Two Up Camping?

I don't have any problems with seeing over the trailer at all. It never has been an issue.

gmast1100 said:

For you and rjs987, do you have any problem seeing out your mirrors over the back of your units??

Click to expand...

No, not really. The camper does cover the lower 1/4 of view in the mirrors but that is almost all road just behind. I did adjust the hitch to make the camper ride absolutely level when I am sitting on the bike. That way I can see under the luggage rack to see a little more. I can see small cars that are right behind me from the top of the grill and up, I see traffic that is farther back with no problems at all.
Just for a better view I've thought I might someday add a set of Saeng mirrors up on each side of the windshield. But haven't really felt the need yet.

gmast1100 said:

Have to agree with ya Cousin Jack. Used to do the tent thingie but now it's 'campin-n-comfort. And the jury isn't out for me-the tent is still in storage!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

How much is your trailer loaded? Do you ever have any problem with your ST1100 overheating in traffic pulling it?

amad said:

How much is your trailer loaded? Do you ever have any problem with your ST1100 overheating in traffic pulling it?

Click to expand...

Trailer is around 300/350 loaded and no, I don't have any problem with overheating. Could be because last fall I went completely through the coolant system change-out. Did all hoses, elbows w/o-rings, thermostat and more. Even runs better now.

Trosty said:

I get left pannier, she gets right.

Click to expand...

And she is okay with that. WOW! A special woman you have.

gmast1100 said:

For you and rjs987, do you have any problem seeing out your mirrors over the back of your units?? I don't know the width of yours, but I couldn't see behind mine. I corrected the problem with some brackets (that replace the brackets on the brake/clutch master cylinders) and mounted some taller mirrors on them. Has really worked out great. When I get home or am staying in one place and out riding for the day, I take them off and put the factory ones back on. It's less than a 5 minute job. Easy, easy!!!

Click to expand...

Another option for you guys would be some of these.
http://www.saeng.com/category.php?category=61
They are a little exspensive, but they work great and are a quality product. If you want to get another opinion, ask Mac. Hes ahs had them on his wing for some time.

My wife and I just completed a trip from San Antonio, TX to Yellowstone N. P. We regularly vacation on the ST so we think we have become pretty efficient at packing. If this helps some of you out, great.

Probably the single most important step is selecting the right wife. I can?t help any of you there, but trust me when I say I have a much better wife than I deserve.

Here are the contents of the right saddlebag (mine).

The base includes the following: a ? three pairs of socks; b ? three shirts and one pair of pants (nestled behind is a small first aid kit); c ? four pair of boxers; d ? GSI Pinnacle Dualist (less the crappy utensils) with a gas canister stored inside; e ? cooking/eating utensils, salt/pepper shaker, dish washing sponge, microfiber dish drying cloth; f ? MSR SuperFly stove, MSR canister stand, lighter; g ? charging cords for Powerlet plugs; h ? fleece neck warmer



The lid includes the following: a ? cold weather gloves; b ? rolled up rain pants; c ? fleece jacket; d ? Sea to Summit large Tec towel; e ? Black Diamond Apollo lantern (stored in an Op/Tech Snoot Boot camera lens pouch-small size).



The left saddlebag is for my wife. It?s a mirror image of mine except instead of the cooking equipment, cords, and lantern; she carries the toiletries. Other than that, they are the same.

I purchased a rear rack from A Vicious Cycle (http://aviciouscycle.ca/mainpages/productpage.aspx?productid=4484). It holds the following: The large green bag is a 55 ltr SealLine, Baja dry bag that contains two Thermarest Trail Lite pads (the old style rectangular shape), a Mountain Hardwear Megalamina 20 double sleeping bag with a liner my wife made from some old bed sheets, and two Thermarest medium compressible pillows. The orange bag contains a GoLite Shangri La 5 tent, a 9 ft by 9 ft tarp (used as a ground cloth for the tent), and a tent stake mallet. Behind the tent bag is a rolled up Nelson-Rigg UV-2000 cover. All are secured to the rack with ROK straps.



