What Is "MotorBikePacking"? Want to Ride LIGHTER and FARTHER?
- Randy Reek, The Great Out There
- Apr 10, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 29
MotorBikePacking combines the freedom and touring range of a motorcycle with the lightweight and compact gear of bikepacking.
Adventure motorcycling is defined as travel cross-country, alternating between paved and unpaved roads. "ADV" riding often includes routes intended for 4x4 vehicles.
Motorcycle touring usually means avoiding unpaved roads, riding "street bikes".
MotorBikePacking is the narrow niche of travel on small and light motorcycles - and includes BOTH "adventure" and "touring" styles of travel.
Most road touring bikes are large, heavy, and expensive. Similarly, adventure motorcycles have been “super-sized” over the past decade.
There is now a negative connotation of “touring” motorcycles as necessarily the largest and most complex cycles. Many brands now offer overpowered “adventure” models with more than 1,200cc's and over 100 horsepower, weighing over 500 pounds - BEFORE your gear!
MotorBikePacking is the intersection of motorcycling touring and bikepacking.
Long distance backpackers go farther while carrying less weight than ever before. Ultra marathon through hikes like the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest Trail have been completed by thousands of backpackers – including many who have completed either two or three of these Triple Crown routes.
Bikepacking has grown in popularity with the availability of lightweight gear designed for backpacking. Let your BIKE carry the load - not your backpack!
The MINIMALISM that backpacking contributes to bike touring also translates to motorcycle touring. I describe this adaptation: "MotorBikePacking"
MotorBikePacking has more in common with human-powered bicycle touring than bloated "touring" motorcycles.
BOTH bikepacking and MotorBikePacking involve self-contained travel and camping. Both combine our love of the outdoors, exploration, and wilderness access. In fact, like me, you might enjoy BOTH light motorcycle tours and bikepacking adventures – different modes in different places and times.
Who chooses lightweight MotorBikePacking and why?
There are three motivations why a motorcycle tourer chooses to adopt the minimalist attitudes of MotorBikePacking:
First, MotorBikePacking relies on small, light motorcycles. While marketing promises adventure on overpowered and overpriced status "touring" motorcycles, we intentionally select cycles on the opposite side of the showroom. We choose to travel on small motorcycles, typically under 500cc and often 250cc or LESS!
Why accept the limitations of MotorBikePacking?
The biggest advantage of MotorBikePacking is obviously cost.
New touring motorcycles can exceed $30,000, with much of the expenses due to options like digital riding modes, electronic suspension, and Bluetooth everything. But this doesn’t include thousands of additional dollars spent on racks, luggage, navigation, communication systems, and necessary protective options for offroad travel.
Smaller motorcycles can cost 25% of the “prestige” models - or less. Used motorcycles can save even more.
Purchase price savings also translate to registration and insurance costs.
High-tech motorcycles suffer from the same electronic maladies as modern autos. Sensors and microchip circuits can cost hundreds of dollars, with diagnostic labor adding hundreds more. These electronics have the devious tendency to malfunction in the middle of nowhere. Base model motorcycles have far less electronic wizardry and have a much better record of reliability under abusive conditions.
Smaller and more basic motorcycles also cost less to operate in terms of fuel and tires and routine maintenance. For offroad adventures, when the inevitable crash occurs on a rocky hillside, the damage to an expensive bike may cost hundreds to repair while a basic motorcycle may suffer only cosmetic scrapes or bent parts that are cheap to replace by the owner.
Secondly, MotorBikePacking advocates take pride in traveling “softly” with a minimum of gear.
We simply can’t carry as much weight on a low powered motorcycle Even if we could, we don’t want to lose the nimbleness and economy of the lighter motorcycles.
Our camping gear is largely interchangeable with bikepackers and backpackers, and we prioritize both minimal weight and bulk. What we give up in terms of added creature comforts, we gain back in extended range and lowered travel expenses. Smaller bikes get great gas mileage. At the same time, we tend to favor the less traveled side roads, so we savor a slower pace and less traffic.
