Tramping backpack on the bike

[centaurus]

I have decided to do my holiday on the bike this summer. I was wondering if I can use a proper backpack as bike luggage (proper multi day backpack). I'm thinking of securing it to the bike, not carrying on my back. This would save me the expense of buying bike luggage and also allow me to do tramping while on holiday with the bike.

Has anybody tried this? Any ideeas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have a 99' ZX6R. Small back seat but it has the grab rails on both sides of the seat which could be used as support/tiedown points.

[sleemanj]

As long as you can attach it securely, away from the wheels and hot bits, you should be fine. Just make sure you keep the weight as low as possible, you do NOT want a top heavy load.

Other thing to consider is waterproofness. Tramping in the rain is probably less demanding on your pack than riding at 100k's through it. So some rubbish bags handy would be a good idea, to either wrap the pack, or the stuff inside the pack.

[fliplid]

As long as you can attach it securely, away from the wheels and hot bits, you should be fine. Just make sure you keep the weight as low as possible, you do NOT want a top heavy load.

Other thing to consider is waterproofness. Tramping in the rain is probably less demanding on your pack than riding at 100k's through it. So some rubbish bags handy would be a good idea, to either wrap the pack, or the stuff inside the pack.

As above, and definitely agree with the rubbish bag covering idea! Also useful for "regular" bike luggage.

[p.dath]

You could use tie downs. But a proper back pack (as in for camping and hiking) can be quite large.

If you position it over the bike where you would strap it on - does it stick out either side very far?

You would want to balance the contents of the back pack as much as possible as well. Otherwise you might lean into a corner, and the heavy side of the back pack might take you and the bike with it.

[220 Ohms]

Just make sure it is secure and away from your wheel/chain etc.
No worse than riding with a wobbly pillion

[BMWST?]

pack stuff in plastic bags INSIDE the pack....A rubbish bag on the outside wont last five minutes,it will get torn by the tie downs and or flap itself to death .Just make sure it is secure and cant move.

[fliplid]

I tend to stick me stuff in plastic carrier bags at anyrate.

[centaurus]

Hey guys, thanks for the ideas.

What I'm most worried about is securing the backpack on the bike. Vertically is not possible (I don't have a pack rack) and would be too dangerous for riding through corners so I'm thinking to lay it on the horizontal, across the bike (there wouldn't be enough room to put it lengthwise, unless I sit on top of it :D )

A few things that worry me:
1- would it make the bike too wide to be safe?
2- how difficult is to ballance it so as not to pull to one side
3- how secure would it be at highway cruising speeds, being sideways and catching enough wind.

I would be curious to hear from people that have tried it. I would hate to find out the hard way that it's not a good ideea.

[AD345]

If you have got a pack-rack that is tall and/or has a frame then it's probably less of a good idea.

I did a 2 week tour of the SI on my Katana back in the 80's with a tramping back pack with a rigid frame. I tied it to the pack rack on the bike and it was all good.

Without a pack rack I would go for the non-framed back pack and try to tie it down on the back.


Fack, thats a lot of back, packs and racks - sheesh

[CookMySock]

Nah mate, just wear it. You will get used to it in only one day, and its much less dicking around with it on yer back.

It's safer too, as you can manipulate the weight rather than it manipulate you.

I enjoy riding with a backpack on. It feels like I'm on a mission, going somewhere fun, or on holiday.

Steve

[centaurus]

Nah mate, just wear it. You will get used to it in only one day, and its much less dicking around with it on yer back.

It's safer too, as you can manipulate the weight rather than it manipulate you.

I enjoy riding with a backpack on. It feels like I'm on a mission, going somewhere fun, or on holiday.

Steve

I ride with a backpack too, but a small one. Here I am talking about a big backpack with inner frame, used for multiday tramps, that can hold all my stuff for the holiday (a 60-70 L backpack). I would hate to have to ride the bike with one of those strapped to my back. And I'm pretty sure it's quite dangerous too.

[eelracing]

I ride with a backpack too, but a small one. Here I am talking about a big backpack with inner frame, used for multiday tramps, that can hold all my stuff for the holiday (a 60-70 L backpack). I would hate to have to ride the bike with one of those strapped to my back. And I'm pretty sure it's quite dangerous too.

Having a massive backpack across the back seat sounds like an accident waiting to happen to me.

Just splash out on some soft luggage throwover bags and a good cargo net bungy with multiple hooks.

You can always wear the backpack (empty)if tramping is definately on the agenda.

