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Motorcycle touring
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Motorcycle touring is a format of tourism that involves a motorcycle. It has been a subject of note since at least 1915.[1]
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Motorcycle touring involves special equipment and techniques. A touring motorcycle optimized for long range travel and luggage carrying capacity may be used.[2] Special preparations involved include route planning for unfamiliar areas, packing tools that might be needed, finding food, making overnight stops, finding fuel in remote areas,[3][4] and physical care of the rider's body.[5] It may involve camping[6][7] or attending motorcycle rallies along the way.[3]
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Some riders take touring to extremes with rides of thousands to over 100,000 miles or kilometers, and lasting years or decades (see Long-distance motorcycle riding and List of long-distance motorcycle riders). These long-distance riders may also join specialized societies such as the German Globetrotter Club and publish. Some notable works concerning such tours include The Gasoline Tramp or Around the World on a Motorcycle by Carl Stearns Clancy; India: The Shimmering Dream and other works by Max Reisch; The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara; Fastest Man Around the World and other works by Nick Sanders; Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon; Riding the Edge and Riding the Ice book and video by Dave Barr; Motorcycle Touring[8] by Peter Thoeming and Peter Rae; the film Sjaak the World and the book Life on 2 wheels written by Sjaak Lucassen; the Long Way Round and Long Way Down book and television series by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman; and Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart.
Motorcycle touring supports a large amount of commerce, not only the sale of motorcycles but also substantial amounts of equipment. Riding suits alone can cost thousands of dollars. By a 2014 estimate, over 40% of all street motorcycles sold in the United States were touring models.[2] Some companies cater to tourists who need to rent a motorcycle. One mass-market magazine in the US, Roadrunner Motorcycle Touring & Travel is devoted to motorcycle touring as is Australian Motorcyclist Magazine in Australia. Brokers offers "motorcycle cruising", in which they arrange to bring owners with their bikes on board a cruise ship from the United States to the Caribbean Islands, handling the requisite legal paperwork to ride in Bermuda and elsewhere.[9]
Starting in 2018, Chicago-based Twisted Road and Los Angeles–based Riders Share offer peer-to-peer motorcycle rentals, allowing motorcycle self-tours nationally in the U.S.[10]