[Guyver]

This might be somewhat long. So here's the short version. I just got back from a 3 day solo ride through Sequoia and Kings Canyon National/State parks. I met three other riders all on different bikes and heard their stories while I was out. It was interesting......especially the guy who was on his way back from Alaska on a Kawasaki Vulcan!!!

The long version.

I'm new to "Adventure Riding" but have been on bikes all my life. It has taken me two years to decide that I wanted to turn my Wee into one...but I've been working on it. I'm still short heated grips, side cases, and an auxilliary outlet. Anyway, this is my fourth trip camping and riding on just the bike.

So, some friends were going camping for a week in their motorhome in the Sequoias. I thought it would be fun to join them on my bike. But, I thought I also would go off solo for a few days if the spirit moved me. Here's what I wanted to take.

TBC (continued)

 

[Guyver]

Well, not having side cases...that was too much. Even though I went to Target and spent 30 bucks on a "tote" that was the right size for my bike...I couldn't get everything in there. I had to modify the bottom of the luggage so it wouldn't mess up my new seat. Anyway.....

I repacked.....tossed out the axe, the frisbee, and a few other things....and still had too much stuff strapped on the bike. Laugh if you must..

TBC

 

[p38arover]

I repacked.....tossed out the axe,

Yep, you wouldn't want to be arrested for carrying a concealed axe! :mrgreen:

Why not a tomahawk?

 

[Guyver]

Anyway....I was only going for 3 - 5 days. The first guy I met was a young guy in his twenties on his 8th week on a trip from Philly to Seattle on a BMW r1150gs. I couldn't believe how little gear he had on his bike. About 1/3 of the stuff I had. But...he had the proper bike right....

The next guy was also in his twenties and he was going from Minnesota to LA, then Seattle and back on this.

Now mind you, when I met him he was in a high altitude campground - offroad on this thing. He was six weeks into his trip. He only had highway cruiser pegs on that thing. I couldn't believe it. He had all his gear stuffed into a flimsy little pair of small, soft, side cases and a large water proof duffle bag he strapped into the passenger seat. If you want to call it that.....about six inches of seat.

The last guy was on this...

He was on his third week, and way home to San Diego from Alaska. He had the side cases stuffed, had a five gallon gas can strapped into the passenger seat, and had a duffle with his tent and sleeping bag strapped in. He also had probably less than a third of the crap I was hauling.

He only took one pair of pants, one sweatshirt, several t shirts, some underwear, socks, and a few essentials with him. He basically lived in his one-piece tourmaster riding suit. He said it's good to around 20 degrees or so. Also a guy in his twenties.

I just couldn't believe that these guys were riding these "non-adventure" bikes so far and with so little? Young and dumb, or bold and audacious?

 

[Guyver]

Those pictures were small. That's a Honda Shadow and a Kawasaki Vulcan. FYI.

 

[Guyver]

Yep, you wouldn't want to be arrested for carrying a concealed axe! :mrgreen:

Why not a tomahawk?

haaha! Yeah, that is a good weapon. But, I only tossed it because I was trying to minimize and it was too big. I guess my minimization was a fail. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[happypuppy]

oh oh... I think you figured it out. Adventure bikes don't exist. Riders do however. In '75 post Vietnam , I went from SF to the East Coast twice on far too many roads I should not have on a CB 350. A sleeping bag, Jerky ,Canteen and whatever cash I had. Going alone is fun, I had been around a lot of people and it was nice to just meet people 1 on 1 again.

 

[RichDesmond]

Why on gods earth would you bring an axe?? And what's that thing in the center of the photo that looks like a scale??

 

[Improperly Torqued]

Why on gods earth would you bring an axe??

Ever camp in national forests? Ever need firewood? Ever wander down a forest road to find a nice quiet spot, sleep through a storm, and awaken to find a big tree limb blocking your only road back out?

Guess not. :biggrinjester:

 

[Improperly Torqued]

And what's that thing in the center of the photo that looks like a scale??

That's a radio or music player of some sort.

Say, you don't get out much, do you? :biggrinjester:

 

[Guyver]

That's a radio.

