Solo Touring Tips For Motorcyclists

While it can be fun to ride your motorcycle with a passenger or a group, sometimes you just want to be alone. If you're interested in taking a solo long-distance touring trip on your motorcycle, you should plan ahead and make sure you're taking every precaution to keep yourself safe. Here are some of our recommendations.

Chart Your Course & Stay With It

Before you do anything else, you’ll want to determine where you’re going and what route you plan to take. Look up routes on a mapping app that are safe to use, without a lot of road construction or uneven terrain. Make note of any rest stops on your route that you could pull into if you need gas, food, a restroom, a hotel room, or service on your motorcycle. It’s important to give yourself plenty of options in case you become tired or hungry sooner than you intend to stop.

Once you have a plan, it’s helpful to stick to it so that you don’t get become lost. Following major highways and interstates is safer than using two-lane back roads when you’re alone.

Avoid Riding at Night

Riding your touring bike after sunset is inherently more dangerous, due to the riskier traffic conditions and also the lack of available assistance and services. Nocturnal animals are more likely to jump out in front of your bike and drivers are more likely to be tired, distracted, or even intoxicated at night. Try to end your rides before the sun goes down so that you’re settled somewhere safe, like a campground or hotel room. 

Remain Vigilant

As a solo rider on your touring trip, you’ll need to be extra cautious about your surroundings on and off the highway. When you visit a rest stop or gas station, monitor the area for anyone who seems suspicious, especially if someone starts trying to follow you into a secluded place.

Make sure that your possessions are also secured in your touring bike’s storage compartments whenever you park your bike to go into a restaurant or gas station. At night, try to park in a busy area with lots of lighting so that your bike isn’t likely to be stolen.

Be Visible

Whenever you stop for a rest break or to sleep at night, you should try to stay visible and among other people. By the same turn, if your touring motorcycle breaks down and strands you by the side of the road, you need to stay near a place where you’ll easily be found, particularly by a tow truck driver or another person who can help you. The only time it would make sense to abandon your bike is if you are very near a town that you know you can walk to before nightfall.

Stop by our dealership in Santa Maria, CA, today to view our selection of new and used touring motorcycles for sale. We can also assist you with financing options and you can check out our selection of Harley-Davidson® motorclothes as well to outfit yourself for your trip. Santa Maria Harley-Davidson® serves the cities of Ventura and Bakersfield, CA.