How do you pack for two?

[HeathCreek]

Hello brothers and sisters,

I am considering taking a trip two-up on Connie for the first time. I am wondering how you experienced folks load up your ponies. I am thinking that I can pack more on her if I take off the trunk and use the rack with my tour pack and other pieces that hold our camping gear. I am used to packing up our 1600 Classic for cross-country tours which only proivides a standard size cruiser luggage rack plus the saddle bags, but this will be the first with Connie. How do y'all do it? Recommended gear? As always, thanks in advance. Considering Phil's rack for starters...

 

[Strawboss]

I'm not sure you can do it without a top case with 2 people comfortably as I stored the camp/bathing stuff in the top case. I also use a tank bag that stores all the rain gear/maps/small tools/medical/knife/flashlights. We each got 1 bag to load maybe 2-3 days of clothes and do laundry the 3rd day. If its warm, we did not take shoes, sandels or flip flops. Again, if warm, light clothes, shorts, jeans are just too heavy and don't pack as well as thin pants. I wear some sort of riding shorts under my over mesh pants. A person should be able to pack 2-3 days of clothes safely in a C-14 bag no problem. There are a few older threads that listed camping essentials and what others did or used, search around and you will find it.

https://forum.concours.org/index.php?threads/moto-camping.33969/

 

[connie_rider]

I'm not a long ride guy anymore. So, most may scoff at my suggestion.

We went OtP and rode the Alps a few years ago. Being "us" we seriously took too many things.
But, I learned a trick.

I took Compressible/Vacuum Travel bags.
The bags compress your clothes to 1/3 the space and can be opened and (easily) re-compressed every day without the need for a vacuum.

Ride safe, Ted

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[ONOBob]

The compressible bags do work.
I’ve used them several times

 

[nickrides]

I don't think you can pack for 2 to go camping, too much stuff even if you barebones it
I'm sure some people have done it but I couldn't.
YMMV
Nick
2014 C-14

 

[HeathCreek]

I don't think you can pack for 2 to go camping, too much stuff even if you barebones it
I'm sure some people have done it but I couldn't.
YMMV
Nick
2014 C-14

Yeah, Nick. I am thinking that it would have to be barebones for sure.....even more than I already do. Interested to see how folks pack up their bikes for long trips riding two-up.

 

[HeathCreek]

I'm not a long ride guy anymore. So, most may scoff at my suggestion.

We went OtP and rode the Alps a few years ago. Being "us" we seriously took too many things.
But, I learned a trick.

I took Compressible/Vacuum Travel bags.
The bags compress your clothes to 1/3 the space and can be opened and (easily) re-compressed every day without the need for a vacuum.

Ride safe, Ted

Vacuum Storage Bags 8 Pcs Space Saver Bags for Clothes Blanket compression bag | eBay

ãUltra Space Saving Vacuum Bagsã - Saving space of beddings, comforters, quilts, blankets, pillows, sweaters, clothes and plush toys up to 80%! ãUpgrade Patent Valve 99% Air Outã - Patent turbo valve exhausts air FASTER with vacuum cleaner, only 8s done the job!

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I have always done a similar think with large zip locks, but these might do a little better. How well do they do without the vacuum?

 

[2andblue]

I have always done a similar think with large zip locks, but these might do a little better. How well do they do without the vacuum?

Got our longer rides we use (freezer-size) zip lock bags and pack for two people 5 days of clothing plus - rain gear, heated gear, neck wear (****ies and lighter base layers) back-up gloves, general tools, a day of food, gallon of water, off-bike shoes, electrical bag of plugs; charge cords; external power sources, toiletries hard bag.

All clothes are rolled then bagged and air pushed out. The zip lock baggies do not hold air tight like a true wet / dry or vacuum bag.

We like the gallon size bags as they’re just the right size per day and help organize.

I as well would like something more heavy duty that would stay squished down as the aforementioned wet/ dry bags.

@connie_rider do these bags stay sealed and compressed all day, 24HR, longer?

Wayne

 

[Jorge]

Hat's off to you Heath...
We've motorcycle camped, but only on two bikes. By the time we get sleeping bag, sleeping pads, etc., we would never be able to go two-up camping.
We've done two week trips two-up, but not camping.
I do agree that nylon hiking pants pack very small. Synthetic t-shirts also pack small and dry quickly after washing.
I also will wear shorts under my mesh riding pants, but only on my C14. I tried that once on my C10 and the hot air coming off the engine, through the mesh, was uncomfortable on my legs.

 

[horsenuts123]

My son and I took a trip to the Black Hills a few years ago and Connie was the pack mule as his CBR1000 isn't conducive to strapping things on. But a lot more than a few years ago my wife and I took a 650 nighthawk to the hills for a week and got by rolling all our clothes up as tight as possible and putting rubber bands around them. It was amazing how much stuff she fit in the soft saddle bags we threw over the passenger seat. The tent was used as the center of the bedding "roll" with the sleeping bags and tarp wrapped around it and the whole giant thing strapped to the back fender behind her. The only mishap was when the giant roll slid down and came in contact with the back tire and burned a hole through several layers of sleeping bag. The rest of the trip was spent figuring out how to sleep without my rear end freezing because of the holes!

 

[ron203]

I use a dry bag behind me and she flies to our destination. Works great!

 

[BrianG]

Let me say that my two-up long distance touring is on a 2008 Goldwing. We pack 5 days worth of underwear & socks, 3 days worth of outwear, toiletries, motel shoes, snacks, and water. I get one saddle bag. The other one is for raingear, my wife's purse, and misc stuff. My wife gets a luggage rack bag. The trunk is for food, water, maps, & walking shoes (neither of us care to do a multi-mile walk to a waterfall in our riding boots). A dry bag containing cold-weather layers gets strapped on when needed. I camped a lot as a youngster (Eagle Scout in a very active outdoor-oriented troop). I can't imagine motorcycle camping for more than a night or two, and then, not two-up. Kudos to those who do it.

 

[Strawboss]

I like the individual zip-lock bags for each night, great idea, keeps them organized, so just grab a bag each night, I imagine dirty goes back into each bag which serves to keep them separated from the clean stuff. With 2 on one bike, hotels, no problem, done it a lot, more than enough room, 2 on one bike camping, unless you are rain free, warm, sleeping under the stars, it will be a challenge.

 

[connie_rider]

I have always done a similar think with large zip locks, but these might do a little better. How well do they do without the vacuum?

These worked well during our 3 week trip thru the Alps. (lots of twisties)
NOTE: On our trip 1 of them stopped holding a vacuum after about 2 weeks and I replaced it with a spare I had taken along.

They have a check valve built in them that allows you to squeeze "all" the air out.
That valve works the same as if you vacuumed them down.
ie; You place the clothes inside and then roll all the air out.
The check valve then seals to hold the vacuum.
They save a lot of space and held the vacuum for days.
Kept things dry in the rain storms.

Ride safe, Ted

 

[2andblue]

These worked well during our 3 week trip thru the Alps. (lots of twisties)
NOTE: On our trip 1 of them stopped holding a vacuum after about 2 weeks and I replaced it with a spare I had taken along.

They have a check valve built in them that allows you to squeeze "all" the air out.
That valve works the same as if you vacuumed them down.
ie; You place the clothes inside and then roll all the air out.
The check valve then seals to hold the vacuum.
They save a lot of space and held the vacuum for days.
Kept things dry in the rain storms.

Ride safe, Ted

Sounds just like a miniature wet/dry bag. I have a wet/dry bag in the basement (30L I think) that has not been used since I sold my boat 12 years ago. Opening it now would be like a time capsule as it is about half full of gear.

Can shrink down an enormous amount into the bag and it never leaks, top notch.

Some may like the idea of 30L of ‘stuff’ shrunk down to 5 liters but then that means you need to unpack all 30L every day unless you packed in sequence of use. So I like the idea of the smaller vacuum bags - will look them up, good find Ted.

Now with these bags I really could bring the kitchen sink… lol

Wayne

 

[connie_rider]

I thought that multiple / smaller bags were better as I could separate the items and not have to open every bag at night. Additionally it was easier to pack multiple bags into both saddle bags rather than have to stuff 1 big bag into 1 side.

 

[Jpd11958]

We have done 2 up camping 2 times. One was on a Vulcan750 that was so overloaded anything over 60 and the front end was dancing. The other was on our C-10. With both the camping supplies take up so much room it leaves little space for personal gear. One or two night trips only. We did know a couple that moto camped but they had a small trailer for the camping, cooking gear.

We each get a saddlebag and can put about 5 days of cloths including hotel/ walk to restaurant and bathing suits. Tail pack gets extra riding gear jacket liners heavy gloves ect. snacks and fluids. Tank bag has the rain gear. If it is a longer trip we do laundry at the hotel.

 

[ron203]

Sounds just like a miniature wet/dry bag. I have a wet/dry bag in the basement (30L I think) that has not been used since I sold my boat 12 years ago. Opening it now would be like a time capsule as it is about half full of

Can shrink down an enormous amount into the bag and it never leaks, top notch.

Some may like the idea of 30L of ‘stuff’ shrunk down to 5 liters but then that means you need to unpack all 30L every day unless you packed in sequence of use. So I like the idea of the smaller vacuum bags - will look them up, good find Ted.

Now with these bags I really could bring the kitchen sink… lol

Wayne

I use two wet/dry bags behind me across the seat when I’m alone. No rain worries and a good backrest.

