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Well, my family and I did quite a bit of riding over the Labor Day weekend. All of us are relative newbies. I'm still wet behind the ears, but hubby and son have somewhat more experience. Hubby and I ride cruisers..son rides a sport bike complete with the arrogance and overconfidence of youth. I have to give him some credit because he does ride well and has a "oneness" with his bike that I envy. The jury is still out on the judgment issue though. So off we go Monday afternoon deciding to take some of the country back roads that we are all familiar with. Sun, blue sky, little traffic and some nice curvy roads. Not super hard twisties - but just right to have fun with. Hubby leads and son takes up the rear. His logic is that he has the most experience and it also works to his advantage to lag behind then take the curves a little faster than us. 19 year olds....go figure.. We come off a curvy hill and I don't see my son in my mirror....still don't see him...oh ^%#..... - still don't see him...nope not yet. Try to get hubby's attention and then turn around and go back. Being a mom made the panic even worse! Heart in my throat, dreading what I'm going to find. Visions of my son in pieces on the side of the road!...but no! There he is and his bike too...no damage, just a young man stomping around hurling insults to the sky. He had a flat tire! Now what? None of us were prepared....hummm newbieness strikes again. While dad and son argue about how to get the bike home, mom (the go to person) takes off to town to get supplies. Picked up a plug kit and a can of air. Got back to the guys, watched them "discuss" how to proceed ...... then we all finally got back on the road and home as the sun was going down. Moral of the story...make sure you have emergency supplies with you. After all, what are those pretty saddle bags for anyway?Don't just hop on and go for it like we did.

Side note...son is not thrilled with the fact that he has to grow up and take care of his own stuff. Those new tires put a dent in wallet.

See ya down the road!!

Sometimes reality hurts. If you want the toys you gotta pay....

I have had to get tires fixed or tubes replaced a couple of times.

I'm pretty bad with this. I go out even on commutes with absolutely nothing.

Well, riding gear, cell phone ( those are guaranteed to work, right? ) and wallet.

RhadamYgg

For long extended rides you should carry a plug kit. Shorter rides be sure to have a cell phone with a good motorcycle towing plan or a truck to pick your bike up with.