How do you keep documents safe and dry on motorcycle trips?
 

Hi all,
Just wondering what the best way people have found to carry there documents (V5, licences, carnets etc) safe and dry when on big trips with there bikes.

Thanks
Will

I put mine in ziploc bags, usually somewhere permanently attached to the bike. Or always on my person.

Waterproof money belt. Either wear it or put it in something that you always take with you. Tank bag, fender bag, whatever. Have copies online and stash cash around in various places. Bike clothing armour are good places. Just don't forget about it.

Freezer bag in my inside pocket if needed that day, moneybelt if not.

Andy

Zip-Loc..?

Like others have said above, I use Zip-Loc bags. If I had to keep bigger documents (A4 or letter size) safe without folding them, I would go to a marine chandler's store and buy a Zip-Loc packet that is sold to sailors for the purpose of keeping marine charts dry on sailboats.

I'd like to add one further suggestion to this discussion about documents:

Don't store your documents (ownership, insurance, etc.) in a place that is 'quick and easy' to get at. Instead, store them deep inside a saddlebag, way at the back or bottom, in a place that will take a minute or two to get to, and require you to remove a few other packed items to get to the documents.

I say this because the only time we ever need to produce documents is if and when we have been stopped by a police officer or customs officer. Storing the documents deep inside a saddlebag creates a situation where the police officer or customs officer has a minute or two to 'cool down and assess you better' while you dig out the documents for them.

I have found that this extra minute or two (which is usually spent in silence, as you dig out the stuff) often results in a significant change in attitude of the official... they get a chance to look you over, see what you are carrying in the saddlebag, come to the conclusion that you are a pretty inoffensive citizen, and subconsciously, they often feel a wee bit 'obliged' to you as a result of having made you tear everything apart to get the documents.

The result of this is that conversation is usually a lot more cordial and less confrontational once you do produce the documents, and the officer concerned is usually in a more pleasant mood when they look over the documents, because that one or two minute delay has enabled them to break out of their usual 'confrontational' frame of mind that exists whenever they stop a vehicle for inspection.

Michael

Best not to show wealth while you do that, you want to appear at about the same status/wealth level as the official ... not poor, not wealthy. You want to appear as though you have a similar life style and outlook. Anything that would look ostentatious should be wrapped up so that it is not identifiable.

Here in Toronto, Canada, where the average policeman earns CAD $100,000 per year (AUD $101,000 per year, USD $77,000 per year), it would be difficult for me to appear to have the same wealth as the policeman without taking out a loan.

The benefit of the high salaries, I suppose, is that we get pretty good police officers. They are well educated and non-confrontational individuals.

Michael

I use a 30 page Ultra folder inside a ziploc plastic bag, never had a problem :thumbup1:

Definitely ziplock bags--good ones, not the cheap stuff. Passport lives in its own bag in a money belt under my clothes; bike documents in a ziplock in an inner pocket of my riding jacket. Important documents which are subject to being folded, refolded, getting damp, crushed, etc. are first painted with map sealer before any major trip--this really makes a difference.

I learned the hard way about the importance of redundancy--a minimum of two, layered defenses against wet and wear for anything important. Hence the map sealer and the ziplock. You'll know why when one of those defenses fails, through no fault of yours.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Some documents can also be laminated (plastified) to make them last longer. I'm thinking bike registrations and insurance. They will often be needed. Borders. Check points etc. It won't take long before they get shredded.

I always carry the important papers with me in my jacket's deepest pockets. And I never leave the jacket unattended, such as in a restaurant. A safe location can also be in your boots. Especially larger sums of money.