Weight and Balance

[Coyote Chris]

I was on my way to the Reno Air races on the FJR and pulled off at the monument at the concentration camp at Tule Lake, CA to take a pic and I was having more than the usual problems handling the fully loaded touring bike at paddle speed. I wasnt feeling too well and my strength and balance were both off......This continued for the whole trip and I commented to all my rider buddies there that I was just too old for the Loaded FJR although I could handle it without a load well enough.....
When I got home, I was feeling a bit better and the first thing I did was weight everything on the bike I carried....large tank bag, 12 lbs. Camping bag, 28 lbs, clothes bag, 20 lbs, ELO (everything left over) bag, nine lbs. Right Pannier, 20 lbs, left, 13 lbs.....I was shlepping around 100 lbs of crap! No wonder the bike was hardly manageable!
My XT carries 60 lbs of crud very nicely for a five day camping trip but its a light bike to begin with. The FJR isnt.
So I am looking at all that un necessary weight I carry. Down to Reno and back I really dont need much. Its the camping out for 9 days.....
So no more camp chair, hammer, rebar tent stakes, stove, freeze dried food, tools to rebuild the engine by the side of the road, crazy big tank bag, piles of clothes, 25 flashlights, etc.
I figure the best thing is to go through the list next reno, put everything on the floor in the lving room, and start pitching......
I hear you can even buy camp chairs down there....and leave them.....! It is also an idea to just go to Walmart there and buy a cheep tent, sleeping bag and air matress and dontate them to the church where I stay when I leave.....

 

[turbojim]

Yeah man you have a lot of stuff I'm sure you could do without. I find it amazing how easy it is to over pack! For as long as we all keep riding I'm sure we'll keep looking and hopefully finding new and better ways to lighten and condense our loads with better stuff. Now I'm curious, when I get a chance I'm going to weigh all my gear!

 

[junglejim]

Ya, I'm always trying to cut down too. I've found stuff in the bottom of my tank bag that I haven't used or even seen for years. For example I carry a cork screw that I haver used once in 10 years. But you could say that opening that one bottle of wine was important. One of my big priorities is a good tent. It has to be waterproof and bug proof. Most of them are about 5# now. A good air mattress and sleeping bag are also a priority. Sleeping comfort is a must if I'm going to camp. A big space. hog is extra shoes. I limit myself to one pair and I know they could be lighter but they are the ones I have. I should just buy some camp shoes. Warm clothes are also a priority and I take a jacket.

I no longer carry a stove or cooking gear. It takes up too much riding time to cook and wash dishes. Morning coffee is always on my list but I have discovered that you can buy better coffee in almost any convenience store. If I know I'll be in a remote area with no services I can buy some snack food that will be sufficient for me. Food and cooking always attract critters I don't want in camp. I even used to cook and clean up in some un-used camp site so the coons and bears would visit there at night and not my camp.

My tool roll weighs several pounds (sorry Chris I didn't weigh it) and I'm sure I've used less than half of them in the last 20 years. In earlier days motorcycles required more maintenance (especially my junkers). Plug kit, air pump, and jump pack are always with me too. And now that I have a chain drive I have a can of lube and a repair link.

My riding gear is pretty heavy (suit, boots, helmet) not to mention the overweight rider. So probably the best place to start lightening my load is right under my belt.

 

[Hondafan]

Those little one wheeled motorcycle trailers make a lot of sense.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Those little one wheeled motorcycle trailers make a lot of sense.

No. Heck no. Its just a personal thing. No scooters and no trailers and no Wingabagos.....

 

[Coyote Chris]

Ya, I'm always trying to cut down too. I've found stuff in the bottom of my tank bag that I haven't used or even seen for years. For example I carry a cork screw that I haver used once in 10 years. But you could say that opening that one bottle of wine was important. One of my big priorities is a good tent. It has to be waterproof and bug proof. Most of them are about 5# now. A good air mattress and sleeping bag are also a priority. Sleeping comfort is a must if I'm going to camp. A big space. hog is extra shoes. I limit myself to one pair and I know they could be lighter but they are the ones I have. I should just buy some camp shoes. Warm clothes are also a priority and I take a jacket.

I no longer carry a stove or cooking gear. It takes up too much riding time to cook and wash dishes. Morning coffee is always on my list but I have discovered that you can buy better coffee in almost any convenience store. If I know I'll be in a remote area with no services I can buy some snack food that will be sufficient for me. Food and cooking always attract critters I don't want in camp. I even used to cook and clean up in some un-used camp site so the coons and bears would visit there at night and not my camp.

My tool roll weighs several pounds (sorry Chris I didn't weigh it) and I'm sure I've used less than half of them in the last 20 years. In earlier days motorcycles required more maintenance (especially my junkers). Plug kit, air pump, and jump pack are always with me too. And now that I have a chain drive I have a can of lube and a repair link.

My riding gear is pretty heavy (suit, boots, helmet) not to mention the overweight rider. So probably the best place to start lightening my load is right under my belt.

I am with you. If I am taking a five day 4 night rubberneck tour of central Idaho, I have a very small stove to heat water for a freeze dried food and I can get starbucks in a bottle at almost any gas station to compliment my breakfast if there really isnt a breakfast place close to my camp site. I have a wonderful small 15L Givi tank bag that can fit on many tank filler mounts on all my bikes now for maps and cleaners and scant drugs. An airpump and a fix a flat kit dont weigh much. I dont need a breaker bar and three screw stick sets. The riding gear is heavy but a necessity. I dont weigh 165 soaking wet so I cant loose weight there, but I can see an easy 30 lbs and more I can loose.
Reno is an odd duck. Rain is rare and the father's courtyard is very sheltered from the wind so any tent you can fit in will work. I have 10 tents now and I still have light cheep small 7x7 tents that will work. After the races, you go get food and sit out under the stars and tell stories and self medicate so you dont need to spend much time in the tent anyway. I do agree about my lightweight duck down sleeping bag and the Exped air bed, but they really are not too heavy for the comfort you get.