Carrying on a Motorcycle

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When I am on my Road King I carried in a level 2 owb holster or in a tank bag/saddle bag. my "heavy" jacket has a perfect little pocket on the left side middle that my CW9 disappears in.
 
One thing I will say: be careful of carrying off body (saddle bags and such) on a motorcycle. I was at a GSSF match once and one guy managed to partially melt the frame of his Glock that was in some level of contact with the exhaust pipe. It was enough to render the gun inoperable.

Glock had an armorer on site and he managed to get the gun working again (though it was visually still a bit scarred), but it certainly was a surprise. Not really a problem for me since I don't ride so I still carry polymer guns, but your comment definitely brought back that memory :).
 
I’ve ridden motorcycles most of my life. I go on multi day long distance rides. I’ve packed a gun in locked saddle bags, more so I can have it with me at the end of the day, since I’ll stay in low end motels along the way and go for walks at night.

I very rarely carry a pistol on my body when riding. If I do, there is always a piece of armor between me and the gun. Dress for the crash.

My view generally is I should be able to get away from trouble on the road, on my bike, in the very rare case danger might presents itself, so for me it’s not worth the hassle. I have a track day and sport bike background, even though I ride Harley’s these days. For me, a throttle is a better tool on the road than a gun.
 
I had to give up riding due to health reasons. When I did ride, I carried just like I do any other time. I use an IWB holster worn at 3:00 position. I always wore some type of vest when I rode so that helped keep my shirt down. I did have a couple of crashes and the gun stayed put and did not hurt me.
 
One of the main reasons I went with an LCP for my first carry gun was how thin it was for carrying while riding. Bikes are gone now, but when I did ride I kept mine in a zippered chest pocket, both my mesh and leather jacket had one. My winter riding jacket had snap hands pockets which is where I kept it on colder days. I went down twice, the first time I slid on wet pavement on my chest for about 30 yards, even with the gun there on my chest it didn't leave a mark. The other time I slid on my butt backwards for about 20 yards before slamming hard into an embankment, if I had kept a j-frame back there in the 3:30 position(which was my non-riding method of carrying at the time) I would have been in some serious hurt.

Most of the other guys I rode with had larger double stacks, and most of them kept theirs in tank bags. One guy had a shoulder holster, I saw the benefit of that method when one morning we passed a guy standing in his yard throwing rocks at us, hitting at least one rider in the shoulder with a golf-ball sized rock. Shoulder holster guy and another unarmed rider turned around and had words with rock guy, rock guy picked up a baseball-sized rock and was about to chuck at him when shoulder holster guy (who already had his jacket partially unzipped) pulled his jacket aside and "brandished" his concealed gun. Rock guy dropped the rock and ran into his house.
 
When I carried on my motorcycle, it was my Makarov in the small of my back. My riding jacket was long enough to cover it, even when I was leaned forward on my old Suzuki V-Strom. I used to be concerned about landing on it in the event of a crash, but in a serious accident, the gun is only one spot on the body as I you go tumbling down the pavement. Eventually, I just stopped carrying altogether as I didn't see the need.
AFAIK, nobody ever saw the gun in its holster, and I was more worried about people seeing it as I got off the bike and stowed my helmet and jacket in the hard bags, than when I was riding.
Last thing I wanted was a run-in with the police because nervous Nelly saw me walking into a 7-11 on a hot day for a Slurpee and some gas, when I was slipping my shirt over the gun after taking my jacket off.
 
Years ago here was an advertisement in the back of Cycle World magazines for the “world’s coolest jacket”. Their claim was they studied hundreds of motorcycle wrecks and came to the conclusion that there were certain areas on the body that “rarely” made contact with the road. Anyway one of the areas was under the arms. When I rode I never carried on my body, but always in the tank bag in a “purse” type bag…granted it would take a month and a half to get to it, but the bike is faster than anything else on the road so I could always unass the situation if needed.
 
Before Texas was open carry, I made more effort to cover my carry, wearing a jacket most of the time. Not always that pleasant at 905-105 degrees. Since the law changed, I make little effort to conceal and sometimes do carry OWB on longer rides. The bulk of my riding is with my PPS M1 in my old Comp-tac IWB holster - the same as when I drive a car or truck. About the only place I just don't carry - on my bicycle. I will say on longer runs - 150 miles or so, I sometimes just pull the pistol and stick in the trunk or saddle bag on my Harley bagger. I like my comfort.
I will say that when I returned to riding about 15 years ago or so, I fretted about carrying when heading out to Big Bend, Davis Mountains, etc. and thought I would benefit from a little more firepower, so I would keep a S&W 357 handy as a second gun, but set aside such worrisome ways.
 
I don't know about motorcycle crashes, but I had my CZ 82 in my truck and had a catastrophic blowout on the interstate once. Rear tire sidewall disintegrated, truck "sat down" and couldn't be steered. We went into the median, and then rolled 3-4 times. Luckily nobody was hurt, and other witnessed helped avoid a big ticket (literally nothing we could do, the small truck was too top-heavy and it just veered left when it happened).

One of those eyewitnesses returned my gun to me. It had been in the console between the seats, and during the roll it came free, went through a closed window and landed over 50 yds away. No functional damage, no discharge, and it still shoots. But very lucky it didn't strike one of us in the head... if it had the force to shatter a window and fly that far, it definitely could have seriously injured somebody inside the truck.
 
This is my current ride, a 92 Harley Ultra Classic. I got the bike a few years ago with 5,000 miles on it. The bike like me is sort of retro considering it is 28 years old.. At 70 I am thinking next year I get a trike. I think the bike is getting both heavier and taller. :) Over all the years bikes have been my escape and I simply love to ride.

Bike%20Tour%20Pack.png

This is my current carry gun, a 3" 45ACP Kimber Ultra CDP:

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I carry it in the seen image at about 4:00 O'Clock. Here in Ohio open carry is permitted and no permit required but I normally carry concealed using just a hoodie extending below my waist. I seldom carry the extra magazines.

Ron
 
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I usually prefer an OWB pancake holster with a thumb snap when I ride my crouch rockets... I plan on moving away from the crouch rockets to one of these:

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Got to keep it light and sporty. I'm not quit at @Reloadron age yet.
 
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