Overland Expo East

Just got home from the Overland Expo East.


All I can say is it was a major disappointment.


There were very few "motorcycle' related vendors, activities and the classes were a washout Friday due to rain. Accommodations were very poorly conceived, as in there were three shower stalls for the estimated 1500 participants. And they even had designated times 6-8:30AM and 5-7:30PM for usage. Oh sorry, you could use the anytime but other than the assigned hours there was no hot water! Making matters worse only 2 of the three stalls were working due to, pick your reason, blown fuse, dead battery on the pump, pump failure. when you have big rig campers with their own accommodations providing for the ride in crowd wasn't considered necessary. Trash disposal was another thing. We only found one trash can at a designated fire pit, which a fire pits few were spread out throughout the grounds. NO PERSONAL CAMP FIRES!!!

Poor weather can't be helped but camping in a cow pasture with knee high grass, on a slope in the rain surely sucked. I guess the disappointing thing is we felt as though the motorcycles were an after thought, something to be tolerated, not specifically planned for. If you were a truck, land rover, jeep or off "road vehicle" there were plenty of seminars and events to do, so it truly is an Overland Expo if you travel on 4 wheels.

We left early.........................

Maybe Overland Expo West has more to offer the motorcyclist because of location and vendor accessibility, but Expo East has a lot of growing to do to improve.

The ride there and home was nice.

Tents

I have an affinity for tents!

I am currently using a 2005 model Wegner (Swiss Army Knife) 4 person. This tent is 8x7 foot with a 52 inch height.

I like using the Kelty Noah's Tarp 9x9 to add extra porch room. I use this tent for "rally" events, that is camping more than 3 nights.

I also have an ASOLO Astro 3 which I really like for moto camping. It is a smaller 2 person tent but packs as small as any 1, and some 2, person tents.

 



Additionally I have a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight 2 Tent which I have used sparingly (twice) but like it's easy set up design. It is a 2 person tent but like most 2 person tents, 1 person is comfortable. The only thing I don't prefer (which is why I prefer my ASOLO) is it only has one entry/exit. A really nice tent for traveling light.


Currently I have just purchased a new Quest Eagle 6 which is a 10x10 footprint and a 76 inch standing height. I am planning on a trip to the Overland Expo in Ashville, NC. in October and going to use this tent. At 6' 3" I enjoy the standing height and the extra interior room will allow me to store my luggage boxes inside out of the weather. I will be using the Kelty Noah's 9x9 tarp, as I do with all camping, to provide extra weather protection.
 

2014 BMW MOA

Well at the last minuet I decided, with the Wife's encouragement, to pack the GS and head off to the 2014 BMW MOA international Rally.
The weather was fine as I left southern Indiana on Wednesday morning and made my way to Saint Paul Minnesota fairgrounds for the weekend. After an uneventful 700 + mile ride I hit the campgrounds and found a quite place to pitch my tent.

It was a really fun event with the attendance at over 5000 BMW enthusiast! There were probably well over 100 vendors and many classes on travel, maintenance, gps skills as well as the BMW rider training and MSF training.

The 2015 event will be held in Billings Montana, July 23-25. Head on out for a great ride and fantastic time!  http://bmwmoa.org/TheRally/ArtMID/3178/ArticleID/435/Its-Billings-in-2015.aspx

I've added a set of "winglets" to the GS to help reduce buffeting while riding. I found a discussion on the on ADVrider and thought "why not"! They were easy to make so after some trepidation on my part I went after it.
From this

 

cut out of this

 

 

 

and made these

 

 

 

 

Adding Gear....

Lately I've been adding to the camping arsenal, mostly to say hammock equipment. I have tried a Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock which I really like, other than being a bit narrow. As you can see the Wife fits quite comfortably !
I'm currently waiting on  the delivery of my Freebird Hammock from Dream Hammocks
http://www.dream-hammock.com/FreeBird.html
We'll wait until delivery to add any comments on this model...........

 

I have also updated  some of the comfort equipment on my trusty BMW R1150GS......

Latest addition is the Suburban Big Peg rider foot pegs

 As you can see they lower the foot peg by an inch and three quarters from stock...........

which adds to hip to foot length and thereby increasing long distance comfort.

 

Recently had an opportunity to try the new pegs and a new tent. The lower pegs have worked out great with releasing the pressure on my knees and hips. However I now have an increased micro vibration coming through the brake (right) side peg. I have yet to find the cause but trust I will eventually track it down. At sustained speeds on longer rides it causes my foot to become numb!

 

As I said I have added a new tent to my travel gear and really, really like the ASLO Astro3.

 

 http://www.asolo-gear.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=12&flypage=flypage_asolo_tents.tpl&product_id=314&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=17%20

 

It is a three person tent but used solo it offers plenty of room for an air mattress and gear. The double entry vestibules offers additional space to place boots, helmet and bags keeping them out of the weather. The set up is a matter of a few shock corded poles and is free standing or can be pegged down on the four corners. The waterproof covers goes on easily and attaches to the base with traditional pole thru grommet and adjustable clips for snugness. The top can be staked down in wind but usually there is no need. So far, so good! 

 

 

I've recently added quite a few farkles to the DRZ and it's looking, and preforming, great!

 

All right, Merry Christmas to all...........

Got a few new camping creature comforts,
First off a new TARP from Warbonnett, a Superfly http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=148 and a new hammock from the same folks, a Travler
http://www.warbonnetoutdoors.com/travelers.php both excellent kit.
Additionally for cool weather comfort a new sleeping bag from GoLite http://www.golite.com/Adrenaline-800-Fill-1-Season-Mummy-Long-P46815.aspx which is a great bag and I can use both as a top quilt and as a regular sleeping bag in the tent.

In addition a new motorcycle to get out to the woods!  Now I can go farther, faster.............

Here we are at early June 2012 and I've yet to hit the moto camping scene. Not to fear as I have several events, rally's and runs coming up later in the summer.
Meanwhile I've been adding new equipment to my motorcycle camping arsenal and thought I'd share a few pictures and thoughts on my additions.

Stay tuned...............