Motorcycle camping

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With gas prices high and campgrounds sucky and full of rotten kids camping on your bike like the cowboys did back in the day is a interesting alternative.

I have a Honda 919 which is not perfect for long highway trips because it has a rather upright riding position and no fairing but it is not that bad either.
The dirtbike style seating makes rough roads and traffic much easier.
For luggage most of mine is improvised from canadian army gear because i worked in an surplus store. The gas mask bag is a great tank bag and the mag pouches are perfect for tools and fit on either side of my headlight.

You have to travel light but not as light as on foot. One issue is leaving the bike and not having it or everything attached to it stolen. I have a huge masterlock chain for the bike that looks like giant handcuffs and I keep everything valuable
and sellable in one bag that i can take with me.

camping is usually just a sleeping bag in a field but i would love a nice bivy bag. Once in a while i spring for a motel and a shower.
I also do a lot of crashing at friends places.


So what are your motorcycle camping thoughts and gear?
 
I am an avid motorcycle camper and have been for years. In fact, I took up motorcycling specifically to go camping by bike after reading "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

I started out doing pretty rough and basic, but I have gotten a little more "luxuriant" in recent years My current bike is a Kawasaki Concours, which is a sport-tourer with a full fairing/windshield, detachable luggage cases, and a huge gas tank. I got this bike specifically for long distance riding and touring, but it isn't overkill for local putting around either. My gear is mostly the same stuff that backpackers use:

Kelty Gunnison 2 tent
6'X8' tarp
Down 25 degree bag (or 40 degree synth bag)
Thermarest pad
Coleman 535 dual fuel stove or butane cartridge stove
folding grill
various messware
small folding chair
multitool, fixed blade, hatchet for edged tools
Platypus 2 liter bladders for water (with a homemade "shower" nozzle)
1st aid kit
tool kit for bike
Petzl headlamp and AA Maglite
assorted other stuff that any camper or backpacker would have

When I first started moto-saddletramping in the mid '90's, I had an '82 CX500 Honda, and my gear was a cheap sleeping bag, bivy shelter, clamshell messkit, GI canteen, can of Sterno, SAK, and my luggage was a student backpack and a laundry bag bungeed onto the seat. I was very roughly equipped, but I have never had so much fun as that first season of moto-camping!

I mostly camp in state or national forests (best), state parks (less great), or sometimes just in discrete spots where I am unlikely to bother anyone or be bothered (varies).
 
I'd like to do motorcycle camping on a BMW R1200GS or a well modded Kawasaki KLR650!

Off Topic: Read "Two Wheels Through Terror". It's the story of motorcycle camping/road trip through South America.
 
There is a forum for adventure riders, guyst that go offroad on long trips. Can see a lot of cool bike setups. from the pricy BMW GS to the yamaha PW 200.

Just google adventure rider forum.


Paul
 
I too ride a bike never done any camping on my yet as my main worry it people stealing... For now i do mostly twisty riding and getting around with it.. depands on the weather i want to ride up the PCH going north and stop on the way to camp where ever i find a spot. I ride an 05 sv naked with up graded suspension front and back.

Sasha
 
We do lots of ATV camping where we could travel heavy, but we still pack like backpackers.

As for motorcycle camping, we ride dual-sport. So to us, that means putting an ultralight pack on your back, and riding out into the wilderness. We will do road riding when necessary to link trails, but try to keep it on the dirt as much as possible.
 
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Been doing it for awhile on my GS. Rode from Ohio to Colorado about 6 years ago and camped in Ouray, then made my way through Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore and Sturgis...... 4400 miles in about 8 days!
My wife and I just got back from a Key West trip for our anniversary.

Hard bags are nice cause you can lock them up and they are weatherproof.
I have an 8 1/2 gallon tan on the bike and it goes about anywhere. Notice the homemade tank panniers I made out of two cheap backpacks!

ADVrider.com is a great resource for bikes, equipment reviews, motorcycle gear, ride reports and specific camping information all over the country and world! :thumbup:

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That is a pretty intense set up! I'm heavily considering picking up a bike after this winter but I don't think I'll be doing much camping with it. But then again, you never know.
 
wow, i was thinkin of starting this thread a couple days ago.

never done it before, but i want to. i'm more concerned about what the bike will need than myself.
 
