Preparing Your Motorcycle for a Long Ride

There’s something about the open road that has always captured the spirit of Harley owners. While some of us prefer a leisurely weekend ride, others prefer the endless black ribbon of the freeway to take us to points known and unknown. Even if you’ve never done it before, it’s never too late to take your Harley out for some long distance motorcycle riding. 

But unless you just like rolling the dice and hoping for the best, it’s a good idea to prepare your bike for a long ride. Whether you're planning a day trip, an overnighter, or a weekender, we have some tips and equipment you might consider to make your trip more enjoyable and safer. And heck, it’s a good excuse to spruce up your bike with a new accessory or three.

Prepare for the unexpected

Your radar Doppler app is pretty cool, but don’t rely on it entirely. Always be prepared for bad weather, a flat tire, and minor scrapes and bruises, so having basic tools, duct tape, flat tire repair aerosol, and a first aid kit are essential . And you might be wanting to carry along a laptop, camera, a picnic lunch and even a change of clothes. Who knows?  You might even find a few things along the way you want to bring home. Where are you (and a passenger?) going to store all your gear, equipment and other stuff? 

The answer is in saddlebags and tour packs. And if you already have extra storage on your bike, now’s the time to think about upgrading. Advanblack has a wide variety of saddlebags for any style, including Stretched, Tapered Stretched, Non-Stretched, and the aggressive Bagger Boss Down and Out. 

If a tour pack is more your jam, we have the smaller Razor, the mid-sized Chopped, and the King Tour Pack which is about as big as a roller board carry-on. What’s great about the tour packs is that you can easily remove them from your bike after the initial installation. 

Tour packs and saddlebags are not mutually exclusive, so you can have either or both, especially if you’ll be on the road for several days (lucky you!). Your choice depends on the look you want and how much you want to bring with you and bring home. Advanblack saddlebags and tour packs are guaranteed to color match, and you can install them yourself. We just don’t recommend starting the job the morning you’re taking off on your trip!

Protect your Gear and Yourself

If you’re planning a long distance motorcycle ride for the first time and have no front fairing, now is the time to consider getting one. A front fairing shields you from wind, weather, road debris, bugs, and helps with ventilation, dampens noise… the list goes on. Advanblack has a variety of inner and outer fairings for just about any Harley motorcycle. They can be tricky to install but our YouTube channel can help you get it right the first time. 

God forbid you should ever need them, but crash bars are highly recommended if you’re spending a lot of time on the road. A crash bar is something you’d rather have and not need than need and not  have, as they say. Protecting your gear is important too. We recommend our stitched saddlebag liners and stitched tour pack liners to pad the interior of your storage space to help ensure your gear doesn’t get damaged along the way.

Prepare your bike for night-time

Night riding can be exhilarating but it’s also more dangerous. The best thing you can do is to see and be seen as best you can. Advanblack has a variety of headlights that help you see at night, including more of the side of the road, where animals can come racing out of the darkness. We have LED headlights for most bikes, including the Color Matched “attack” LED Headlight for ‘15-’21 Road Glide, the Pro Fuzion LED headlight for Harley Tourings and Softails, and the Pro Radiance Halo LED headlight, also for Harley Tourings and Softails. 

The back of your bike can be just as important. Distracted drivers won’t see you as well as they will a semi, right? We have a selection of sweet LED turn signals, fender lights, and saddlebag lights that look amazing and increase your visibility in both daylight and nighttime. Top of the line is the “Reaper” Red Tour Pack LED running/brake/turn signals,  which also comes in Smoke Gray. 

If you’re not running with a Tour Pack, the Hyper LED Light with Sequential Red Turn Signal Saddlebags Lights is perfect. We also have LED filler lights that fit between your rear fender and saddlebags, fender light bars, and Squareback LED Taillights. Once you install these on your bike, you’ll probably want to ride around at night even more!

For any parts or accessories, be sure and check  for any fitment issues or if extra installation equipment is needed, like harnesses for headlights and taillights and brackets for installing Tour Packs. Fitment information is on every product page on our website or just give us a call. 

Be safe on our upcoming road trip, and have fun! As the late, great Lewis Carroll once wrote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” So true.