Two-Up Camping

[RTNewbie]

I want to do an extended camping trip with my wife this summer. Today I tried to pack a modest amount of hiking style gear onto the bike and found that we will have precious little room for clothing and other every day items.

Is this just not done? Does anyone have any equipment lists?

 

[rich]

Extended and two up. Either ride seperate bikes or pull a trailer. Honestly, I don't know any other way, but maybe someone on here will advise you differently. I know that I couldn't get enough on one bike for my wife and I for more than a weekend. Unless of course you will be moteling it. That changes everything. Good luck.

 

[roostershooter]

I want to do an extended camping trip with my wife this summer. Today I tried to pack a modest amount of hiking style gear onto the bike and found that we will have precious little room for clothing and other every day items.

Is this just not done? Does anyone have any equipment lists?

Go to the BMWMOA homepage and look on the left side of the page, click on the camping icon and magically you will find the info you are looking for.

 

[Picinisco]

I want to do an extended camping trip with my wife - we will have precious little room for clothing and other every day items.

As soon as I saw "wife" I read "where do i put the wardrobe"?

You have to be brutal. At any given time there are many couples riding 2 up around the world with everything in life they need.

Lay out everything that you both think you need on your livingroom floor. Split the load into 3 groups. 1. what you need to keep you alive. 2. what you need to keep you human. 3. everthing else.

Get rid of the "everything else".

Then look at the "being human" pile and take out the extras. Do you need a tube of toothpaste each. Do you need a bar of soap each. Keep asking this same question about everything. The clothes that can be washed easily and reworn should be all that you really need. If that leaves room for 1 change of "dress clothes" then you are getting close.

Be Minimalist.

 

[Dave_Faria]

Are You Newly Weds??

Most parks have a laundry and if not a small town will - have lunch while in town. A couple of days of clothes should be enough. Sleeping bags on top of the saddle bags make good arm rests. Post a picture of your loaded bike. I'm just curious. I have a 2004 RT.

My first 10 years of marriage my wife would do anything(1978 R80/7). The 2nd 10 years it was camp one night and then a hotel. The 3rd decade is "we'll talk abt it". We've started our 4th decade and it's "no way Jose". Enjoy it while u can!!

 

[RiverRat280]

compression sacks and stuff sacks!! you just really need to limit yourself. My wife and I go on long trips and manage to pack everything we need. I have a Cabella's dry duffle that I mount on my rack that holds ALL my camping gear: Tent, 2 sleeping bags(all in compression sacks), 2 inflateable sleeping pads(packs to the size of a water bottle) 2 bag liners, 2 packable pillows. Tank panniers hold water, food, cooking gear, flashlights. One saddlebag holds all the clothes that are in stuff sacks that double as pillows, we have 3 stuff bags(mine, hers, dirty clothes) this way you can limit how much clothes she takes, hand her a stuff sack and tell her all her clothes need to fit in there, women will try to fit thier whole closet on your bike if they can. Wear clothes that packs well and dries quickly NO COTTON.
Other saddlebag hold everything else, raingear in the lids, atlas, sandles, fleece jackets, toiletries(I use the clear plastic zipper bag my alpinestar gloves came in, works great). Oh and a tankbag with gloves and coffee and other misc. stuff

 

[lionlady]

Helen2Wheels for the tent/tarp/ground cloth. Leave the individual tent bags at home and stuff everything as Helen recommends. WORKS GREAT!!

Use a separate waterproof pack for sleeping bag(s) pad(s) - also available from
H2W. Those two packs will take up the most room.

Personal stuff... hit REI, etc. and pick up a pair of the bath towel size chamois type towels. They pack SMALL.

