interested in what gear works for you. very interested in low-budget/homebrew stuff. and super-duper interested in how you keep yourself fed on the road.

i'm on a sportster with no bags, so space is nearly non-existent. efficiency is key.

 

If you're on a Sportster, yes you need to travel light. A cheap one-man tent will do and a low mass sleeping bag (should both fit on the rear rack or on-top of your duffle if you're utilising the pillion seat. Depending on the trip duration, you'll need a change of underwear (maybe?) washbag, maybe a small towel, torch, credit card, handgun.............................ok lose the gun.

You can junk the tent after the trip if it's cheap enough.

 

If you're going to stay any one place more than a couple days, ship a big tent and some other comfort items to the campground. I've done this a few times. Take the bare essentials with you and ship a bunch of crap there. Coordinate with the campground ahead of time so they will be expecting the UPS shipment. Places like Custer State Park are happy to work with you on this kind of stuff, and they will haul the stuff to your campsite in one of their trucks. When it's time to leave, let them know a day ahead of time and they will have somebody come by and pick up you junk to shipp home.

 

Check out the hiking/backpacking gear at your local sporting goods store. Anything made for a hiker should be perfect for a biker. A tip I learned from someone else here on the forum. I don't have any brands/models to recommend, but its a decent rule of thumb to go by.

 

Since you indicated low budget camping gear, I would check out Wal-Mart. Depending on temps where your camping, you could buy one of those rolled up fleece blankets for aorund $7. You won't get a lightweight sleeping bag at wally world. You probably won't find a one person tent there either unless it is a Sponge Bob Tent. Plenty of cheap two person tents. They won't hold up in bad weather so expect to get wet. In my opinion best way to go is buy one of those GI Bivy sacks off EB_y. You not only get a great sleeping bag but they are somewhat waterproof being lined with Gore-Tex. Good for sleeping under overhangs and picinic tables, park shelters, etc. etc. If all else fails, borrow camping gear from friends. I would suggest a self inflating air mattress but they are expensive. In the backpacking circles the top three i.e. bag, tent and mattress are under 3lbs each but that can't be done on the cheap. If you are going in cold and rainy climates you will need a good rain suit and warm jacket.

 

My tent is a$20 one man coffin looking thing, I don't bring a chair, just use the picnic tables at the campsites. For food, I have some powerbars and gatorade along for breakfast and lunch, we usually start looking for campsites at about 5pm, and hit up a walmart for some food and beer. I have an old pot that hangs off my pack for cooking in and for a cooler at the campsite I use a tarp.

I have a Dowco Rally bag and a Bikers Freind and I have little problems carrying everything. Usually there are a couple of us on the trip so we can spilt up carrying the food and beer if we need extra room.

Of course many times in the week I think, "I need an Ultra or RG." and also, "Damn a trailer would be nice."

 

Oh yeah, and my Sleeping bag is a Eureaka that comes in a compression sack, shrinks to just biker than a softball. That is the one thing I splurged on, about $65 at Cabella's.

 

One person tent, sleeping bag & campning air mattress.

Only camped for 1 day at a time for sleep and on to the next camp site. So camp food was beer.

Did not have any bags. Next time I'll add some throw over bags and a two person tent.