Sometimes it's easy to forget that you're not riding a motocross motorcycle, especially if you can see your destination on the map and found a few knobbly tire-tracks going up the trail, in a situation like that it's sometimes difficult to say no thanks I take the tarmac road to the destination. The down-site is that adventure or enduro motorcycles are not motocross bikes and by trying to do the same things you often end-up in dangerous situations. Even if you not ride your Adventure or Enduro motorcycle like a motocross bike, you still can get hurt while riding with your travel companions on gravel roads...

Therefore I bought the Acerbis Infinity chest protector, the Infinity chest protector bridges the gap between conventional chest protectors and those that are neck brace compliant.

The Acerbis Infinity chest protector requires a few days wearing it while riding before it molds to your torsos and feels comfortable. Initially, the upper portion of the protector was tight, while the bottom was loose. The adjustable straps helped, but saddle time was the end-all solution. Sizing was spot-on for me, although I believe that bigger-framed riders will find that the Acerbis Infinity comes up short off protecting the stomach area. The Acerbis Infinity is one-size-fits-all and comes in black, white, blue or red.

I love the Shark RSR2 helmet. Partly because of the super-cool paint job, and partly because of its light weight double-D fastener, comfortable fit, effective vents and robust 3mm-thick mist-free visors. Thin visors I found on other helmets can vibrate, the thick visor on the Shark keeps vibration and noise down.

The Shark RSR2 helmet is rated as a low noise helmet. The noise helmets produce is often not taken serious, but did you know that most helmets produce about 80 decibels at speeds of around 65km/h. The average speed a motorcycle travels on the highway deliver a day's maximum noise exposure in just 15 minutes. If you wear your helmet daily for commuting to work your doctor can find evidence of hearing damage in less than a year.

But I especially love it because a few months ago I used a black Shark RSR2 helmet to demolish several small trees in one big crash. And I'm still able to talk about it, all because I was wearing the right gear. The Shark's clever construction uses a ridged 'crumple zone' of polystyrene in addition to the usual thickness of liner, with a long-thread composite shell to transfer the force away from the area of impact.

Before you set off on your big motorcycle trip, pack all your gear on the motorcycle and ride it around for an hour or so. Make sure the load stays stable and doesn't affect the bike's handling. Next, spend the night in a nearby campground or in your backyard. That way if you forgot something important, or if some piece of equipment doesn't work, you can pack up and go home. The trail run has the added advantage of letting you develop and practice your camping routine, so that when you arrive at the real campsite, everything will go a lot more smoothly.

Choosing a Campsite

Once you arrive, it's time to set up camp. Choose your campsite carefully, and avoid pitching camp in low areas where rain might collect and for might settle at night. Make sure the prevailing winds don't blow smoke from other campsites toward yours. Avoid sloping or rough, rocky ground. Open up your sleeping bag and lie down if you're unsure if it's level – in five minutes you'll know. Look for hives that might house bees, look in the grass for ants or other bitting insects. Watch where the sun tracks and set up your tent for maximum shade or sunlight.

If you plan to cook at your campsite, a cookstove is a must. Smaller is better, but the design you choose will depend to some extent on the kind of food you want to cook. To prepare freeze-dried food in plastic bags, all your stove has to do is heat water to boiling. More elaborate, multistage meals will require a more elaborate stove, or in some cases, two separate ones. Depending on the design of the stove, it can run on alcohol, propane, butane, white-gas, LPG, kerosene or the unleaded gasoline in your motorcycle’s fuel tank.

Most camping fuels are available in lightweight, compact canisters. They can also be purchased in bulk and transported in readily available aluminum flasks. An important factor to keep in mind is that food, fuel, water and all other necessary items can be replenished without difficulty, so unless you’re heading for the farthest remotes of the Himalayan’s outback, it’s not necessary to transport more than a liter of water or cooking fuel and several days’ worth of food at a time.