Moto Camping

[BeastieGirl]

I tried the self-inflating sleeping pads, but found an airbed doesn't take up much more space - the one I have now has a built in foot pump. I feel the comfort level is worth it, its comfier than a lot of motel beds I've slept it. I also find it warmer in the spring and fall to have that extra insulation between me and the ground.
I no longer have the Givi case, but when I did, the tent tucked in nicely just underneath it. However, I like my soft luggage set up better - gives me more flexibility for loading things on top, and its a lot lighter.
I think the biggest lesson I've learned in the years of camping is where to put my money and where you can cheap out. My $40.00 Canadian Tire tent is great for summer camping - in the spring and fall in the mountains, it just doesn't cut it. The ratings on sleeping bags are for survival, not for comfort. Your sleeping bag that is rated for 32 F may keep you alive - but at about 3:00 in the morning you will be wishing you were dead. After have slept in every article of clothing I brought with me, including my rain suit, under a sub-par sleeping bag - I put a good sleeping bag on the tops of my must haves.

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

For a tent floor saver you can always take a piece of tyvek, the house wrap and cut it to the same size as the base of your tent. Some people even make bivi bags out of it.

You're right about having a good sleeping bag in the mountains, it's surprising how cool it can be in July/August.

Lunchtime at the race track.

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

I keep all my camping gear strapped to my panniers lids in dry bags. In the one dry bag I have my tent and usually would squish in a small travel pillow. I have since purchased an inflatable pillow from MEC that is super small and much nicer support. On the other pannier I keep an air matte which I find essential for camping, I just can't sleep if on the ground. I also put in that dry bag two very small light spring sleeping bags, gives me warmth if I need it or is a good single light bag if it is hot outside. I usually stick a pair of walking shoes in there as well. With this all strapped to the lid leaves me with plenty of room in the panniers for whatever. Left pannier I keep my rain gear, laptop, tools, oil and a few pairs of gloves. In the right, I keep all the cloths I have brought for the trip, usually bring old stuff and just toss as I go which leaves me with more room as I go. Top case, water, power cables for the various devise I have, kindle, iPad, meds, etc. The bike is a real pack mule if I want it to be, it is nice having lots of options.

I'm in lust for your panniers.

Does the weight bother you in the twisties?

Suzi has hot dogs on the menu today, and I bring her kibble with me in a watertight container for when my morning oatmeal doesn't appeal.

Another good idea, what are you guys packing for food?

 

[wonderings]

I'm in lust for your panniers.

Does the weight bother you in the twisties?

Suzi has hot dogs on the menu today, and I bring her kibble with me in a watertight container for when my morning oatmeal doesn't appeal.

Another good idea, what are you guys packing for food?

I do not notice the weight at all when riding fully loaded. I went from west to east through the Adirondacks loaded up as you see in the pick (from the same trip out to Nova Scotia). The bike handled perfectly and did not notice the weight when moving. Mind you I can adjust the suspension electronically, so it was set for all the luggage which does make a big difference. A few weeks ago I was down south in Virginia and down to N. Carolina, did the dragon and the blue ridge. Pretty much same setup as the pics above except this I did not have the camping gear as I was hoteling it for this trip. Again handled great, not a single thing I could complain about.

I do not really pack food, I always keep water on me and a couple boxes of granola bars. I prefer to just pick up what I need where I stop from a local grocery store or go out to eat.

 

[AF4iK]

It's been a few years since I camped with the bike. Unfortunately my hard drive committed suicide so this is the only photo I have at the moment.

List of items I took:

- 20L Dry Sack
- Sleeping bag, self-inflating mat & pillow (all compact)
- Small tent from crappy tire
- Small tarp for base
- Backpack
- Small, disposable cooking stove
- One meal's worth of food (the rest bought along the way)
- Bungee net strapped all of the above to the tail

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

The Versys is a top heavy bike, and transitions in the twisties marvellously, until I load the back seat and top case for touring and camping, then I have to push it and add a wee bit of body English in the corners. I think adding SW motech quick release racks and my Givi e41s will be lower and let the bike tip in easier.

