ALPS Mountaineering Velocity Queen Air Mattress

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Ordered this ALPS air mattress from REI on special last week. I was going to get something smaller that fits in my side case but for the same price i could get something a lot more comfortable, that a 2nd person can use with me as well. Its going to get packed right behind me on my bike, above my dry sack.

It came in today so i got to test it out. I’m going to post a few photos, since when i searched online i could not find anything on it…

It comes in a nice sack, i feel like it could take less space if tied up correctly. It also comes with a rechargeable inflator / deflator pump. Inflating took under 2 minutes. I ended up deflating manually as it was too easy not to. I’m sure when packing up at the end of camping, it will be nice to suck ALL the air out to make pack up easier.

I checked before i bought it, and the measurements showed it would fit in my tent. When i inflated the mattress i started doubting myself. I built my tent and put it in just to double check. Fits perfectly.

I packed up the mattress in to its sack, and put the sack in my dry bag. This is how it fits on my bike: 

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Still not ready for a camping trip yet, but i just had to see how some of this gear fit on the bike. Air Mattress inside the dry bag on my seat, strapped down with ROK Straps.

In the side cases, REI sleeping bag, REI chair, KELTY TN3 tent, and a tarp for under the tent.

The dry bag will eventually have a lot more in it. It’s a compression bag so it gets as small as i need it to. I’m also sure i can find a lot better way to secure the rok straps. 

Gerbing 12V EX Heated Jacket

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For my winter jacket solution, at the beginning of the winter i bought a great Rev’It Horizon jacket, and a gerbing heated liner to go under it. I loved the combo. The only thing that bothered me was that they didn’t zip together. but still, it was great. The zipper on the Horizon broke. Revzilla helped me deal with Rev’It. Since they no longer made the jacket anymore, they offered to repair it, replace with a newer model Rev’it, or give me a store credit…

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After some research, and realizing Rev’it didn’t have anything similar to the Horizon where the outer shell was waterproof on its own,  i ended up deciding to get a store credit. I put it towards Gerbings new motorcycle jacket. I believe its the first one they ever made. I had to spend $50 more to get the gerbing jacket, but i still have the liner that i no longer need. I should be able to sell it for around $200 which means this new solution actually costs less.

I like the jacket overall.

  • It fits well
  • the included liner zips in to the outer shell.
  • The outer shell is waterproof on its own.
  • It heats well.
  • Its got a bunch of very useful pockets and small other features. I love the breast pockets. 
  • The collars velcro off to the sides on nice days
  • Cool enough to ride with just the shell in spring / fall. So far tested in 70 degree weather and was cool enough.
  • Overall great price.

A few small gripes.

  • The liner is hard to get back in to the jacket properly. The button snaps in the sleeves are hard to get to when trying to secure the liner in.
  • The outer shells jacket extends over the riders hands, looping around thumb. I’m sure this is great in the cold winter, but its annoying so far. It makes it harder to get my gloves on. It makes it harder to get the jacket on. It makes the motorcycle grips feel wider which hurts me a bit. I wish they made them removable, or at least attached them to the liner instead of the shell. During spring or fall riding, i still have those hand covers attached and they are not needed. I end up tucking them back in to my jacket every time i wear it. I’m thinking of cutting them out, but I’m waiting until next winter to decide if they are worth keeping in or not.

I’m happy with it,  and it was a pleasure to ride on a beautiful spring day yesterday, and it kept me very warm on 30 degree days a few weeks back. I haven’t had it in extreme cold yet, but I’m sure it will keep me just as warm as the previous gerbings liner did for me through this winter.

Moto Camping Gear: Visual Progress Report

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A few weeks ago i decided to actually get in to motorcycle camping, instead of just reading about it and hoping to do it one day in the future. So far I’ve spent a lot of time researching, planning, and purchasing.

Like i said in a previous post, I’ve been using pinterest to help with the research. I have a research board for moto camping gear, and a purchased board that shows everything i bought so far.

a quick visual list of everything i got so far….

