Scooter and Motorcycle Touring Overview
Motorcycle Touring 101 – Following the Touring Overview page which really serves as a high-level Site Map, the Touring 101 page covers the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to ride a small motorcycle or motor scooter while touring. Motorcycle Touring Styles - These pages presents an introduction and focus on the uniquenesses of extended travel on a smaller motorcycle or scooter.
We will include criteria on selecting the right smaller bike. And whether you plan to go alone, with a group, two-up, or take advantage of an organized tour, this page will help you with the issues.
Tour Selection - How do you go about selecting the right trip? Are you like so many of us who love to ride-to-eat? Or are you interested in cross country or long distance motorcycle touring? Tour selection criteria and ideas are explored here.
We will also cover different tour styles including:
There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them, and these pages will explore many of the opportunities a touring rider has when planning the perfect tour.
Tour Planning - Once you have determined the style and type of motorcycle touring you are planning on, getting organized is the next step.
Should you have a tour objective? Or just go touring with no itinerary, except maybe to have fun? Either way, there is a minimum level of planning that must be done, like:
Camping – If you have decided to do some camping on your tour, these pages are for you. We will explore:
Motorcycle only campgrounds now cater to touring riders you know. And some are located in really beautiful parts of the country, along fantastic motorcycle roads.
Equipment – We will kick the tires here and consider the hardware, electronics, and safety equipment issues that come up when touring.
Clothing – Staying comfortable and safe when on two-wheels is right at the top of the list to truly enjoying your trip. So, the best types of clothing to ensure your safety and comfort are talked about here.
Preparing Yourself - Motorcycle touring riders should be physically and mentally prepared for this lifestyle. Proper training into how to safely handle a motorcycle or scooter is imperative. Here we will cover:
Packing the Bike - Correct methods for packing the bike, and how to distribute the weight is critically important.
What should you bring? And even more importantly, what should you not bring? You know there are Wal-Mart’s all over America; we are never really very far from one. Since we are traveling on a small motorcycle or scooter, we simply cannot carry that much stuff. For instance:
Safety - Motorcycle and scooter riding is great fun, but riders must balance the risks against the rewards. Risk management should always be at the top of your mind when on two wheels. We want to travel safely, so we will talk about a number of safety related topics within the confines of these pages. Underway! – Now that we are finally underway, let’s discuss how to live well while touring. How do we communicate with friends and family? How do we eat and stay hydrated? And very important, what emergency situations should we prepare for?
Checklists – We have prepared several and various motorcycle touring checklists as a starting point for you preparations:
Motor Scooter History - Many of the great scooters of past years (i.e., Vespa, Cushman, Lambretta, Zundapp Bella and others) remain lovingly maintained today, with a few even being manufactured still. But how these famous scooters evolved as a transportation niche is an incredibly interesting story.
Other Topics - Finally as part of this touring overview, we will mention that there are a number of other motorcycle touring topics that are mostly unrelated to the pages we have already looked at, so this space is where we will discuss miscellaneous but related issues of all types. Action Queue - * * *Return from Touring Overview Back to Scooter and Motorcycle Touring Home Page
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As a heads-up when looking around this site, whenever you see the smiling "Scooter Cowboy" graphic, the topic is strictly focused on Motor Scooters rather than on motorcycles. This will help you sort things out when you are looking for only motor scooter related touring information.