 

[kv5e]

Two up Camping = small trailer if you are traveling distances. Even then it is clothes washing every 3 days. You can get a knit bag for socks and underhosen that tied off in the wind stream can help out on washing.

 

[HeathCreek]

Got our longer rides we use (freezer-size) zip lock bags and pack for two people 5 days of clothing plus - rain gear, heated gear, neck wear (****ies and lighter base layers) back-up gloves, general tools, a day of food, gallon of water, off-bike shoes, electrical bag of plugs; charge cords; external power sources, toiletries hard bag.

All clothes are rolled then bagged and air pushed out. The zip lock baggies do not hold air tight like a true wet / dry or vacuum bag.

We like the gallon size bags as they’re just the right size per day and help organize.

I as well would like something more heavy duty that would stay squished down as the aforementioned wet/ dry bags.

@connie_rider do these bags stay sealed and compressed all day, 24HR, longer?

Wayne

What you do is almost spot on how we do, but I also add a tent and two sleeping bags. My zip lock bags do the trick okay. If you do it right you can get quite a bit of air out and they will stay compressed all right, but certainly not as well as being able to use the vacuum. But I can't take a vacuum with me.

 

[HeathCreek]

My son and I took a trip to the Black Hills a few years ago and Connie was the pack mule as his CBR1000 isn't conducive to strapping things on. But a lot more than a few years ago my wife and I took a 650 nighthawk to the hills for a week and got by rolling all our clothes up as tight as possible and putting rubber bands around them. It was amazing how much stuff she fit in the soft saddle bags we threw over the passenger seat. The tent was used as the center of the bedding "roll" with the sleeping bags and tarp wrapped around it and the whole giant thing strapped to the back fender behind her. The only mishap was when the giant roll slid down and came in contact with the back tire and burned a hole through several layers of sleeping bag. The rest of the trip was spent figuring out how to sleep without my rear end freezing because of the holes!
View attachment 38214

Yep, if we weren't two up I would have no problem at all packing her down with everything. I think if I just get a top rack put on the Givi I can make it work....

 

[Konehead34]

Have you considered towing a mini trailer with the c14? Makes packing easier and unloads the bike. Did it with my c10 and then later when I got my c14. Sadly the urge to tent camp was replaced with koa cabins.

 

[cragantler]

First and foremost, good for you.
My wife isn't comfortable on long distance rides and/or camping. Ain’t going to fault her for that as she’s a keeper in so many different ways.
When we lived in Northern New England, I did more moto-camping with a group of friends up there. Down in Western NC, not so much.
Pack what you think you need, then in-pack and go thru it again. Eventually you should be able to reduce the weight and items.
Only issue I had was we always camped after Labor Day and the weather up there could go either cold and wet or hot. 5 days in primitive campsites.

 

[HeathCreek]

Have you considered towing a mini trailer with the c14? Makes packing easier and unloads the bike. Did it with my c10 and then later when I got my c14. Sadly the urge to tent camp was replaced with koa cabins.

That would sound good to me! ....if I had a hitch....and a trailer....

 

[HeathCreek]

First and foremost, good for you.
My wife isn't comfortable on long distance rides and or camping. Ain’t going to fault her for that as she’s a keeper I’m so many different ways.
When we lived in Northern New England, I did more moto-camping with a group of friends up there. Down in Western NC, not so much.
Pack what you think you need, then in-pack and go thru it again. Eventually you should be able to reduce the weight and items.
Only issue I had was we always camped after Labor Day and the weather up there could go either cold and wet or hot. 5 days in primitive campsites.View attachment 38322View attachment 38323

That bag is HUGE!

 

[Konehead34]

That would sound good to me! ....if I had a hitch....and a trailer....

I believe the only company still making a hitch for the c14 is Denray they are in Canada. Harbor freight sells a small trailer that I put a water proof car topper on to haul my camping gear. When there a will, there's a way...


And towed Like a dream..

 

[HeathCreek]

That is great! The famous tangerine express! How did pulling that affect your mpg/tire wear/fun? That really is a good idea!

 

[HeathCreek]

I believe the only company still making a hitch for the c14 is Denray they are in Canada. Harbor freight sells a small trailer that I put a water proof car topper on to haul my camping gear. When there a will, there's a way...


And towed Like a dream..

I see Klim and Givi came together to make a trailer! LOL!

 

[Bud]

I have a trailer listed in the classified section.

 

[Konehead34]

Lol, I figured passing kids in cars would love the tangerine express name.

