New York Chapter "W"

Gold Wing Road Riders Association

Rochester, NY

Rider Education Information by Gary Mandak

Riding Educator, New York Chapter "W"

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go&ldots;&ldots;..

This is the time of year when we get PMS, Parked Motorcycle Syndrome, right? Some ways to alleviate this syndrome is to subscribe to motorcycle magazines, rent or watch your motorcycle videos, read your Goldwing owner's manual&ldots;&ldots;.again. OR you can plan to plan for your first motorcycle trip.

When you read you're manual, you were reminded that maintenance is of the utmost importance to a trouble free summer of long distance trip riding. Did you consider on your trips how to pack for a nice safe ride? Since we own the largest 2-wheel land yachts available, we Goldwingers feel the need to overpack/load our bikes. Sometimes our GoldWinabagos are over loaded for what its intended purpose was, that is to ride, not slide.

 Read the manual and note the load capacities for you and your passenger then combine that with all the gear in your bags. When you pack, use removable nylon type luggage bags inside the saddlebags for ease of removal at your stops. Plastic grocery bags can be used to separate your dirty clothing or as an extra measure of waterproofing. These are very handy, cheap, and they have built in grips!

After you set out all the things to be packed, put them into the grocery bags and then into the removable bags and weigh each of them for consistency. This will assure you that both sides are equal in weight to stabilize the handling of your bike.

Keep all of your heavy gear for the saddlebags, as that is the lowest part of the bike. Keep your heavy gear in the bottom and rain gear and food near the top of the saddlebags. In the trunk, you should keep the lightest gear, as that is the highest point of the bike. Heavy gear in the trunk can cause handling problems as this keeps excessive weight over the rear wheel and makes the front wheel "lighter" and that can cause steering problems.

 After you have loaded the wing, re-check the tire pressure and rear shock settings. Incorrect pressure will add to poor handling if the settings are too low.

Now your bags are packed and you are really ready to go!

Practice Safe Riding

Gary Mandak

Chapter "W" Educator