How does your bike handle the camper? Acceleration, braking, tracking?

 

The next episode involving the Time Out Camper happened on Saturday night. After eating at the Millstone Restaurant on Lacrosse Street in Rapid City, I returned to the campground at around 7:00 PM. I looked at the radar on the Weather Channel on my iPhone and did not like what I saw. If you have an iPhone you know that your location is a white dot with a blue center surrounded by a blue translucent flashing halo. There was a line of thunderstorms heading towards that dot. Looking off to the Northwest, the sky was fast becoming very dark.

I climbed into the camper hoping that the storms would be brief. I hoped in vain. The camper was rocked mercilessly for two hours. I was parked broadside to the wind and I swear that the side into the wind bulged inward at least three feet. Three snaps to the left of the entrance came loose. That corner snapped and made racket the whole time. I figured that the whole canvas was going to leave the trailer at any moment. Of course, the storm waited until dark before it hit so I could not tell when it would be over except to stay tuned to the radar on The Weather Channel on the iPhone. It was spooky and scary at the same time.

When the wind finally subsided the rain continued for another 2 hours. I took my umbrella and flashlight out to assess any damage to the camper. There was none. I re-snapped the canvas by the entrance and noted that it was all the damage the wind managed to do and it was not actually damage. Water blew into the camper in that corner and also came through the zipper by the cooler but the water inside was not excessive.

I was amazed at how well this unit stood up to the fury of Mother Nature. In hindsight, I wish I would have snapped a couple of photos of how distorted the canvas on the windward side became. I was too busy being scared to think about that but it would have made a great photo. I will say this though. Me and that camper bonded after that night.

 

I won't sugarcoat it. This camper is heavy. You notice that on acceleration and braking. I am contemplating adding brakes. Also gas mileage went down to about 32 mpg. Even though the trailer is heavy and the gas mileage has slipped, I never felt uneasy towing it. I zipped up to 80 mph a few times to get around traffic and never felt any swaying whatsoever. All in all, I felt quite comfortable with the Time Out behind me. I highly recommend it.

 

My week in the Black Hills came to an end on Sunday, August 10. Time to fold the tent back into the trailer. The first photo below shows the tent folded into the trailer with some of the cargo packed in. The bed is not folded in yet. The next photo shows the bed folded in. The dressing area floor is still open at this point. Note that there is still some room to pack some things in there below the bed. Also, if you were setting up the tent and you arrived at this point you would be able to move the cargo to the edge of the floor if the ground around you is wet. You would be able to set up the tent with a majority of the cargo sitting on that floor. I know because I have done it.

The next photo shows the unit completely packed into the trailer followed by a photo of the trailer hooked to the bike. The mattress pads are in their vinyl bag beneath the vinyl cargo bag. Inside the cargo bag are two duffel bags containing a sleeping bag, the air mattress, sheets, blanket, pillows and four towels, big fluffy towels. I was wondering how I was going to pack these things until I looked at the thread started by mrclean28h. His photos cleared up my concern. Thank you mrclean28h. The two vinyl bags are equipped with straps that I fastened to the legs of the bed. I had no problem on the way home.

I like my new camper and I am glad I bit the bullet and sprung for it. I am looking forward to more camping trips. Thanks for staying with me on this narrative. If there are questions, I will try to answer them.

 

We had an incident with wind in Sturgis. I attached 4 ropes to the tabs at the top, and always anchor the ropes down if I'm in an open area. Had the trailer move 6 inches, but the tiedowns held. We weren't in the trailer when it happened