[Rockbuddy]

Just wear it, i have a 90ltr(i think, its big anyway) back pack which i have done a tour of the nth island with, its just like having a pillion on the back

[grusomhat]

You should have a couple of straps that came out from under the pillion seat just in front of the grab rails. Very handy for tying stuff to. You may want some rags or something to cover the body work with to prevent rubbing.

[boman]

How lomg are you going away for. I went away for 7 days last X-mas, and I overpacked. It really is amazing how little you need to take with you on your bike. Most camp grounds and towns have a laundromat, you can wash every 3-4days and really cut down on what you need. You might be able to fit it all into a back pack, and save the hassle of lugging alot of gear around with you.

[gatch]

I ride with a backpack too, but a small one. Here I am talking about a big backpack with inner frame, used for multiday tramps, that can hold all my stuff for the holiday (a 60-70 L backpack). I would hate to have to ride the bike with one of those strapped to my back. And I'm pretty sure it's quite dangerous too.

I wore a 60l pack from Nelson to Dunedin, fuckin damn near broke me.

Here's an idea, take whatever size backpack you want, also a big tank bag. Put some of the bigger bulky things in the tank bag while you are riding, IE sleeping bag, jersey, wet weathers etc, then when you are ready to walk, stow them away in the pack again. For the sake of cutting down the bulk of the pack on the pillion seat.. Make it more manageable..

Or something.

[Chrislost]

I have decided to do my holiday on the bike this summer. I was wondering if I can use a proper backpack as bike luggage (proper multi day backpack). I'm thinking of securing it to the bike, not carrying on my back. This would save me the expense of buying bike luggage and also allow me to do tramping while on holiday with the bike.

Has anybody tried this? Any ideeas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have a 99' ZX6R. Small back seat but it has the grab rails on both sides of the seat which could be used as support/tiedown points.

use heaps of ductape

[Cloggy]

Can you fix a bit of plywood on the back of the bike as a platform to support the pack?
Sit the plywood on the seat and secured it to the bike via the two grabhandles you have. Screw, clamps, ratched tie-downs, whatever works.
Then you have a nice flat surface to lie your pack across the bike and secure the pack to. You might then even be able to use the pack's harness to secure it around the plywood.

[gatch]

use heaps of ductape

Or that..

On the back of my buddies gsxr (with rigid pack frame) we had a 50l potting mix, foam troughs, a hose, some short bits of timber, various boxes of assorted knick knacks and paddy whacks. All held on with duct tape. Then there was me and the rider ha.

[karla]

depends where you are going of course, but you might find that there is a courier running each day and that you can post the pack to ahead of yourself every two or three days. Then just ride with the bare essentials. That's what a lot of cylists do coming from the Glaciers to Wanaka when they are expecting a few hill climbs.

[Quasi]

I have done many miles, over both islands, two up, on various bikes, with loaded tramping pack strappped to the back. Was longways rather then acrossways, but never a problem encountered. strapped on with bungee's. Go for it and have a wonderful holiday.

[centaurus]

I have done many miles, over both islands, two up, on various bikes, with loaded tramping pack strappped to the back. Was longways rather then acrossways, but never a problem encountered. strapped on with bungee's. Go for it and have a wonderful holiday.

This sounds interesting. Give some more details. How did you position it lengthwise? Didn't it obscure the rear lights? Was it streching beyound the rear of the bike?

[jafar]

This sounds interesting. Give some more details. How did you position it lengthwise? Didn't it obscure the rear lights? Was it streching beyound the rear of the bike?

I travelled through America with a sports bag bungeed over the rear seat & never had a problem with it.
Lay the bag lengthways down the bike & use good quality cords to hold it to the grabrails. You can also tie to the pillion pegs & there are usually some tie points under the bike if you look for them.
Put the solid stuff where the ties are going to be & leave your loose stuff @ each end. Check the position of the bag regularly during your journey & make adjustments as you go, worst case is you may have to stop into bunnings & get some rope or cord to lash it down.
If the bag is going to protrude over the tail of the bike invest in some duct tape to protect your painted surfaces.

[BMWST?]

I have done many miles, over both islands, two up, on various bikes, with loaded tramping pack strappped to the back. Was longways rather then acrossways, but never a problem encountered. strapped on with bungee's. Go for it and have a wonderful holiday.

plus one.a tramping pack aint that long.The pillion space plus tail peice will be heaps long enough.Some cloth and tape to protect surfaces,three or four bungee cords(dont forget it will try to move backwards and forwards when you brake and accellerate

[MaxB]

depends where you are going of course, but you might find that there is a courier running each day and that you can post the pack to ahead of yourself every two or three days. Then just ride with the bare essentials. That's what a lot of cylists do coming from the Glaciers to Wanaka when they are expecting a few hill climbs.

