how to mount gear above the bags?

[rclbaker]

Hi,

Tried to find out how mounting camping gear (tent - left and sleeping bags -right) above/upon the OEM bags of my new R1200R.
However, I don´t see any possibilities to fasten the straps, unless I make some mounting points (e.g., O-rings).
In that case I have to drill the bags, which I don´t like.

Any better ideas? Pictures?

Many thanks,
Rob

[JohnM]

Rob:

Are you going to be riding two-up? If not, then you could secure the gear laterally behind you.

[Lost Rider]

Hi,

Tried to find out how mounting camping gear (tent - left and sleeping bags -right) above/upon the OEM bags of my new R1200R.
However, I don´t see any possibilities to fasten the straps, unless I make some mounting points (e.g., O-rings).
In that case I have to drill the bags, which I don´t like.

Any better ideas? Pictures?

Many thanks,
Rob

Long before I realized I didn't need nearly as much crap, or that there was much more compact camping gear (Big Agnes), I did a two up trip like this.

You can use ROK straps choked around the hard bag mounts on the bike, around the Helen 2 Wheels bags and back to the same point of rigging.
You might need to remove the bag mount once to get the straps choked around it, but once your rigged, you're good to go.

It can be done, but it's much more enjoyable to scale down the stuff instead of packing the bike to the max.... makes for long mornings before you even get rolling, let alone what it does to the handling of the bike. It also makes it hard to get into the bags with stuff packed on top, something that gets old after needing to get something out the bags, day in and day out.


My first R...






Here's my bike last year packed for a two up 2 week camping trip with everything we need to cook, camp, and sleep comfortably:
The 33L Ortlieb Defender bag on the back holds 2 person tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 sleeping pads, tent poles, stakes, axe, plates.... oh you get the idea.
Nancy and I split one of the panniers for clothes and MacBook Air, the other had our shoes, stove, water bag+ filter, gloves, liners, tools, air pump, bottle of tequila and a little room for other stuff along the way.
Compression bags are your friend.
Luckily she's a real sport, and has learned as I have that you don't need much when riding and camping... we only use lightweight "performance" clothing you'd find at REI that takes up little space and is lightweight. Also washes easy and dries fast overnight too. NO cotton, no jeans.
A cargo net on top of the tail bag gives us even more flexibly for stuff like liners or for groceries at the end of the day.











If you'd like any other info I'll be happy to share.... I like moto-camping a lot, I do a lot of it, and have spent years constantly rotating out gear to find what works the best, for me at least. Our various gear is all listed on my website. The one thing I don't need to rotate out is all our Big Agnes tents, bags, and pads.... Their "sleeping system" is leap and bounds ahead of anything else on the market due to it's unique design, and not only is it most comfortable, it packs the smallest too. Our bags zip together to make one big bag.
Take a look at their site for more info, I can't say enough good things about the Big Agnes gear, or the outstanding customer support from the Colorado based company.

[BLAIR1200R]

Guess a few of us are gearing up for camping. A friend of mine that I rode with on an Arkansas trip a few years ago connected with me wanting to do some moto-camping, so we agreed on a shakedown trip in April. We’re going for a short 3 day weekend in the Texas Hill Country.

He’s on an FJR and me on my R12R, we both contemplated how we could keep the bikes fairly “clean”, without strapping on gear. I opted for a Nemo 1p Morpho, first because REI put them on clearance, and second because I didn’t want to mess with strapping on poles. I’ll check your equipment list for inspiration. It’s been many years since my backpacking days, but being comfortable with minimal gear is not a new thing… and hey, the bike gets to hump it, not me.

I’ll let you know how the equipment list shapes up and how it works out in the spring… hopefully this is the beginning of some really good times… the best of both worlds… camping and motorcycling.

[Lost Rider]

Guess a few of us are gearing up for camping.

It’s been many years since my backpacking days, but being comfortable with minimal gear is not a new thing… and hey, the bike gets to hump it, not me.

I’ll let you know how the equipment list shapes up and how it works out in the spring… hopefully this is the beginning of some really good times… the best of both worlds… camping and motorcycling.

Exactly, right on.
Good luck in your quest for the best of both worlds.

There's no better feeling of freedom than being lightly packed yet completely self sufficient on a motorbike in places much different than home..... it's addicting as my trail of photos starting with the one above might allude to.

In the relatively short amount of time I've been doing this, the gear has greatly improved making things smaller, lighter, and cheaper.
No need to pile things high up on a bike anymore.

For solo trips on the R, no reason I can't fit everything needed in the panniers, with a small bag on the seat if you must, or just a bag on the seat at best.

I enjoy the handling of the R1200R like a fine glass of wine.... I want her to handle the best that can be while I ride the fine roads of North America while having all I need to camp comfortably.
Of course "comfortable" is another one of those pesky subjective things...

3 week camping trip with a full frame DSLR, lenses + Tripod




Fast and light winter camping ride last year.

[celticus]

What kind of full frame DSLR are you using Joe? I need to sell my old Canon 20D and get a 5D.

Mark

[rclbaker]

Thanks for the information.
Yes, it is all about two up & camping. A cargo net is a very good idea.

As we intend to go for a couple of months we really need the possibility of packing light upon the bags. The luggage rack of the R1200R is already quite high (design has won from functionalitiy & rideability...), so the bag upon the rack has to be small.

Last year we had a wonderful holiday in England (not camping ), with out trusted R60/7. For more comfort on longer rides I bought an R1200R, but I am not sure whether I can pack all the stuff as easy as on the R60/7.

When we can pack the sleeping bags and then tent upon the bags we will manage it!