 

[deejizzle]

I will be making a write up after my trip at the end of next week, but basically:

Ninja 500
2-upping
wal-mart tent
wal-mart sleeping bag for me
junior sleeping bag for gf (she's tiny)
we just bought sleeping pads yesterday
butane grill
tarp

Luggage:

gears saddle bags - clothes, sleeping bags (or pads because sadly they are roughly the same size) - one side is his and one side is hers
tail rack with a generic duffle bag (although quite large) for our coleman butane grill, any cooking supplies as well as either the sleeping bags or pads, food), bungeed up real nice
tank bag - essentials, food for the road
we bought a small SOFT cooler this time around as well as some ice packs as we are going for 4 days, 3 nights, to be used on site and not to hold food on the road due to space

what i would change is EVERYTHING if money was no object. my ideal setup would probably be:

Triumph Sprint ST/GT
OEM hard panniers
givi 58L top box
tank bag
light-weight tents, pads, and sleeping bags

Ill try to make a ride report, but sadly it will probably be nowhere as epic as others.

 

[Schneller]

My Moto-camping days are behind me.

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

I will be making a write up after my trip at the end of next week, but basically:

Ninja 500
2-upping
wal-mart tent
wal-mart sleeping bag for me
junior sleeping bag for gf (she's tiny)
we just bought sleeping pads yesterday
butane grill
tarp

Luggage:

gears saddle bags - clothes, sleeping bags (or pads because sadly they are roughly the same size) - one side is his and one side is hers
tail rack with a generic duffle bag (although quite large) for our coleman butane grill, any cooking supplies as well as either the sleeping bags or pads, food), bungeed up real nice
tank bag - essentials, food for the road
we bought a small SOFT cooler this time around as well as some ice packs as we are going for 4 days, 3 nights, to be used on site and not to hold food on the road due to space

what i would change is EVERYTHING if money was no object. my ideal setup would probably be:

Triumph Sprint ST/GT
OEM hard panniers
givi 58L top box
tank bag
light-weight tents, pads, and sleeping bags

Ill try to make a ride report, but sadly it will probably be nowhere as epic as others.

It's all relative, riding two up with that much gear has my hat off to you.

 

[Bettyvee]

Deejizzle, pics or it ain't so

 

[rafiki911]

Hey Ron, I use the self inflating mat from Eurika. I find it 100 times better then a regular mat. Can't feel any bumps under you and the advantage over the regular inflatable beds is that it doesn't deflate until you need to pack it, it doesn't make any noice every time you move and it is a lot smaller than the inflatable ones and just a little wider than a foam matt. I lucked out and bought 2 extra ones from Nyx13 and on the camping trip to mosport I used two side by side and it solved the rolling around problem.

This is where I bought my first one... http://www.tentcityoutfitters.com/c/65/self-inflating

Canadian Tire has this one... http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/e...lassic-trekker-mat-0762494p.html#.U_pS1LN3vV8

 

[deejizzle]

Deejizzle, pics or it ain't so

I shall indeed upload some when I get back next week. Again, I wanna try to do a ride report to try and help out anyone else who may be as desperate to get out of the city with their squeeze, 2-upping. The new addition will be a rear rack, but no top case, just gunna bungie everything together.

 

[Schneller]

Rok straps are so much more secure than bungee cords. I highly recommend them.

 

[Scob]

My setup this weekend at Mosport:



- Kelty Ridgeway tent
- Eureka self-inflating pad
- some generic air mattress and Coleman sleeping bag
- trailer contains sleeping bag, cooking gear, cooler, and other odds n' ends
- fresh clothes in saddlebags, wet gear, etc.
- on fender - compression bag with air mattress and sleeping pad, camp chair, and tent

 

[Rotten_Ronnie]

I like the trailer you have there. I was there Friday and Saturday at Turn 4-5 with Suzi.

I tried out the alcohol stove in lieu of my SVEA123R brassie in an effort to save weight...

