As a dual sporter, you always worry about weight. I spent the first month of my dual sport bike ownership shedding pounds from the bike. I removed "unnecessary fittings" like passenger footpegs, steel grab-handles, the metal gas tank and fairing, the steel handlebars. Others go further. They buy light seats, lighter rims (unsprung weight is the best to trim they say), shed the stock exhaust and replace it with a 8lb lighter header and can...
Having a DR650 allowed me to carry a ton of stuff, but at a penalty. Still, being a DR, it was heavy anyway, so the weight premium of carrying spare clothing, camping supplies, fishing gear, cooking stoves, fuel canisters, utensils etc. wasn't so critical. As long as I didn't stop on single-track incline, or have to get off and manhandle it out of a quagmire, I was fine...
We all dream about owning that perfect dual-sport bike. You know the one? It's got that KTM suspension, performance, and light frame, but it's got the Japanese bulletproof engine with loooong service intervals and a reputation born of many pan-South American trips. It's got an all-bonded aluminum subframe (not the plastic found on the rear of some of the up market Euro-bikes for weight savings) that you can strap the kit too. Being light it's flickable, malleable and responsive. For looks, weight and performance is a KTM 690, for reliability, economy and ease of maintenance it's a DR650, for road comfort it's a BMW 800...all rolled into one. Or perhaps its the new Canadian bound 280lb CCMGP450 Adventure?
At any rate, so now we've got the perfect bike, what do we do? We proceed to sling every camping gadget and gizmo known to man BACK on it, weighing it down, and transforming it's thoroughbred svelt soul into a turgid, top-heavy tractor...Might as well have bought a KLR...or a GS1200...
I'm guilty of it. Last year I went camping numerous times on the DR I had worked hard at lightening and upgrading. I packed it right up, and was guilty of returning with most of the supplies and gadgets that I packed unused; in fact, we cached a lot of food out in the bush, rather than ride back with it, and I can't remember using my gas stove at all, let alone needed the spare gas canisters...
So next time, regardless of which svelte mount I procure for my future off road adventures, I'll be doing things differently. I'll be focusing less on the bike and more on what I'm packing. It's cheaper that way, and makes more sense.
One of the great weight-loss ideas I've come across (thanks, Andy) is the beer-can stove. It's a great device: it's "a win-win" in every sense. Incredibly light, incredibly cheap, incredibly easy to make, incredibly replaceable, and incredibly effective. In fact the only downside I can find, is that you MUST drink the beer first. Bummer. There are many designs out there, but my beer-can stove has to be made from one can, using only one tool - a knife, and the process has to be easy enough that after a challenging or potentially gruelling DS ride I can drink the beer BEFORE make the stove! As I said, WIN WIN.
Watch the video and marvel.
How To Turn A Beer Can Into The Only Camping Stove You'll Ever Need from
Tom Allen on
Vimeo.
Isn't it great! As I said, there are others out there, but most of them are more elaborate, requiring more tools, more cans and cannot be made in 3 minutes...
Next week, a (used) tea bag that transforms into a down-filled sleeping bag! Ok, perhaps that's a little far fetched...
