What 200,000 KM Taught Me About Motorcycle Touring
I've ridden over 200,000 km (124,000 mi) on motorcycles. That includes 28 US states, four Canadian provinces, the Tail of the Dragon, Sturgis, Daytona, the Cabot Trail (more times than I can count), and a 4,000 km (2,485 mi) round trip to ECIC Muskoka that ended with getting rear-ended in Ottawa. Here's what all those kilometers taught me — mostly the hard way.
Table of Contents
Gear Lessons
Over 200,000 km, I've gone through three helmets, two sets of riding boots, four pairs of gloves, and one bike I wish I'd kept longer. Here's what I learned:
Spend More on Your Helmet
Your helmet is the one piece of gear where spending more actually makes a difference you can feel every single ride. A $950 Shoei Neotec 3 is quieter, fits better, ventilates better, and is more comfortable on day 5 of a trip than a $200 budget helmet. You'll wear it for 5+ years, so the cost per ride is tiny. Don't cheap out here.
Two Pairs of Gloves, Not One
I always carry two pairs of gloves — a waterproof pair and a ventilated pair. Atlantic Canada weather changes without warning. I've been caught in 30°C (86°F) heat with winter gloves and 5°C (41°F) rain with summer gloves. Both scenarios are miserable. Two pairs solve it.
Rain Gear Goes On Before the Rain
If there's one thing 200,000 km has taught me, it's this: put your rain gear on when the sky looks threatening, not when it's already raining. Pulling over in the rain to wrestle into a rain suit while trucks spray you is the worst. Pulling over in dry conditions when the clouds are building is a 5-minute inconvenience that saves you an hour of misery.
Routing and Pacing
The Best Roads Are Never the Highway
Highway driving gets you there fast. Secondary roads get you there happy. My most memorable rides — Highway 28 through Algonquin, the Cabot Trail, the back roads of New Brunswick — were all 80 km/h (50 mph) two-lane roads through scenery that makes you forget you're sitting on a vibrating engine.
I plan routes to include 70% secondary roads and 30% highway. The highway is for making time when you need to. The secondary roads are for actually enjoying the ride.
Stop More Than You Think You Should
Early in my riding career, I pushed through fatigue because I wanted to make miles. That's how you make mistakes. Now I stop every 150 km (93 mi) minimum, even if I feel fine. A 10-minute coffee break every 90 minutes doesn't cost you much time, and it keeps you sharp for the important stuff — like when a moose steps out of the treeline in New Brunswick.
Mindset and Mental Health
This isn't something people talk about enough, but long-distance motorcycle touring has a mental health component that car travel doesn't. You're alone with your thoughts for hours at a time. No radio, no passengers, no phone. Just you, the engine, and the road.
For me, that's the whole point. Riding is my therapy. The rhythmic pulse of the PowerPlus engine, the wind (even with a fairing), the focus required to ride well — it clears my head in a way nothing else does. I've solved more problems on a motorcycle than at any desk.
But you also need to be honest with yourself about when you're not in the right headspace to ride. If I didn't sleep well, if I'm stressed about something, if I'm not 100% — I don't ride. The bike demands your full attention. Half-attention gets you hurt.
Fuel and Range Management
My Indian Pursuit has a 22.7 L (6.0 gal) tank and gets about 5.8 L/100 km (40.6 mpg US) loaded for touring. That gives me a theoretical range of about 390 km (242 mi). In practice, I start looking for fuel at 320 km (199 mi).
Here's what I learned about fuel the hard way: gas stations are not evenly distributed. In New Brunswick, you can go 100 km (62 mi) between stations on secondary roads. In the US Midwest, you can go even further. I never pass a gas station with less than half a tank on a route I don't know.
My Biggest Mistakes
1. Riding When I Shouldn't Have
I've ridden when I was tired, when I was angry, when I was sick. Every single time, it was a bad decision. The bike doesn't care about your schedule. If you're not 100%, park it.
2. Overpacking
On my first long trip, I packed everything. Full tool kit, three pairs of pants, two jackets, a laptop. I didn't use half of it. Now I have a packing list refined over 200,000 km that fits in one saddlebag and a backpack. Less weight, better handling, less stress.
3. Not Checking the Weather Radar
On a ride through Nova Scotia, I got caught in a thunderstorm that had been visible on radar for hours. I just didn't check. Now I check radar every morning before I ride and at every fuel stop.
4. Getting Rear-Ended in Ottawa
On the way home from ECIC Muskoka, I was stopped in traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway in Ottawa and got rear-ended by a car. The bike was damaged, I was shaken up, but I walked away. The lesson: always have an escape route at stops. Watch your mirrors at red lights and in traffic. It saved me from worse injuries.
The One Thing That Matters Most
After 200,000 km, 28 states, four provinces, crashes, breakdowns, beautiful days and terrible ones — if I could tell new riders one thing, it's this: the destination doesn't matter. The ride does.
I can't tell you the names of half the towns I've stopped in. But I can tell you exactly what the Cabot Trail smells like in September, what the Skyline Drive looks like at sunset, and what it feels like to crest a hill in New Brunswick and see the Bay of Fundy for the first time. Those moments are why I ride. Every single one of them required getting on the bike and going.