Lisa, My husband and I have some experience with ferrets and motorcycles which might be helpful. It is a bit tricky to ride with them and I was never entirely comfortable about taking them with us for a number of reasons. We used to live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and took our ferrets (Rocky and Mabel) to the Animal Medical Center for veterinary care. Once, when Rocky suddenly became very ill, we jumped on the bike and I held Rocky inside my jacket on the way to Emergency Care at AMC in Manhattan while my husband rode the bike in. It only took 10 minutes as opposed to 45 minutes by subway. We got him there in record time which was very important at the time. Because he was so sick and I held him close to me there was no problem. We also occasionally took them with us when we rode out to Long Island (about 45 minutes to an hour ride) on weekends. Because there were two ferrets I put them in one of those soft pet carriers where you can roll up the side flaps for ventilation. Then I slung the strap across my shoulder and held them on my hip. Not exactly an ideal solution, but it was a short ride. They were very rambunctious during these rides. They would claw the sides in an effort to get out. They seemed to like the wind, but not the bumpiness of the ride (which is inevitable in the NYC area - the roads are horrible to ride on). In brief, here are the main issues I noted in riding with ferrets: 1) In warm or even hot weather it is difficult to keep them from getting overheated. I'm sure you know that ferrets can become seriously ill in a matter of minutes if they become overheated. This is probably my main concern. When you're moving it's not a problem but a traffic jam or even a long wait at a traffic light can cause them to overheat quickly. Keeping them in a saddle bag is probably not a great idea, either, since they can squirm through the tiniest openings and the locked pannards (sp?) would not provide sufficient ventilation. In either case during warm weather, I believe ferrets would overheat quickly. 2) Because ferrets are really explorers at heart, they really do need monitoring during the ride. If you're riding two up the passenger can hold or keep an eye on them (which is how we've always done it). If you're riding solo its harder to keep an eye on them. You say you've got a large bike. You could create a carrier and mount it to the back or maybe even the tank, but you would have to have some way to shade them and protect them from sudden rain showers, etc. And, it's yet another thing to concentrate on while you're riding - especially if your're riding alone. I'm not saying it's impossible to do - I just think that solo riders should work through these issues so that both they and their ferrets have a safe ride. As I said, I was never really comfortable with them on the bike and we probably took them out for a ride only a half dozen times. (But then we never really tried to develop a system for routinely carrying them on trips.) I found them to be quite a handful while riding. Perhaps other riders have hard more success or enjoyed it more. I would recommend a short trial ride if you're serious about taking them to see how they like it and how much fun or distraction they are for you. Also it will help to work out the logistics. I hope these thoughts are helpful to you. Have fun and ride safe! Fran Harris [Posted in FML issue 1461]