Take some tips from the ultralite backpacking crowd. You can be both light and comfortable. Downside is you are gonna spend some money. Upside is the stuff is quality and will last you a long time. Downside is that you will not find it in some village in Honduras or even Montana so you will have to go to some effort and research to find it. Ebay is a good source for high end gear from rich guys with a short attention span.

Examples of such gear:

MSR Hubba tent, weight under 3 lbs, free standing, full fly, quick set up.
Western Mounteering High Light sleeping bag 30 degree, 1 lb
MSR Thermaarest Neoaire pad 8 ozs
MSR Simmerlite stove, 1.3 l titanium pot, stove nests in pot (use a stove that uses the same fuel as the motorcycle)

Backofbeyond,

Good points. For a six to eight month trip, where it´s quite possible I´ll set up camp somewhere for a few days, it would be pretty miserable staying in a tent where you could not even sit up.

Javier,
So true! I bought a lot of my stuff from eBay before I left. It´s a buyers market out there, great website.

Exactly. There are even smaller and lighter options from lesser known and available places too.

No one is suggesting taking things out. Just put more thought and research into what you do decide to take. "Is there a better option here?" The comfort level is a different assessment for everyone. It comes down to where you want to put the emphasis on the compromise on. The ultra light crowd put the emphasis on the time spent on the pegs. Because that's what you spend most of the time doing.

Like was said. It doesn't have to cost a lot (which is a different concept for everyone too). The lesser known brands don't cost that much more if any more. Some of my gear is over 10 years old and still looks like new. It's not daily use stuff in normal life so it tends to be like this. It'll be around when you next want to use it. And with the ultralight market pretty much being at its peak of innovation there aren't many wholesale improvements into the future to concern yourself with neither.

Yep, strap trimming would be in order. I'd be more concerned about being pinned down under that beast in the mud, not able to wriggle out. Been there, seen it in person. (Loaded KTM 950)

Fair point for sure .. and a sort of conundrum. Traveling without cooking/camping gear requires better day to day route planning, bit of luck and ability to think on your feet and improvise.
I don't ride in Snow (not on purpose anyway! doh )

Meals need be taken when you can, snacks carried for when nothing around. All this dependent WHERE you are, how remote and off beaten track you may be and your own personal style and requirements.

I've come into small villages ... no hostels. We asked locals, several families stepped up to take us in ... and fed us too! (we bought the Beer!). But every situation is different and YOU CAN end up laying in the dirt, freezing in a Goat pasture.

As you move through a continent things change, and so do your requirements. When a problem or need arises most times you can buy something to fill that gap, sometimes not. You may also find you're carrying stuff you no longer need. So you adapt and improvise as you go. bier

Some things are REALLY hard to find.

I love giving stuff away, I never just "leave it". Kids love T-Shirts and stickers, studious girls love English guide books or novels. Other riders LOVE that extra tube you no longer need and the local mechanic loves the tools you give him that you no longer need.

Traveling light is an art and everyone approaches it differently ...many "experts" out there ... and you can learn something from everyone of them.
bier

Velcro meant for tidying cables works well on strap ends and lets you keep the length for the odd extra bit you acquire.


There is BTW no way I'm drinking out of plastic or giving up the option to buy fresh food to cook later in the name of lightness.


Andy

ThreewheelCaravan then? :smartass:

I hear echos of that Monty Python bit: "oui, they don't do proper Tea here, not like at home!!" :rofl:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u...8/P1020354.JPG


I'm having a bit of an Italian phase right now. Might be something they put in the Guzzi paint. Contents:


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...8/P1020355.JPG


So while the sawn off toothbrush chaps are having NATO-With* I shall be drinking the real thing.


Andy


* For those not familiar NATO-With is a beverage designed to keep soldiers awake (by worrying about having to drink the stuff). If you don't have access to the genuine powder make your own. You need:


1 part coffee flavouring
1 part benzadrine
12 parts sugar
12 parts powdered milk
8 parts Creosote
11 parts extra sugar
7 parts burnt nappy
93 parts additional sugar
1 part unknown


Mixed correctly it can be used to waterproof your shed.

I cut my toothbrush off but insist on real coffee. I prefer cowboy coffee on the road.

Cowboy coffee:

To a snack size Ziploc bag add 1/4 c of coffee and 1/4 c sugar. Any kind of sugar will do. Brown sugar give is a nice touch.

