#RainGear

We all know that the world shown in motorcycle advertisements isn’t real. As much as we’d like it, the sun doesn’t always shine, and we aren’t the only vehicle on the road. We can always dream, though. When it comes to bad weather, we all have to deal with it sometime – even those of us who reside in sunny SoCal. When the rain starts to fall, the best thing we can do is have proper rain gear to keep us dry. Touring and adventure touring riders will often make their stand against the elements with waterproof riding suits, which we’ve covered here.  For the rest of us, a rain suit over our regular riding gear gets carried along when the weather looks like it could turn wet. 

News flash: most motorcycles have very little cargo-carrying capacity. That’s why tank bags were invented. You can easily carry the little essentials you may need on your ride in a form factor that’s easily removed from your motorcycle. Still, in all my years riding, I’ve never had a tank bag stolen or looted when sitting unattended on my bike. For riders who have hard bags on their bikes, I’ve seen folks use a nylon bag with organizer pockets to carry many of the items on this list, making it possible to compartmentalize the gear like in a tank bag.