Motorcycle Camping Tents

[PrivatePilot]

Forum Sponsor

So, after spending a few "I have a lot of spare time on my hands" days tent shopping since this thread popped up here, I think I found the tent that I want that checks all the boxes:

- Easy up. Extend and click 5 poles, and boom, done.
- Integrated fly over the bottom 1/3 of the tent for lower half ventilation, but no separate fly hassles.
- Tear down is also dead easy and could even be done on a picnic table to avoid the bending routine that plays havok with my back/sciatica now.

It's a little bit bigger packed down than would be perfect, but meh...I'll strap it to the cargo rack on my top box and it'll be just fine.

Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown): Amazon.com: Books

Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown) on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown)

www.amazon.com

Demo video:

Of course, being the poster boy for murphys law, the one tent I finally decide fits the bill...is not available in Canada. Walmart.com and Amazon.com, all day long. .CA sites, no joy. Amazon.com sellers won't ship to Canada.

There's some listed on eBay but I'd rather avoid that to be honest as I've been once bitten twice shy by their "protection policy" that does anything but.

 

[Pegassus]

You guys still need a sleeping bag with that tent..... unless you plan on having tree roots and small rocks pressed against your back all night long. Tent floors are not padded.

 

[Mad Mike]

The film...Long Way 'Round... Ewan and Charley's trip around the world...

At one point Charley expresses how happy he his having his own tent... 'So he can "have a wank"

They are both wankers. Who needs 3 trucks and 14 support staff to do a 3000 km trip?

 

[GreyGhost]

You guys still need a sleeping bag with that tent..... unless you plan on having tree roots and small rocks pressed against your back all night long. Tent floors are not padded.

I carry a foam roll strapped to the bike. Not as comfy as self inflating but cant absorb water. A quick wipe with a cloth and it is dry.

 

[ToSlow]

I'm going to be carrying a 90l woods quest duffel bag that i'll strap across the passenger set, they say it waterproof. most all i have will fit in it. the rest I've got in my top box and side cases.

 

[ScorpionT16]

So, after spending a few "I have a lot of spare time on my hands" days tent shopping since this thread popped up here, I think I found the tent that I want that checks all the boxes:

- Easy up. Extend and click 5 poles, and boom, done.
- Integrated fly over the bottom 1/3 of the tent for lower half ventilation, but no separate fly hassles.
- Tear down is also dead easy and could even be done on a picnic table to avoid the bending routine that plays havok with my back/sciatica now.

It's a little bit bigger packed down than would be perfect, but meh...I'll strap it to the cargo rack on my top box and it'll be just fine.

Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown): Amazon.com: Books

Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown) on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Ozark Trail 4-Person 8' x 7' Instant A-Frame Tent (Brown)

www.amazon.com

Demo video:

Of course, being the poster boy for murphys law, the one tent I finally decide fits the bill...is not available in Canada. Walmart.com and Amazon.com, all day long. .CA sites, no joy. Amazon.com sellers won't ship to Canada.

There's some listed on eBay but I'd rather avoid that to be honest as I've been once bitten twice shy by their "protection policy" that does anything but.

14 lbs and 4 person!? why? There is so much choice locally for tents, even on sale at Atmosphere, Sail, La Cordee, etc... I'm a little confused why you need to carry something so big and hard to find in Canada, especially on a Motorcycle. Dual sport plus as the redvers tents on sale too.. Also I've never found setting up any tent hard to the point it has to come pre-assembled, its usually just click in 2-3 poles and done.

That tent reminds of the ones we used in the 80/90s in Kenya on Safari lol. The 3lbs Hammock I carry I felt was too heavy and bulky, add in a sleeping pad, sleeping bag, some essentials, it adds up

With so much ease and luxury expected from a nights stay, I wonder what will be done for a sleeping pad/mattress?

 

[PrivatePilot]

I don't care about weight. 14# for this one or 4# for the one I have, who cares when you're already riding a 1000# motorcycle?

And it is very much "click a few legs and it's done". Watch the video.

Read my earlier reasonings why this is what I want.

The only thing less than perfectly ideal is the length of it when packed (assuming the review where I found that measurement is correct) but it's also not something I'm going to sweat over - it's not like it's going to be bumping into cars in the other lane or anything.

I carry a foam roll strapped to the bike. Not as comfy as self inflating but cant absorb water. A quick wipe with a cloth and it is dry.

I got a self inflator from Costco a few years ago. Also not the most compact thing in the world (but see above reasons why I don't care) and it came in a waterproof carrying bag. I'd never used one before I got this one and was blown away how much of a difference it made for comfort - not only fo the little bit of softness it offers, but the amount of body heat it reflects instead of the ground sapping the heat out of you.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Also I've never found setting up any tent hard to the point it has to come pre-assembled

To be clear, it's not that I don't know how to assemble a tent. I've been camping for 35 years back to the era of the 150# canvas nightmares with the 1" steel poles.

The reality why I want a tent that is dead simple to setup is....sciatica and back problems. Anything I can do to avoid triggering a sciatica outbreak or blowing out my back is my goal. It could leave me sitting unable to ride, or worse, like my last major sciatica outbreak, hospitalized. Exactly that almost happened to me once last year when I rode out to Montreal to watch DTD fly for the first time in 25 years (for anyone who watches Plane Savers) and I cooked my back and triggered a minor sciatic outbreak crawling around on the ground in the dark trying to get my traditional tent setup, and then I made it worse in the morning tearing it down, rolling it up, etc.

I spent over an hour laying on the ground beside my bike before I could even get vertical and then it was an agonizing ride home. It was after that ride that I made a thread here on the topic...and it was a few weeks later that it was officially diagnosed as sciatica, and some of the underlying symptoms (numb leg and foot being the main one as well as tingling when I lay down to go to bed and uncompress the nerve) tell me that it's still a thing, just waiting for a trigger.

