Camping on a Motorcycle I've been using the set up described below for ~15 years. It allows me to camp, cook (Gourmet evenings, pancakes & sausage breakfasts w/coffee) The bike: home-made rack with Eclipse tailbag mounted to it Hard bags #1 One paper board box, sized to fit inside the bag. the box has been reinforced with 1/8 x1 wood strips stapled to the open top, brushed with Thompson Water Seal inside & out to make it water resistant and liberally taped with glass reinforced packing tape. the box lifts out of the bag and sits on the table at camp. Box contents: Coleman white gas stove, waterproof match box 1 qt Nalgene bottle for white gas 1 folding stove and a large can of jellied cooking fuel 6 oz bottle dish wash detergent Nylon scrubber, dish wash cloth, dish dry towel 6 oz bottle liquid hand soap Flash light & spare batteries Kitchen spices (pepper ,salt, Italian herbs, garlic powder etc) in 2 oz bottles Cooking utensils (spatula, sheathed kitchen knife, pot clamp & Nylon spoon) Nylon cutting board Staples ( flour, rice or pasta, corn starch, tomatoe paste, dry soup mix) Hard Bag #2 old soft saddlebag for clothes camp shoes (light weight running shoes) Toiletry bag, wash cloth & towel Eclipse tail bag contents Soft insulated cooler (bought at Sears because it fits) The cooler contains small amounts of perishables - too small to be purchased at the local market - zip-lock bags of chopped onions, carrots, celery, parmesan cheese, butter etc. Side pockets contain rolled garbage bags (emergency water proofing), Water proof tail bag cover, nylon cords ( 4 x 25 ft each with tensioners attached) Rear Pocket is reserved for misc. clothing (cheap rain parka, cap etc) The main camping luggage carrier is an army surplus duffle bag, made water resistant with a liberal application of Thompson Water Seal and stiffened with a large sheet of ~ 2 mm thick plastic (polyethylene or ABS) sized to wrap ~1-1/2 time around the inside of the bag and ~ 75 % of the bag's length. I have several "D" rings attached around the bag to facilitate attaching to the bike and to allow attaching another bag (containing tent poles, tarp poles & tent pegs) to the duffle bag. Duffle Bag Contents Thermorest Camp Rest air mattress(coiled against the bag's inner wall) Sleeping Bag (light weight) in stuff bag Tent, tent fly, tent vestibule & ground cloth packed in a waterproof sack 8 ft x 12 ft nylon tarp with 4 - 25 ft guy lines attached 2-Rubber Maid Cake boxes ~12" dia X 5" deep) The cake boxes are filled with cooking & eating utensils Eating: 2 - 10" plates, 2 soup bowls (cheap Melmac from K-Mart) Cooking - 2 nesting 8" aluminum cake pans 2 - 10" half round stainless steel mixing bowls 1 - 10" Wok style fry pan with removeable handle 1 - 10" Non-stick aluminum fry pan with removable handle 1 - 1 1/2 pot w/ cover 1 - 1 qt pot w/cover 1 - windshield for the gas stove 1 - grate to mount on top of windshield 1 - Flame tamer shield for the stove The cake boxes, emptied, make excellent dish washing & rinsing sinks at the table. the 10' mixing bowls serve as a cover for the wok and frying pan when needed, then as water heaters to do the dishes The 8" cake tins, one partially filled with water, topped with a dinner plate and covered with the other inverted cake tin makes a simple warming oven The simplest coffeemaker is a Maxwell House Coffee sealed drip bag dropped in a 1 qt pot and brought to a simmer until the coffee is strong enough for your taste. I seal them in a zip lock bag and stuff them in one of the cake boxes and leave the rest home in the freezer until the next trip. I plan to make a grocery run after setting up camp, to purchase paper towels, ingredients for the evening meal & breakfast, ice, fruit, snacks etc. Not everyone wants to carry this much gear nor prepare an elaborate meal at camp. I enjoy doing it and the equipment list allows me to do it with about as much convenience as the kitchen at home. One last note - the duffle bag will partially block the the ST's mirrors. I simply mounted a standard bar mount mirror to a length of 1" wide iron strap and drilled it so I could mount it using two of the windshield's base mounting screws. I had to twist the bar a little to match the winshield curvature, but it works just fine. David Thompson === also (the editors simple way) === My take on cooking while riding is such: Peak One Dual Fuel stove. Very small. siphon to pull gas from the tank to fill the stove. #10 can or similar pot. Holds the stove. Big spoon. bowl or plate. couple liters water. dehydrated food. Many bags. MREs if that suits you. Pour water in the can. heat water. pour water in food bag. Stir. eat. Berakfast? Bagfood. Lunch? Gorp. Dinner? Bagfood. Repeat. No, you can't do steaks or shish-ka-bobs when you're riding, but it'll keep you alive. Some of the bagfoods aren't that bad either. you can get hella deals on MREs form the Y2K thing - they're good for 5 years, and I'd bet a lot of people are starting to clear their basements out. Will