P

 

[MCOLLECT]

I do kayak camping with the wife. We have learned a few things: Down sleeping bags pack real small esp in compression sacks. Cooking gear MSR pots inside, the gas stove, eating utensils.One small gas bottle is all needed. Quick drying clothing in compression sacks, one change each, work as a pillow. As said, lose the tent bags. We don't compromise on coffee we take a French type press, coffee fits inside ! Collapsible water jug folds flat when empty. We are in our late fifties so good sleeping mats are a must, thermorest.
Seattle Sports makes dependable roll top dry bags, cheap through <sierratradingpost>

 

[tourunigo]

... ditto what others have said. We rode this 28 year old /5 12,000 miles on one trip and had a great time! Lots to that story but suffice to say it was an adventure that most said we couldn't do. Enjoy your adventure. BTW... how much room does a hair dryer ... with a large diffuser attached.... take? Seriously, be a minimalist, be safe and share everything through the planning, packing, unpacking, story telling, documenting and laughter. Sharing is a great thing. My wife Mary is in this picture just before we left in July of 2001. -Bob

 

[kbasa]

One saddlebag for her. One saddlebag for me.

Camping gear goes in a big duffle on the back (we use a Mag's Bag). Tank bag is like our purse with books, maps, flashlights and stuff we need on the road.

It's not difficult, you just need to really be sure about what you bring.

We've found you can carry more if you use the kinds of clothing backpackers use. Cotton's pretty bulky, particularly jeans.

 

[sjbmw]

I have a Joe's Upack. Was able to get everything for 2 up in it.
One Pinnacle Pass 3XTA, 2 sleeping bags with pads, and other stuff.

There is a pic here of one fully loaded for the Finger Lakes Rally last year.

http://r1150r.smugmug.com/gallery/1884716#94947360

 

[Consultant]

I suggest you find a book on bicycle camping/touring. It is amazing how much you can leave home when you have to pull it up a mountain. My wife and I spent six weeks in Britain an few years ago on bicycles. My luggage, including tools, spare parts and camera gear weighed about 20#, my wife's about 13. Even had a suit coat as I had a business meeting to attend. Remember that you can wear the same clothes every day because you see different people who don't know what you wore yesterday. I like Cool-Max and nylon. Washes easily and drys fast. Only need three sox: two to wear and one to wash, every morning, left to right, right to wash then next day clean to left etc. Avoid cotton and wool as they take forever to dry. I use Camp Suds as the only soap for everything. The microfiber towels are great. If you are camping, get a good tent and down bags, not from China Mart. We use ones we bought 40 years ago.

 

[jonpierce]

Easy - my girlfriend (who ended up my wife....!) did it for years on one bike - and managed to keep up a very respectable pace on the roads through Euope. Once went three weeks and had room for 2 x litre bottles of oban scotch and 400 ciggies at the duty free back into the UK!

2 x sleeping bags - mounted one on top of each pannier
2 x roll mats - one on the back rack, one in front of the clocks & above the headlight.
1 x tent - on the rack
clothes - a pannier each for clothes
cooking / food - tank bag

The bikes we used were R100R, R80GS, R100GSPD, R1100GS.

I might add that now I am older I seem to need two bikes worth of storage just for myself! Progress? Of course we used to manage without, Ipods, GPS, lanterns, flashlights, extra tools, books, non stick pans (oh, the joys of scraping eggs around a plain aluminium frying pan!), pillows, inflatable mattress, compressor, seat, etc, etc

 

[FPARISI]

Camping with your wife? Scooby says, "Rut ro."

Ya'll better have a good pre-nup.

It's fairly inexpensive to ground ship things. I have found the cheapest to be Fedex ground, but only to a business address. Most campgrounds are considered a business address.

Use FedEx ground Not regular FedEx.

I have seen things that cost 20 bucks to ship with USPS or UPS, only cost 6 or 7 using fedEx ground. It sort of business secret or something.

I've never tried this, but you could buy something from the net, but have it sent to the campsite. Use it, and or send it home in the same box it arrived in.

Some things just don't make sense to bring or ship. Like a standard size pillow. 3 Bucks at Walmart. Not worth shipping or re-packing. If you are short on space, you could bring stuff like that to a goodwill or leave it for the next camper.

