This summer, my friend Saylor Flett and his girlfriend,听Leslie Pace,听bought a used BMW Dakar 650 and spent six weeks riding the rig 2,100 miles from Quincy, California,听to McCarthy, Alaska. They听lived in comfort the entire time thanks to smart organization, detailed planning,听and these听seven essentials.
BMW Dakar 650 Motorcycle ($3,600)
Flett bought the bike on eBay. 鈥淲e got a great deal on it because it had scratches and came with some character,鈥 he says. They went with a Dakar 650 because it does well on pavement听but can also handle dirt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a 60-40 split,鈥 he says.听
Hard-Box Panniers (From $1,000)
The couple鈥檚听bike came with two simple听hard-case panniers that, crucially,听Flett could听lock听during lunch stops and remove when they arrived at camp. The boxes听were just big enough for their gear听but not so cumbersome that they made the bike unwieldy.听Tip: For premium panniers, consider a bomber听, which starts around $1,000.听
Repair Kit ($100)
Flett didn鈥檛 buy a prebuilt听kit, opting instead to piece together a custom toolbox himself. He used the kit to work on the bike before leaving, which helped him figure out which tools he听needed for the road. His sockets and bits stored inside a small fly-fishing tackle box, and his wrenches, mini-ratchet, hex keys, and locking pliers听lived in a tool roll.听(We like the听听for听$20.)
Watershed Yukon Drybag听听($150)
The couple used a to store their clothes and tandem sleeping bag and听ratcheted it onto the听panniers with a cam strap. Bonus: The drybag also doubled as backrest.
REI Flash 18 Pack ($35)
听to the Watershed听drybag with compression straps and filled it听with everything they needed for a day trip off the bike,听including rain听jackets, wallets, passports, and flip-flops. It lived on top of their gear听so they didn鈥檛 have to dig through the听panniers every time they stopped to explore.听
Lightweight Camping Setup ($900)
The duo brought a 听($450) and paired it with two听听(from听$130 each). For a tent, they used a three-person听听($180), which left plenty of room for the couple and all their gear. To cut back on space and weight, they left all the mosquito netting at home.听
MSR WhisperLite听Stove ($90)
Saylor and Leslie loved the because it ran on gas听siphoned from the motorcycle鈥檚 fuel tank. This saved room鈥攖hey didn鈥檛 have to bring extra gas鈥攁nd allowed them to stay at backcountry camps longer without having to resupply.听