Packing Sassy for a year abroad

People keep asking: “How do you pack two on a motorcycle for a year abroad?!?!”

People say we’re crazy but this packing for a year thing is not so hard. Anyone can do it. Believe me, it took some convincing for my sweet 5 star Sam to come to terms with the concept but we are making a go of it! The thing is that now, she is all in and loving the stripped down freedom of packing light.

In this post I’d like to take you through our bags and boxes to peek inside the contents needed for a midlife gap year by moto!

We have tried many different configurations over the last 4 years. It is important to remember that the perfect pack will always evolve, especially on a longer trip like, let’s say…a year on the road!

Don’t take this as the gospel, but rather as Dan and Sam’s perspective at this moment in time. There are many more experienced motorcycle world travellers out there! Do your research.

Let’s look at our current set up for a trip using hotels, motels, B&B’s, house sitting, condo or flat living in Europe!

Clothing in general

We basically carry enough clothes for a couple of weeks without doing laundry. That being said it depends on what you are up to. If you ride everyday you may only change your base layers every other day and wear the same dinner clothes for a few nights in a row. No one will know, after all, you are in different locations each night! Most importantly…less laundry.

We carry a variety of clothing items for all seasons. This is all personal choice. It just needs to fit in your bike’s storage compartments. Take synthetics! They are lighter, more compact and dry quicker when washed. Over here, at least in France and Spain so far, very few places have dryers!

Bring multi use items. For example, liner jackets to wear with your riding gear but also nice enough to wear on its own for a day out.

Motorcycle gear

This is a personal topic but I think you need to have layers for about minus 10 to plus 30 degrees celsius.

Pouring rain, blistering sun, sloppy sleet, constant mist, driving snow and piercing wind, we have been in it. If you are not willing to ride in these conditions, well, maybe stick to the fair-weather riding because you will inevitably encounter them on the long road.

From inside to the outer layers; this is my system. All of it is synthetic wicking or waterproof breathable materials.

• Heavy/light socks, Hiking boots
• Thin layer of long underwear, heavier fleece layer (one or both at the same time)
• Triumph heavy denier and leather riding pants. Water proof and breathable with knee/shin padding
• Triumph wind and water resistant lining jacket
• Venture battery powered heated vest
• Icon mesh jacket with detachable quilted liner. Incorporated back shoulder and elbow padding
• Cotton neck tube
• Mechanics gloves and a pair of heavier leather riding gloves
• Full raingear
• Oxford handlebar muffs and heated grips
• Tourtec/Schuberth modular helmet with double lens and built in sun shade
• UClear bluetooth communicators

With this configuration I’m good to -10 in a pinch. With just base layers, the riding pants and mesh jacket I’m good to +30 as long as we keep moving! (Air flow maters 🙂 This is all personal preference of course. The two main points here are to: Test all your gear as many times as possible before any major trip and always wear the neck tube to avoid the ‘red-neck’ phenomenon!

The top box

The top box contains our extras. The bigger waterproof Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) bag has about a weeks worth of extra clothes in it for each of us. The smaller black bag has hair clippers, travel towels, swim suits and can be used for a day out walking should we need it.

Motorcycle rear Pelican case

The rear motorcycle Pelican case has our Ural service manual and folder for important paperwork. Also, in the green bag, a first aid kit, crazy glue and sewing kit along with some toilet paper and wet wipes for the real emergencies. The red bag is Sam’s mystery girly stuff bag. The small grey pouch is our Bose colour soundlink speaker. Very versatile and important for Netflix surround sound or beach music!

The trunk

The trunk is the most inconspicuous and secure compartment on the bike. It contains our laptops, connections and charging paraphernalia, Camera equipment, an umbrella, hatchet, knife, sidecar wheel block for changing tires, beach blanket, drying and washing towels for the bike. Sam has a couple pairs of nice sandals in here too. We both wear hiking boots on travel days and I have a pair of lightweight sneaker style dress shoes for the rest.

We have learned traveling in one night stints between destinations to include another MEC waterproof backpack in the trunk. This way we have about a weeks worth of clothes available to bring in to our accommodation. It is easier to unload just the trunk, grab the waterproof backpack and have all we need for the quick over night stays. When we stay longer than a day or two, we unpack the top box, rear Pelican and trunk completely.

Sidecar outside ammo box

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This box has our two sets of full rain gear, sunglasses and a small pump bottle with bug washer fluid for the windscreens. I also recently found this booster pack in Valence D’ Agen, France for a mere $40 and added it to the ammo can. Just in case. Not that we would ever need a boost! Geez!

Sidecar inside ammo box

For this trip, it contains flip flops and other extra flat shoes. I have also included about 150 feet of small gauge para-cord and a 3 metre x 4 metre light weight Sil tarp to cover the bike, use for shelter from the sun or rain should we need to.

Inside the sidecar

Sam’s incidentals pouch includes things like tissues, hand sanitizer, her sunglasses, lip balm, a collapsable brush, hand cream and a Euro plug to USB charge cord for use in the outlet you see on the tub. I also have a magnetic LED light and the handle bar muffs in there.

Under the seat I have some quick access tools such as electrical tape, three stretch nets, four ratchet straps, silicone spray lubricant, a rag for checking oil, a few more zip ties and a needle valve grease gun. (Grease gun courtesy of our last house sitting hosts in France! Mike, it works great by the way.)

Tools and parts

This is the nuts and bolts of the operation, literally. I have the full Ural tool kit, a fishing tackle box loaded with spare light bulbs, brake pads, spark plugs, cotter pins, screw tight hose clamps, sockets, ratchet, Gerber multi-tool, swiss knife, zip ties, fuses, a few lengths of wire…etc…you get the picture. MacGyver and Red Green stuff.

In this Pelican case I also keep a pressure gauge, Stop and Go electric pump, collapsable oil funnel, fuel can spout, feeler gauges (for valve adjustment), and two spare tire tubes. I have some pill bottles with a bit of gear oil and axle grease as well as touch up paint to prevent rusting chips.

Odds and sods….

We have installed three aluminum water bottle holders on the sidecar. One for a 500 mil drinking water bottle and the other two for motor oil and a camp fuel bottle.

The bike has an extra ten litre fuel can which I keep filled in case we have to drive more than our motorcycle tank range of ~260 kms between fuel stops.

I carry a heavy duty aircraft cable lock for the rear tire and a lighter weight one for the front tire. I lock these both on at night and during the day I will lock the heavy one any time I leave the bike out of sight for any length of time.

You will notice in the first pic of Sassy that I have a waterproof backpack strapped and cable locked on behind the pilots seat. This contains our dress jackets, cold weather jackets, toques, gloves and a dirty laundry bag. It also sometimes gives me a back rest.

Our electronics

• 2 x JBL E-Series bluetooth or wired headphones
• 2 to 1 head phone connecter for watching movies together
• Mac Air – power/charge cord
• Microsoft Surface – power/charge cord
• 2 x 1 TB external drives 
• 2 x Monster 4k action cameras + waterproof cases/mounts
• AAA LED flashlight
• HDMI to laptop screen cable
• Mini USB to USB cable for helmet coms charging
• 2x IPhone charge cables
• 1x wireless mouse
• 2x Euro and 2x UK plug adaptors
• A couple of different USB sticks
• Multiple SD cards/USB reader for the camera and video
• Garmin Zūmo GPS and Spot Gen 3 tracker
• Canon EOS Rebel T6i body and 55-250mm, 18-55mm
• Bose bluetooth Soundlink colour speaker
• Manfrotto collapsible tripod
• and a corkscrew!

Sum it up Dan! Ok, ok…Basically if you are planning on packing for a year abroad, travelling on a motorcycle, take your time, practice and test all your gear thoroughly.

That’s all I have to say! Well maybe not?! I like to pack as light and secure as possible. Can you walk away from the bike and feel secure about the contents? Does you bike have stuff hanging off every possible tie down point? Maybe it’s time to break it down and reconfigure. Just my opinion.

Tell us what you think of this post with your comments, emails and pm’s. What else would you like to hear about along the road of our mid-life gap year? Let us know!

Thank you for following along with our adventures. Please share this blog in your social networks and subscribe to receive notifications of the newest posts!

Take care and keep on travelling,

Dan&Sam

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