Backpacking on a motorcycle

[sliverstorm]

On the other hand, if your backpack is light enough and doesn't interfere with your riding posture, you'll never notice it. I'm not sure what the threshold is, but if you put it on and go "oof, heavy", it's not gonna work.

 

[MentalPiracy]

You're probably going to end up with a combination of gear in a backpack and gear on the back seat. You just have to be careful about how low your gear hangs on your back and how tall you stack your rear seat. You can end up pushing the backpack into the bottom of your helmet and that gets kind of uncomfortable by the 6th hour of riding.

This is how I do it:

besides choice of beer, this picture is full of win

 

[Ironbutt]

When I travel.. I carry two pairs of jeans and the rest is undies and sox. Maybe two tee shirts.. They go in a dry bag with the fart sack, tied to the tents and rubber bitch on the back.. the tools and everything else go in the tank bag to weight the front down. I carry a mexican blanket with the hole.. I wear that over my gear when its cold.. ~40-32deg.. it helps a lot. (to be cuddled in my favorite blanky when I'm miserable as hell)

I also carry a cast iron pan and a liquid gas stove so i can use gasoline in a pinch. I was stuck in the mountains of Kentucky once in a ice storm.

I'm glad I had that dual fuel stove cause we ran out of stove fuel the 2nd day waiting out the storm.. 'Balleyhoo' was the name of the camp ground.. I'll never forget it.. it was 75 degrees when we pulled in at 3am.. the next day at 10am it was 32 deg.. and raining. When we left it was 32 deg.. and we rode into Tenesee for 150miles in that freezing cold.. BRRR.. then.. on the way back. it rained for 14 hours straight.. that's when i used to do long days on the bike..

 

[louemc]

I was planning to go backpacking for a few days this week (before it gets too rainy) and was wondering if anyone of you guys have ridden with a loaded backpack on your motorcycle? Is it safe? Anything thing to be careful of? (I don't want to spend money on saddlebags...)

Thanks BARF

Backpacking is an extremely broad term, Better say what your packing..A day pack with munchies...or a tent and sleeping bag/pad.

 

[aphyr]

I've fit my tent, sleeping bag, stove, fuel, water filter, cookkit, food, liter polybottle, clothes, camera, and emergency tools in a medium-sized tailbag and tank bag. They come with straps that convert to a passable backpack, and bungees hold the rest. Worked for a mile-long trip into a redwoods primitive camp. Not exactly ideal... but it can be done! My backpacking pack is way too big to wear with a helmet.

My biggest problem is stashing the gear. If I ever need to do more than a short hike I'll probably bring a couple trashbags and drop the gear in the woods somewhere.

Actually, scratch that. My biggest problem has something to do with taking a ninja 650 on a five-mile loose-dirt goat trail because "I've already come this far". ;-)

 

[mrc]

It occurs to me that a pack's own suspension/straps could be used to secure it behind a rider. Place pack straps-down on rear seat/grab handle. Maybe run sternum straps around rear seat and lock same back in place. Extend waist straps to max girth and attach above rear tire/beneath seat.

It further occurs to me that this experiment should be carried out w/ someone else's bike and pack.

 

[MentalPiracy]

in term to OP question, backbacks can definitely start to wear on you after some distance (weight depending) i ride to college alot with a fully loaded backpack of books but its only about a 45 min ride. even that sucks sometimes. a backpack thats meant for it will help but no matter the pack it will limit the range of motion of your head which has numerous drawbacks, safety being the biggest. very soon i intend to make a few purchases from this site, heard really good things.
www.kriega.us
i have my eye on the tail bag that converts to the messanger pack and maybe an additional small tank setup

 

[VelocityStack]

This was a ~70lb pack. Just loosen the straps so the weight is carried on the seat. Make sure the hip strap is on so it doesn't fall off. It feels just like a passenger. Cheers

 

[TommyWillB]

just back packing, my advice, travel light. get the bungie cargo net and put it under the back seat, locking it in.. and wrap over the pack. as seen in on the red one. actually holds up great.

LOL... Turned the cruiser into the pack-mule of the bunch.

 

[err]

i routinely carry huge amounts of weight in duffel bags, back packs, hiking packs, and strapped to bikes. i buy and sell parts and bikes for a living and carry my dogs too. havbe a bike that can haul about 700lbs on top of me. sometimes long distances. i raced someone 20 miles with an r1 front end, complete, strapped to my big hiking backpack. gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[MysterYvil]

I've found that keeping the weight off my body for long trips is more comfortable and much less tiring. On my last trip to the Sierra Nevadas I put the heavier gear in the bag, and only light-and-squishy gear in my backpack; worked great.