What did you do to your bike today?

I spent far to much time cleaning my bike today but it was a reward to myself for the chores I've done around the house as I've recently painted my front room & today I cleaned all the plastic as in the window frame & door & frame etc So around mid day I gave up on the house chores & went out to mess with my bike.
It gets better every time I clean it as I get further & further into it, Stanchions have finally come up nice I'm well pleased with how they look now. :cool:
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Got myself a nice and small 2 man tent and small lightweight sleeping bag, all for nowt. Borrowed off family who haven't used them in years, they're perfect for touring on the bike, the tent will fit into a Kriega US20. Pitched it today, then pitched it again once I knew what i was doing :D

Need to pick up a few more bits - a self inflating roll mat, a rain suit (as I'll be touring in kevlar jeans and leather jacket, or 2 piece leathers), some cheapish merino wool long sleeve/leg base layers and a Kriega US30 to go on the bike for all my camping stuff, with my R30 rucksack that'll give me 60 litres + a small tank bag for wallet/electronics etc. so plenty enough for a week away.

For those who camp while touring, do you bother with a small stove/way of cooking? I've seen the jetboil stoves which seem nice and small when packed, and should be great for making coffee/soup/noodles etc, i.e. basic food if there's none available.
 
TallPaul_S said:
Got myself a nice and small 2 man tent and small lightweight sleeping bag, all for nowt. Borrowed off family who haven't used them in years, they're perfect for touring on the bike, the tent will fit into a Kriega US20. Pitched it today, then pitched it again once I knew what i was doing :D

Need to pick up a few more bits - a self inflating roll mat, a rain suit (as I'll be touring in kevlar jeans and leather jacket, or 2 piece leathers), some cheapish merino wool long sleeve/leg base layers and a Kriega US30 to go on the bike for all my camping stuff, with my R30 rucksack that'll give me 60 litres + a small tank bag for wallet/electronics etc. so plenty enough for a week away.

For those who camp while touring, do you bother with a small stove/way of cooking? I've seen the jetboil stoves which seem nice and small when packed, and should be great for making coffee/soup/noodles etc, i.e. basic food if there's none available.
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Any chance you can tell me the dimensions of the tent packed away please?

I toured Scotland with a one man tent in a back pack. Next time I'll be taking the Kriega US-70 setup which includes a US-20 and just wondering what sort of size it is to be able to fit in there? (i want a bigger tent next time)

Thanks

Edit: my main tip for touring. DO NOT TAKE A BACKPACK. As you already have the US-20, just strap the backpack to that, or get another US-20 and strap them together. You don't want to be carrying a back pack over a few hours. I made that mistake doing 1500+ miles in Scotland :(

As far as a cooker goes, we took a little single hob gas thing, not the one where the gas goes at the bottom though, but the type where the gas can be put separate to the hob which means you can put it pretty much anywhere regardless of the ground as it isn't balancing on the gas canister. We had porridge in the mornings which you just pour water on to and a cup of tea, then had lunch and supper wherever. They boil really quickly, especially if you don't fill the kettle (we had a 1l which didn't need filling completely for anything).

If you're really going out there, look into the boil in a bag meals (army food bag things). Supposedly some of them are really good.
 
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I wonder what those cheap popup tents are like?

theres a good camping site just down the road from barmouth town centre,by the rail track/seafront

@arfoll best to ring round and ask for a quote to drill/re tap it,hours labour im guessing £30-£60?

a bit of heat helps with stuck bolts,heatgun/blowtorch
 
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Craig321 said:
Any chance you can tell me the dimensions of the tent packed away please?

I toured Scotland with a one man tent in a back pack. Next time I'll be taking the Kriega US-70 setup which includes a US-20 and just wondering what sort of size it is to be able to fit in there? (i want a bigger tent next time)

Thanks

Edit: my main tip for touring. DO NOT TAKE A BACKPACK. As you already have the US-20, just strap the backpack to that, or get another US-20 and strap them together. You don't want to be carrying a back pack over a few hours. I made that mistake doing 1500+ miles in Scotland :(

As far as a cooker goes, we took a little single hob gas thing, not the one where the gas goes at the bottom though, but the type where the gas can be put separate to the hob which means you can put it pretty much anywhere regardless of the ground as it isn't balancing on the gas canister. We had porridge in the mornings which you just pour water on to and a cup of tea, then had lunch and supper wherever. They boil really quickly, especially if you don't fill the kettle (we had a 1l which didn't need filling completely for anything).

If you're really going out there, look into the boil in a bag meals (army food bag things). Supposedly some of them are really good.
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The tent is an old coleman cobra 2-rs - it packs down to 40cm long - the US30 is 45cm long/high, and the US20 is 40cm, so it'll fit into both. With the US20, the tent/sleeping bag and self inflating roll mat would pretty much fill the bag, hence why I'll probably pick up a US30.