At night when you get ready to hit the sack pour the contents of the Ziploc into a pot with about 20 oz of water and let it set overnight. In the morning light your stove and bring it to a boil and set aside for 5 minutes. Pour it into you cup. The grounds will sink to the bottom. I have my stove and such all set up so that I am packing up while the coffee is brewing.

how much stuff left
 

just woudering hove much gear you still carry i had about half that much and still got rid of more after a month or so, Dave:

you're absolutely right.
I've been on the road for the past 4/5 months now, with my setup. What I can say is I've realized quite early my mistakes, but still couldn't figure out what to keep, what to change, and what to dump. Then the dirt roads came, and more and more nights out for camping.
There was many stuff I just never used at all, and were sitting at the bottom of my bags for nothing. Even if they would have make my life easier, I just couldn't bother to get them out of the bag, and always found a solution to do without, or replace them by something more handy.

I also learnt by talking with other riders on the road how to reduce my toolkit, or optimize it.
I had a lot's of paper guidebooks. It now seems a strange idea, but.. i only got a smartphone in kazakhstan, never used one before, neither a tablet. And I realize now how handy it is, I have all my maps, guide books, and more in it. Battery life doesn't matter as I can plug it on my bike (usb).. whereas my laptop was useless after 2 or 3 days (battery).

I wanted a "big" bike, because I have this image of travellers who where ready to overload their bike to go further than anyone else could with smallers luggages. Nowdays, there are so many options to lighten the bike, that is image is no longer what an adventure bike should be.

I'm now trying a new option, with soft luggage, and all together, maximum 30-35 kg. Very few changes with my gear, but lot's of adjustments make a huge difference.

I will do a report with my organisation a bit later, as it was the first question of this topic :)

New riders feel the pressure of the advertisers. It's an easy sell: Buy our new laser etched stainless unobtanium combined bash plate/heliograph/bird bath/ BBQ and avoid the risks of a leaking sump, loss of sunny day emergency communication with boy scouts, ability to wash your feathered (special) friend and lack of charred-raw gristle burger.


Empty space has no such comfort factor and as it's free must be worth every penny.


Read the Hubb and build up your kit rather than buying loads and getting rid as you go, leaves more cash for petrol.


Andy

We all start the same, with big bikes and way too much luggage.
Few years down the line, wether we travel for two weeks of several months, we take the same.

That is our ultimate set up for riding from Uk to Mongolia and back.

See pictures below if i can load some....

Bike one: yellow 50 litres roll bag containing all the camping gear ( tent, two sleeping bags and mattresses, fuel stove, plates, cups etc.... And fuel bladder.
Top box waterproof and thermals, plus spare parts.
Tools on a mini side box

Bike two ( mine):
Soft panniers with shoes ( trainers mine and hubby) and all our clothes ( including my water proofs and thermals, pharmacy and toiletries and occasional tins of sardines)- 6 kg each soft pannier
Tank bag contains food like nuts, bottle of water, toilet paper, maps, ipad and russian phrase book.

We Both had backpacks for extra food and water and to carry documents like insurance, bikes docs etc...

We also had an extra empty roll bag to carry further water and food used in Mongolia .

I don't seem able to upload more than one photo per post!

Bikes' size was perfect... But too slow. My ultimate travel bike ( for trail riding) would still be about 120kg, but 250cc... A bit more speed would have been better.....

Hi,

Looking through your pictures reminds me that I have started with a heavy loadet bike too. I carryed tires all the way through Africa and had to take them down every day, but the Mitas E07 lasted all the way down to Southafrica, were I could buy a new pair anyway: http://adventure-travel-experience.d...=en_westkueste


http://adventure-travel-experience.d...kueste_013.jpg

Later on I realized that I did not need so many things. I did not even need a big bike, so to visit Southamerica and Asia I endet up buying a 125cc bike just carrying this:

http://adventure-travel-experience.d...angkok_001.jpg

After 4 years of traveling, my perfect packing list looks like:

http://reisemotorrad.eu/?report=en_ausruestung

Enjoy your trip!!!

To fill up the wallet & the fuel tank.......everything else can be bought along the way :thumbup1:

I don't have that storage capacity in my house :rofl:

Don't forget the shovel, just in case :p

Me either mollydog :scared:


Bwahahahahahaha..............dammit, I just ordered all that & now ya telling me there's another way :unsure::eek3: