I love camping. I am a teacher and I'm off during the summer (except those summers I take a summer job- maybe 1/3 of my summers). One of the things I had in mind when buying a bike is possibly taking a cross country tour in the next 2-3 years, after some experience. In the meantime, I'm thinking about some weekend (first) and week long (later) camping trips, possibly starting with a short trip sometime this summer (take a weekend and go somewhere that is just 2-4 hours away). I may also take it on a non-camping weekend trip or two and to see family out of state as well (just to get some travel experience on it).
How many here have done motorcycle camping? What gear that you may "need" when car camping have you left behind when motorcycle camping? With all the stuff out there for backpackers there are plenty of small scale versions of camp gear, however backpackers need to worry about weight (won't be too big a deal on the bike) and minimizing weight adds to the cost of backpacking gear. What do you take with you, and do you try to squeeze regular camp gear into your bags, or do you spend extra for the unneeded weight savings to have the smaller sized backpacking gear?
I assume I pretty much need a tail bag. My tents (a nice 4 person Alps Mountaineering 3-season tent, and a cheap Bass Pro Shops house brand 4 person 4-season tent) will definitely not fit into my saddlebags. They may fit into a tail bag, though I assume I'd be better off with a 2 or 3 person backpacking tent (gee darn, an excuse to buy another tent ). I could always add storage by wearing a lightweight backpack, but that would prevent air circulation and my back would probably start to get a bit too warm. For travel, how convenient do you find tank bags? The map pocket would be nice (if I don't just get a motorcycle mount for my GPS or buy a motorcycle GPS). To have easy access to small bills for tolls I could use a tank bag or a windshield bag (I ride a cruiser and the windshield bag would probably "match" better, but for a trip practicality would matter more).
Does anyone have any tips, advice, good travel stories, etc?
How many here have done motorcycle camping? What gear that you may "need" when car camping have you left behind when motorcycle camping? With all the stuff out there for backpackers there are plenty of small scale versions of camp gear, however backpackers need to worry about weight (won't be too big a deal on the bike) and minimizing weight adds to the cost of backpacking gear. What do you take with you, and do you try to squeeze regular camp gear into your bags, or do you spend extra for the unneeded weight savings to have the smaller sized backpacking gear?
I assume I pretty much need a tail bag. My tents (a nice 4 person Alps Mountaineering 3-season tent, and a cheap Bass Pro Shops house brand 4 person 4-season tent) will definitely not fit into my saddlebags. They may fit into a tail bag, though I assume I'd be better off with a 2 or 3 person backpacking tent (gee darn, an excuse to buy another tent ). I could always add storage by wearing a lightweight backpack, but that would prevent air circulation and my back would probably start to get a bit too warm. For travel, how convenient do you find tank bags? The map pocket would be nice (if I don't just get a motorcycle mount for my GPS or buy a motorcycle GPS). To have easy access to small bills for tolls I could use a tank bag or a windshield bag (I ride a cruiser and the windshield bag would probably "match" better, but for a trip practicality would matter more).
Does anyone have any tips, advice, good travel stories, etc?