Rob

[Lost Rider]

What kind of full frame DSLR are you using Joe? I need to sell my old Canon 20D and get a 5D.

Mark

Just like the rest of the stuff I pack on the bike I wanted smaller, I haven't had a DSLR in a few years, got bored with carrying around such big heavy gear, plus wanted a different shooting experience and a more organic look to my images.
The B+W photos above were taken with a Leica X1, the other photo is from 09' - with a 5DII.
Since I mostly only shot with a 35mm L prime on the Cannon anyways, the X1 suits me perfectly. Not only does it have an DSLR, APS-C sized sensor, it fits in my jacket pocket.
I do have a full frame Leica M9 also, but the X1 has been my primary travel camera for the last few years, with a D-Lux 5 to compliment it with a zoom lens.

Again, and staying with my earlier comments about packing the R1200R smaller, the camera advances are even greater than camping gear in the last few years. There's really no need to carry around a DSLR while still getting excellent image quality, shallow DOF, low light photography, etc., at least for me. The X1 was the first and still is the smallest body with largest sensor, but there's quite a few nice "mirrorless" big sensor cameras out there nowadays. Sony Nex 7, Fuji X10, X100, Nikon V1, Ricoh GXR, etc.

Cannon is supposedly about to release a 5D Mark 3 soon, so there will be many used 5D 2's on the market cheap to be had Mark. I sold mine for about $1700, but it had over 80,000 actuations and was pretty well used. I'd imagine prices will be even lower when the masses upgrade.
Lots of new advances in DSLR's too, but Japans problem is their best glass isn't as good as their new high end camera's and sensors.... Even the 5D 2 is so good if you don't have L glass it will greatly expose the glass's shortcomings and flaws. That was my experience at least with quite a few pricy, huge L zooms I tried, and what made me switch to primes in the first place, I couldn't live with the distortion on even the best zooms Cannon had to offer. The 35mm 1.4L and the 5DII are perfectly matched, few other lenses performed so well on that camera. Again, camera's better than the glass, and partially why I switched to Leica as there's no shortcoming on the German glass and that "Leica" organic look.



Sounds like a nice ride for a few months Rob, have fun and please share some photos around here from your adventure!


Happy shooting and camping!


Finn

[2wheels]

Canon are bringing out a higher spec compact, the G1X, which promises great quality. But no reviews yet.

[garr2]

Here's an idea - it's called a U-pac






It secures to the rack and comes around the pillion seat and rests on the system cases (panniers).
I bought one and expect it to carry a tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 roll mats, 2 camping chairs and some towels ands other soft/light articles.
Available from http://www.josupac.com/main1.html

A review can be found at http://www.ibmwr.org/prodreview/ubag.html

Ian

PS
Great pics Lost Rider

[celticus]

I put a Kermit Bag on each of my BMW hard panniers and lash it down.
http://www.helmetheadcycle.com/product/ ... duffel-bag
My wife and I are able to pack a tent (MSR Mutha Hubba), two sleeping pads (Big Agnes), 3 or 4 camping pillows, a Kermit Chair (for the wife) and summer weight sleeping bags.
I run a flat strap under the seat and attach this to the front of the Kermit Bags and attach the rear of the bags to the BMW mount behind the seat. We also carry a soft cooler back there.
When cold weather camping I go alone and am able to pack a cold weather sleeping bag using the space her stuff is not in. I lay a large Kermit’s Bag across the passenger seat.

Joe thanks for the well thought out reply to my camera question. I looked up the Leica and it is something new for me to lust after. I got tired of carrying the large DSLR around too but what I did was to not carry a camera at all. This is not a good solution but I have never seen a non DSLR (that I can afford) that does what I want. Maybe I’ll stumble across a good priced used one.

Mark

[Lost Rider]

I put a Kermit Bag on each of my BMW hard panniers and lash it down.
http://www.helmetheadcycle.com/product/ ... duffel-bag
My wife and I are able to pack a tent (MSR Mutha Hubba), two sleeping pads (Big Agnes), 3 or 4 camping pillows, a Kermit Chair (for the wife) and summer weight sleeping bags.
I run a flat strap under the seat and attach this to the front of the Kermit Bags and attach the rear of the bags to the BMW mount behind the seat. We also carry a soft cooler back there.
When cold weather camping I go alone and am able to pack a cold weather sleeping bag using the space her stuff is not in. I lay a large Kermit’s Bag across the passenger seat.

Joe thanks for the well thought out reply to my camera question. I looked up the Leica and it is something new for me to lust after. I got tired of carrying the large DSLR around too but what I did was to not carry a camera at all. This is not a good solution but I have never seen a non DSLR (that I can afford) that does what I want. Maybe I’ll stumble across a good priced used one.

Mark

No problem for my old buddy Mark.

Indeed it is an exciting time for photography with whole new classes of camera platforms that do in fact offer excellent performance in a much smaller package, making it easier for us to pack on our R1200R's

I get my Leica stuff from Tony at http://www.popflash.com
He's a long time BMW rider and a hell of a nice guy. He has X1's used and refurbished come through all the time for significantly less than new, like $600-700 less than new. I think he has a test drive loaner program too....

Here's another one to get you thinking, the Lytro Light Field Camera. Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space, allowing for "living pictures" and after the fact focusing by anyone viewing the images online.
While it's not going to be the right camera for everyone, the concept and science behind it is amazing and I believe it will eventually revolutionize the way images are captured.
Read the CEO's dissertation, it's very interesting times we live in .

https://www.lytro.com/

[websterize]

Phone cameras (e.g. iPhone 4S) are killing compact camera sales. Thinking about selling my Canon S90.

The best camera is the one you have on you, in which case my iPhone wins — front right pocket always.