What I Packed for 7,000 Miles Cross Country Motorcycle Trip (And What I’d Change)

By Brent LeBlanc

In May 2025, I rode a 2022 Ducati Scrambler Nightshift alone, coast to coast and back, roughly 7,000 miles from the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic coast in South Carolina and home again. No set route. Before I left on that trip, I spent almost as much time packing the bike as I did planning where I’d go. Every item had to earn its spot. Whatever made the cut had to survive rain, cold, heat, and eleven days on the road.

Everything below lived across two side panniers, a tank bag, and a dry bag strapped to the back seat. Riding gear and rain layers stayed in the tank bag since I needed them fastest when weather turned, tools and repair gear rode low in the panniers since they moved the least, and electronics stayed padded in the dry bag on top. (Brent: adjust this to match your actual setup.)

Every ride, every bike, and every rider is different. This isn’t the list you need to take, it’s what worked for me on this particular trip. Take what’s useful, leave what isn’t, and feel free to use the list below as a checklist for your own ride.

The Bike

2022 Ducati Scrambler Nightshift, 800cc

A café-style bike with no windshield, and it handled everything the country threw at it. Rain over the passes, snow in Utah, heat across the plains. It brought me home, and it made the trip what it was.

Riding Gear

     

      • Motorcycle jacket: Merlin Barton II Waxed Jacket, black, waxed cotton that held up through rain and cold the entire trip

      • Motorcycle Pants:

      • Boots: Forma Adventure Boots, waterproof and comfortable enough for long days, replaced my original boots after they started holding water in rather than keeping it out.

      • Gloves: regular, non-heated, for the dry, warm stretches

      • Face shield cleaner: keeps the visor clear for visibility in bad weather

      • Helmet carrying sock: doubles as a small grocery bag, laundry bag, or all-around utility bag

      • Helmet: Shoei GT-Air 2, comfortable and quiet for long days in the saddle. It has a sun screen built in when needed so I can choose a dark screen or clear.

      • Comms unit: Sena, for music, directions, and calls while riding.

    Notes: I started the trip in a pair of Joe Rocket Big Bang 2.0 boots, which got me through a lot of miles and a lot of weather. Rain over Snoqualmie Pass on day one taught me quickly what I wanted in a boot for a trip like this, and the Forma Adventure Boots I switched to are what I’d point anyone toward now. Set up and test your comms well before day one so you’re not sorting it out on the road.

    Rain & Cold Weather Gear

       

        • Heated jacket: Gerbing, the piece of gear that mattered most through the cold

        • Heated gloves: Gerbing, paired with the heated jacket to keep hands from going numb

        • Hand and toe warmers: cheap, light backup heat for the coldest mornings

        • Base layer top: extra warmth under the jacket on cold days

        • Base layer bottoms: extra warmth under riding pants on cold days

        • Balaclava: blocks wind around the neck and face

        • Wool socks: stay warm even when they get wet

        • Rain pants: Spidi Superstorm H2Out, fully waterproof for sustained rain

        • Rain jacket: extra waterproof layer over the riding jacket

        • Boot rain covers: an extra layer of protection during shorter rain

      Notes: The Gerbing gear is what mattered most. Through the snow on Highway 6 near Price, Utah, with my hands losing feeling, the heated jacket and gloves (and honestly, holding one hand against the engine block when the battery-powered heat wasn’t enough) were the difference between pushing through and having to stop.

      Off-Bike Clothing

         

          • Sweatshirt: for cool evenings off the bike

          • Hats: sun protection and a break from helmet hair

          • Flip flops: easy shoes for hotel rooms and showers

          • Sunglasses: Flying Eyes, polarized glare protection for long riding days

          • Comfortable walking shoes: for exploring towns and stops off the bike

          • Swim shorts: in case a lake, pool, or ocean showed up along the way

          • Socks

          • Underwear

          • Pants

          • Shirts

        Notes: I brought more pants than I actually needed, easy one to trim down next time. Don’t overthink the number of socks and underwear either, a laundromat or even just a sink in a hotel room every couple of days keeps you covered.

