Long Ride Help...
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 367
Likes: 8
From: Pa, USA
Thread Starter
|
Tourer
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 367
Likes: 8
From: Pa, USA
If you are a Facebook user, check out this group on motorcycle camping.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/91857675680/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/91857675680/
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 367
Likes: 8
From: Pa, USA
I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I'm wondering just how much experience you've had doing primitive type camping? Unless your towing a trailer, no matter how carefully you plan and pack....your gonna be living under worse conditions then our pioneer forefathers. That ground is hard and cold. Weather can torture, fatigue can lead to mental errors and mistakes in judgement. If you were talking about a long weekend at a park a few hundred miles away from home.....I'd say rock on.
My advise is this.....Take some small three or four day circles and get some practice fine tuning your act. Make what improvements to your equipment and your personal needs as you learn. Then when the time comes make dang sure you have the funds available to allow you the luxury of as many nights you need sleeping indoors to keep your moral up along the way.
I do admire your spunk, just hope your not biting off more then you can chew.....
Good luck
My advise is this.....Take some small three or four day circles and get some practice fine tuning your act. Make what improvements to your equipment and your personal needs as you learn. Then when the time comes make dang sure you have the funds available to allow you the luxury of as many nights you need sleeping indoors to keep your moral up along the way.
I do admire your spunk, just hope your not biting off more then you can chew.....
Good luck
Last edited by OldIron61; Jan 1, 2015 at 11:40 PM.
senior experienced all-knowing leader of the unwise
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,957
Likes: 351
From: USA
Walmart(don't laugh) has recently added some really good lightweight camping gear. They have a small compact tent with plenty of room on the inside. They also have a very compact mummy sleeping bag that works quite well at temps over 50 degrees. It's really compact, so much so that no one will believe there's a full size sleeping bag in there. It actually rolls back up to where it will fit back in the pouch! They have a compact roll up air mattress that works well also. I have all three. You have to have an air pump for the mattress though. I use a 12V pump that plugs into the cigarette lighter. You can put everything but the tent in a saddlebag and have half the bag left for other stuff. I bought all this stuff because i have one bike with no saddlebags and i wanted to be able to pack stuff up and take longer trips on it without looking like an Okie moving to california in the great depression.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 14,438
Likes: 2,421
From: Pittsburgh, Pa
BTW - before anybody says it, I am a guy and have ***** that hNg down between my legs.
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Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 2,784
Likes: 52
From: Highlands, Texas
.....As to the seat, I read on here and need to find the thread, of a company that will install gel into the seat you already have, as I am a strong believer in a min seat. That way I should address the butt issues hopefully, if not I'll will need to get a different seat.
Have a great trip!
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,986
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From: NE Philly
Tourer
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 471
Likes: 1
From: St Louis Mo
Look at rei for equipment. Not the cheapest but they carry some good stuff. The web site http://www.recreation.gov/ is full of cheap or free campgrounds all over the country. Avoid the RV places like the KOA's, you can get a cheap motel for less.
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From: Directly above the center of the Earth
To the OP - you've gotten plenty of good advice on gear. If you think you'll worry about gear getting wet, the stout lawn and leaf trash bags hold up well and hold a lot. Hell, if worst came to worst, in a quick snap you can darn near cover almost 2/3 of your body just standing or sitting with one over your head if a downpour caught you unawares somehow.
As for the rain...just watch the horizon and *never* second-guess yourself into thinking you have a few more minutes (or a half hour, etc) until that rain cloud hits you. Find a good spot, set up the tent and await it and ride it out in the tent. Personally, any halfway decent tent that can be put up in five or ten minutes will work just fine (make sure it has a rainfly!!).
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: May 2010
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From: Puget Sound, WA.
In my early times I wore all my leather gear and slept in it too- a breakfast Marlboro, cup of coffee, and a donut got me through to the first drink at a bar-that was in California though.
It's not about a daydream of camping on the loose- it's about common sense.
Weather plays a big factor in riding longevity on a trip. If you get wet and the temps are in the 40s you need to restore your core temp to prevent hypothermia which will kill you untreated and without sufficient heat. I've gone on a trip from here in June with a lowland temp of 60 degrees only to find myself surrounded by snow in the summits. Altitude is just as important in camping decisions.
Heat is in those factors just as critical- blowing down the road in 70-80 degrees can give you a false sense of temperature that promotes heat stroke, and on a bike you'll slide down the slab without knowing why.
We talk about average bike rides but compare that with standard military equipment for the same purpose, what's the weight and size of an average infantry pack?
I'd rather 50/50 my plans about camping, but I'm more inclined to just Best Western it to: A. Reward myself. B. To be well rested for the next leg of the ride. C. Most BWs have morning breakfast for free and it saves me in cooking gear.
I sense this is going to turn into a "Real Bikers Camp" thread.
It's not about a daydream of camping on the loose- it's about common sense.
Weather plays a big factor in riding longevity on a trip. If you get wet and the temps are in the 40s you need to restore your core temp to prevent hypothermia which will kill you untreated and without sufficient heat. I've gone on a trip from here in June with a lowland temp of 60 degrees only to find myself surrounded by snow in the summits. Altitude is just as important in camping decisions.
Heat is in those factors just as critical- blowing down the road in 70-80 degrees can give you a false sense of temperature that promotes heat stroke, and on a bike you'll slide down the slab without knowing why.
We talk about average bike rides but compare that with standard military equipment for the same purpose, what's the weight and size of an average infantry pack?
I'd rather 50/50 my plans about camping, but I'm more inclined to just Best Western it to: A. Reward myself. B. To be well rested for the next leg of the ride. C. Most BWs have morning breakfast for free and it saves me in cooking gear.
I sense this is going to turn into a "Real Bikers Camp" thread.
Last edited by Sling Blade 14; Jan 4, 2015 at 05:24 AM.