Freestanding tent recommendations

[mr_diver]

Being a tent-aholic here's my tuppence:

Most of the free standing (stands up without being pegged or guyed out) tent to be either:
-Basic dome tent (cheap) but heavy weight and larger pack size
-fancy geodetic mountaineering designs (expensive) -  smaller pack size, but time consuming to put up and potentially fragile
neither of these options tend to give you much height.

Tunnel tents tend to give you the best space & height vs weight & pack size and the designs are numerous.
I like the smaller Vango options - I have a Spirit 200+, Banshee 200 & 300, but I'm getting dressed lying own mostly.
My Gamma 300 isn't too low, but not much porch, but I've got the tunnel gear store for this. but it's another decent little bag to pack.
But you will get the whole tent in a decent sized top box. - I do always take a tarp to add a bit of extra shelter and usually the banshee gear store to add extra storage to the banshee, but don't usually use the tarp and gear store together - I'm far too lazy to put that much effort in.

Up from that you get the lone rider style (never ever park the bike inside unless you'd like the bike on your face in the middle of the night)
I have the Vango Turini, but the earlier ones were called the Stelvio and later model the Tour 200-
I can nearly stand up inside, comes with groundsheets that can be removed, but there is a gap around the bottom meaning you'll get a nice draft. - fits on it's own in my Givi V47 topbox (48ltr).
great for space to weight, but fragile - I've had to replace all three poles, due to metal fatigue (one snapped first night of a week away) the replacements from vango are different and seem to be better quality.

Then you get the bigger family tents - I have a Vango Icarus 500, which I have seen carried on bikes to Fat Rats' gaff, but they will take up the whole of the back seat on most bigger bikes and weights around 16-20kg

At present I think the best bike camping tent around is the Vango Galaxy 300 - the sleeping compartment is the same dimensions as my gamma 300 which is comfortable for 2 and has a larger living area with sewn in ground sheet.
Pack size is sensible.

[nigel s]

Yep, also be careful how you park/ pitch your tent. See mr-divers pics above and notice the tent /sidestand / bike relationship.
I was once woken up by shouts ( which took some doing ...it was a biker party  ) from the nextdoor tent.
He was trapped under his Harley that had gone over on the soft grass trapping him in the tent due to dodgy sidestand choices
 If you only have a side stand and space is tight , make sure it falls away from the tent.
I am guilty too,
Another biker party, this time at a friends liveaboard boat, maybe 30 of us. I had pitched too near the river in the evening ( already a good few beers in  ) and the river was tidal...Not a boatbuilder then 
Woke up cold and damp as the tide came up soaking the lovely soft grass I had pitched on.....

Ho Hum

[The Doctor 46]

If I was a Harley rider I would take your advice but I would rather my V-Strom fell onto me and the tent than on the dirty wet grass.   

Oh! and in the top picture the tent leaves the occupant rolling sideways across the tent all night. if the ground has even a gentle slope it's best to have your head up slope. Obviously wind direction comes into the sighting of the tent too. I used to camp for a living. 

[nigel s]

Nice to hear from a pro...

[ScaredyCat]

I decided to get everything loaded up as a test - I'm not really trying to be a mobile advert for Lomo but it is what it is. I've double bagged the tent because I needed more storage and didn't whant that plus the tent on top of it all. Bags add a little support for my back too. Also did another test assembly test.

[Phild]

I like the LOMO stuff as well. My test pack.👍

[ScaredyCat]

How much does your stuff weigh and what did you do to the preload on your bike?

[Phild]

I haven’t weighed the stuff on the pillion seat. However, it’s far lighter than a pillion.

Best guesstimate would be a total weight of 20kgs to 25kgs. But the bags do contain all my camping gear and emergency rations. My top box will only carry my clothing….and I tend to be good at packing light.

I haven’t been away yet. I’m always on short notice to look after grandkids….🤷‍♂️

Once I get away I’ll know better if I need to play with my the suspension. I don’t tend to play with the suspension on any of my bikes. Standard usually works for me.

[ScaredyCat]

OK, I've just weighed mine and they're 21Kg, the only other thing I need to add is some clothes but I'm thinking that's just socks/pants and a pair of jeans (on the off chance I want to walk around) and a couple of sets of base layers.

I decided to use the topbox for stuff I might need to get to quickly eg puncture repair, tools, water etc. Tank bag for phone/battery packs / snacks, visor cleaner/cloth.

I slightly messed up getting a huge sleeping bag which takes up most of the space in one of the Lomo 40L but , well I don't like the cold and worst case I'll be able to unzip and hang out of it. R value is 5.7 iirc.

[Phild]

I’ve got an army sleeping bag. I spent many, many nights in one so I know what I’m getting.

😁

[NeilM]

I'd suggest adding a beanie and a puffer jacket to you packing lists.

Neither take any room, but both are useful at around the time the sun sets.

I'm off to North Wales middle of next week, just an overnighter to try out my.... 'other tourer' on familiar roads.

On the 650 I tend to run the rear shock a couple of clicks firmer than factory, pretty much all the time.

Another tip. After leaving home, fully loaded. Stop after a handful of miles to make sure everything is still strapped down firmly and nothing is loose or flapping.

I hope you both have great trips.

[ScaredyCat]

Just got back (last nicght) from doing the NC500 and a bit more. Tent was perfect but it didn't get any kind of rain test because the weather was great! By the end of the trip I had setting up and taking down pretty much mastered.

Not sure I have the vocabulary to describe how stonkingly beautiful the west coast of Scotland is and the roads were sublime.

Oh if you go, add on the Menock Pass and route round the coast via Monkton, Wemsys scoot round the edge of Glasgow (port area) - Saturday we did Moffatt to Fort William via that route. It was a long ride - we made camp at around 9pm but had a late start - it's long but we just couldn't get enough.

Strom is heavy, especially with and extra 60kg of luggage but was so agile when on the move. Learned lots about the bike while out there - better control, knowing the width and being a lot more comfortable with it.

Lots of filtering on the way up due to road works and kudos to all the people on the roads at that time, they made our filtering tasks a lot easier by moving aside.

The journey home was, well pretty epic for other reasons. John O' Groats to Suffolk (Ipswich-ish) in one day. Not as pretty  on the East coast  but still worth it and there's one nice section of road which most definately needed the words "Commit! Commit!" shouted over the intercom at your newly passed companion rider.

The East might not have been as twisty and turny but it was a good wind down for the long leg home.

[Brockett]

Top man.