        Personal Care

           

            • First aid kit: for anything more than a minor scrape

            • Allergy medication: daily, for seasonal allergies on the road

            • Advil: for the aches that come with long days on a bike

            • Ear plugs: cuts down on wind and engine noise over long stretches

            • Hand sanitizing spray: for cleaning up after roadside repairs or before grabbing food on the go

            • Shaver

            • Tide pods: for laundromat stops

            • Chapstick: for wind-chapped lips

            • Wet wipes: quick cleanup when there’s no sink around

            • Sunscreen

            • Toothbrush

            • Toothpaste

            • Toiletry bag

          Tools & Repair

             

              • Spare key: a second set in case the primary gets lost

              • Lighter

              • Allen wrenches: for common bolts and adjustments

              • Extra fuel bag: folds flat, weighs nothing, adds peace of mind for long stretches between gas stations

              • 550 cord: paracord, useful for securing gear or makeshift repairs

              • Flashlight

              • Tool kit: covers most roadside fixes

              • Battery jumper pack: in case the battery died with no other vehicle around to jump it

              • Shop rag: for wiping down hands, chain, or anything greasy after a repair

              • Zip ties

              • Duct tape

              • Tire pump: LEXIN P5 Portable Tire Pump, compact enough to carry and handles topping off pressure on the road

              • Tire gauge

              • Tire plug kit: for patching a puncture well enough to reach the next shop

              • Multi-tool with knife

              • Slime: for tire punctures

            Notes: This kit covers most roadside repairs without adding much weight to the bike. It’s worth thinking through what you can realistically fix yourself versus what you’d rather leave to a shop, so you’re not caught deciding in the moment.

            Navigation & Communication

               

                • Butler Maps: paper maps that highlight motorcycle-specific routes, and a solid backup when GPS signal drops

                • Monimoto 9U-4 tracker: GPS theft tracker, extra peace of mind riding alone

                • Garmin GPSMAP 67: always on, satellite-based, so people back home could follow roughly where I was even with no cell service, with an SOS button for real emergencies

                • Garmin messaging: set up with family and friends, so they could reach me and I could reach them without needing cell signal

              Notes: Riding alone meant staying reachable mattered as much as staying on route. I didn’t ride with a fixed route, and having a way for family and friends to check in without needing a phone signal is what made that freedom possible. Best of both worlds.

              Electronics, Camera & Entertainment

                 

                  • Laptop: for backing up footage and writing

                  • Portable hard drive: extra storage for photos and video

                  • Cell phone

                  • Phone mount: Quad Lock, with the anti-vibration attachment to protect the camera from engine vibration

                  • Cell phone charger

                  • Power bank: for charging on the go

                  • Apple AirPods

                  • Kindle: for downtime at the end of a long day

                  • Helmet-mounted omni mic: let me talk through what I was seeing and experiencing in the moment, recorded to the Zoom H1 so I wouldn’t lose the details later

                  • Zoom H1 audio recorder: paired with the helmet mic to capture that narration

                  • Tripod

                  • Insta360, mounted: for hands-free video while riding

                  • Insta360 SD cards

                  • GoPro

                  • GoPro SD cards

                Notes: I wanted to come home with more than memories, so the camera and audio kit came along for the ride.

                Everything Else

                   

                    • Electrolytes: for staying hydrated on long, hot stretches

                    • Snack bars

                    • Quarters for laundry

                    • Small towel

                    • Cash: kept in a sunglasses case, easy backup that’s not sitting in a wallet or pocket

                    • Water bladder: for hydration on the bike without stopping

                    • Disc lock: locks the front brake disc, a simple theft deterrent when parking somewhere unfamiliar

                  What I’d Change

                  If I did this again tomorrow, three things would look different:

                     

                      1. Waterproof boots from day one. The Formas would have made those first few wet days a lot more comfortable.

                      1. Know where the trusted shops are before I need one. The fix itself was quick, either at a shop I trusted or in a parking lot on my own. What actually slowed me down was searching for that trust under pressure, with storm warnings stacking up and every shop pointing me to the next one.

                      1. Nothing stored near the exhaust: ask my melted helmet carrying sock, or the pannier that got lightly torched outside Nashville.

                    Everything else earned its place on the bike. If you’re planning your own long-distance ride, I’d rather you learn from what worked (and what didn’t) here than find out the hard way at mile 200. And if you need a shop somewhere along your route, start with your state and go from there.

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