Modern Vespa

One of the things I really want to do is moto-camping. Anyone else enjoy the outdoors even when you're not actively riding? This is the year, unless something goes unavoidably sideways, that I hope to FINALLY do more than day rides connected by indoor beds. (Friend's sofa, hotel, guest bedroom, unwise mileage marathon to get back home...indoor beds.)

So...I've had camping and touring equipment on the brain for a bit. Figured I'd start a thread to share setups, favorite things, horror stories about Gear Gone Wrong...

Ultralight minimalist to luxury moto-glamping, overnight to year-long, just no "credit card camping."

If you haven't seen it yet, RyanF9's moto camping video might be a good starting point.

I used a simple Ultralight camp kit for backpacking cycling and moto-travel. A down bag that wads up to football size. an optional solo UL tent, Petzl headlamp and a penny stove made from two beer cans and a penny. Fuel is a $2 bottle of Heet alcohol from Pep Boys. A ground pad, small Swiss army knife, big aluminum cup for cooking finish it off. Condiments and utensils from fast food joints.
Cheap and easy.

Your local outdoor store is a good place to start. Any gear for overnight hiking is perfect as it's small and lightweight. It's often expensive but buy the best you can, look after it and it'll last for years.

Use Search to search for posts by Quezzie. She road her GTS250 all over, camping and couch surfing from Maine to Alaska to Mexico and back, though not in that order.

I just changed tents from a 1-person REI Passage 1 to a 2-person ALPS Mountaineering Meramac 2. The single is fine, but I want to be able to put on my gear (especially my helmet) in the morning secure-ish in knowing there's no...guests. I'm not sure about the lack of a vestibule, but it was on sale for over half off. I figure I'll just bring a "mud room" mat for the front of the tent.

I'm somewhere between lightweight minimal and "typical" backpack-leaning-car camping.

I loved hammock camping when I was high school and college age. Those setups have really evolved!

I've been following her adventures for a while and recently Wandering Wasp. Before that, Alix's P.E.A.C.E. Scooter Tour on a Buddy 125! So many of my scooter & motorcycle gear/accessory choices were made based on their stories so that my bike would be ready to go when I was.

One of my last desert hikes was too much fun. Cute kangaroo rats jumped all over me gleaning dinner crumbs, while bats swooped a few feet above me catching gnats drawn to my body heat and moisture. I awoke to find new paw prints near by.

I did hella camping last year. No fancy equipment. The gts is a beast.

Backpacking gear works great, small and lightweight.

I'm...not so much looking for advice as I am hoping to converse about moto-camping.

I've done plenty of touring on my GTS, but no camping yet.

However, I've wanted to take it fishing for ages. I haven't been since I was a kid.

Building up a moto-friendly set of fishing tackle is on my eventual-projects-list. Maybe I'll get to it this spring.

I used to go fishing on my push bike when I was younger but not on my scooter yet although I can claim to of strapped my golf clubs to my Vespa for a round of golf 20 miles away a few years back.

I like the idea of a bike-friendly fishing kit. I discovered the NPS passport stamp program last autumn, so I'm using that and the multiagency pass program for destinations. Fishing could fit right in!
...Now I need to get a few fishing licenses.

You can get a motorcycle sticker from a BLM office, that identifies your moto as an America the Beautiful passholder. It's a fun souvenir, and it's a parking pass if you're at an unmanned, paid parking lot (e.g. in National Forest land).

Lane splitting isn't legal in Oregon, but when I rolled up to Crater Lake with my sticker, the ranger invited me to split to the front of the gate. Saved me at least an hour waiting for people to buy their passes.

I've been trying to track down the decal. So far, the places within a half day's ride either don't answer the phone or don't know the decals exist. This is from working my way down the list of issuing offices from the official website. Oof.

I'll get it eventually...it just might have to wait until it's warm enough for a full day of riding to make it to either the parks with lighthouses or the other side of the mountain range.

when I rode and camped, I had a milk crate that all my gear fit into. between that, a dry bag, and a light backpack I was set. the only luxury that I insisted on was my Coleman two burner stove.

everything fit comfortably on my 76 super and while it was slow, it made it there and back each and every time.

these days, running water and shower are bare minimum but back then I was a savage and, for some inexplicable reason, without a partner.

I got mine from the BLM in Arcata. I wonder if they could do it by mail, if you sent them a photo of your ID and pass. Might be worth a phone call.

They had a whole binder of decals, but I didn't get the impression they sell very many of them.

I've not done scooter camping for a few years, but when I did I used an oversized milk crate to haul it all. The crate was designed to hold 6 one gallon jugs instead of the usual 4. So it is rectangular and can accommodate larger items.

In the setup pictured below I had a small wooden collapsing chair,, 2 man dome tent, sleeping bag and mat, some cooking gear, 1st aid kit and small LED lantern.

