Advice: Adventure bike ride essentials

If the house-bound horrors of lockdown are still fresh in your mind, putting your adventure bike to good use is the perfect antidote. But before you blast out of your drive, take a minute to peruse our Adventure Bike Packing List to ensure you’re well prepared for your next two-wheeled odyssey…

Of course, one rider’s adventure is another's walk in the park (or nightmare!). Some adventure bike owners never stray from the bitumen, some buy their bike with the sole intention of circumnavigating the world. And either course is fine – there's no right or wrong here – but your objectives will obviously influence what you pack.

What we’re presenting here isn’t an exhaustive list and you’ll invariably add and subtract items to suit your specific trip. Here at bikesales, we use the Notes function on our iPhone whenever we’re packing for a big trip – list each item with a ‘check box’ so you can tick them off as they get packed.

Probably the biggest influence on how much gear you need to take is determined by your accommodation. If you’re planning on putting a roof over your head each night, you can pack pretty light. Camping? Then the inventory list grows – not only because you’ll need a tent and sleeping bag (or a swag), but because you’ll probably need to carry your own food, water and cooking gear too.

Both weight and bulk are the enemy here, and it’s usually the case that if you want light, effective gear that packs down to a small size, you'll need to spend up big. Here’s a tip: you can generally get away with a cheaper tent or swag, but lashing out on a quality sleeping bag can really pay dividends – especially in cooler climes.

Swags are easy to set up and pack down and they should come with a decent foam mattress. But if you like a little extra comfort (or if you're taking a tent instead), take along a self-inflating camping mattress too. They're compact, light, and they make a big different to your comfort. And stuffing some clothes into your sleeping bag cover can serve as a pillow, saving extra space.

Right, that's your night’s sleep sorted – now it’s time to consider some other crucial points, starting with…

It goes without saying, safety should be a prime consideration when planning any adventure ride in Australia, and reliable communication is a big part of that.

Take a compact first-aid kit that covers the essentials, including a compression bandage that can be used if you’re unfortunate enough to cop a snake bite. Get a first-aid course under your belt – or ensure that at least one or two people in your party has done one.

A LifeStraw is an inexpensive little plastic drinking straw that filters out bacteria, parasites and other nasties – it’s small and weighs next to nothing, and you can use it to drink from water sources that would otherwise make you sick. Water purification tablets can also be helpful.

For communications, smartphones are great but they won’t be of much use once you stray from civilisation. A 5-watt handheld UHF radio is a good backup, if only to try and call for help in an emergency, and if you're regularly heading well off the beaten track it’s probably worth investing in a satellite phone. They're pricey; a good alternative is to rent one.

And we always throw in a PLB, or Personal Locator Beacon. If you find yourself in a life-or-death emergency miles from anywhere, and need to call for emergency services, just trigger the unit and it will send a distress signal via satellite, alerting authorities to your exact GPS location. Help might still be many hours away, but at least you’ll know the cavalry is coming. For a few hundred bucks, it’s cheap insurance.

A small survival kit can be a huge plus when plans head south. You might not be hopelessly lost, but you may have to spend an unplanned night in the bush looking after someone who’s hurt. Either way, you’ll want to light a fire (for warmth, to cook, or to help authorities find you) – so take a cigarette lighter, matches, even a flint and steel (and some tinder).

A space blanket will help reflect body heat if you spend an unplanned night in the bush, and a lightweight travel poncho will keep you dry

Carry an ICE (In Case of Emergency) card in a prominent place (i.e. wallet or chest pocket). This should list contact details for your next of kin, your health insurance details, and your blood type.

And finally, and especially when travelling solo, notify your loved ones of your trip’s details: when you’re leaving, your ETA, and your route.

When it comes to packing an adventure bike, less is often more. More gear equals more weight, which means the bike will be more of a handful in tricky going (especially in sand or mud). Of course, a day trip may not require much more than a backpack or a bag strapped down on the pillion seat, but you’ll want more capacity for longer trips, and especially if you’re camping.

A tank bag can be a handy place to keep things like maps, valuables and wet weather gear. They keep the weight nice and centralised but they can be a bit of a nuisance when refuelling, depending on the set-up.

A set of panniers expands carrying capacity greatly, and you can add to this even further with a topbox. The big decision here is, hard or soft? Each has its pros and cons.

Hard luggage is usually lockable so there’s a higher level of security for your gear if you leave your bike. Modern systems are generally pretty easy to mount or dismount, with most cases easily transportable with carry handles when you’re off the bike.

Hard luggage will also keep your gear dry in wet weather (note: this generally doesn’t extend to failed river crossings!). On the downside, hard luggage is expensive and more prone to damage in the event of a spill, although metal cases are tougher than plastic and stand a better chance of being repaired.

On the flipside, soft luggage is more affordable but offers less protection for your gear from wet weather or in a crash – but is less prone to major, irreparable damage. It’s also less secure and if a zip fails you can be left in a bit of a bind! To keep electronics or clothing dry, invest in some waterproof roll-top bags.

And finally, a backpack hydration system is invaluable. The Camelbak HAWG we took on a Daryl Beattie Adventures tour of the Kimberley a few years back continues to give good service. It holds a 3.0L water bladder and has a good amount of storage. But any similar system is worthwhile, allowing you to drink on the go and keep the perils of dehydration at bay.

It’s easy to go overboard on tools, but they quickly add weight. You can’t plan for every eventuality, so take a few multi-purpose items that will hopefully keep things together until you can reach services.

Our list includes a multi-tool (Leatherman etc), an Allen key set, a knife, pliers, a couple of screwdrivers, a shifter, a torch, some wire, gaffer tape, zip-ties of assorted lengths, and a tube of QuickSteel metal epoxy repair (or similar).

Don’t forget the tyre repair kit! Either plugs for tubeless tyres, or a patch kit for tubes (and preferably one or two spare tubes), and of course a pump and/or some CO2 cylinders for reinflation, plus a tyre gauge.

Thanks to GPS technology, finding your way these days has never been easier. But electronics can and do fail and are vulnerable to damage, so be sure to pack good ol' fashioned paper maps as a backup, along with a compass.

Seriously, what riding gear you should take on an adventure ride is a subject for a whole different article – there’s a swag of gear available these days to cater to the needs of the adventure rider.

The old adage still applies – you get what you pay for. Look for quality, CE-approved body armour, removable waterproof and thermal linings, lots of pockets and excellent ventilation – removable zippered or Velcro'd sections etc.

We highly recommend modern off-road armour jackets too, which combine elbow and shoulder armour with chest protection and a spine guard. You can always wear one under your outer jacket if you remove the jacket’s protectors. And don’t forget decent knee guards at a minimum. As motocross and enduro riders will already know, knee braces offer the best knee protection you can get, but could prove a bit too restrictive and cumbersome for many adventure riders.

And if you’ll be riding in cool environs, go for a jacket/pants combo that’s a bit bigger than you need, so you can wear multiple layers underneath (and then remove them one by one if things warm up).

So there you have a basic list of handy/prudent items to pack for your next adventure ride. Have we missed anything? Of course we have, and everyone’s list will be different. But hopefully it’s given you a couple of ideas and some food for thought, and we’ve listed everything we’ve mentioned here in bullet-point form below.

Now, let’s get out there and ride!

Adventure Ride Packing List
• Tent/swag
• Sleeping bag
• Self-inflating mattress
• Cooking gear/utensils
• First-aid kit
• LifeStraw
• Water purification tablets
• Hand-held two-way radio
• Sat-nav
• Paper maps
• Compass
• Satellite phone
• Personal Locator Beacon
• Survival kit (matches, space blanket, poncho etc)
• Hydration backpack
• Multi-tool
• Screwdrivers
• Allen key set
• Needle-nosed pliers
• Knife
• Gaffer tape
• Wire
• Zip-ties
• Metal epoxy
• Torch
• Tyre repair kit
• Pump/CO2 cylinders
• Body armour
• ICE (In Case of Emergency) details
• Notify loved ones

This article was originally published in July 2020.