Mileage dropped from my normal 43-44 mpg to about 36. I.did accelerate rear tire wear a.smidge, but I wasn't surprised by it. In reality under static load (bike not moving) my tongue weight on the hitch was only about 60 lbs after shifting my load forward for stability measures. I orginally bought into the no more than 40 lbs on the hitch and didn't have the weight properly positioned in the trailer. It put me very nearly into tank slapper everytime I'd get up to 55-60mph. My test runs with an empty trailer failed to bring this up. But a semi truck saw my plight and I happened.to be monitoring ch 19 on the J+M cb/fm radio, and educated me on loading the weight forward of the trailers axle. Once I readjusted the load I was able to cruise at 80mph without any further drama.

Which then leads right into the fun factor. Lol at one point while riding to the Dubois koa in Wyoming (on my way to.the 2013 national in Idaho) I completely forget i.was pulling a trailer!! That is until I caught a glimpse of it in my mirror while leaned over for a sweeper!!! Lol

My camping gear consisted of a bass pro cot, large 6 person tent, cooking gear (2 burner stove and fuel.for it, untensils pots, campers food some mre's) chair, foam padding for the cot, sleeping bag, pillow.

 

[HeathCreek]

Lol, I figured passing kids in cars would love the tangerine express name.

Mileage dropped from my normal 43-44 mpg to about 36. I.did accelerate rear tire wear a.smidge, but I wasn't surprised by it. In reality under static load (bike not moving) my tongue weight on the hitch was only about 60 lbs after shifting my load forward for stability measures. I orginally bought into the no more than 40 lbs on the hitch and didn't have the weight properly positioned in the trailer. It put me very nearly into tank slapper everytime I'd get up to 55-60mph. My test runs with an empty trailer failed to bring this up. But a semi truck saw my plight and I happened.to be monitoring ch 19 on the J+M cb/fm radio, and educated me on loading the weight forward of the trailers axle. Once I readjusted the load I was able to cruise at 80mph without any further drama.

Which then leads right into the fun factor. Lol at one point while riding to the Dubois koa in Wyoming (on my way to.the 2013 national in Idaho) I completely forget i.was pulling a trailer!! That is until I caught a glimpse of it in my mirror while leaned over for a sweeper!!! Lol

My camping gear consisted of a bass pro cot, large 6 person tent, cooking gear (2 burner stove and fuel.for it, untensils pots, campers food some mre's) chair, foam padding for the cot, sleeping bag, pillow.

Good info! Thanks! 40 lbs on the hitch? Really? That's all? Am I understanding that? What can you pull that weighs less than 40 lbs?

 

[ONOBob]

Good info! Thanks! 40 lbs on the hitch? Really? That's all? Am I understanding that? What can you pull that weighs less than 40 lbs?

They are talking about tongue weight, the weight pushing “down” on the tongue.
Not the “pull” weight of the trailer and load.

Too little tongue weight will cause a trailer to “fish tail” every time

 

[Konehead34]

Yep, tongue weight. That's why I listed all the gear that was IN the trailer. That bass pro cot is heavy duty and I Loved it With rolled cone shaped foam. Firm support and insulated my arse...!! Lol

 

[Jorge]

At least one COG member had a Unigo - the coolest MC trailer out there. G-Mazz has one he uses for camping.
I've seen some a similar one-wheel trailer made from scratch. Not as sleek looking as the Unigo, but also pretty cool.

 

[Bud]

We did a week long camping trip with my 83 1100e and a trailer. You can take a lot of stuff that way. As Patrick mentioned, if loaded properly, you can forget it's back there. I learned about coons and coolers on that trip.

 

[danmcdermott]

We've done 2 up on our conni for both camping and hotel trips. In my opinion quite a bit will depend on your gear (how small and light), what season and weather to expect, how you want to eat (bring cooking supplies and fuel and food), and how comfortable or uncomfortable you want to be.

We started with a multi day hotel trip and noted what we brought and did not use or could do without. Then we took stock of how much space camping we needed to add camping supplies. We packed the bike, unpacked the bike, removed what we thought we could, repacked the bike and repeated.

The top box has always been a preferred back rest for my pillion as opposed to packing bags on the tail.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[HeathCreek]

We've done 2 up on our conni for both camping and hotel trips. In my opinion quite a bit will depend on your gear (how small and light), what season and weather to expect, how you want to eat (bring cooking supplies and fuel and food), and how comfortable or uncomfortable you want to be.

We started with a multi day hotel trip and noted what we brought and did not use or could do without. Then we took stock of how much space camping we needed to add camping supplies. We packed the bike, unpacked the bike, removed what we thought we could, repacked the bike and repeated.

The top box has always been a preferred back rest for my pillion as opposed to packing bags on the tail.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

Thank you for sharing your experience! A couple days ago I installed a rack on my Givi Trunk. Fingers crossed I think that is going to give me the little added space I needed in order to do the things we need to do. I have travelled with my boys across the country since they were 9 years old, and we have it down pretty good! Just haven't done it on the Connie yet. Planning a couple small test trips in-state here pretty soon to see if we can load her up for a cross-country long haul.