15 Best Overland Products For Motorcycle Riders

Each year, Overland Expo West provides “the place” for overlanders and motorcycle enthusiasts to gather for a weekend of fun with friends, training opportunities, informative talks, and great rides with like-minded individuals. The sheer expanse of this show will amaze you, especially since it is nestled in the forested town of Flagstaff, Arizona. Three days of excitement surround this expo, and there is no shortage of attendees from all over the world. Adventure enthusiasts from all walks of life come to this show, specifically, to enjoy a weekend of fun. Here are 15 products that caught our adventuring eye.

You've seen batteries before, but these Antigravity units also feature state-of-the-art technologies, like Re-Start, which allows you to essentially jump-start your own battery. This enables you to get one last start, which can get you back to safety easily.

On an adventure and not sure which road to take next? Broken up on a state-by-state basis or by specific destinations of interest, these maps from Butler Motorcycle Maps allows you to find the road less traveled, especially where there might not be cell service. Dual-sport roads are included, and the maps' waterproof, tear-resistant design ensures they can take a beating while out on the road.

"Mom, you text me now!" Words of advice—keep in touch with your mom, even when you're on the road less traveled. In addition to functioning as a normal GPS would, the Garmin inReach systems offer a way for outside services to track your location in case of emergency. You can trigger an interactive SOS message that goes directly to a 24/7 messaging center. Or you can communicate via text messages if you need to get ahold of a family member or friend (service via subscription). All in all, this do-it-all system is great for overlanding and backcountry travel.

Dude, where's the motor? Contrary to the mainstream overlanding motorcycles that were shown at Overland Expo, Cake brought out its electric motorcycle lineup, which included the Kalk& (street-legal cycle) and Kalk OR (off-road performance). The electric motor was awesome for those who demoed the bikes. Does one of these fit in your garage?

Offering more protection in a hard-shell platform, Jesse Luggage cases looked to be sturdy and easily lockable for all of your traveling needs. We were impressed with the hardware, latches, and mounting systems, all of which were sturdy. Plus, they look great on the bike!

If hard cases aren’t your style and you need something with a little more give to it, Mosko Moto soft bags were popular among showgoers and could be just the trick for hauling your gear in a sealed set of soft bags. The bags include mounting attachment points that hook into all of your standard ADV-bike locations, and they include built-in accessories to make your life easy on the trail.

Don’t have a case of the Mondays when you’re on the road… Tie down your stuff properly, especially when the road gets rough. If you’re like us, you’ve had straps come loose out on the trail while your stuff adjusts, and sometimes you just can’t get the straps tight enough. Well, we found an awesome solution with Rollercam tie-down straps, which are built so that you can get your straps secure the first time.

We've been on the trail and realized that the stock headlights are good but just don't quite give that extra lighting that you want while rounding corners or picking up the pace. Having an auxiliary set of lights is the way to go, especially those of the LED variety with a wide beam pattern coupled with a set of distance optics. Rigid displayed a compact, high-performance solution with its D-SS series lights. These offer "side shooter" LEDs that give you the wide lighting you need on tight corners, and they also have the distance optics for higher speeds. Side shooter—kind of sounds like a Wild West town that we need to find, soon…

We hate to admit it, but we all take GPS, cellphones, tablets, and other devices with us for communication and safety. Keeping these devices charged while on the road is the Achilles' heel of adventure sometimes, but not if you have a solar charging system that allows you to charge while on the trail. Goal Zero has some highly efficient solar charging systems that include direct plugs for your devices, and it also offers battery systems that help prolong your charge on the trail.

There are many solutions for hauling your motorcycle(s): truck bed, flat trailers, hitch racks, etc. But what if you want to extend your adventure by bringing a camp trailer with your motorcycle? Most overlanding trailers don't have the ability to haul a dirt bike/ADV bike, but Schutt has designed its Moto Xventure trailer to haul bikes, gear, and everything else needed for camping. The trailer also includes a sink, fridge, canopy, and other storage options to make your next adventure one that can be made even longer. We're in!

VanLife is all the rage right now, especially in the overlanding community. We’re sure that you have seen the moto vans dotting the highways too. These RB Components Sprinter conversion vans are designed to haul all of our moto gear, motorcycles, bicycles, and other essentials all in one #VanLife package. Seeing these tricked-out vans in person made us realize how personalized each one of these is, and we’d totally have one for our next adventure. Especially one with a lift and 4WD!

Do you even overland, bro? Royal never strays away from classic lines and quality. Its display bikes exuded those features. Either refreshing or revolting for this type of show, it didn't matter because these were a sight to see.

Could this be the ultimate overlanding setup? Some would disagree, but there is nothing quite like a Ural motorcycle equipped with a sidecar, and there were plenty of people gawking at this Sahara edition. The clean lines and feature-rich platform had onlookers enjoying every well-thought-out piece on this motorcycle.

We've all seen a Scrambler, nothing crazy here… However, look at those clean paint lines and classic lettering. Scramblers were looking oh-so-cool at this year's show, even if they didn't have all the saddlebags and foofy stuff hanging off the sides. Clean, simple, fun.

"Pancakes, you're ending this on pancakes!" You're saying this to yourself, and it's true, pancakes are ending this story. But, man, who doesn't love a cinnamon-crusted or chocolate pancake? Thank you, Trails Offroad (trailsoffroad.com), which is an online resource for finding the perfect off-road trail, for delivering the goods to one happy pancake-loving overlander at a time. That's what this show is all about—good times, great eats, and the joys of camping.

After a full weekend at Overland Expo West, not only do we think it is one of the best overlanding shows on the planet, but we can pretty much guarantee that we’ll be heading back there year after year. There is just so much to do, and we love the culture that is built around this overlanding community. If you’re into adventure motorcycling and are looking to get more involved or keep up your involvement, mark your calendars for next May to be in Flagstaff. Or, if you can’t wait until then, check out Overland Expo East, which will be held in Arrington, Virginia, on October 11–13, 2019.

Happy adventuring!