Sunday, October 4th, 2026

We are now two weeks from leaving for our two-month motorcycle trip along the American South. The motorcycles are finally read. We went out for a ride yesterday, got about one hundred miles checking out some of the fall colors up around Wolf Creek Pass along some of the fire service roads. These little bikes are not fast, but I really appreciate the ability to go from pavement to dirt roads with no issue. And putting in the miles and the time to go do dedicated offroad training has really paid off in our comfort level on the motorcycles.

Since we are two weeks out, now I am a little bit in crunch mode to make sure I get everything I wanted to get done before we leave. Since southern Colorado is quickly transitioning into Fall, and we won’t be back until full blown Winter, there are things I need to get done around the house before we leave, all of which are completely doable in the time I have, but the deadline does help to provide focus. One of the fun, but challenging parts of having several interests is that I can easily spend a large chunk of any given day on a topic and feel productive. While not really getting the higher priority things done. There is always more time, until when you are leaving for a couple of months there really isn’t.

We have done two-month trips in the past. Last fall we did two months in Baja Mexico. But that was in our Ford F550 based RV. This upcoming trip will be our longest trip on the motorcycles. So getting the packing list correct is going to be important. Despite how small these motorcycles are, we actually have more than enough space. The challenge with packing for a motorcycle trip is resisting the urge to pack everything you think you may need. Sure, that extra pair of socks fits, but do you really need them? The ability to have a lightweight setup really pays off on longer trips. Riding with weighted down bikes isn’t as much fun, and just takes effort every day when you are packing and unpacking the bikes.

There are a few categories of items that end up on the bike when packing for a trip like this. There are things like clothing, mostly clothing that you wear when you are not on the bikes. The riding gear is pretty consistent each day. We are using a layered strategy, so as it is warmer or colder we take off or put on layers. This helps, but also means, that just about everything needs to have either a really important single purpose, like our riding armor, or at least dual purpose, like our insulating layers. Then there are needed items that you hope you don’t need to use, such as tools, spare parts like inner tubes, and a first aid kit. You need these items, but you really hope it is rare that you need to use them. Then there are things that make the trip more enjoyable. For me that is carrying photography equipment and an iPad. These are really optional, nice to have, and help record the adventure. But they take up weight and space, so I am deciding to allocate space for these items. I always question myself if taking these optional items is worth it. In some ways that is why we are doing these shorter trips before our long journey to South America. To really see what we need and want on trips like this.