Kelty Trailogic TN3 Tent (small enough to fit in my hard cases)

ROK Straps to tie gear down to the bike

Alps inflatable camping mattress

Sea to Summit Compression Dry Sack (to be mounted to my bike, hold random gear)

REI Camping Chair (folds small enough to fit in my hard cases)

REI Travel Sleeping Bag (small enough to fit in my hard cases)

Items on my pending purchase list (to be purchased this week likely)

GSI Bugaboo backpackers Cookset

Primus Express Stove w Piezo Igniter

Moto Camping - Needs to Happen

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its getting warmer out, and i have a decent amount of moto experience under my belt. i have been craving more adventure, which isn’t easy to get when you’re married. i’ve got the bug.. i need to pack my bike and go places. 

Bike in photo is from google images.

the dream is to go for a month across vast lands, crossing continents. that is not going to happen any time soon. like i said, wife.. and kids. i have to start somewhere though. during the summers I’m usually in alone in brooklyn most of the week while my family is in jersey by my parents. i join them on weekends. what i’m hoping to do is find somewhat local places to camp during random weeknights through the summer. local meaning about an hour or two away. head out on something like a tuesday afternoon, come back wednesday morning for work. something along those lines.

one night camping trips sound a bit lame but I’m still excited. it’s about starting small and having time to my self at the same time. i would pack up my bike (which is half the fun), ride out to a camp site, unpack, build my tent, cook my dinner, enjoy some wine, relax by a fire and read my book (iPad mini). then in the morning i’d pack up, head home, take a shower, and goto work (a little late). that’s the plan anyway. who knows if ill even like it, i hope i do. i hope i go out as much as i can this summer, if only to justify the money thats being spent on this new hobby. 

whats cool about this hobby is that its actually two hobbies merging. I’ve camped before and i always enjoy it, add that to my motorcycle hobby and they just compliment each other perfectly.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the right gear to use. i don’t want to spend too much in case i get bored of it quickly. some items i can go low cost for now, like a camping stove ($35 instead of $150), but on something like a tent, I’m willing to spend a little more now because i know i won’t be getting a 2nd chance at that for a while. i can always get a better stove once I’m more experienced, but the tent is a bigger decision. 

one of my main concerns was finding a tent that would fit on my bike easily, be easy to setup, and fit 2+ people. REI was having a good sale and after a lot of research i found a tent that folds up small, fits in both my side case and my top case. thats rare, and its awesome. i went with the Kelty Trailogic TN3. It folds down to 14”x11”x3.5” which is amazing.

I already have an old sleeping bag which might be ok for now. its a cheap coleman sleeping bag thats meant for cold weather. My goal is to replace it with a warmer weather bag that packs much smaller. Something like the REI travel sack sleeping bag. It packs down to 6”x11”, at about a quarter of the packed up size of my current bag. meaning it would fit in my side cases or top case. 

I need some other things like a small camping stove, some cookware, small first aid kit, a really portable chair, dry bag, and other things. i’m still doing a ton of research. I’ve utilized a tool i previously thought was mostly useless, but in this case turned out to be perfect. Pinterest. Its basically a visual book marking system. I created a board called Moto Camping, and its purely for my research. Anything i see i might want, i throw in there. As i buy things, i throw them in to another board called Camping Gear I Own (mostly empty at the moment).

I’m going to get a chance to try the tent out with my wife soon. I’m taking her away for the weekend, one day camping, one day Spa. We’ll be taking the smart car which is fine. I feel like it will be a good dry run so i can test out my basic equipment and skills, while still having the safety net of a car, and extra stufff to bring along just in case. that will make it easier to narrow down what i will need on my first lone trip come the summer. 

My next purchase will be some cooking equipment. I also might convince myself to get the new sleeping bag now, so my wife can use my old one. 

Either way I’m excited, and i hope to be able to move towards longer more adventurous trips, even if they are much further out in my future.