Motorcycling Packing – Camping Gear

This might be interest to our travelers:

https://minimalmotorcyclist.wordpress.com/

That's pretty general.  An OK read for someone who's never done any travelling by bike before, maybe.  

Some of it I disagree with completely.  In particular, the advice "never spend more money on a tent than on your bed"  This might be fine for fair weather, but if things go stupidly foul and stay that way and you are determined to live out of doors, you need real protection from the elements and space.  This costs real money.  The alternative is to seek real comfort in real accommodation and pay for it with a real credit card.  Sometimes that is what you really should do.  

Another thing I disagree with is about choice of bike and packing style.  I do know someone who has gone round the whole country on a postie bike, I know OF someone who is in the process of doing it on a 250.  It is nice to have a bike which is carrying whatever you want to take, as easily as one would carry a pillion, without a lot of hooking on, strapping/tying things on to do to get mobile.  The ideal bike would be capable of not restricting where you want to go, and have enough poke to deal with "transit stages" stress free.  People rightly have preferences.  My personal choice would be for at least 500 cc, - a mid sized bike at least, and out of the bloated out tourer range.  a 650 Strom would be an excellent choice for a mix of road types for example.  

I've read some forum discussions which contain a lot more detailed information and opinion, which one can use to make up their own mind about such things - Touring is an aspect of motorcycling which is more personal than most, and if one take the opinions and advice on board as just that in making up their own mind, a couple of trips will have one sorted.  They don't have to be long. Just long enough to convince one of the value of having certain things and to decide that it is a waste of space to carry….   Again, people vary enormously in their way of looking at things.  I, for example, question the value of certain electronic devices.  I don't go on a trip to have to accommodate the mobile phone so I can stay connected.  Nursemaiding the mobile is something that frankly I can do without.  I carry one, but it stays off, and buried away.  It's there if I need it. 

Everybody is different. 

A lot of people have read Zen and the Art of Motorcycling.  My first impression was disappointment - not so much about the ride, as the Philosophy and the description of the "head space"  A later read had me appreciate the latter more.  It is  not something you read about in any great detail much.  It is a good book.  Few people take the trouble to define what motorcycling is to them.  People who travel any real distance at all and do it often have plenty of time to think about Zeitgeist, but few take the trouble to write it down.  It's also about the times and spaces people travel in.  People form their own. If they were to document this if even a couple of times, maybe decades apart, it might make an interesting comparison.  Consideration of Zeitgeist can be very interesting if they only care to share, and can string a few words together.  Most of us operate on a more elemental, day to day considerations at the fore, sort of way.

I starting reading it in depth, then went to a speed read.  If you have no experience in any of it, then it at least gives people something to think about as a guide.

I treat the situation no different than if I was hiking, accept the big difference, for me anyway, is packing tools, which I know a lot on here don`t particularly like to do, but for me its a must and key element.
If something breaks, I`m gonna fix it, not call a life line, cause that's what I do.

If the rains uncontrollable for long periods, then I`m moving on, not buying the Taj Mahal to cope with 40 days and 40 nights rain. I got better things to do and see.
I sleep on rocks, have for a long time, and will continue to do. A mozzie tent with a capsulated fly is all you need. I use my CameBak as a pillow. Take a collapsible camping shovel, which aren`t big, for molding the ground to your body shape, and to dig a small drain around you if your concerned about mother nature pissing on you.  Again this comes down to the individual. I`m not a glamping kind of person. I shun at the idea, cause its not camping in my opinion.
The rest is all going to be relevant and common sense to where your going, and duration.