I have been shopping for Motorcycle friendly tents recently, and like everything else in this world involving a choice, stating your preference for one brand over another can illicit responses from others that are worthy of starting a land war. Some people react like you just slapped their mom or told them their God isn’t real. Relax everyone. There is no one tent (or religion) that satisfies every need. This whole planet needs to take a deep breath and relax.
After looking at the options out there, and my actual needs, I went with a tent from Wingman of the Road. They have two models, called the Goose and the Toucan. Goose is the one person, and Toucan is the two person since “Two can”… . Well, two average size people probably can, if they are really good friends. If they aren’t really good friends, they will be by morning. I’m a bit taller and heavier than average, so the other person would have to be a flexible fitness instructor or yoga teacher. (If that describes you, feel free to reach out and we can try it.)
The amount of hate this tent generates on the ADVRider forum is astounding. Interestingly enough, not one of those hateful comments was from a person who has used one, or even seen one in person. Those people that do have one seem to like it. For my needs, I thought it would work well so I decided to give it a go. Ordered on Thursday morning from the UK, and delivered to my door in Canada on Monday afternoon. There are local retailers who take longer than that to ship stuff to my door.
One thing I really liked about this tent is the quick setup and take down. I slept in it last night in my backyard to ‘field test’ it prior to a trip, and took about 10 minutes to set it up. This morning I timed myself at just under 8 minutes to pack up. With its all in one design, that 10 minutes is from the bike to the ground, ready to sleep in it. The mattress pad and sleeping bag are part of it. The bottom of the tent is waterproof PVC, and the whole thing gets rolled up in the ground sheet so that it stays dry on the road. The ends also have little overhangs with hooks to hang a helmet.
Like any tent there are Pros and Cons. The tent is made with waterproof canvas. So that means it is heavy, but also means it is rugged and won’t rip easily. The canvas construction also means that it is very dark in the tent as well. I slept in this morning, but in a nylon tent I wake at first light. When I woke up this morning I wasn’t sure if it was morning until I opened the zipper and looked outside. My experience with nylon tents is that they have a hard time holding in the heat on a cool night and they get way too hot once the sun is out. This seems to regulate temperature a little better.
As has been mentioned in many reviews, if you are setting up a base camp for a while, the larger tents that take longer to setup but have more interior room would probably be better. In my case I will be staying in a different spot pretty much every night, and the ruggedness, quick setup, and great privacy was more important to me than the size and weight. It’s amazing how many 200+ pound people on 600 pound Adventure bikes will argue to the death over the benefits of a tent that is 8 pounds lighter, while riding a motorcycle with 25 pounds of after market crash bars, lights, bags, radios, GPS, etc. If 8 pounds is a real issue, then go on a diet.