FARNS!! What up!! Ive got farns's old front sest on my GS.. The wife and I just got back from a 7 day trup from denver-yellowstone-denver.. Pretty much anything you would backpack with is good to go on a motorcycle..

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Any specific questions, let me know..
 
On the Adventure Rider site, there is the wonderful cross-country trip of a young man from Korea, Wan, who made it from NC to CA to NC on a 50cc Honda Ruckus, very often camping in a bivy tent, hidden from the road. A really delightful read. More pictures than text, with vast numbers of Rukus Riders encouraging and aiding him.

http://totalruckus.com/Mobile/thread.php?topic_id=12143&&start=50

Check out Aerostich Rider Wearhouse...if not to buy, then to see what is available in motorcycle camping, and assorted other accessories. Top level stuff. Owner is fun...travelled across Mongolia on a GS. :0

Iron Butt is a specialized, pre-qualified rally, which covers 11,000 miles in 11 days. Some what insane, but Bob Higdon who used to write up the rally, is entertaining as hell.

To attend an organized rally...Honda, Moto Guzzi, BMW...etc...doesn't take much. Tent, sleeping bag, thermarest or the like, wallet. Usually food, water, showers, toilets...etc. on the sites.

Camping state, private (e.g,Jellystone) and federal campgrounds needs a little more equipment. Food, stove of some sort, implements for eating, cleaning...like that. Sometimes water. Depends. The commercial sites are set up for RVs, so usually there is a store around. Some grounds actually do not (or did not) welcome cyclists.

Never had anything stolen from tent, bike, or campsite.

Wilderness stuff? Never really did that over 30 years of cycle camping. A little, but nothing to note. Theft seems more unlikely, unless it would be by four-legged critters, but I may be naive.

One admonition...remember the cycle will be carrying the load, you need not have the smallest tent made in the world. I spent waaay too many days, lying in a nylon coffin (Bivy tent) during torential rains. Couldn't sit up, hell to change clothes, and just a pain to get to stuff. Bivies are great for light-weight, but if you are not carrying it, use a two man dome or whatever; tents are for more than sleeping.

Have fun if you do it. Biggest threat is on the road, in my opinion.



Kis
enjoy every sandwich.
 
I rode it like you sent it to me for a few months then took it to a local upolstery guy..He hooked it up!!

Before-

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After-

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I happen to camp and travel on motorcycle every so often too.

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If you want thoughts from me, basically, this is my first year on a bike, and thus, my first year camping on a bike. I started camping from a vehicle before this, so I have a lot of good stuff, but it's heavy. It's a never-ending endeavor to figure out what a person actually needs and what's just luxury..

Or, you could just go and buy a BMW 1200 GS and carry everything imaginable and be done with it (although fuel efficiency may suffer).

Locking saddle bags are a good thing, and then you can keep your tent/sleeping pad in the top bag. That way, your stuff's a little more safe. That being said, the premise of camping is to get away from people, and the further away from people I am, the safer my gear gets.

Travis
 
I've only been camping a few times with the bike and it wasn't necessarily because i wanted to. These days, it has become very tempting. I certainly have enough bike luggage to carry all my camping gear and it does have a very "camping on the cattle trail" kinda feel to it for some reason, just substituting a bike for a horse.

In olden times, I would just spring for a room somewhere or crash on someone's floor. The few times I had "camped" with my bike were events that I had only enough money to buy a ticket for and pay for gas to get there and back, so I slept next to my bike in some remote location on the ground. It was never fun, but then again I didn't have camping gear with me. I had counted on meeting someone at the event (of the opposite sex) to crash (make whoopie) with for the night. Occasionally my mack was not strong. lol
 
midnite-penguin said:
That is a pretty intense set up! I'm heavily considering picking up a bike after this winter but I don't think I'll be doing much camping with it. But then again, you never know.
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Buy it during the winter. Prices are at their lowest during this season...unless you live in California or Florida!
 
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