Got held up in the post office for quite a while yesterday by a student type doing just that. He explained that it was cheaper to courier his pack home than pay the excess baggage charge on the cheapo air ticket he had.

[TomJ]

I had great pac rack on my old GPX that worked great with 35l climbing rucksac. I also carried my son's cricket gear inc bat on the rack. As long as weight is kept low then all should be sweet

hope your trip goes well

[MaxB]

I loaned my GS850 to a mate for a holiday and it came back with a pack frame fitted. The tramping pack was fitted vertically and just unclipped. That would be a long term solution.

But for now just lash it on and go. The only things not mentioned so far are maybe to take out the inner pack frame if it will come out and use the pack straps as extra security on top of the tie downs and bungy cords.

[Bounce001]

Have done many many kms with luggage strapped on to the bike.

1. Make sure (if you are strapping it on across the bike) that it is no wider than the handlebars.
2. Make sure the weight is distributed evenly.
3. Wrap everything in rubbish bags inside the pack.

Have had saddlebags and a tent etc all the way around the south island and had no trouble at all. Also on new bike with no saddlebags have had all sorts strapped to it with no problems.

[Quasi]

This sounds interesting. Give some more details. How did you position it lengthwise? Didn't it obscure the rear lights? Was it streching beyound the rear of the bike?

This was some time ago and the pack was a mountain mule. Totally differant from todays modern packs in that it was short and squat, while the modern packs are long and narrow. So did not hang out over the back. Pack all the havy stuff in the bottom of the pack so that the weight is towards the middle of the bike rather then at the back of the bike.

[rok-the-boat]

I have ridden a lot with a backpack but it is much better without, also, safer without if you fall off.

[jonbuoy]

I did North and South Islands with a backpack strapped sideways with bungees positioned where the pillion would sit and using the pillion pegs to hook the bungees on. You won't even know its there after a while and the paranoia of stopping every 30 k's to check it wears off after the first day.

[FROSTY]

why not just make a couple of vertical posts it can slp over.I did a couple of big tours with a hikingpack on the packrack

[PeteJ]

For those who are interested in "back in the day" experiences before pack frames, affordable hard luggage (or any soft luggage that did not need its own pannier frame) etc:

Loosen the pack's shoulder straps off until when you sit on the bike the pack mainly sits on the pillion seat, with a smidge of weight on your shoulders. I and many others did millions of safe and happy miles of touring with luggage just like this; in my case 3 times a year Tauranga to Dunedin and back for 5 years, and plenty of other touring as well.

No buggering about wondering what the hell might be going on, or falling off, behind you. No tying, untying, worrying about stuff getting burnt or in the chain...

Even had one friend who ran into a truck - by the time of personal impact, the pack had swung around and absorbed the impact between him and the edge of the truck's tray. All concerned agreed the luggage method saved his life. He practises medicine now.

Now for the flurry of criticism from the great wise minds who've never tried it...

[jafafour]

I use my regular 'tramping' backpack all the time when touring- use bungies, lay it the same direction as the set - not at 90degrees to it. mine overhangs the end of the bike by about 15cm, doesnt cause any problems, doesnt move at all . I use 3 bungies to make sure its solid. garbage bag inside makes it 100% waterproof. you'll find a way to bungy it on its way better then wearing it while riding.

[centaurus]

I use my regular 'tramping' backpack all the time when touring- use bungies, lay it the same direction as the set - not at 90degrees to it. mine overhangs the end of the bike by about 15cm, doesnt cause any problems, doesnt move at all . I use 3 bungies to make sure its solid. garbage bag inside makes it 100% waterproof. you'll find a way to bungy it on its way better then wearing it while riding.

doesn't it obscure your tail lights?

[Sharry]

In '79 when I had a suzuki 175 I used a trampimg pack with inner frames on my back no problem. I now use it on my Hornets pack rack, and hardly notice it is there at all.

If you are going to place it across your seat you will have to make sure you have even wieght top and bottom of the pack.

[jonbuoy]

doesn't it obscure your tail lights?

Not if you tuck all the flaps away, with just clothes and wash kit I'm thinking yours probably won't weigh much more than 25kg all up, strapped sideways across the seat its less unsettling balance wise than a squirming pillion rider.

