Motorbike Touring Rider Preparation

The rider preparation needed for a motorcycle adventure will vary depending on a number of factors, many of them personal to the rider. The preparation needed for a 3-week tour of Europe will differ from that of a 12-month trip round Africa. The information below is not definitive but should go a fair way to helping you think about what you need to do.

Deciding on a Budget

Money is probably going to be one or your main constraints. I've read that many people underestimate the day-to-day living expenses for their trip, which often results in either a premature end to the journey or the need to earn a bit of extra cash locally.

Think carefully about how much you are able to spend during your trip and if necessary why not do a couple more weeks/months work at home before you set off to be sure you can enjoy all of your trip.

Read up on the places you are going to and find out what general costs are likely to be. Things like accommodation, food, excursions, water/air travel, permits, visa costs, etc. Arriving at a border and finding out you need to pay $500 for a motorcycle temporary import permit deposit could ruin your plans!

There tend to be large variations in the cost of living between continents and even neighbouring countries. For example, traveling in Europe is going to be much more expensive than traveling in South America. If money is tight I would suggest you try to organise your trip in an area with a cheaper cost of living than your home country.

Don't forget to also consider any ongoing costs you incur at home while you're away. Things like utility bills, taxes, etc.

Greogory Frazier sets out a useful system for calculating budgets in his book "Riding the World" (published by Bowtie Press). He adds up everything he predicts to be a foreseeable travel expense (including ongoing home expenses) and then adds 40% of that total for unplanned expenses. (Unplanned expenses can be things like emergency travel, a big night out, souvenirs excursions, etc.) He then adds all his preparation expenses, which include buying the motorbike, modifications, riding gear, visas, permits, etc.

Compare that total with the amount you have in the bank and voila, you have an idea of how long you can go for.

Daily expenses can be roughly calculated using the formula:

Fuel + Food + Sleeping = Total per day

Changing the Way You Live

For me, the idea of doing this motorcycle tour / adventure is to experience new environments, people and cultures. If I wanted to keep my life as it was I would have stayed at home. I guess it's up to you how much you want to immerse yourself into the local way of life. I'm just going to see what happens when I get there. The main things I have done to prepare myself are:

There are plenty of travel books, travel guides, route and journey itineraries out there. As a starting point, popular guide books are:

Footprint

Lonely Planet

Rough Guide

You could also look for more esoteric travel/guide books if you want to get away from the herds of other travelers. I'd suggest spending a bit of time on Google.com and relevant forums to find books recommended by other travelers.

There are also plenty of backpacker information sites and forums out there now. Some are listed below:

World Backpackers

Backpackers

Try to find out as much as you can about life on the road. I'm new to this so don't know a great deal about motorbikes or motorcycle touring. There is a wealth on knowledge out there though. Sites I have used a fair bit are:

Horizons Unlimited

Adventure Motorcycle

Bike Chatter

Motorcycle.co.uk

XRV (specific to Honda Trail Bikes)

Best Biking Roads

Get to Know your Bike

I tried to ride my motorbike as much as possible and for longer periods of time so that my body became accustomed to it and if I experienced any discomfort I could resolve the issue before leaving the country.

The better you know your motorbike the less likely something unexpected will happen with it. Ride it as much as you can and try to learn as much about maintaining and repairing it as possible. I cover motorcycle maintenance in another section of this site.

There's no harm in taking an Advanced Motorcycle course. If you think you'll be doing a bit of off-road motorbike then perhaps enroll on an off-road motorcycle course. Riding dirt roads with a fully loaded motorbike is quite a different experience to nipping to the shops on your road bike.

Of course if you can't yet ride a motorbike you'll need to do your Compulsary Basic Training (CBT) and then one of the larger motorbike tests. Each of which are explained below. I did all my training with East Side Riders in London and I can highly recommnend them.

Sort Out your Personal Administration

In preparation for your trip you'll need to ensure you have a valid passport. Check what visas you might need for the countries you're going to. I'll go over paperwork for you and your motorbike in a separate paperwork section of this site, so will not go into the detail here. However, a good starting place for entry and exit information for UK citizens is the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. Note the contact address and phone numbers of your nation's embassies and consulates in the countries your visiting.

If you carry prescription drugs then I would advise carrying an official looking letter from your doctor listing the drugs you are carrying. Make sure the drug containers clearly have your name and other relevant details printed on the packaging. If possible, have the letter translated to the languages of your destination countries. Have you doctor sign and stamp both letters. Stamps and watermarks on documents tend to give them an air of authority. Remember, legal drugs in your country may be illegal in countries you're visiting. Check they are ok before arriving at the boarder or being searched my police en-route.

If you wear glasses or contact lenses then ensure you have a copy of the prescription.

If you have it, make sure your life insurance and health insurance are up to date and it is always a good idea to sort out your Will. It is a good idea to make sure your If you do die whilst away it is easier on everyone else if you've already set out what should happen to your estate. I'll cover travel insurance in more detail elsewhere but mention here that you should make sure they'll repatriate your body if the worst does happen.

If you're planning on being away for a long period of time you need to ensure you have either canceled your recurring bills or set up standing orders or direct debits for them. Why not consider renting your house out whilst you're away. If you need to put your possessions into storage there are plenty of storage companies out there, such as Safe Store.

I find you can pretty much take care or all your banking and tax needs online so I make sure I have all login details correct and committed to memory. I'll also, provide a list of all important details to a trusted friend or family member. It would also be a good idea to make sure you have backed up all your information online. There are a number of online backup providers out there.

Time, Your Job and What to Do About It

I started this section by saying MONEY will be one of the key constraints on your trip. Another key constraint is TIME. Most of us have day jobs that we have to get back to. However, some have found ways of maintaining the day job but not being constrained to a location. Others have managed to create income sources that generate money for them wherever they are in the world. I don't have the answers for you here but if you're interested, I would recommend you read a couple of books as a starting point. They are: