We love to travel, to live great adventures on our machines, we like to go far away, to travel without a fixed destination, to enjoy the road, the landscapes, the gastronomy… and maybe even a night camping.
But traveling requires hard equipment, the more days, the more material we will need, but the capacity of the bike is limited.
The first thing to keep in mind is that we have to be realistic. It is not the same pretending to face a trip on a CBR650R than doing it on an Africa Twin, since the capacity of both is very different. In any case we must learn to prioritize and ride only what is strictly necessary, without luxuries (especially if we travel on small bikes).
On the other hand, we must also keep in mind that it is very important to secure the equipment as well as possible, otherwise we can have an accident. For this reason, rigid type cases are always more recommendable, and they should always have the corresponding support to prevent them from interfering with the wheel path if they get caught in a rope.
When distributing the equipment we must take into account how the weight will affect the driving of our motorcycle. For this reason we have to try that the weight is always as close to the center of gravity of the motorcycle and as low as possible.
This means that we will distribute the weight in the following order:
- Passenger seat. If we go alone it is more advisable that we take advantage of this space instead of carrying the weight in the top case (later I will explain the reason).
- Side cases. The heaviest items will be placed in the lower part of the baskets, trying to balance the weight on both sides.
- Top case. Although it is not the same on all motorcycles, it is recommended not to carry weight on the top case (usually indicated on the support) because it affects directly – and negatively – the driving and the stability of the bike, as it is far from the center of gravity of the bike and at a very high point and, sometimes, it is outside the bike, even beyond the front wheel axle. All this causes a geometry change in the bike that makes it more difficult to ride and less stable.
It will also be important that we increase the preload of the front shock absorber to compensate for the excess weight.