Say, you don't get out much, do you? :biggrinjester:

LOL! I hate to use that overworked net-ese-ism it but it works here. Yeah, its a radio. And specifically it's an Altec Lansing In Motion Ipod dock. It is an awesome little unit that has been with me for years now on many adventures, bikes or no. Love it.

PS. Looks like a scale??!! I don't even want to ask...

 

[garandman]

Ever camp in national forests? Ever need firewood? Ever wander down a forest road to find a nice quiet spot, sleep through a storm, and awaken to find a big tree limb blocking your only road back out?

Guess not. :biggrinjester:

No, I've never had to do that for a motorcycle. A few tree limbs or even a tree or two seldom create much of an obstacle.

I'm not clear: are you asking for advice, or offering your own? A cable saw, WWII USMC Ka Bar pattern knife, machete or USGI entrenching tool are all smaller, lighter, and have more utility than an axe.

 

[jdude999]

PS. Looks like a scale??!! I don't even want to ask...

Now you know why he doesn't get out much....


:green_lol:

 

[jdude999]

You tossed the Frisbee???

I can't believe that! Such a versatile tool, yet it takes up so little space. You can use it to help dig yourself out of the sand, or scoop water from a stream. It can keep the sun or rain off of your melon, or you can pan for gold. You can use it for a plate or to swat flies. It can keep track of precious parts during road side repairs or knock a quail out when you run out of rations. It's the original Swiss Army Disc. You can even use it as a FRISBEE! :jawdrop: :yesnod:

I agree about the axe, though. An axe? Geezuz. Of course, you could have strapped it to your crash bars and told everyone it was an old timey hand shifter thingy.

 

[TrophyHunter]

Good on ya for gettin' out there! Yeah, we're all spoiled. I read a book a few months ago about a British military officer who rode across the USA in 1919 on this....(not sure if it's the exact year but it matches the pic in the book..printed in 1922)

Best quote...."I didn't have to shoot anyone, and nobody shot me"

Great read. He got about 800 miles out of the cylinders before they were toast. Metalurgy has made some advancements.

I still can't find the time to camp or do a multi day trip so I appreciate the post.

 

[jdude999]

Good on ya for gettin' out there!

I still can't find the time to camp or do a multi day trip so I appreciate the post.

+1.
I'm planning a week long trip next year for my 50th B-day. I need to get in a few over nighters before then to work out the kinks.

 

[Buster452]

Just start doing some weekend camping trips and you'll start to figure out what works and what doesn't.

I'm no expert, but learning. Carry stuff that has multiple uses.

I'm starting to realize the requirements for motorcycle camping are very similar to backpacking/hiking. While weight is not a huge concern, space is a premium.

Good to see you have a towel. Never leave home without a towel. To quote Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy;
"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."."

 

[Guyver]

Excellent comments are coming in. I agree that gearing up for backpacking while biking is a good plan. I was surprised how minimal the guys I met were. I was obviously going with some of the comforts. As you can imagine, the guys I met were grungy. I think for me a happy medium between the two is a good idea.

And I sometimes like to stop and check things out. The guy who did Alaska was going 5 - 8 hundred miles each day. Hard to really appreciate what your riding past at that rate, I would imagine.

 

[bwringer]

Ever camp in national forests? Ever need firewood? Ever wander down a forest road to find a nice quiet spot, sleep through a storm, and awaken to find a big tree limb blocking your only road back out?

Guess not. :biggrinjester:

Cutting firewood is very illegal in most places (it's OK to use fallen wood in some areas of some national forests), but both purposes could easily be fulfilled with a cable saw.

Your clothing isn't visible in the photo, but I've found that most people tend to bring too many clothes.

 

[Dino M]

Ah but we have come a long way. Back in the day I took a 3500 mile, ten day solo camping trip on a 305cc two stroke Suzuki. Back then it was hard to find what was called dehydrated food in the grocery stores so I had to buy most of that from camping stores and army navy stores. Tail racks were common on most bikes and a milk crate strapped to one worked as a top case. Knapsack strapped in front of that, tent strapped to the side, and a sleeping bag under the head light. My first attempt to leave resulted in the front end of the bike coming off the ground every time I gave it a little gas. :headbang:Moved some of the caned food from the milk crate to the inside of my sleeping bag to solve the weight distribution problem and off I went.:hurray: Met lots of people and had lots of fun.