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Camping with the V-Strom

7K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  Tnkrplt 
#1 ·
Last weekend my wife and I went for our first motorcycle camping trip. We headed up to the St Croix State Forest for a few nights and some trail riding.

The V-Strom was great for the trip. The stock panniers on the Adventure were adequate for what we needed, but we did pack 2 extra 40L dry bags for extra creature comforts.

The ride was about 2 hours (140 Miles) with a mix of Interstate and state highways. The strom had no issues at 75MPH riding two-up fully loaded.

Because I wasn't sure if my wife would like trips on the bike, I didn't invest in expensive dry bags. The 40L bags I used were $12 each and worked well. I don't think they will give me a lifetime of use, but a few years would be nice.



The state forest provided sparse accommodations with pit toilets and hand pumped well water. The campsites did have a fire ring and picnic table. The nice part was out of 22 sites only 3 were occupied and we had ample privacy.



For the trip we picked up a Mountainsmith Celestial 2-Person Tent. At just under 5lbs and a packed size of 7.5 x 18 inches it easily fit in the small pannier with our sleeping pads.



Our Flex Lite chairs from REI were a great addition as our normal car camping chairs would have been way too big.



I have been using an ultra light stove that was super cheap on Amazon and grabbed one more for the trip to make cooking and heating water for clean up easier. (For $6 it is hard to beat)



I am happy to report that the strom does well as a wood hauler... It does elicit odd looks from the locals.



The strom with stock tires handled OK on the forest service roads but was abysmal on the ATV/OHM trials. We got pretty buried in deep sand and jostled around uncomfortably by the loose rock on Gandy Dancer. Ill need to upgrade the tires before convincing my wife to get back on the bike off road :var_6:

If you head up to the area, I highly recommend Pardun's Canoe Rental. A lovely husband and wife own it and they are extremely customer focused.

Overall it was a great trip and my wife has decided that a longer trip to Colorado may be in the cards for next year!



 
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#5 ·
Camping is fun, I get out every year for a week in the woods. I travel alone so I don't need all the comforts a couple would need, my wife has barely glanced at my bike since I bought it, she is the sensible type who prefers to stay home and look at pictures later. Even if our kids were all grown up I doubt she would ever ride with me.

I rode 3 years in Northern BC, Yukon, NWT. Maybe next year I will go South again, Oregon perhaps, I hear there are lots of great roads inland. Another thought is to maybe do the run to Juneau AK, some ferries in there and amazing sights.
 
#9 ·
Very nice and very sweet. I started riding just a few years ago and my new girlfriend of a year now loves to ride 2up. Im so glad to hear that your wee handled 2 up very well. Thats a fascinating journey you did with the wifey. GOAL for the hubby. Enjoy!!!
 
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#10 ·
Awesome sounding trip. I did something very similar (my first). The Strom did everything it needed to do. Not sure what it couldn't handle. Although i stayed on pavement the whole time.

The feeling of freedom on a bike coupled with the freedom of being able to camp off of the bike is really quite priceless.

For good or bad, my wife says "no way!" to coming with me.
 
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#13 ·
I did a trip on a Katana 600 last summer. My wife also has no intent on riding with me (though she did ride my sons XR100 for the first time last weekend and was laughing and having a lot of fun) so we will see about getting her on the Vee.
I did 6 days and over 1700 miles. I carried everything I needed for the trip from the start. Some people said my bike looked like a modern day pack mule!
 

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#15 ·
The same weekend my wife and I went on our first motorcycle trip together as well. We went camping at Algonquin Park, Ontario. It was a great weekend, a lot of fun! Has it's advantages over traveling with the guys!
 
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#16 ·
Thanks for this report. I have almost the same camping gear and just recently traded a Kawasaki cruiser for a new Wee, so I could take my wife camping with me ! I 'll be sure and show her this and all the pics. The bike rides so well 2 up, it's nice to see it with all the gear on.
 
#18 ·
Because I wasn't sure if my wife would like trips on the bike, I didn't invest in expensive dry bags. The 40L bags I used were $12 each and worked well. I don't think they will give me a lifetime of use, but a few years would be nice.
These bags are great! I used one on a month long trip across the country and I never had any issues with it leaking. Great bang for the buck!
 
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