I ussually put stuff like that in the campgrounds laundry room with a note. "Free take me. Didn't want to pack. " LOL

 

[visian]

Some usable info...

A couple of our members just completed an article on this subject that will be published in the "Always an Adventure" section of an upcoming issue of the BMW ON.

http://www.motorcycle-overland.com/ will lead you to a good packing list.

There was also an article published in the ON and here on our site: Two ways to camp two-up.

Personally, I use a Jo's U-pac for something like this... and having Jesse bags sure does help.

Ian

 

[PMGbmw]

I can't remember where I found this, but I use it as a guide

Riding clothes (make sure you have enough for each day of the ride!)
Jerseys
Riding shorts
Socks
Gloves
Rain gear
Toiletries
Tooth brush
Toothpaste
Razor
Shaving cream
Band aids
Soap
Shampoo
Comb/brush
Pills (medication, vitamins, EPO, pain killers)
Travel pack of tissues
Feminine hygiene items
Lip balm
Squeeze light or other small flashlight
Sunscreen
Small bottle of insect repellent
Deodorant
Additional clothing
Rain jacket with hood
Pants
Booties/shoe covers
Helmet cover
Miscellaneous Items
2 large black garbage/leaf bags, just in case (you can pack your gear in the trash bags and place inside your duffel. Your items will stay dry if your bag is left outside in the rain. Something to think about if you're placing your bags with the bike tour trucks).
Mesh bags for laundry
Flashlight with extra batteries
Spare folding tire
Extra spare tube
Extra patch kit
Headband/sweatband rag
Book, Frisbee, deck of cards, or journal
Snack food (energy bars, trail mix)
Pillow (one provided with Sherpa Service)
Camping gear ( * provided with Sherpa Services)
Heavy duty sports bag, preferably waterproof
Tent (if outdoor camping)*
Sleeping bag*
Sleeping pad or air mattress*
Blanket
Towels*
Wash clothes
Big garbage bag in case you have to pack your tent wet
Ear plugs for light sleepers and indoor campers
Eye cover for early snoozers, late risers, and indoor campers

 

[Roland]

Gortex riding suit, and get rid of Rain Gear.......................

 

[RIDERR1150GSADV]

Be creative how you pack and it is amazing what you can take with you. I have a lightweight jacket(Marmot) that stuffs inside one hiking boot. The other boot has my convertible pants with zip off legs(dual purpose pants). Look at your gear and see how you can pack things within each other to decrease the total volume. Clothes are nowadays fast drying wicking Nylon things that you don't need a lot of. 3 shirts, 3 undies and 3 pairs of socks is about it.
There is a big difference between what you want and what you NEED to take with you. There is bike stuff(tools), her stuff, his stuff and camp gear. There really isn't much difference in the volume of camp gear whether solo traveling or two up, unless you have a bivy by yourself and a Taj Mahal tent with SWMBO..... All you add is one sleeping bag and a mattress. Pillows are stuff sacks with your clothes in it, in combination with your riding gear(dry) under the mattress
I just picked up an Exped mattress that is thicker than my Thermarest but packs in 1/3 of the space and is lighter too. There is a lot of neat stuff out there that hikers use, that is usable for riders too.
Get creative and have fun.

 

[The_Veg]

Exped?

RiderR1150GSAdv, care to elaborate on this? I'm always looking for a better sleeping pad.

 

[RIDERR1150GSADV]

RiderR1150GSAdv, care to elaborate on this? I'm always looking for a better sleeping pad.

It is the new Synmat by Exped. I have the synmat 9 dlx. The down version is more $$ but since I summer camp and have a very good down bag I should be fine to about 32F. I found the pad on www.mountaingear.com . No affiliation etc

As previously stated, we riders ought to look to hiker's and climber's gear for quality and lightweight stuff. Just because we can carry a heavier load doesn't mean we should. A lighter bike uses less ga$$ and handles better to boot. Just my 0.02 cts YMMV