How To Find A Compatible Motorcycle touring Partner For Long Road Trips?

 Two-wheeler trips become a lot more enjoyable when you have someone to share their experiences with. While many long-distance riders prefer to travel solo, you might be different and having a partner might make more sense to you. With that in mind, let's find out what you need to look for in your potential riding partner. 

What should you look for in your riding partner? 

The last thing you want on your long-distance trips is a liability.  To avoid that from happening, here are a few things that you need to look for in your riding partner. 

Knowledge of road safety rules & regulations

Make sure that the person is technically strong in terms of road safety protocols and norms and is prepared to adhere by them under all circumstances. If you have to teach them the basics of road safety, or the importance of wearing motorcycle helmets and other riding safety gears, you are in for a big trouble especially while travelling out of state where you have nobody to depend upon if you get into a hassle with the local law enforcement authorities. 

The steady-touring psychology (no racers!) 

There are tourers and then there are racers:  both are vastly different in terms of their riding styles. You don't want to pick up somebody who is a speed maniac and rides on the redline at all times. To make sure that you are not picking up a racer instead of a tourer, go on a short ride across town to discuss the upcoming plan and to get to know each other better. That will give you a fair idea of how the person rides.  You can also ask a few questions about the person's preferred riding style and get an idea of how they behave on the road. 

Previous long-distance riding experience 

If you are a ‘long-distance novice’ yourself then you can completely ignore this point but if you have been riding for quite some time now then you would need somebody who can keep pace with you when you are cruising on the highway. Neither a complete beginner may not be the ideal partner for you, nor someone who has vastly more experience than you, because that way you will be left behind. This can create stress and compel you to push your limits, which can be a dangerous thing on the highway.  

 

Financial positioning

Last but not the least the financial positioning of the person is also important. While you should definitely not be expecting the other person to be your financial expenses on the road you should not end up shouldering the other person's expenses either! This is a quite sensitive topic and, in most cases, directly ask for a person's financial standpoint might not be an option. But there is a smart way of putting across the relevant questions regarding upcoming expenses and asking the person how he or she wishes to tackle the finances. This will give you a fair idea of how the person is planning his/her money matters and whether you are being expected to pay for his or her personal expenses. 

  

While looking for a riding partner, always keep an open mind and explore all of your options, but do not get too wound-up in getting all the aspects perfectly right because human beings, as a rule and never perfect, and your goal is to simply find somebody who can accompany you on your ride.