That's what I'm thinking too. It's the 170miles home 4 hours later that I'm wondering about.

 

subscribed for the update

 

Yuppers, tank bag with soft stuff on top is way to go. Find one that lets you lay down and still see over the windsield well when full.

RMA is esstential (Right Mental Attitude), Don't set a schedule that you HAVE to make. pressure is not fun. However long you think it should take, add 1/3rd for the traffic/"Oh, ****!" factor.

Check the weather in the area you are going through/heading to!! If you ever do get stuck in rain without a suit, a trash-bag (turned in-side out, if it's used and 'yes', I'm not to proud to have done this!) will help. Even on a day trip, extra socks & t-shirt in a zip-lock bag are good. Even in 70 degree weather, you can court hypothermia at 65mph while wet.

Don't forget your cell-phone (AND charger), bring high-calorie snacks and drinks. A mini-maglight (or quality equivilent).

For the more security-concious in the crowd.... personnally, if I go over-night or over distance (by car or bike), I AM carrying a firearm (properly safed for transport). Feral dogs (2 or 4 legged) on that lonely stretch where you broke down on are a consideration, IMO.
I only recommend this one, to the ones among us, with proper training/certification in the use/ethics of civilian carry, though. (For those who don't agree, "Hey, this is my opinion. You aren't required to endorse me or it"). See my signature, it's not all about motorcycles.

 

This is all REALLY good advice. And no worries here. I am a strong supporter of our right to carry concealed firearms. I shot IPSC competitively all through school with my Dad while growing up.

 

Havent done any longer trips on the bike but making note of where gas stations are in rural areas is pretty important. Also planning your route on a map or mapquest and letting someone at home have a copy is pretty important.

I agree with Mad about carrying a firearm. I havent figured out a real comfortable way to carry wihtout a backpack or tank bag yet tho. IWB holsters are kinda out of the question when riding IMO.

 

Ask and ye shall receive.

First you need the following materials.

3M Velcro stickies Roughly $2 bucks at Target. They have a few varieties I bought the small square ones.



Some inexpensive headphones of some sort. Make sure they have enough wire that goes between the two actual ear pieces. I purchased a connected unit and broke it, but you could just get two ear clip on type head phones. You just need enough wire to make it around the helmet from one ear speaker to the other. No need to get anything fancy the road noise isn't exactly gonna make this a BOSE sound System. $5-10 bucks.



One Smoking Hot Babe Riding a Shark (Optional) $ Cost varies with your level of game / attractiveness.



An Ipod Shuffle or similar small MP3 type Devise. ~$40 but most everyone has one of these now a days 'eh? I have the Orange one.

 

I just did a trip like this (170 miles after work and 240 the following day). Prior to that, the most I had ridden was 40 miles at one time. Everyones advice had been spot on. Make sure you have extra time on the return trip so you can take extra breaks if needed. Have fun!!

 

I pulled the cheeck pads out only. No need to remove the other pad.

First you'll want to get an idea where you want to attach the Ipod to the front of your helmet. Play around with positioning a little bit. If I stick my lips out I can touch the ipod but it doesn't ever touch with normal riding. Don't actually stick it down yet though.

Note that I ran all the initial wiring to the right side of the helmet. The wiring is hid behind the padding and I placed the cheek pad back in and inserted the velcro patch where I thought it needed to be. Then I ran the wiring back along the front of the helmet.

Here is where I put the Velcro patch over the headphone wire that is running to the left to keep it secure. I then repeated the same process on the left.

The velcro Patches obviously attach to the back of the speaker and the back of the ipod. I remove and toss the Ipod around all the time, it has not lost any of its stickiness. Been at least a year. Wiring has never come loose either i'll add.

This took me all of 15 minutes tops to do.

Velcro piece in front with wire held down.


Here is how thick the speakers are on mine and they do not touch my ears. I don't have dumbo ears though so if you do maybe get thinner.



Velcro attachment for the ear.



Speaker how it rests all the time



Ipod attachment.





I don't always ride with the Ipod in the helmet. When I don't I just tuck the Ipod plug back into the cheek pad.

You can reach up and adjust volume / song with your gloved hand fairly easy after some practice and even mute / play without too much trouble. Easier at a stop and I just leave it alone except for at stops.

Can't turn it on / off though - much too difficult.

Anyways - hope this helps some of you and its fairly simple.

 

Not that it has much to do with your ride but I'm pedaling 376 miles this coming Saturday. If I can do that on a bicycle you should be able to easily do less than that on a motorcycle.

Like I mentioned on a previous page your right wrist will get sore as well as your neck if you're not used to riding triple digit distances. Suggestions for avoiding those problems have already been mentioned. Having a few Tylenol in your pocket might also be a good idea, just in case.

 

Hahahaha! For sure. Longest I've ridden has been the STP (Seattle to Portland) and a few other centuries. I'd LOVE to do Cycle Oregon someday. My uncle actually just threw something in the mail for me that he said could make the ride a little more comfortable too; a Go Cruise Throttle Control.