Here’s our tried and tested, used and abused, hard-earned kit list. This is everything we carry and the complete packing list for our round the world motorcycle trip…
Mad or Nomad guides are built on our round‑the‑world travel experience and professionally testing adventure bikes and motorcycle gear. We’re independent, not sponsored and all opinions are our own.
Contents
RTW Motorcycle Packing List
By Alissa Potter
Mad or Nomad - RTW motorcycle travellers
Packing for a never-ending round the world motorcycle adventure wasn’t going to be easy. We started overloaded and over-packed… and we’re still overloaded and over-packed today.
It’s normal, everyone overpacks at home and either chucks it on the road or posts half of their stuff back. We’re still finding ways of doubling items up and sending stuff home. But below you’ll find what we’re down to today. And we’ve also included links under each section to more in-depth guides if you fancy digging deeper.
If you’re looking for an in-depth breakdown on packing for a motorcycle trip, check out our Ultimate Packing List next as it lists everything you could possibly need in easy to read lists. And for more info on motorcycle gear – from riding kit to luggage, camping, reviews and everything in between, check out our Gear Guides.
READ MORE:
Adventure Riding Gear
Riding suit
We each have lightweight and vented jacket and trousers. We remove the thermal and waterproof linings from them and leave them at home.
We carry waterproof throwovers and a compressible thermal heated jacket to wear underneath for when it rains or turns cold. This is the most versatile and easiest setup as we can adapt to the constantly changing weather conditions.
If you’re considering a new suit but don’t know where to start, have a read of the Choosing Your Suit guide first, then check out our Riding Gear Guides.
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Boots
We wear Alpinestars adventure boots. Andy uses Alpinestars Toucan boots (for the last 10 years) and Alissa uses Alpinestars Corozal boots.
READ MORE: The Best Adventure Bike Boots
Helmet
We started with the Schuberth E1 as Andy had already been using the helmet for five years while working at Motor Cycle News. After five more years of riding round the world we both upgraded to the Schuberth E2 helmet.
READ MORE: The Best Adventure Bike Helmets
Gloves
We used to both carry one pair of cold weather gloves and one pair of warm weather gloves. However, we never used the cold ones. Even down to minus temperatures and through snow in Patagonia. Both bikes are fitted with heated grips, so we prefer using lightweight summer gloves. If they get wet, our hands are still warm and they dry fast. We use Alpinestars summer gloves.
READ MORE: Gear Reviews
Heated jacket
Once you try a heated jacket, it’s hard to go back to life without them. They plug into your bike and keep you toasty.
We use a Mosko Moto jacket, which is a thermal down. So it can be worn when we’re off the bike and walking around town and it will still keep us warm even though it’s not plugged in (nearly everything we have is double use).
It’s compressible and packs away small too. Having a heated jacket means we can easily stay warm at very cold temperatures and we don’t have to pack extra layers and multiple thermals (which are uncomfortable to ride in).
READ MORE: The Best Heated Jackets
Neck buff
We always have a handy neck tube for riding in hot and cold conditions. They double up as hats when camping. We carry a neck scarf each.
Personal clothing
- Four pairs of riding socks / three pairs of trainer socks
- One pair of lightweight trousers (Andy)
- Three pairs of leggings (Alissa)
- One nice pair of shorts and one lightweight shorts
- Five t-shirts
- Underwear
- One pair of flip flops
- One pair of trainers
- One light fleece jumper
- One long sleeve top
READ MORE: How to Pack for a Motorcycle Adventure
Electronics
- Laptop and mouse
- Mobile phone and handlebar mount mount
- Camera, lenses and GoPro
- Drone (sending home)
- Travel adapter
- USB battery pack
- Memory cards
- Zoleo Emergency Satellite Communicator
READ MORE: Motorcycle Electronics Guides
Camping gear
- MSR tent
- MSR Dragon Fly stove
- MSR pots and pans
- Foldable wash bowl
- Lightweight sleeping mats
- Pillows
- Plastic cutlery
- Mora knife
- Head torch
- Picnic blanket (comes in very handy)
- JagBag silk liner
READ MORE: Motorcycle Camping Guides
Motorcycle gear
Gear for the motorcycles
- We carry a decent tool kit, which allows us to fix most things on the bike. Check out our Ultimate Tool Kit guide as it lists all the equipment and tools we use to keep our bike going.
- Tyre compressor, spare tubes, levers.
- We carry Overland Fuel Cannisters for petrol and water.
- Mr Funnel petrol filter – Very useful in countries with poor fuel quality.
- Luggage systems – we use Mosko Moto Backcountry panniers at the rear, Lomo crash bar bags up front, a duffel and tank bag on Andy’s and a top box and handlebar bag on Alissa’s.
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Food
- We keep a separate bag for all our food because we like riding off into the wilderness and need to carry food supplies for a few days. We have Lomo Crash Bar bags up front and our food bag lives in those.
- Easy to reach cutlery also lives in this bag along with our collapsible kettle and Aeropress so we can make tea and coffee when we’re in hotels.
Want to ride round the world?
If you’re reading this guide because you’re thinking about or planning a round the world motorcycle trip, then that’s incredible and congratulations on your first step!
We have sections on this website purely dedicated to round the world travel and helping you do it. Take a look at the Round the World section as it’s where we hold all of the RTW guides in one place.
READ MORE: Round the World Motorcycle Travel Guides
Read more on packing for motorcycle travel
Thanks for checking out our RTW Packing List Guide. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on packing and preparing for a motorcycle journey that we recommend you read next.
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If you enjoyed this article on what we use for our RTW trip, or if you have any questions, please post your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.
This is really interesting to know. It’s my damn camping bag that takes up so much room lol! Got to try and find a smaller sleeping bag somewhere. Any recommendations for a lightweight one person tent? Thanks guys! Love the blog! x
Haha! Those darned camping bags! Yeah, they’re the biggest, bulkiest section of kit! We use the MSR Hubba (a very well renowned tent). I’ve been using MSR tents for about 8 years now and they’ve never broken on me so I just keep using them. Hilleberg are also pretty good and Vanguard too. Here’s a link to the Hubba and also look at the Freelite if you want to go super dooper light https://www.msrgear.com/ie/products/tents?prefn1=att_11&prefv1=1%20Person&page=0
As for sleeping bags, we bought ours from Mountain warehouse and they’re very small and lightweight.
Good luck with the packing!
Great blog find very interesting sounds like you’re both living the dream are you going to write a book about your adventure please takecare and look after each other ???
Hi Les! Thanks very much for your comment and kind words. Haha writing this blog is a job in itself, not sure we’ll have time for a book! We’re really glad you like the website. Take care as well and all the best 😀
Andy.
A great way to pass the time whilst drinking my morning coffee… great articles on here, tons of tips and information… thank you.
Stay well, stay safe and stay sane
Here’s to getting back on the road
Steve.
Ah! Thank you so much for your kind words! Much appreciated and we’re really glad you like the articles! We’ll try our best to stay safe… not sure about staying sane though!
All the best 😀
Hi, very informative. is it possible to travel on small motorcycle like 150 cc, 250 cc.
Hi Imran,
Is it possible to travel around the world on a 150-250cc motorcycle? Yes. 100%. Many people have done so already!
Cheers,
Andy