Best tent for motorcycle

[MEDTECH]

Hey again,
I'm looking for the best roomy tent that will fit on the back of our motorcycle. We have a Harley Roadglide and the 4 man tent fits nicely but I'd like to upgrade the tent as well as the air/bed. Mr. B is 6'4" tall.

Thanks!
Medtech

[kmaysob]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

Had to know what will fit on the back of your bike. My advise would be to go to the sporting goods store and look at the size of the boxes. From there you can further research.

[terasec]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

hard to say without knowing how your bike is configured, saddle bags, rear seat carrier, etc...
concern with tents are length of poles as can check dimensions of cartons as km stated to help determine size
bigger concern than the tent would be air mattress, they are generally large and heavy,
if you can, visit any number of biker rallys and see how they pack their bikes
also browse adventure riders websites, adventure riders generally spend months on the road and probably have good packing advise
adventure riders generally use dual purpose bikes like ktm/bmw etc, but packing principles are the same

[tplife]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

I don't see 25 X 77" ThermaRest self-inflating sleeping pads as fitting inside your TourPac. I have the 2-up Nostalgic Rack on the FLHRI and simply use quality Bungee straps. A 4-man tent from Marmot, Big Agnes, Mountain HardWear, Northface, REI, EMS or Sierra Designs should easily fit in a saddle bag or the TourPac with room to spare for a tarp.

[Fred]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

four years ago I took a 4 week motorcycle camping road trip down to Florida and across to Texas and back. The packing system was that she got one saddlebag for her stuff, and I got one for mine. The tour pack was mostly cooking equipment and food, and also a tool roll, air compresser, and her pocketbook. That left 5 waterproof duffels bungied on top of the tour pack. One for the (older Redverz) tent and footprint, one for the sleeping stuff (Big Agnes and Neoair) and a Kermit chair, two for riding gear not being worn at the moment, and one for loose ends. It was really top heavy, and I was afraid that the lid of the tour pack might get break off, but it worked.

[Fred]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

Three years ago I took a 3 week motorcycle camping road trip to Canada - PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. Same camping gear. To reduce the amount of stuff on top of the tour pack I mounted a "cooler rack" behind the back wheel on a Bushtec trailer hitch. It carried the tent duffel and some of the heavier miscellaneous stuff. The riding gear not being worn bungied on top of the saddle bags. There was still a fair amount of stuff on top of the tour pack, and the trailer hitch bent (3/8 inch plate steel) so that it was almost dragging on the ground by the time we got back. So I would have to say that it seemed like a good idea in theory, but it didn't really work out.

[Fred]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

Sorry about that last post. I was having trouble getting the picture to display right side up.

As far as a smallish packing tent with some height, the Redverz Expedition would be one option. It has a big vestibule where I (6'5) can almost stand up. I don't think it would fit inside a saddle bag.

I'm going to bite the bullet and pull a trailer for the road trip this August (back to Canada). Camping gear has expanded considerably. The tent is upsized to a 10x10 Paha Que Pamo Valley, among other things.

[Irate Mormon]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

SMD Lunar Duo - very portable and spacious for 2.

[Flora]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

Hello,as for motorcycle,would you like it be much lightweight and waterproof?are you looking for a 4 person tent?

[Bigdog57]

Re: Best tent for motorcycle

Being a solo rider on a KLR650 dual sport bike, I use two tents for my multistate roadtrips.
If an overnighter, I use a simple one-man bivytent. Very snug.
If I figure a few nights, I have a three man dome tent, and a twinsize air mattress that keeps me very comfy, with room for my gear too.
Relatively minimal, and I like it.