,5 tons. The trailer itself with a load cannot have a mass greater than the mass of the car. How heavy the trailer can pull this car - you will find the answer in the data sheet. Example - a Subaru Forester weighs 1450 kg and its gross weight is 1880 kg. The limit with a trailer of 3500 kg is just around the corner. A good motorcycle trailer is light, weighing about 350 kg, and its gross weight will be about 1350 kg. The weight of a trailer with four heavy touring bikes over 210 kg each is 350 kg + 840 kg = 1190 kg. Adding the weight of the trailer with a motorized load to the weight of the car that will pull it, we get: 1190 kg of the trailer (in this case 1350 kg) + 1450 kg of the car (with a driver in the limit of 1880 kg) = 2640 kg. Thus, in our particular case, the actual gross vehicle weight was well below the limit of 3500 kg.

Albania. Cruise on Lake Komani. Nothing sank this time (motorcyclos.pl)

As you can see, with a category B driver's license, with a single-axle trailer, always with its own brake, you can transport quite large masses. Motorcycles can be transported safely and without damage to equipment, following certain rules. Firstly, the trailer must be adapted for the transport of motorcycles, that is, it must have locks on the front wheel or handles to immobilize it.

The motorcycle cannot move back and forth during transport - this is what the locks on the front wheel are for, which immobilize it or allow it to be tied. The motorcycle, after being placed on a trailer and with the wheels locked, is neither on the side stand nor on the center stand. It stands only on wheels. We fasten the car to the hook holders with which the trailer should be equipped with special belts for attaching motorcycles to the head of the frame. In the same way, the motorcycle is attached to the rear, for example, by the passenger handles. If it's a light loom or enduro, just the front end is usually sufficient. The belts are removed by removing some of the motorcycle's suspension travel, but not so hard as to damage them. When I was hauling my own bike, it only took 5 cm of the 17 cm of front suspension travel on the Suzuki V-Strom 650 to get the bike safely through 7 on the trailer. km. A fixed motorcycle should not move on the trailer when we try to pull it sideways. The entire trailer must move, but the motorcycle must stand rigidly. For long-distance hauls, suspension travel can be blocked for several days by inserting a homemade or homemade lock between the tire and the frame head. Insert one end of the blockade into the hole in the frame head, and put the other end on the tire (pre-remove the wing). The motorcycle can then be pulled as far down as possible until the tire flexes at the point of contact with the blockade.

Belts used to transport a motorcycle must be "blind", i.e. without hooks, or with closed hooks or carabiners. The exposed hooks, typical of most conveyor belts, can come loose and the load will fall off the trailer. Places subject to abrasion of the belts must be protected with rubber pads. If, after driving the first few tens of kilometers, you check the belt tension and nothing loosens, then nothing terrible should happen to the motorcycles on the trailer by the end of the journey.