2-UP Camping on 1200GS

[Goose]

With the wife I found that having a small tarpaulin allowed me to create a shaded area in front of the tent - rather than having to sit inside all the time. Wife found this a blessing.

Different kit needed for different types/area's of camping....... In SA I only used a hammock made from parachute material. A bike and a tree and you are sorted!

I'd strongly suggest that you do one or two shake-down camping trips - even just for a weekend. You will quickly see what is needed and what's excessive. Unless you're totally isolated.... your visa-card will always allow you to purchase any shortfall.

Make the camping experience as comfy as possible for her.... nothing like an unhappy pillion...

 

[beatmeier]

Make the camping experience as comfy as possible for her.... nothing like an unhappy pillion...

U
So true

 

[brucewayne]

Screw the black knob all the way in, then unscrew 10 clicks, screw at the bottom,turn it all the way in then unscrew half a turn. cushty

 

[oyster]

camping kit

o sorry for delay! just put Christmas Decorations away in the Loft and knew i had to reply to your question on camping kit for 2 weeks touring France. Life is always on a budget for us!
Tent Outbound Voyager-4 (we like the extra room in side for the clothes/motorcycle kit/washing kit etc)
Sleeping Bags Aztec Trekilte 700 with liners which are coated with anti-mosquito,
Stove with Pans;Camping Gaz Twister Kit 2900w.
Finally something really usefull, washing line & pegs,
as you will need to wash your clothes & towels after a week, as you can only carry 1 weeks worth, cheers & have fun, Oyster

 

[ghost-rider]

The hardest bit is getting on the thing once its loaded

A bit of a sideways shuffle, right leg up at right angles, approach from the nearside and hop side ways until horizontal leg clears the seat.

Great fun

Its called the "GS two-step"

 

[GS TRV]

Crank up the rear and is good to go.

 

[pistolpete]

the first thing i would be thinking about is how old is my bike and how many miles are on the clock, if anything over 20k i would say the rear shock is finished. i bought my gs 6 months ago with 22k on it and very quickly noticed how bad the rear shock was 2up loaded, not to bad 1up and 2up but like a pogo stick fully loaded for camping. i weigh 14st and the wife 8st so not exactly tosser size, in fact we went for a weekend camping in donegal and after the first 20-30 miles it was dangerous, and beleive me i tried every combo possible, clicks here turns there but it was never going to make any difference, shock shot at 22k. I now have a Wilbers rear, set up for our weight 1up/2up/2up luggage and its unbeliveable the differance it made, now 29k and perfect with just a few turns of the perload for the different loads.

So load her up and see for yourself, yours might be fine and if so keep er lit

hope this helps and remember you wont loose very much money when you sell on your quality kit again

 

[Bendy toy]

Get the butler to follow with the luggage in the Limo

Or use a single wheel trailer, but good ones are almost as costly as a following limo.

 

[juddadredd]

Just remember to pack all of the heavy kit down LOW and near to the bike, my mate keeps dropping his because its top load, common sense but not common enough.

 

[Tonibe63]

32,000 miles on original shocks etc
Just load up and go scrape your boots

 

[tanneman]

The problem is space and weight. Invest in decent camping gear, the technical and lightweight stuff. You'll be grateful later. A good mattress and sleeping bag is essential so don't skimp on that. For cooking we use good old camping gaz with a small burner, more than adequate. I found the old army issue mess tins very practical and it makes a container in which we keep a few items related to cooking to save on space. In the big pannier we keep our clothes and in the smaller one the tool roll and camping gear. The roll bag goes on the back with the tent and tarp because that is the lightest. In the tank bag is the paperwork, camera, spare gloves, whatever needs to be handy. Sometimes we take a little 6 pack cooler bag that fits perfectly on the pannier to keep snacks, food and drink for the road. The tie down strap for the roll bag also doubles as a clothes line. Some pics for you

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[Bendy toy]

It's a good job everyone ignores the (recommended) max safe weight stickered inside the BMW luggage. Top box max 5kg. That's ok then.

 

[CuzGS]

32,000 miles on original shocks etc
Just load up and go scrape your boots

Couldnt agree more............dont make this bigger than Ben Hur.

Load Bike, get on, holiday, have great time.

Unless youre planning on taking on Rossi and Stoner just leave the bike bog standard, have suspension as you see fit, TPs 36/42 and just go

Keep it simple

 

[BAKERMAN]

tank bags reduce buffeting

and blows horn everytime you stop and turn bars for petrol

 

[BAKERMAN]

It's a good job everyone ignores the (recommended) max safe weight stickered inside the BMW luggage. Top box max 5kg. That's ok then.

Had a demo 1200 a while back ( no panniers), loved it and bought one, i drove around with new one with metal BMW ADVENTURE panniers, bike lost power and fuel consumption, couldn`t work why, untill I put both panniers on bakery scales

You need to bear that in mind when packing, those things look light !

 

[beatmeier]

11.5 stone + 9.5 stone 2004 gs on original shocks the rear on max ....3 boxes, tankbag , sidebags and tool tube all full to the brim no problem if you ride at a easy pace

 

[Bendy toy]

Unless accelerating a lot, aerodynamics are much more likely to affect fuel consumption than all-up weight.

My Diversion 900 has the well rounded 32litre Kappa side cases tucked in as close as possible. But fitted (full or empty) they take up to 10% off the mpg.

The GSA house bricks sticking out miles each side have to be way worse. I'll report back later in the week after I've done a a couple of hundred miles with them.

 

[davegs]

Panniers

You'll find they act as air brakes, The TT's on my 1150 make a real difference to fuel consumption (worse!). Look at the size of air brakes on jet aircraft they are very small compared with the size of the jet but they work. Weight dosent appear to make any difference.

 

[Mattcooke99]

And as airbrakes there effectiveness increases with speed...which means around town you might not notice mpg being altered much but at motorway speeds and above you might as the drag will be much worse.

 

[CuzGS]

You'll find they act as air brakes, The TT's on my 1150 make a real difference to fuel consumption (worse!). Look at the size of air brakes on jet aircraft they are very small compared with the size of the jet but they work. Weight dosent appear to make any difference.

Its called Parasite Drag

D = CD 1/2 R V2 S where R is air density, v is speed of bike and S is size of pannier.............

sod all that, just pack them and go on holiday