I wear an External catheter depending on which ride or rally I’m doing, external catheters are also called condom catheters and are In my opinion a great way to save time if that’s important to you. If you don’t have an auxiliary fuel cell on your bike, then you’re probably not riding in the group that would need to use external catheters because you’re stopping frequently enough to be wasting time for fuel stops. Adding a catheter to your regimen should be after adding a fuel cell.
I never urinate in a gas station or a restaurant, it simply takes too much time, you have to walk over to the facility, and often times grab a key or wait in line. Besides, I like to mark my territory across the beautiful country roads of America and not in gas stations or McDonald’s.
Doing a saddlesore or a 50CC doesn’t really Necessitate the use of a catheter to save time, however in a rally like ButtLite or the IBR, every minute really does count. I know of many of the top riders who use catheters, and also know plenty who do not. At that level a rider should have optimized multiple variables so that he/she is as efficient as possible. If you haven’t addressed many of those variables, I would start there before adding a catheter to your list. For me, in a “non-catheter” ride, I’ll pee When I need to and I just pull over stretch and do the deed. My morning constitutional, however, is always in a restaurant, hotel or a gas station. For that, I have not yet perfected the art of pooping in the woods.
I’ll place a catheter and typically wear it for 2 to 3 days until I’m at a stage end and staying in a hotel on a multi-day Rally. I’ve tried the catheter with a tube in a bag and that’s a terrible idea. Now I just have the tube that goes out the bottom of my pants connected with rubber bands to the outside of my boots and I stand on my bike and let loose. Miss took some training with mentally and physically to perfect this art.
If done correctly and if the catheters changed every several days then you should not develop a urinary tract infection.
For me on a long ride hydration is key and I will drink and Drink. It’s nice to know that urinating is not an issue which will slow me down. I calculate that I urinate about every 2 to 3 hours. On an 11 day ride if it takes 3.5 minutes to stop and Pee, and I’m peeing every 3 hours, that’s 88 stops. I’m out there riding because I love to ride, when my bladder is full it’s distracting and disturbing and I’m not having fun. And therefore pee when I need to pee. So three hours. Sometimes every five hours. If every five hours, that still 53 stops x 3.5 minutes. That includes slow down time, getting off the bike in an appropriate area, walking in appropriate distance, getting all of your motorcycle gear out of the way and then doing the deed, zipping back up and all your gear on and getting back to the bike and taking off. That’s a lot of time. On the multi-day rally that time adds up and certainly has been beneficial for me.
In the 2017 IBR on day nine I hit a deer in Montana and destroyed my bike and broke my leg. When I realized I was still alive, the first thing I did was reach down into my pants and pull off the condom catheter. I didn’t want to EMS team asking me, “what the hell?”