Now, normally I'd agree on not taking a rucksack, it's better to have the weight on the bike - however I have the Kriega R30 (basically a US30 with 2 extra pockets) and I wore it fully packed over 800 miles to wales and back for 2 days and didn't have any aches or back pain at all - it keeps the weight off your shoulders completely and puts it onto your chest. Fantastic rucksack, well worth the money. I had a numb bum, and aching legs, especially after the solid 4 hours on the motorway home, but zero ache because of a full rucksack.

The is the tent I have
coleman-cobra-2-tent.gif


Something like a Vango Banshee 200 which is very similar would be ok, they list them as 45cm ish pack size so if you rolled it a little smaller/packed the tent pegs/poles separately it'd go down to 40cm with no problem. It's a similar size to mine when erected and it'd be comfy for one person and some kit.

You make a good point about porridge - small sachets will fit anywhere. Might see if I can pick up a small cheap stove, I'll keep an eye out. :)

Scotland is on my list of places to go, realistically I'll only have the CB400 for at least another year or so - I'll only be doing short trips this summer but may plan some slightly longer stuff next summer. After that I'll hopefully have a 2nd bike more suited to long distance touring so can do some 'proper' long distance stuff - down to the alps, up to Scotland etc.
 
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Kreeeee said:
Where are you touring?
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Nothing major this year - after all this my first year on a big bike so don't want to push myself too far. I think a weekend trip soonish to test everything out, then if I get around to renewing out my passport (takes around 3 weeks to renew one in the UK at the moment) I might do a couple of days away in Europe before the summer ends, again to test the water as it'll be my 1st time riding in Europe.

I won't be doing 400 mile days again, that's for sure!! :D 200-300 miles a day max is about right.
 
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TallPaul_S said:
The tent is an old coleman cobra 2-rs - it packs down to 40cm long - the US30 is 45cm long/high, and the US20 is 40cm, so it'll fit into both. With the US20, the tent/sleeping bag and self inflating roll mat would pretty much fill the bag, hence why I'll probably pick up a US30.

Now, normally I'd agree on not taking a rucksack, it's better to have the weight on the bike - however I have the Kriega R30 (basically a US30 with 2 extra pockets) and I wore it fully packed over 800 miles to wales and back for 2 days and didn't have any aches or back pain at all - it keeps the weight off your shoulders completely and puts it onto your chest. Fantastic rucksack, well worth the money. I had a numb bum, and aching legs, especially after the solid 4 hours on the motorway home, but zero ache because of a full rucksack.

The is the tent I have
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll170/buellzebub/coleman-cobra-2-tent.gif[/MG]

Something like a Vango Banshee 200 which is very similar would be ok, they list them as 45cm ish pack size so if you rolled it a little smaller/packed the tent pegs/poles separately it'd go down to 40cm with no problem. It's a similar size to mine when erected and it'd be comfy for one person and some kit.

You make a good point about porridge - small sachets will fit anywhere. Might see if I can pick up a small cheap stove, I'll keep an eye out. :)

Scotland is on my list of places to go, realistically I'll only have the CB400 for at least another year or so - I'll only be doing short trips this summer but may plan some slightly longer stuff next summer. After that I'll hopefully have a 2nd bike more suited to long distance touring so can do some 'proper' long distance stuff - down to the alps, up to Scotland etc.[/QUOTE]

Thank you :)

It'll probably turn out perfect if a tent, sleeping bag and mat fit in the one bag, or I could even strap the tent on top of the US-70 (2x 20 + 1x 30) if needed I suppose.

That rucksack sounds good. Mine was a travelling backpack which are designed to put all the weight on your hips, so all the weight ended up on my seat which was ok for a while, but because of that it wouldn't sit on your shoulders properly and so the wind would drag it back, causing a painful neck/back after a while.
It's also the weight of a single backpack that was a nightmare. Taking it off every time you get off the bike, putting it back on, shifting about until it's comfortable, etc.
It was a 60l after all, so I suppose a decent 30l like the Kriega with a few lighter essentials wouldn't be bad.

I will check out the Vango. My single man was way too small for bags + myself so ended up a bit uncomfortable squashed in! Thanks for the recommendations & measurements :). The Coleman Cobra is a bit cheaper and looks slightly bigger inside.

Here's the stove I bought: [url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/douself-Portable-Furnace-Outdoor-Cookware/dp/B00KD8WQTM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1437342692&sr=8-12&keywords=camping+stove[/url]

Packs up nice and small, along with a 1l kettle, or maybe 500ml if it's just yourself.

