Motorcycle Camping

Pulling a camper or trailer is probably the best way to safely increase your hauling capacity. If you’ve already decided that you need to carry more gear than you can safely strap to the bike , Maybe it’s time to make the move to a trailer or perhaps even a camper. When we go on motorcycle camping trips, Sherri always rides with me so there’s just no way we could get all the gear for both of us and ourselves on one bike.

We first tried camping pulling a trailer, carrying a tent and our other camping gear.This is actually not a bad way to go. It was a lot lighter than the camper we are using now. The pop up motorcycle camper is just so much faster to set up, plus you’re sleeping on a real bed off the ground and you don’t have to spend a lot of time looking for the “perfect place” to put a tent. As long as the ground is somewhat level the camper can be set up in minutes. The biggest drawback to pulling a trailer or a camper is manuverability especially on winding roads in the mountains. You just have to get used to the fact that you can’t travel as fast.we have been pulling our camper for about 5 years now and have racked up over 10,000 miles with it behind the Gold Wing. I’ve just gotten used to the fact that it goes with us on vacation and have adjusted accordingly. There are things to be careful of when pulling a trailer. Your stopping distance is increased substantially so always be aware of this and leave plenty of room between yourself and other motorist. Also you have a much wider footprint, be careful not to run the trailer off the shoulder of the road. This will get your attention very quickly.

Motorcycle Camping

The weather is starting to get nice here in South Carolina. Soon it will be time to drag out the camper and get everything ready. We already have reservations for Riverbend @ Lake Toxaway,N.C. in May, so I guess that will be our first motorcycle camping trip for this year. We bought a Goldwing in 2004 and started out taking weekend trips on it to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charleston and Myrtle Beach, staying in motels and cabins. Soon after I talked Sherri into trying camping. She agreed so we bought a pop up camper to pull behind the bike and she loved it. Most all of our vacations since then have included the Goldwing and the camper. To date the longest trip we've been on was to Lakeland Florida during the Sun n Fun Fly in. While on that trip we made our way on down to Clearwater Fl. to visit with some friends. The entire trip was 1600 miles. We had planned to tour the country on the bike this year but the economy has put a hold on that trip. Maybe next year.

Latest Take on Myrtle Beach Bike Week

Back in March I posted a news release that stated the Carolina Harley Dealers Association was moving their rally to New Bern Fairgrounds. While this is apparently true, most business owners say this has little effect on Myrtle Beach Bike Week. As before, all the news I hear is that Myrtle Beach Bike Week is not canceled and will go on as usual with the exception of the city limits of Myrtle Beach. Most bikers as I hear from have said they plan to avoid the city limits as much as possible. More news, Horry County Council voted to reduce the number of vendor permits issued this year and raised the fees on the ones that will be issued so expect a lot less vendors than usual. All in all I think the the whole county just wants the rallies to go away. The businesses that rely heavily on the rallies for their exisistance are trying to play it off like everything will go on as usual. I suspect all this bad publicity will cut the attendance of the Myrtle Beach Bike Rally substantially. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of riders that attends the event collectively agree to move elsewhere or just forget about the Myrtle Beach Bike Week Rally all together. I guess time will tell. As for me I still plan to attend so far.