Adventures of a Motocamping Newbie

[Guest]

What an awesome thread!

Great story, illustrated with great pics.

Thanks for taking the time to share it all.

As someone who has spent decades camping by myself at racetracks across the northeast out of my pickups, I have to say, reading your story has me really thinking about doing some serious touring/camping once I find my VFR.

[Guest]

Fascinating, Kegan, you've assumed the lofty plateau of being among my favorite VFRD moto-journalists, a dubious honor I know. Curious about the riding suit, though, who makes it and how'd it hold up in the wet over all those miles? I'll hang up now and wait for your reply off air. Great job, sir, I'm ready to go back! :cheerleader:

[sckego]

Thank you for the comments, all. As I had written to someone else--it's nice to know that the effort that goes into making a readable report out of hundreds of miles of nothingness is appreciated!

Fascinating, Kegan, you've assumed the lofty plateau of being among my favorite VFRD moto-journalists, a dubious honor I know. Curious about the riding suit, though, who makes it and how'd it hold up in the wet over all those miles? I'll hang up now and wait for your reply off air. Great job, sir, I'm ready to go back! :cheerleader:

dendron, the suit is an Olympia Phantom one-piece. There are many threads reviewing it on other sites such as ST-N and ADV, but the short story is: warm, as waterproof as you can get, visible, and all-day comfortable to wear. I've put about 8,000 miles on it since buying it in October, in everything from pouring rain to sub-20F temperatures, and I love it. It's really a three-season suit, though... while it stands up the cold and wet wonderfully, it's not so great in hot weather. Even on this trip, with the temps in the mid-70s, with the liner removed and all the vents open, it was pretty warm. I would not want to be wearing it in anything above 85 or so.

[vfracer750]

Great write up and pictures. Thanks for sharing. It has given me some inspiration to try motorcycle-camping.

Is your tent the REI half dome 2 or 4? Couldn't quite tell from the pics.

Roger

[JETS]

Nice job Kegan. I love the little towns of Texas, especially the ones with early am breakfast places. Have I seen you riding the VFR at Cresson on a RideSmart track day?

[sckego]

Great write up and pictures. Thanks for sharing. It has given me some inspiration to try motorcycle-camping.

Is your tent the REI half dome 2 or 4? Couldn't quite tell from the pics.

Roger

It's a two-person tent, not sure of the exact model (I was just borrowing it from a friend). I fit in quite comfortably, and I'm about 6'1"... ample head- and footroom. Very easy to set up and take down.

Nice job Kegan. I love the little towns of Texas, especially the ones with early am breakfast places. Have I seen you riding the VFR at Cresson on a RideSmart track day?

That's very likely... I've been out there about six times a year for the past few years. Actually going to be back out there on 3/20 with some friends, and possibly with the wifey on the back as well. Should be fun!

By the way, for those readers in the DFW area... if you're looking for a fun group to ride with, do bike nights, trackdays, etc, check out Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders. We just upgraded our forum software, so the appearance still needs some work, but it's a good group of people. Feel free to come out to any events posted up on the boards.

[Guest]

That is actually a really great post man, thank you. I've always loved camping and am only relatively new to riding still, and even newer to the VFR but you've got me seriously thinking about combining camping with some riding this summer as the weather clears up! (and seriously looking at that one piece you wore, water-resistance in the pacific NW is ... well important afterall lol) Thank you!