Slowlycatchymonkey

You might be lucky Seems Spain has a ridiculously inconsistent approach where each tiny area decides its own rules so while some are under curfew and celebrations are cancelled others places like Madrid are free to party. Mental. Maybe the new figures will change things or maybe everyone’s feeling like Madrid and ready to give up trying

16 is damn good going Pete, all those trips to the vets are paying off!

Nice client!

It stings for so long Ive sworn no more dogs. Over the last two years Ive gone from five dogs to just two. I still dream about them often, that really they’re alive and well and its all been a big mistake. I tell my sons they dont need to be so sad, that dogs dont know how long they live, they just enjoy the present, that they are like butterflies, theyre here, they’re beautiful and they’re gone.

Very very nice. Pricey?

I really like those but theyre all mummy bags apart from one thats not warm enough for me.

Jolly good. The only thing Id add is have a go at packing your bike well before it’s go time. It can be a anywhere between a bit of a faff and a figgin nightmare discovering- it doesnt all fit, the weights too high up, you really need a couple of extra straps, you wish youd bought that compact thingamyjig, what the hell are you going to take out If you do it a few days before its not hassle to fix whatever doesnt work. Also camp near where you will be peeing but not in the main drag where all the other campers walk towards the toilets- boozers are not quiet pissers Pitch your tent with your door facing the way you’re comfortable ie I face my tent door away from other people so I can unzip it and laze there looking at my bike for as long as I like

Ah so compact is good then. Do you have kitchen stuff like stove and kettle?

You’re reading a thread from someone asking advice on motorbike camping.. get yourself back to the “I drove a van somewhere” thread, thats far more informative

Sounds great. Are you going on your tod? I ask because if you have two bikes then space isnt really such an issue.

Im afraid the sleeping bag thing is a minefield because everyone’s sleeping comfort zone temperature isnt the same. I get cold so I have the warmest sub zero sleeping bag and a silk liner which I use most of the year, that would be a nightmare for most people! Im afraid its a suck it and see. I can say the expensive cotton sleeping bag I brought is a massive NOOO, unsurprisingly cotton sucks up condensation! I started off with two thinner sleeping bag and from the combination of layers available quickly discovered what warmth rating suited me then read lots of reviews. Do you have a water carry bag? How many nights are you going for? ps I finally bought a mummy sleeping bag against my better judgement.. its horrible, I had to sleep with it undone

TLDR I like camping. If you want to motorcycle tour but dont want to stick slavishly to a fixed itinerary then camping is an essential weapon. Reading tripadvisor reviews everyday before you book somewhere to make sure youre not handing over muchas moola for a bad hospitality is boring and its not many days before you get a bit fed up explaining to whatever hotel owner that day brings what youre doing and where youre going, usually they then treat you to an excruciatingly long life story letting you know just how awesome they are or sympathetic you’re supposed to be in their direction. Gets tiresome. And dont get me started on the food Tent- put it up and please yourself. £10 pls. Marvellous. The tea and coffees good, the bedding’s just right, the pillow is lump free, you dont have to be at breakfast at a specific time so you can lie in til you want to get going, you dont have to talk to anyone if you dont want to and its no big deal if you want to stay another day or two. It also means you dont have to book ahead and that means if you want an extra day to go and see something you didnt know about until you got there you can because your carrying what you need. Dont get me wrong if its miserable and pissing down then I wont argue about running to the nearest hotel but you want to go far or for a long period you soon get sick of hotels. Im guessing its detractors have never tried travelling by purely motorbike for extended periods. Money aside (if youre lucky enough to be able to put it aside) and the weathers agreeable the peace, quiet and flexibility of camping is surprisingly good.

