The perfect motorcycle setup doesn’t exist

If you can learn anything from the picture below, it’s that you don’t have to wait until you have the “perfect motorcycle setup” to get out and go somewhere.

Sure, having the best gear makes your trip more comfortable, but let me introduce you to my rickety setup.

That massive potato sack sitting on the back is a $30 Army & Navy canvas rucksack. It’s somewhat of an old faithful that’s been with me for 4 years. It’s followed me across Canada and to the Pacific Northwest. It’s tough and durable. It’s clearly not waterproof, but it is now with the addition of a $0.50 garbage bag lining the inside. Super bourgeois, I know.

Inside the rucksack, you’ll find my wife’s massive four-man tent, and my huge -7c sleeping bag (because I’m always cold). There’s also an inflatable hiking roll in there that someone gave me.

Look a little closer, and you’ll notice a little leather old-man tool pouch complete with tassels strapped onto the side of the rucksack. I don’t even remember where that came from, but it holds most of the tools I’d need that I pilfered from my tool bench.

On the other side of the bike is a sissy bar bag repurposed as a saddlebag. It’s not waterproof either so anything that I carry in there that matters goes in a plastic grocery bag.

There’s a dead animal bungee-corded onto my seat. Bought that from the same guy who sold me the sissy bar bag. $20 for both. The mythical comfort of sheepskin is no joke.

All that being said, I’d ditch it in a heartbeat if I found a good deal on a more practical setup.

Let me clarify again that this isn’t ideal.

Please don’t copy this setup and then write me a strongly worded letter about how sketchy your trip was. What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t let your less-than-perfect setup hold you back from going on an adventure because your carbotanium tent pegs haven’t been shipped yet.

Strap your garbage down and go have some fun.