The small pack was tied and ratchet strapped to the crate while resting on the seat. That made filling with gas a bit of a hassle, but not a huge problem.

I had a few incidents in my travels.
Hanging a pack from a limb will deter bears from stealing it, but raccoons can shimmy down the rope and open every zipper to clean it out. Sleeping in a pasture risks awakening to sneaky cattle or horses peeing on or near your tent and/or bag. Rattlers CAN appear in the snow. A herd of deer will be happy to steal salty food or lick the salt where you've peed.
Things like these can be avoided by staying in busy campgrounds or motels.

I recently learned that, when desert camping, it's a good idea to drag/dig a small circular ditch around your tent site as a deterrent for things like scorpions. 😳
Tip gleaned from helebiker (Elena) on IG, currently in the middle east.

I...will keep that in mind if/when I end up in the southwestern US!

That's a new one to me. I had a group of scorpions on my bedroom carpet a while back and messed with them before I had my glasses on. Surprise!

I was camping with a new girlfriend back in the mid-70s. When I put them on in the morning, I found a scorpion crawling up inside the legs of my denims. A rapid exit from the tent in a state of undress followed.

Don't mind me. I'm just researching how to make a hammock work without trees to tie it to so I can stay very much off the ground. (NopeNopeNOPE!!)

You might look for a compact freestanding unit. I know folks that have used these with the bug net to great effect. Can get costly, but is a great solution. Link below for one vendor, but these are available from multiple sources with various prices. Just web-search for "freestanding camping hammock"

https://republicofdurablegoods.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqqjRodSE9gIVwQ2tBh0WbQBdEAAYAyAAEgJZvfD_BwE

That was just my weird-humor reaction to the thought of scorpions INSIDE my jeans. :twitch:

I stumbled upon a lovely puzzle piece to my own gear setup. I have trouble kneeling down and sitting on the ground, so I've been trying to find a seat that, ideally, I can use as a shower bench, camp stool, and roadside mechanic chair. I found this by chance today while getting some other things at REI.
https://alpsmountaineering.com/sidekick-portable-stool-or-side-table.html

It's 15" high, so a functional height. Folds flat and fits easily in my (givi e450) topcase. Lists a 200lb weight limit, even! It's solid trying to rock one way but a little wobbly the other, so I just have to remember not to be rough and careless while using it. It's metal, so water and even heat isn't a problem! Shower stool or even stove mini-table!

This one is very sturdy, My fat ass can stand on it
https://www.amazon.com/Folding-Step-Stool-Lightweight-Bathroom/dp/B014WOXB6O?th=1

How easy is it for you to stand up from sitting on that? How long have you been camping with it?

I once carried a shotgun between my legs on a trip to go skeet shooting with the guys. They got a pretty good laugh about a guy on a Vespa with a gun parked at a gun range surrounded by big Texas trucks.

I was not so happy as I spilled my entire mug of coffee all over my pants and boots trying to save the gun from a weird bump around a corner.

Looking back it's a pretty funny visual. Man, Texas is a weird place. Gotta love it.

I don't camp
It's a foot tall, I use it for working on scooters or to help me stand up, similar to milk crate height, without the wafflebutt
The whole thing interlocks, so leaning on one corner hard doesn't destabilize it, the white dots are flush & rubber for traction
Only about an inch thick folded flat

I have a couple of these stools ,they really are brilliant , best invention since the wheel and draught beer .

I spent six months traveling around Europe sleeping on the ground in a
Shakopee Minnesota Mountain Tent. I was young and a few beers softened
the impact of the hard ground. We had special lite weight sleeping bags that
could be mashed into a small carry bag. I rolled my pants up for a pillow.

Great memories and times - but gone with wind (currently 73 years old).
Now, my scooter group stays in hotels and eats high on the hog at restaurants.

But, I do understand the allure of the great outdoors. For all you woodsy folks,
the best of the mosquitoes, wood ticks, and itch weed to you. Hardy souls you are.

Bob Copeland
Lake Wobegon Minnesota

I have moto camped the last two summers and from experiences I can offer the following wisdom

Do

Take a torch, we will ALWAYS need to pee during the night


Don't

Forget your tent pegs, finding 10 twigs that are sharp and strong enough takes up valuable drinking time.

"Torch" is British for "flashlight."

This is why I always keep a headlamp in my CamelBak. Never know when you'll be unexpectedly caught out in the dark. Saved my ass when I bicycled back from Kuang Si falls in Laos at sunset, on the darkest, most isolated road I'd ever cycled.

I'm 72 now and the last time I camped was a BMW Rally maybe ten years ago. But I have, starting 55 years back, motorcycle camped from Nova Scotia to Florida to California and back.

My main conclusion to that is riding a motorcycle/scooter in the rain doesn't suck, unless your camping.

Now with advanced decrepitude setting in I find utmost joy in a soft bed, flush toilets and a hot shower. An in room fridge and microwave is a bonus. Credit cards rule.