I love the pop up tent I bought, I have the two person one but they do a three. It really does go up and more importantly down as well in seconds. No poles or faffing about, dont even need to bother pegging it out if its not windy. Not sure how long itll last but its so good (and cheap) Id buy another. The Robens tipi tent I have is also a great tent (loads of room and you can stand up in there) but thats better if youre pitched in one place for more than a couple of days. A bit bulkier than the tiniest tents but so worth £99 Demo starts at 25 second in

Those lomo dry bags (which look good) have been out of stock since last May! In fairness they were saying then it would be Jan 22 before they had anymore stock. I gave up trying to find one and was going to go for the pricey Ortlieb I wanted but this bag appeared and it has so many lashing loops, compression straps, back pack straps, reinforced areas and excellent waterproofing it completely outdid the Ortlieb. I get asked about it so often I thought about printing the details out to speed up the conversations it causes! https://needtounplug.com/collections/unplug-adventure-bags You need to buy it from Germany though, over here theyve whacked another £85 on the price! https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08PF4LKFK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1&psc=1

I like it, thats going on my list.

Think he might have been having an off day

I like the tuneful narration

Looks good similar sort of thing. Ultimately I went with the one with most 5 star reviews just because theres so many on the market it can be hard to choose between them. The cot and mattress together is a revelation though cos I before I was waking up with aches and pains I didnt even know I had yet… but its a warning theyre in the post … where is that yoga dvd

Im excited for you as well, cant wait for the Grasshopper Flies series! ps yes your damn right and dont pack perishable food (and definitely not chocolate) on the exhaust side.. dont ask

Ah yes I do a similar thing, I also have a black mesh washing machine bag that I put under a cargo net. Useful if merino wool smalls haven’t dried in time, which invariably they don’t if they’ve been hand washed. If theres a machine available its nice to know when you hand it over youll get all your smalls back. After becoming a captive audience with no choice but to pay exorbitant prices for bad food at one place in Scotland I also adopted your method of checking for a nearby supermarket. Id rather have cheese, chorizo and a nice bottle of plonk than get fleeced.

For me sleeping comfort is the most important part if I want enjoy not endure it and when packing space is at a premium its easy to sacrifice that for skinny mattresses or a horrible travel pillow. They work for some but not me. Motorbiker was along the same lines and used a full size memory foam pillow which sounds crazy when space is at a premium but as he pointed out you can put it in the bottom of the bag and the weight crushes it down (I crush the air out of mine in one of those thin drysacs). Having a decent pillow and mattress is make or break when you want more than one night. I bought a shredded memory foam pillow, cut the case down to 3/4 size. Mattress wise I tried LOADS and after looking up what worked best for avoiding back/neck/shoulder pain I bought the suggested cot AND mattress combo and I find them extremely comfortable. Im sure if you have a tent you already have gear youre going to use but Im mentioning them because they give exceptional comfort but pack up small. IMO for the comfort theyre worth the space, the mattress folds up much smaller than anything else Ive seen. Its comfortable enough that “5 more mins” is always on the cards Im sure someone wise will be along in a minute to mention keeping the weighty stuff low and evenly distributed on both sides of the bike blah blah blah Where are you planning to go? https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QS9JMGC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07N4KK854/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ps they didnt recommend any specific cot and mattress combo this is just what I landed on after reading a million reviews, sometimes Im a right nerd

What is the turquoise thing on the bag?

Or Carry on Camping is on ITV3 17.15 I havent fired up this tv free view box for a good year and looking at the listings I can see why, what a load of tosh!

The best most consistently reliable advice Ive had has always come from @Motobiker but his he has finessed his knowledge over donkeys years so its vast, youll have to ask him something specific because otherwise he’d have to write a book! Most of the knowledge he imparted I followed because it was obviously right but I remember him explaining he has one big waterproof bag across the back of his bike bought to be the same width as his bike measured with panniers on, that way theres only one bag to carry and lash on and off the bike. I didn’t specifically ignore that advice I just happened to already own 4 small ones and the bag I fancied was very expensive so best see if I like this motorbike camping first ay? Lashing those 4 bags on and off the bike drove me nuts, took 5 times longer than necessary and they always slipped and required readjusting after a few miles. Now I have one big bag and just two quality straps. Wish someone had told me earlier.. oh .. err

HAPPY NEW YEAR. My year wouldnt have been the same without you weirdos, I would have wasted less time and been a hell of a lot more productive but what can I say your my kind of horrible misfits and I do like wasting time. Looking forward to another year of verbal abuse and bubble bursting, not sure if associating with you lot is driving me towards or away from needing therapy but either way cheers Gif to balance up any sentimentality that may have accidentally come through above