Minimalism is the MOST important when you spend any time on rough roads - either "Backcountry" routes (See also RideBDR.com) or remote roads - including seasonal roads like I toured in Alaska. Adam Reimann is a racer who also tours on his "light" ADV motorcycle. Here is how he packs lightly for extended tours:
Finally, traveling lighter enables us to cover the most distance with the “lightest” environmental impact.
We are often solo travelers, or riding with a partner or two. The small bikes leave a light footprint and pass through areas with a minimum of disturbance – as opposed to big touring groups with bikes that can be heard for miles, coming and going.
Considering the investment in the motorcycle and fuel consumption, MotorBikePacking is an economical means of travel. In fact, MANY bicycle tourists spend more on their rigs!
If a 400cc motorcycle can maintain the speed limit on highways, what is the reason for burning the extra gas (and DOLLARS invested) to ride a 1,000cc or 1,700cc motorcycle? Why fight hundreds of pounds of unnecessary weight on the FUN twisty roads?
"LIGHT" impact has another advantage, especially for the solo motorcycle traveler. You can stop and park easier. The largest "touring motorcycles" are now equipped with REVERSE because only a super-human can move them around a parking lot, much less a rough back road. A light motorcycle floats over bad roads and trails. If you get off the road on a huge motorcycle, you need to call a tow truck
What is your adventure priority? Does MotorBikePacking provide an opportunity?
Whatever your motivation, MotorBikePacking usually allows us to travel farther and more often. Saving money when BUYING your motorcycle may allow for multiple motorcycle trips each year. These benefits apply equally to the motorcycle travel newcomer and the experienced rider.
Manufacturers are finally starting to notice as the sales of expensive, behemoth cycles stagnate, but smaller, more economical bikes are the hottest models. Not every adventure requires a deluxe 1250cc motorcycle with satellite radio and an electric windshield - with $1,000 monthly payments and insurance! Adventures are not dependent on the SIZE or PRICE of the motorcycle!
Older riders and smaller, lighter men and women are able to enjoy motorcycle adventures with smaller, lighter, and less expensive kits. They may also add years to their travels by not being limited to unwieldy, heavy machines.
I once owned multiple large touring motorcycles from 1200 to 1700cc’s. When I bought my first “adventure” bike, my old riding buddy snickered at the “little” 650cc motorcycle. But we still rode together – often two-up – and I never had any stress keeping up in mountains and curves of rural Arkansas. Then, I rode this same ADV bike fully loaded on 1,000 miles of the Trans-America Trail.
Fast forward to today and I wouldn’t choose a nearly 500-pound rig for solo backcountry adventures. Now that I am older and wiser, I know that I only average 25 miles per hour on ADV rides, and I can easily maintain this speed on a 250cc dual sport! These smaller motorcycles weigh LESS than half as much and may cost ONLY 10% of bigger "adventure" bikes.
Would I choose a mini-moto for a ride to Alaska? Probably not - but it has been done! Would I choose a small scrambler for the slower pace on the TAT or Continental Divide route? Why not?!!!
Many may say, “MotorBikePacking is just returning to basics.” And they would be correct!
Motorcycle touring predates the modern, super ADV bikes. It is only recently that technology and marketing has redefined "adventure". MotorBikePacking offers an alternative to the “Bigger is Better” syndrome. Riders have learned that they enjoy the same scenery on a small bike as a big, heavy machine – and maybe have access to more challenging routes and longer miles.
Others might state, “MotorBikePacking is a response to societal excess.”
They are also correct as the “minimalism” trend spreads to tiny homes, vanlife, the digital nomad lifestyle and now to ADV motorized travel. MotorBikePacking.com is here to encourage the return to simpler, sustainable adventures. In the process, MotorBikePacking.com hopes to welcome new (and returning) minimalist travelers.
And this is another video where “Round the World Paul” demonstrates the essentials for on and offroad “MotorBikePacking”:
I have thousands of miles of experience on both motorcycle tours and bikepacking. The GreatOutThere blog will feature articles that helps apply the knowledge of extended bikepacking to motorcycle travel. Please Follow and Subscribe to the GreatOutThere blog for ongoing articles related to MotorBikePacking.
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