[sunhuntin]

my one suggestion would be to make sure you can climb on and off without getting your foot hooked up.
i sometimes ride with a pack strapped on the pillion seat, and cant count the number of times ive nearly pulled the bike over due to getting hooked up, either due to lack of space or just plain forgetting its there. i have a top box and saddle bags, but sometimes need to extra luggage. at times i have to unhook the bungies and shove the pack off before i can climb off, or else i stick my right leg straight out and do a funny little hop/shuffle with the left leg. that works, but is awkward and bloody embarassing.

[mctshirt]

Whatever you do weight is not your friend.

[jafafour]

Centaurus : doesn't it obscure your tail lights?
nope not at all- it sits level with the seat and is well above the lights at the back

[centaurus]

Thanks for all your advice guys. I got to borrow a set of panniers from a mate of mine the other day and I went for a test ride with them first and then I put all the stuff in my training bag and tied it on top of my rear seat. After that experience, I have decided to buy panniers.

Tail pack is doable but it's not fun. Everytime I tried pushing through the corners, the front end became vague and the bike went all skittish. It's definitely not impossible but it would take all the fun out of riding, especially thinking that I will be doing an average of 4-500ks daily for two weeks during my holiday this year.

[sleemanj]

I'm sorta planning a similar length ride this year (5000 maybe 6000 ks, see how I go), in preparation I picked up a set of Oxford Sport panniers on Trademe for a hundred bucks (used).

They are freaking massive even without expanding them to the full size (when I do that it's just ridiculously huge), I havn't ridden with them yet but I reckon they will be the business, maybe even won't need the tank bag, but probably take it anyway incase I need to distribute weight a bit better.

[centaurus]

I'm sorta planning a similar length ride this year (5000 maybe 6000 ks, see how I go), in preparation I picked up a set of Oxford Sport panniers on Trademe for a hundred bucks (used).

They are freaking massive even without expanding them to the full size (when I do that it's just ridiculously huge), I havn't ridden with them yet but I reckon they will be the business, maybe even won't need the tank bag, but probably take it anyway incase I need to distribute weight a bit better.

Funny you should mention the oxford sports. I've just bought a pair today from trademe too. I was worried they might be too big to fit my bike but after expanding and filling them with random stuff, it turned out they do actually fit on my bike. They are so big that extended, the rear of the bike is wider than the handlebars, much wider, but they seem to be stable. Will take them out for a test ride next week.

As for tank bag, It's always good to have one when you're carrying a load on the rear of the bike - it's ballances with the weight in the back bringing the centre of gravity towards the middle of the bike and thus settling down the front. Most people with touring experience actually recommended me to put in the tank bag the heaviest stuff I will carry (the tank bag is much smaller than the load I would carry on the back of the bike)

[lankyman]

I have decided to do my holiday on the bike this summer. I was wondering if I can use a proper backpack as bike luggage (proper multi day backpack). I'm thinking of securing it to the bike, not carrying on my back. This would save me the expense of buying bike luggage and also allow me to do tramping while on holiday with the bike.

Has anybody tried this? Any ideeas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Oh, I almost forgot. I have a 99' ZX6R. Small back seat but it has the grab rails on both sides of the seat which could be used as support/tiedown points.

Pack rack?

[centaurus]

Pack rack?

Sorry mate, I don't do pack racks. As far as I'm concerned, pack racks and destroy both the looks and the handling of a bike. I know they're very practical but for me the cons are bigger than pros.

[Mully Clown]

I've just done Christchurch - Marlborough Sounds and back. Had a 40+10L tramping pack on my back which I'd bought specifically for the trip. Only problem was that I took more clothes and crap than I needed.

[Herman Jelmet]

Thick plastic Pack liners are the go for stopping your gear in pack getting wet-- get em from a comping shop

As long as you can attach it securely, away from the wheels and hot bits, you should be fine. Just make sure you keep the weight as low as possible, you do NOT want a top heavy load.

Other thing to consider is waterproofness. Tramping in the rain is probably less demanding on your pack than riding at 100k's through it. So some rubbish bags handy would be a good idea, to either wrap the pack, or the stuff inside the pack.

[klingon]

Remember not to fill up the whole pack - you will need space to store all the pottery and crafts you buy at the roadside markets! :sunny:

We did our whole summer holiday in a car and even then my partner wouldn't stop for the craft shops. :no: Might as well have taken the bike.