[quote="wazza300, post: 28332646"]I wonder what those cheap popup tents are like?

theres a good camping site just down the road from barmouth town centre,by the rail track/seafront

@arfoll best to ring round and ask for a quote to drill/re tap it,hours labour im guessing £30-£60?

a bit of heat helps with stuck bolts,heatgun/blowtorch[/QUOTE]

No point in pop up really. As above, they can be awkward shapes plus a smaller tent takes 2 mins to put up anyway (after your first go). 2 poles into base layer, clip waterproof layer on top, peg down.


Edit: make sure you follow this route if you're going to Scotland: [url]http://www.northcoast500.com/home.aspx[/url]. It's amazing.
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Did you visit Edinburgh Craig? I wouldn't mind seeing the castle and doing the ghost tours there,the vaults and Mary Stevens close,
 
Cheers, I'll be saving that link!

Is 'wild' camping allowed in Scotland? Only by chance I found this after a minute of streetview on that route: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.439717,-5.806316,3a,80.6y,235.92h,66.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1said_eOZRDp6hHtC-DTQDOQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

If it is that would open up a few possibilites when going round Scotland - I know due to midges etc camping isn't great but the ability to say to yourself "Yep, I'm done riding for the day, I'll just camp here for the night" would allow a lot more freedom than having to stay at pre-booked campsites/finding one en-route.
 
wazza300 said:
Did you visit Edinburgh Craig? I wouldn't mind seeing the castle and doing the ghost tours there,the vaults and Mary Stevens close,
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Nope, basically bombed it up to Loch Ness and then did the North Coast 500. I was in it for being in the middle of nowhere, camping and the roads so didn't do much of the touristy stuff. Although I wouldn't mind going back to do all that sort of thing.
TallPaul_S said:
Cheers, I'll be saving that link!

Is 'wild' camping allowed in Scotland? Only by chance I found this after a minute of streetview on that route: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.439717,-5.806316,3a,80.6y,235.92h,66.21t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1said_eOZRDp6hHtC-DTQDOQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

If it is that would open up a few possibilites when going round Scotland - I know due to midges etc camping isn't great but the ability to say to yourself "Yep, I'm done riding for the day, I'll just camp here for the night" would allow a lot more freedom than having to stay at pre-booked campsites/finding one en-route.
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Yep you can wild camp no problem, it's officially legal in Scotland. We camped pretty much on the side of the road one night, police turned up and I thought we were being moved on for some reason, but just turned out they were turning around and didn't even give us a 2nd look.

We found some incredible places to wild camp and if you're willing to off road a bit then you might find even more amazing spots. Only problem is some parts get pretty marshy, but again if you're willing to off road then you'll find something.

Edit: we passed that exact place you linked. We were gutted as the previous nights camping wasn't great and we found that spot mid-day so was too early to pitch tents & we needed to get to our next destination :(

The midges are horrible! They're luckily not very aggressive in terms of biting,but are very annoying and there are thousands. I would recommend taking a midge hat if you want any sort of relaxing time outside sitting still.
 
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Those that want the ultimate small cooking stove should get a Hexi Burner, You can't get much smaller as it's just a small tin that opens out giving you something to stand your pot on & somewhere inside to place one of the little burning blocks which are protected from the wind. Storage wise they just fold back into a tin & you keep the burning blocks you haven't used inside as well. The whole set is around the size of a Baccy tin & weighs next to nothing. The Army used to use them, Don't know whether they still do or not but I've used them in the past & there ace. Your whole stove/cooking set up can fit in a breast pocket. :cool:

Linky - http://hexistove.co.uk/

Amazon linky - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?i...ndex=aps&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738

You can even get the Army pots on there as well.
 
4T5 said:
Those that want the ultimate small cooking stove should get a Hexi Burner, You can't get much smaller as it's just a small tin that opens out giving you something to stand your pot on & somewhere inside to place one of the little burning blocks which are protected from the wind. Storage wise they just fold back into a tin & you keep the burning blocks you haven't used inside as well. The whole set is around the size of a Baccy tin & weighs next to nothing. The Army used to use them, Don't know whether they still do or not but I've used them in the past & there ace. Your whole stove/cooking set up can fit in a breast pocket. :cool:

Linky - http://hexistove.co.uk/

Amazon linky - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?i...ndex=aps&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738

You can even get the Army pots on there as well.
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Those are exactly what they use in the army, I have one from my Dad's days in SA & another from my brother. They do the job and are nice and small, but can be a pain in the wind and slower to boil stuff compared to these modern gas burners. Worth it if you need that bit of extra space.
 
Nearly got took out yesterday on Birmingham new road,party my fault,was pootling along nothing at all in front of me and head turned to my right slightly admiring the views,looked back ahead and saw a vw golf mid u turn right in front of me,I nearly crapped myself,he just missed me

Was amazing how he magically appeared out of nowhere
 
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