Tips For Motorcycle Camping

Love the freedom of camping and the thrill of riding your motorcycle over miles and miles to admire the scenery? Combine these two loves with motorcycle camping! You’ll spend your days coasting down the highway in the open air instead of cooped up in a car, stopping along the way to visit tourist attractions. Then you can sleep under the stars or in a rustic rented cabin each night, exploring the area around you.

Before you hop on your bike and go, you’ll need to take a little time to prepare for the journey. If you’re not sure how to transition from camping with a car to using a touring motorcycle as your transport, this list of tips by Barnes Harley-Davidson Langley should be a great resource for you.

Perform A Pre-Ride Inspection

First, you need to make sure your bike is able to withstand the rigors of a long motorcycle trip. Start by checking your tires’ air pressure and general condition. You want them to be aired up to the manufacturer’s recommendation with adequate tread depth and no bald spots. If you find any worn areas or embedded objects, you’ll want to have your tires repaired or replaced accordingly.

Next, check the oil in your engine. If it’s clear, you can top it off and be good to go, but if it’s sludgy because it’s been a few months since your last oil change, it’s best to change it out and change the filter before your motorcycle camping trip.

Take a test ride around the block to check your lights and signals and make sure your brakes are responsive. If you have any concerns about the condition of your bike that you can’t address yourself at home, contact the Barnes Harley-Davidson Langley service department so we can get our professional mechanics on the case!

Make A Plan

You don’t want to just hit the road and hope that you’ll find everything you need along the way, from food to campsites. You should also establish your destination before you go. Think about a place you’d like to travel to, then use an online mapping system to plan your route there. You might check for areas of high traffic, road hazards like falling rocks, construction zones or ways to avoid toll roads. You can choose to go a direct route or take a more scenic and winding road.

As you chart this, consider how many miles you can ride per day and where you can stop for food, breaks and gas. You will also want to see if there are any interesting tourist attractions along your route that are worthy of a detour.

Think about whether you’ll be camping with a tent or choosing to rent cabins along the way. Both options are viable, but a tent will be cheaper and give you that rugged camping experience. Make sure to reserve any camping spots you may need if you’re going to an actual campsite, particularly during peak seasons.

Add Storage Options

Your bike likely comes equipped with some good storage options, but in order to fit all the extra gear you’ll need for a touring excursion, you may need to add a few more places to stash things. You’ll probably find a cargo rack, a top side box and saddlebags. Often, people like to add leather cargo bags, which look great with your bike and are reasonably rugged, provided you take care of them well to protect them from rain and road debris.

Another option, particularly if you’ll be traveling through wet weather, is to obtain dry bags, which are waterproof. These can be a good option for holding your cell phone and other electronics so they aren’t ruined by rain.

How To Pack

Finally, you’ll have to find a way to organize all your gear on your bike. You should make a list of the essentials, including your usual riding gear with the possible addition of a waterproof riding suit, your safety gear like a first aid kit, your repair kit for your bike and a fold-out tent.

Be as conservative as possible when packing, since there are always items you can pick up along the way in order to spare yourself from lugging extra weight. Go with backpacking gear that’s lightweight and small enough to easily fit in your storage compartments.

With a little prep work, your motorcycle camping trip will go off without a hitch! If you still need a bike, visit our Langley dealership to see our selection of new and used motorcycles for sale, including some quality touring models by Harley-Davidson. Barnes Harley-Davidson Langley serves the cities of Surrey, Coquitlam and Richmond, British Columbia.