Motorcycle Camping on an XS650

2M, I see now, that must be annoying. I was thinking about the Roswell kind of aliens. My wife keeps telling me not to bring up that subject.

Scott
 
<snip> Imagine that. Flat, level ground. With real dirt that holds stakes, lush green comfy grass. Real, straight trees. And, rain!<snip>...

2M......we still have our varmits here on the East coast......remind me to tell you about the Racoons from HELL one of these days. Skeeters?????? I've camped out on the sand dunes in Northern Flordia (where I was born and raised) and have seen CLOUDS of them rising off the tidal marsh right at sundown. No spray made by man can keep them off of you. But those stories are best saved for the campfire.

I have worked ALL over Texas.....I don't think you can name one town in the whole state that I haven't been at least as close as 50 miles to. I built transmission power lines that ran all over Texas.....I know some of the dirt 2M's talking about. West of the Mississippi things start to change.....not good or bad.....just different IMHO.

I'm back working some carzy hours so I'm going to have to wait a bit before I get back into the "gear" talk. Hang in there and PLEASE feel free to add any information/tips you want....everybodies welcome to join in.

Later fellows.........Gordon in a lush green NC
 
..I know some of the dirt 2M's talking about.

Dirt? You couldn't sweep up a 5 gallon bucketful from 40 acres. :laugh:

All I saw was rocks held in place with cactus roots. :wink2:
 

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Dirt? You couldn't sweep up a 5 gallon bucketful from 40 acres. :laugh:

All I saw was rocks held in place with cactus roots. :wink2:

Yep, your pic pretty much sums it up. Gordon's pics look so inviting.
Googling "motorcycle camping", there's tons of info out there. Quite popular.
I have lots of camping gear, but have the tendancy to overpack, and would look like this.

swiss-bike-overloaded.jpg



I'm amazed that Gordon can pack out a tarp, tent, bag, chair, ...etc., without overloading.
The tent poles alone seem to pose a challenge...
 
2M......I have that photo and it's one of my inspirations. There are a TON of them on line with all kinds of "overloads"......here's another one of my favorites, notice the color of the tarp and the extra pair of feet. :laugh:



When I started using the "cooler bags" I kept a real close eye on the weight. I figure MOST of our bikes were designed to carry a pillion.....so I figured if I never went over 100 lbs I should be go to go. The first trip with the cooler bags....I found out how important good wheel bearings and swing arm bushes (sp?) are. :doh: Lucky enough that bike's were "just" good enough to get me there and back home.



Some where in my notes I have all the weights written down with a total. My tools and spares ALWAYS are the heavy part....I'm almost embarrassed to show you my tool kit...talk about "overload" :laugh:

I've learned to do without some stuff ( unless I'm on the sidecar rig) and became a better at rigging....so now a days I've slimmed down a bit.

I'll get back on the bedding and some other gear (water proof bags....very important) soon......bear with me I'm struggling at work right now.

I'm 100% with FLEA......I could live out of a tent without any problems.....just give me food and gas money and I'll show ya. :bike: :laugh::wink2::laugh::)

Gordon in NC
 
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Those pictures are starting to bother me. I hate bungee cords with a passion, it's more like a phobia. I'll work through this, just because I like bike camping. I may have some pictures of my own to share, I'll see.

Scott
 
youse guys make me feel like such a piker! went 100 miles to rockerbox and loaded the bikes in the van for the trip. Then again when all the tents went rolling as the storm moved in the van stayed put and very dry. Note to self "big bike" cover on an XS + wind storm = very bad idea, sigh.
 


I've been riding with these guys for many years. Often, they camp. When they do, they have bigger bikes hauling the load. This was the first time I ever saw either of these bikes on a trailer. That SUV was packed full of stuff. It was a luxury camp! Dogwood Rally 2016.

The last time I camped on my XS650 was about 15 years ago. I had a simple tent, sleeping bag, and self inflating mattress (if you can call it that). I stopped before dark, pitched the tent, slept, woke up and packed up. I kept it moving. A dry tent is key.
 
That looks like too much work and over planning to load and trailer bikes and then to pack all of that stuff in a SUV. I'd be too worn out after that to enjoy myself. After all of that, why even take the bikes?

Ha, just not for me. I've done a lot of bike camping, mostly with the GoldWing and trailer. I like to mix it up, one night camping and maybe Motel 6 the next night, depending on the weather, stopping time and such. I've had some very enjoyable overnight camps at county fairgrounds. Usually they are only $10 a night and some have nice showers too.

My camping gear is pretty simple. Tent, sleeping bag, comforter, queen size air mattress, one burner propane for coffee and canned food, one saucepan, camp chair, plastic eating utensils, thermos, radio, not much more than that. It's been a long time since I camped with a smaller naked bike but I've done it and enjoyed it and it would be nice to do it again.

Scott
 
Those pictures are starting to bother me. I hate bungee cords with a passion, it's more like a phobia. I'll work through this, just because I like bike camping. I may have some pictures of my own to share, I'll see. Scott

I can understand that Scott. I use them but never pull them too tight and never rely on just one.....use two or three. Set them up so that if one fails.....the others are still doing the job.

I'll do a shot of the straps I use on the cooler bags......much more secure load holders but a pain all their own. I've started using a LARGE cargo net over the whole load.....not trying to hold the load down but GREAT for stuffing odd things in there
(like a jacket liner, water bottle, etc) without having to undo any of your tie downs.

