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!
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!