The stove drops on top of the 4oz fuel bottle, the windscreen is wrapped around inside the pot, and the lid drops over top of it all before it ends up in a stuff sack.

It's basically an aluminum beer can cut in half and pressed back together with pinholes for alcohol jets. I made one myself out of Pepsi cans, but it's not as good a job as this.

Okay, so I went through a lot more alcohol than I expected. I brought two bottles, a 4oz and an 8oz of methyl hydrate from wally mart, and I did a total of five burns with it, and used 2oz as liquid boy scout to get the morning fire going leaving me with 2oz left, so if I did another five meal weekend I'd bring two 8oz bottles plus a bit.

That being said, it would have worked better with a pot stand or a larger base on the pot as the flame spread was up the sides rather than splashed on the bottom of the pot, and if you want to boil water for a duration of time, I found I needed to refill and relight to cook hot dogs for example.

It did pack less and lighter than my brassie and spare 600ml bottle of naphtha, but it doesn't burn as hot.

With my camelbak and MSR dromedary 4L, I only needed to fill up with water once for the two days I was there.

 

[Scob]

I was set up on the hill overlooking turn 2 / 3.


I've used the beer can stove before when I was desperately looking to save weight but with the trailer, i now bring a propane unit if I'm planning on cooking meals.

 

[MSRP]

http://rottenxxxronnie.blogspot.ca/p/gone-to-dogs.html

Suzi loves camping especially when there are chipmunks close by.

I find I have a problem with the foam sleeping pads, perhaps the quality of the one I bought, Woods, so I use a larger and heavier Woods self inflating air mattress that keeps me off the rocks in a sort of comfort. I'm looking for an inexpensive replacement that bulks less, an inflatable perhaps?

Big Agnes has a super comfy inflatable for around that price, highly recommended. Bought one, haven't used it yet this year.
https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Pad/doublez

+ MSR pocket rocket or similar for lightweight-canister stoves.

 

[adv_round]

I was impressed with my SOL Z-lite pad... it doesn't look like much, but it kept me comfortable and warm the night I used it. I like how it can fold up and serve as a quasi pillow if needed -- it also worked well as a back rest the way I had it mounted on the passenger seat.

Ha! I did exact same thing, with exact same pad - I picked it up mid-trip. Wasn't sure about it, but it was really comfy, and I could arrange it in so many ways when strapping it back on the bike... settled on "back-rest" configuration.
I always worry about air mattress developing an air-leak in the middle of the trip, and take extra care when packing it. - SOL Z-lite on the other hand can take the abuse and still work.

I'm starting to think about losing the tools... I always carry basic stuff, but it still adds up and it is heavy. So far I never had to use any - other than once a tire patch kit + compressor, and zip-ties twice.... and I think I will just lose the rest...

 

[MacDoc]

Every time I fork out $120 for a motel I think about camping out. I would not cook - just sleep.

I have the tent already, Have the Kermit chair. Have the space in/on the Burgman.

This looks interesting

Battery on the MacBook Air lasts forever so I can read until I sleep.

Only the sleeping pad is the barrier.

I suppose I could snag it and try for the rest of the season ...have a sleeping bag somewhere....

Phuck it got the mattress pillow and 12 volt pump all from Neo-Air.. for $160....if it saves one or two Motels it's worth it.

I suspect all but the sleeping will go inside the Burgman and top case.
Put the sleeping bag behind the backrest.



I'll lose the knapsack - put more of the light stuff in the 52L top case and the 54 L under the seat will hold tent, chair, and other camping gear. I wear the camera anyways and just use the Thule waterproof sleeve for the Air.

Still have a few litres up front for various and sundry.

Might be fun.....as long as Celebrex works

Any suggestions for PA camp spots ??

 

[MSRP]

Pretty nifty, decent price, looks compact enough.
Too bad there are smaller, nicer, tents for just a few extra bucks.
https://huckberry.com/store/abel-brown/category/p/17481-nomad-tent