After you've dealt with those sort of realities, especially sciatica, your perspective tends to change....rapidly. The chances are low of hurting it on the road (it's not like I'm bedridden or not doing things around the house, I'd appear "normal" to most people) but having an outbreak near home is one thing, but having an outbreak when I'm potentially thousands of KM away from home is quite another. The Montreal thing cemented the fact that as much as I love moto camping, doing things to reduce the risk is important to me.

I wish it wasn't my reality, but it is.

 

[danp]

4 person tent is too big. Weight isn't as much of an issue as packed size. I got a 1 person and I'm 6'3. 2 person would be ideal so you can store your gear inside.

 

[Hack]

They are both wankers. Who needs 3 trucks and 14 support staff to do a 3000 km trip?

Agreed.
You have to keep in mind where they're coming from and why they do these trips.
Its entertainment and basically a commercial for whomever is supplying the means to do the trip.
LWR was basically a BMW promo...

I have far more respect for the riders that seem to be able to to the same trips solo and without any corporate sponsorship.

 

[PrivatePilot]

4 person tent is too big. Weight isn't as much of an issue as packed size. I got a 1 person and I'm 6'3. 2 person would be ideal so you can store your gear inside.

My current tent is 4 person.



That gives me room to take my luggage off my bike, spread out my sleeping pad and sleeping bag, have room for my jacket and clothing and such I'm getting changed into and out of, and still have some room to spare so that I'm not climbing over it all getting in and out of the tent.

It folds into a bag that's about 18"x5"x5". I'm not sure how this would be considered "too big" for any motorcycle. Are there smaller/lighter options? Absolutely. But we're not backpacking through the mountains where every ounce and every inch matters.

 

[PrivatePilot]

And lets be realistic, the claimed number of people a tent sleeps is ridiculous. It assumes everyone is sleeping nose to toes in mummy bags.

 

[ScorpionT16]

I don't care about weight. 14# for this one or 4# for the one I have, who cares when you're already riding a 1000# motorcycle?

And it is very much "click a few legs and it's done". Watch the video.

Read my earlier reasonings why this is what I want.

The only thing less than perfectly ideal is the length of it when packed (assuming the review where I found that measurement is correct) but it's also not something I'm going to sweat over - it's not like it's going to be bumping into cars in the other lane or anything.



I got a self inflator from Costco a few years ago. Also not the most compact thing in the world (but see above reasons why I don't care) and it came in a waterproof carrying bag. I'd never used one before I got this one and was blown away how much of a difference it made for comfort - not only fo the little bit of softness it offers, but the amount of body heat it reflects instead of the ground sapping the heat out of you.

Ah okay, hopefully you feel better and that pain doesn't come

I did watch the video, and didn't see it as much easier than a regular tent, though I could be missing something. Luckily i'm not riding a 1000lbs motorcycle lol, only a 420lb one which is the limit for me, I do a bit of off-road, and also did a lot of cycle touring, so count the ounces, to the point I'll cut a toothbrush in half ? So that mentality has stayed with me on the moto.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I did watch the video, and didn't see it as much easier than a regular tent

I just watched the video again to see exactly how long the setup time was - it was basically 40 seconds from the time he flopped it out of the bag until it was a fully setup and functional tent.

With any traditional tent you're going to spend more than 40 seconds just getting the collapsible fibreglass poles all reconnected to full length again, much less anything else. If there's video of someone out there putting up a traditional pole style tent that quickly I'd like to see it.

 

[timtune]

I have a 2 person MEC tent with vestibules for the bulky crap like boots and helmet. Works great.

Surprised nobody mentioned a chair. After a long day in the saddle a place to sit and sip a beer or smoke your weed (or both) is key. Especially if you are rough/vagrant camping - no picnic table at the free spots.

Skip the fancy ($$) chairs that fold into a small bag and just get a CTC folding chair. Yes you pay a weight & space penalty but they work and last. On more than one trip we had to detour to Crappy tire because someone's fancy chair broke.

 

[Trials]

Tent fly really should take water all the way to the ground where you wisely dug your little trench to drain it away.

 

[GreyGhost]

I have a 2 person MEC tent with vestibules for the bulky crap like boots and helmet. Works great.

Surprised nobody mentioned a chair. After a long day in the saddle a place to sit and sip a beer or smoke your weed (or both) is key. Especially if you are rough/vagrant camping - no picnic table at the free spots.

Skip the fancy ($$) chairs that fold into a small bag and just get a CTC folding chair. Yes you pay a weight & space penalty but they work and last. On more than one trip we had to detour to Crappy tire because someone's fancy chair broke.

I dont take a chair on bike trips. I am either riding or sleeping.

For other uses, I have a helinox knock off. The knockoff has adjustable length legs to adjust the tilt or level on uneven ground. It works well for me and packs damn small.

 

[Baggsy]

The tents pp uses are disposable for me. I've tried them, and they fail on the first outing.

The problem nowadays, is that the expensive tents, also tend to be made in China, right alongside the cheap ones.
Since that's the case, some of the cheap, low quality tents, may be closer to the expensive ones now.

 

[Trials]

Those camper cabins look pretty good.

 

[shanekingsley]

I'm going to be carrying a 90l woods quest duffel bag that i'll strap across the passenger set, they say it waterproof. most all i have will fit in it. the rest I've got in my top box and side cases.

View attachment 42771

That's a nice big bag. I like the colour of it too.
I use a 55L dry bag as well having topbox/sidecases and have never been able to fill my drybag on solo camping trips.

Forum Sponsor