Australian_Motorcyclist_2016_08_

(Brent) #1

standing by the side of the road.
And yet, and yet... it pays to
be prepared.
I have travelled with some
interesting people. One of them had
a pannier full of prescription drugs.
It contained... hell, I don’t have the
faintest idea what it contained. All I
know is that it was a riot of coloured
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names on them, and there was a clear
plastic folder in the lid of the pannier
which contained all the prescriptions



  • just in case any of the boxes ran out.
    Another good mate had both panniers
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ppg
Tupperware containers, complete
with heating instructions on crepe tape
on the lids.
In France, the country that gave
the World the modern concepts of
democracy and freedom at the cost
of countless deaths by guillotine, the
latest French Revolution has led to
motorcyclists being required to wear a
certain percentage of day-glo on their
jacket, carry a breathalyser (honest
to Gaston!) and a hi-viz vest (pillions
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with a minimum combined area of
18cm^2 to their helmets in
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Peter Sellers.
Oh, all right, I lied about the last
one. I think.
I dare say that any sensible person
would agree that none of those things
are truly essential in France, except

p p p aking like Peter Sellers so
the locals will understand you. None
of these things are vital anywhere
else, either, unless you enjoy doing
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So what should you carry, apart from
your appropriately augmented toolkit?
That, as well as the skills you might
want to acquire, is the subject of a
future story.
Going out for a Sunday afternoon
blast I’d take a tyre repair kit, for
tubed or tubeless tyres as appropriate,
but not much else. Going away for
a fortnight to FNQ would be a bit
different. So let’s ask the question
another way. What is there that would
be worth carrying under various
circumstances? The suggestions below
are not in order; I tried, but I couldn’t
sort them properly. And we all know
what happens when you sort things

This little beauty can save you a staggering amount of
work, especially if you’re running big, fat tyres that need
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If you’re riding this, the
only thing you’ll need is a
box of matches...

Andy’s amazing full-on First Aid kit is a bit
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Free download pdf