There’s nothing like a road trip on a Sportster. You feel the wind, smell the smells (ok, this can be a bad thing if you’re riding through farm country), and see so much more than when you’re surrounded by metal and glass.
You never know when or where they’ll happen, but they do. Emergencies can make a good trip bad quickly if you’re not prepared. Getting stranded in a motorcycle is considerably more dangerous than getting stranded in a car. Your emergency tool kit will help over-come some of those differences.
The Basic Needs That Don’t Take Much Room
Most or all of these items will fit in a small backpack or Camel Back, tank bag, saddle bag, or hip bag (fanny pack).
The following list can be used both on-road and off-road. This list is an addition to the tool bag that should have come with your Sportster.
- Water
- A hip knife (in addition the Gerber hip knife I carry at all times)
- A utility tool
- Duct tape
- Several yards of nylon string
- A compass with magnifying glass
- A wind-up (no batteries) radio/flashlight/signal beacon*
- A flint and steel
- Matches*
- Cloth (usually a hand towel or other)*
- Space blanket
- A GPS*
- A cell phone*
- First Aid kit*
- Ziploc bags
- Emergency contact information
Items above marked with an asterisk (*) are moisture-sensitive and should be kept inside the Ziploc baggies.
The first aid kit should contain basic items like band-aids, some anti-biotic ointment, a few sterile gauze patches, etc. Note that the multi-tool and duct tape can replace a few items in many first aid kits, like tape, scissors, tweezers etc. Removing those items from the first aid kit will make the kit smaller and easier to carry on your Sportster.
Go thee and ride!
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