Bungee, bungee, bungee.......take a deep breath.....let it out slowly....repeat....Bungee's aren't all that bad, Bungee's aren't all that bad....:wink2:

Gordon in NC

PS. Here ya go Scott.....I have used strap tie downs and bungees.......but find that the straps are a bit of a pain IMO.



Since I use a rear rack on all the bikes I camp off of.....I have to admit I find the bungees the easiest to deal with and I always carry extras.....guess it'd be a nightmare for you Scott.
 
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Some useless information. I was trying for under 100 lbs.

Cooler bags and luggage rack complete 20 lbs

Air Mattress, tarps, poncho 10 lbs

Clothes and sleeping bag 15 lbs

Fluids (for the bike) and spares 8 lbs

Cooking and camp gear 15 lbs

Lantern, stove and extra fuel 8 lbs

Camp chair, tent, extend poles 15 lbs

Tool pouch mounted to the front forks 9 lbs


I only carried enough food for one meal....for the night I got in and set up. Then I went out the next day to buy supplies....and used them up so I didn't have to carry any back.

Right at 100 lbs for that set up......my guess is I'm down to half that weight now. I've slept with a girls that weighed a lot more than that and would have carried any of them on the back of that bike......well......some of them only if it was REAL dark outside. :laugh

Gordon in NC......who when he gets time will weigh the load he took to the BIBR on the 1975 XS650B
 
one of best things to carry is a cheap mesh hammock ,you know the ones ,roll up to small ball size,takes up no room but gets you off the ground to relax,carry 1 in my 4x4 as well because with 4x4 only need 1 tree ,tie off the other end to bull bar,but with a bike magic if you can find 2 trees...ps..you can use as a small static fishing net as well if no-ones watching
 
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I find this thread very exciting.

Yeah what he said Gordon, your organization and efficiency . . . . . I'm in awe.
And your posts are timely for us. We are planning to visit some of the "Dark Sky" parks this year so camping will be part of it. But like Scott we will camp one night and motel the next. We now have side bags and a trunk but still am trying to get it together so it works. It has been a long while since we roughed it a week at a time. The pic is our first anniversary, this year our 40th. The little bride is a long suffering woman.
 

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The pic is our first anniversary, this year our 40th. The little bride is a long suffering woman.

Now to see a picture after 40 years.....how many bikes did you manage? If you find a good bride hang on to her....were 23 years, first wife, first bike still going...better not say that too loud :)

Mick
 
Hey Mick. Congrats on your 23 yrs. We have always had at least one bike around. Still have #2 but it hasn't run in years. I'm sure I should have parted it years ago but I look at it and see this in my head. That Honda was his 2nd also.
Kinda going sideways with this thread though. . . . .
 

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Anymore, this is me camping.






The first two pics are Blue Ridge Motorcycle Camp. The second two are the bunkhouse at Willville Motorcycle Camp.

In the third pic you can see all the stuff I carry for a week on the road. I even removed my rack. The down side is some of these places have two night minimum stays on the weekends and sometimes there are just no beds when I show up and that leaves me looking for a hotel. C'est la vie.

Gordon has me rethinking the tent. :bike:
 
Sorry I'm dragging on this but I'll get back on subject soon. I'm enjoying all the replies....40 years weekendrider.....you two make a very nice couple and it says a lot about both of you to have reached that point together....we should all be that lucky to find someone to share with. Mick's 23 years is working in that direction too.....hats off to both of you.

Weekendrider....it would be a hoot for you two to re-enact that photo???? 40 years later????

Marty wrote "a dry tent is key". I've always thought so too. Hence all the years under a tarp. But I'm leaning on the "cabin" thing more and more the older I get. My dream.....and plan is to give myself a "retirement gift"......it's already been approved by SWMBO and all I need to do now is keep stashing away a little here and there and finally retire.

I'm going to take 3 months and cross America on a motorcycle. Nothing that hasn't been done 1000's of times by others but something new for me. I plan on taking a modified version of the Trans America Bicycle trail. It was established back in 1976 and has been tweaked a bit here and there ever since. The whole route is two wheel friendly with all stops mapped out. I'll straighten out some of it but for the most part I'll be on it's slow moving two lanes all the way across America and back. I plan on a mixture of tent camping and motels. I did upgrade my tent this last go around to one of the types where you clip the tent to the poles instead of the old way of slipping the poles through a sleeve. I'll have to say that the set up time was cut in half. I've been planning this trip for two years now.....and at this point I've gone over the route enough I could almost do it without directions. I love the planning part of taking trips be it for a week or just one day.....for me it's almost like being there.

Okay......enough of that. I promise next post will be about bedding and weather tight gear.

Thank you fellows for joining in......it makes for a much better read with all the input.

See ya down the road.......your friend in NC, USA.......Gordon Gray
 
This isn't backpacking but using backpacking type equipment saves a lot of space. The tents and sleeping bags are quite compact. And there's no problem with the tent poles. They're broken down into short sections, mine are even shock corded together.

God bless the bungee cord I say. I notice you have some of the nice ones with the fully plastic molded over hooks. I got them too now, but have made do in the past with just normal ones. And yes, I carry a bunch of extras, lol.
 
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