You guys may recall I just bought a new bike! This is my first mods to the bike.



After its breakin, 600 miles, I took it on its trial by fire a 600 mile trip in 48 hours. The bike did surprisingly well. It was smoother than expected so decided to do the next upgrades.

On order is a mid-size sissy bar, back luggage rack, and new Mustang Touring seat which gives 9" of lower back support. I don't need all of this for touring to a buddies house or a Holiday Inn, the saddle bags do fine for that.

My intent is to add one of these after the mods are in place.



Since I hike camp now, this pack will hold all my hike gear for up to a 3 day camping adventure.

Use to do this alot years back and its a heck of alot of fun. These days there are campgrounds designated for motorcycles but a nice wide spot in a national forest does just as well. This is a fantastic way to live the Easy Rider experience (well I CCW so will skip the redneck beat your head with the ballbat part or shoot you from a pickup truck).

Any of you guys ever do this?

Tj

that looks good TJ. i've never taken an overnight trip with my bike before, but that might change this year.

Its alot of fun. I did it a heck of alot in the 80s.

You bascially use the same gear as a hiker and if the only place you have to camp is like a state park campground all the other campers are fascinated by the idea. They try to feed you and stuff which is kind of cool.

We bascially use, ultralight pack tent and ultralight sleeping bags both about the size of a small loaf of bread. Then take mainly freeze dried foods and a pack of cracker which all you need is to boil water so a small hiking stove works great. I actually before I got high tech used a cheap Sterno folding stove. Of course in summer, simply a fleace blanket is fine instead of a sleeping bag which are like $5 at Walgreens and a poncho can replace a tent with a little paracord. Add a headlamp, candle lantern, or the new Rock River 1 watt LED lantern and you have most of the stuff people have truck camping. Of course, a flask or two of Rare Breed and a couple good Cuban cigars is mandatory.

I figure all the camp gear will fit in the lower portion of that pack. I can use the upper part for clothes. Then strap a couple ground pads behing the pack. Four Nalgenes of water in the saddle bags is pretty normal for me anyway. Really cool is I have a couple of the small fold down stools which fit in the bags even with the water and my leathers.

For a first try, you can go real cheap fleace blanket, cheap foam pad, poncho, paracord, sterno stove, and freeze dried food, grain bars for breakfast, jerky for lunch, small cans of fruit for munchies, one Nalgene or two 20oz water bottles, plus your lights. That's about $50 in gear max and will fit in a butt pack which can be tied down to a back seat without saddle bags, back rest, etc. You simply fill your butt pack with your clothes and that becomes your pillow. This is the setup I use on my Street/Trail bike which only only has a single luggage rack. If you go to a campground, they have picnic tables, bath houses, and after setting up a camp, you can do a short run to the grocery store.

There are two motorcycle campgrounds here at the Dragon and one has a deli so you don't even need food. There's one campground up on the Foothills Parkway which is on the way to the Dragon that is high enough that its like AC in the summer. Its a Federal campground so really nice sand tent sites and all shaded.

It really is a unique camping experience combining the thrill of motorcycling with the hiking experience less the hike.

TJ

i went poking around on my SV sight the other day looking to see if someone would lend me some bags for the trip in september. a guy actually gave a me a set of really nice bags for just the cost of shipping.

i'm gonna have to do some shopping and get some stuff. this sounds like it could get addicting.

Two things really limit motorcycle long hauls. The first is money and the second is where you park your bike. Even if you have the cash for a hotel, the idea of the bike being left unattended in the parking lot is discouaging. Some people of course park right in front of the office door at hotels but if you spend alot of time in hotels you know most night clerks sleep the late hours and so do the crooks.

By camping, you solve both problems. A camp spot even in a camprround is around $15 a night and you are sleeping right next to your bike. About any long haul you can come up, you will go buy a state park etc. Heck my last long haul up US23 into KY which is nowheresville and still went by three state parks.

Tj

TJ echoes my sentiments. No reason to spend $75 a night on a motel when camping is alot cheaper and more fun.
I've spent time at the Cherohala MC Resort in Tellico Plains, Tennessee and at BRMC in Cruso, NC. Both run by great folks! We have our annual KLR rallies there.
Lately, I've gone out into the National Forest here (my BIG back yard . . . ), and find a comfy spot to camp. After dusk, I listen to the coyotes howl.



My little Bivy Tent ($25 from Sportsman's Guide) works very well for this. It's roomy enough for a Security Squad Sized guy like me, and weighs 2.5lbs when stowed. Worked fine in a moderate rain.
LED MiniLantern and LED headlight provide plenty illumination. Careful laying your bladderpack on the ground though - this was drought season, and the fireants decided they wanted the condensation! It was a hard-fought battle to get my pack back from them!

I camped with my Bandit for a little over a week on my deal's gap trip back in the fall. I got a good tailpack and softbags and used the tankbag I already had. The only thing not in the bags was my tent, which I had strapped on the back of the tailpack. My rules for the trip were pretty simple, stay low budget, no eating out,commit no more than 2 felonies for reckless driving, etc, and no motels, no matter how crappy the weather. I stuck to it, but it was a learning experience, since that was my first touring trip. I'll definitely do it again, but next time I'll take the interstate instead of riding backroads just for the sake of doing it. 12+ hours in the saddle on a stock seat is NOT my idea of fun.

I'm going to give it a try this summer when I ride down to Oregon.

I've always had a support vehicle...so I've never worried about what to pack.

I'm looking forward to the solitude of a 2500 mile ride without hotels, people, or much of anything else....like the wife and kid.

I have been wanting to get a bike to do this.

But I have so much gear with me I dont think its fesable for me.

All the camping gear plus the photo gear and water would really weight me down.

I'd need some kind of mini trailer or something.
And I don't really want a tour bike.
More like something you got.