The tank bag is a ROADGEAR three-point sport tank bag. It contains my camera equipment (Nikon D70s body, an 18-70 mm lens, and an 80-400 mm lens), a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (great for entertainment in the evenings at KOAs), and a 20 oz thermos. All the electronics are stored in Op/Tech pouches. Check out their website for great storage ideas (http://optechusa.com/). The side pockets on the tank bag contain spare batteries (camera and AA), extra flash cards, and a small AA Maglite.

Most of you guys already have your packing down to a science, but for the ones just starting out; I hope this helps or provides some ideas. Two-up camping off an ST without a trailer is possible.



Cheers to all.

Karl

Karl,

Thank you for your post! I think it will be rather helpful for myself and my wife, even if we aren't camping. We've been using the sidebag liners which take up the entire inside of the pannier, but I am wondering now if that may be hampering us more than helping...

Jason,

I know exactly what you mean. I purchased a set of RKA liners years ago. Very well made, excellent quality, but in my opinion they do hamper packing.

Also, I do not use compression sacks. I know lots of moto-campers are fans of them, but I find that loosely packed stuff sacks tend to conform to the odd nooks and crannies found in the saddlebags much easier than the hard, tightly packed compression sacks.

Glad you found the information useful.

Best to you.

Karl

[QUOTE;1638042]This post has been very informative, but what of the trailers. I have seen one with one wheel and one with two wheels. How do these affect handling etc?[/QUOTE]

While it's great to fit all gear on the bike, especially for 2 up camping, some couples riders want to take a bit more along. That's where trailers come in. I like to avoid packing the on-bike luggage full if pulling a trailer since the trailer can handle it better than the bike and that transfers the load to the hitch. When pulling a trailer it is VERY tempting to take more than you really need.
All trailers will affect handling at least a little. I pull a camper and that does so more than any cargo trailer. One wheeled trailers affect handling the least, but they also usually have the least storage capacity. Pulling a trailer will mean not doing much, if any, crazy riding. Some riders, with the mono-wheel, ride like they normally do so they feel there is no loss of handling. The biggest thing noticed is stopping and starting since there is more mass behind. The bigger the trailer the more this is affected. The only time you would really notice anything while simply travelling down the highway is when you want to accelerate rapidly to pass some cage, or if following a big truck during a rather windy day (turbulence). Otherwise, the trailer seems to disappear behind you. Having said all that I find I am still able to "get on it" fairly well to pass even with a camper in tow, better than almost any cage even going up a hill.

There will be some loss of mpg. I pulled my camper to LOC-STOC and had a little loss of mpg compared to what I would normally get on the highway. A full tank on the highway only will usually get me around 46-47 mpg with my bike alone. With the camper I did a few tenths under 44 mpg this trip. Actually that is more than I get doing just the commute to work in traffic (about 42 mpg).

+1 on the trailer comments rjs987. I also pull a Aspen Sentry camping trailer and I would add that electric brakes DO make a difference. I have them on mine and have a brake controller mounted on the dash of my ST1100 and it does help a lot. I do tend to sometimes take more than I use but when you pack you think that you will need this or that and sometimes don't use it. But, if you needed it and didn't have it, it would make for an uncomfortable situation. But I DO keep the weight down in the trailer. As far as mpg, mine does drop some but not a lot.

Guess I'm one of the fortunate ones because if the two of us go out, we have 2 ST's to pack our stuff in and the trailer. Guess that when Carole goes along, it will be motel time unless i beg her to camp with the trailer.

Well I have finally pieced together enough stuff to make our maiden camping voyage. I have been buying things as they have been on sale or clearance. Two Exped Synmats a Marmot Limestone 4P and two Wally World sleeping bags. Will get better sleeping bags before next winter. We spent two nights at 40 degrees and all went well. Both of us were comfortable. It was a nice weekend. We need to do a little work on waterproofing things for when we have bad weather. Wasn't a problem this weekend. Still need to do a little condensing. Everything went real well. We will do it agian.

You have a very good base setup. Just add to it as you need & you will do fine. Welcome to the world of camping.

First time is always a lot of fun. Congrats! Now the learning curve kicks in. What to add and what to leave home. Takes some time but you'll get there.

Did someone say camping...
Sorry I haven't been here for awhile.