I wonder why most people don't tour. Its not that expensive especially if you camp. And even a 4 day weekend turns into a wonderful memory. I keep feeling with the unpredictable economy and the shaky political climate that one day you might not be able to tour so freely......

From a touring point of view, camping is probably the least expensive vacation I've ever been on. 2 tanks of gas to get up to the big trees, $12 bucks to enter the park for up to 2 weeks, come and go as I please (with receipt at gates) and camp out where no one bothers me.
The equipment is mostly a one time expense if you take care of it. I remove/unpack the bike into the tent and roam at will on all those back roads. We swim in a spring fed lake, eat breakfast at the dinner then spend the rest of the day touring all the roads in the region. There are local grocery stores to re-stock our supplies and laundromats to wash dirty clothes. In one day I'll ride a few hundred miles just looking around... and then head back to base camp for a nice meal cooked over an open fire. And on the occasions I go with the group we tell road stories into the wee hours. The women even enjoy it, I remember the first time I brought my girl with me, the weeks before the trip she was "I"m not going to enjoy this - there's no showers or bathrooms or curling irons..." I'd tell her "don't worry about it, you're going to have a blast"... She was the first one to say she didn't want to leave when it was time to pack up.
I think between gas and eating - the only expenses - I spent a couple hundred bucks for a weeks vacation for the 2 of us. I posted a couple of pics in my photo album if anyone cares to check it out.

Camping Equipment that I use:

I have an 8x8 tent that has a 72 inch height - tall enough for me to dress in with out crouching over.
I have a battery operated air pump to fill the air mattress *(both a must have- I have a messed up back).
I use a grill basket to cook with, build a fire pit with stones I find at the site and fire wood that I collect there.
Both warm clothes for night and light clothes for days - where I go the temps can swing 35 degrees.
A can opener, some canned foods and some fresh foods and lots of drinks, a small cooler, a small axe, matches.
I have sleeping bags that zip together and the usual toiletries...
We use a folding shovel and a roll of TP.

After a week in the woods the hardest part of the trip is the ride home through the LA traffic.. that sucks.

Thats alot of stuff. If riding 2 up you must have a chase vehicle like a car or truck? Thats 2 much stuff on a bike and 2 up too. I can see camping mostly when members of my family are in tow in a car or truck as they are sometimes and when my rides include my daughters/sons and grandsons and other members of my family come with. So far we have stayed in hotels with pools so my grandboys can swim but I bet they'd dig the camping, especially the bonfire part.

Not at all, I fit it all and have room for souvenirs on the road...
Every thing I bring either folds or rolls or deflates into a small package.
I have 2 big hard case saddle bags and the t-bag that is more than enough, the t-bag has a sleeping bag duffel. I do 2 up often, and she never complains cause the t-bag kind of makes the sissy bar higher and gives her some extra back support. Once we make base camp the bike is unloaded and we use a saddle bag for a cooler - ice and all
As for the bon fires, where we go there is plenty of wood just lying around on the ground. We swim late afternoons and dry on the way back to camp. It's kind of a bath and once back at base camp we change out of riding clothes into the warm stuff for the night.
When packing I roll the pants and large sweatshirts fold the t-shirts and underwear I use the saddle bags for the heavy tools and the t-bag for the lighter weighing clothes. Trying to keep the center of gravity low.
So far so good. On the last day I dry out the "ice cooler" saddle bag and pack the tools back in and head out.
I've used a large garbage bag as a liner but seems like the ice always wears a small hole in it and leaks so I just keep the ice in the bag we buy it in and I have a piece of heavy mil plastic sheeting I use as a "keeper" roughly 3'x3'. The ice always makes the saddle bag damp from condensation so drying it out is important before repacking. I keep a couple rags on the bottom under the plastic for a cushion and they also insulate from the exhaust.
I think until you've tried it and of course there is going to be some trial and error, you'll have a good time. But just like real estate - location, location, location, you have to go some place you are going to enjoy.
I've been to camp sites that just plain suck and all the prep work in the world isn't going to change them so I've found a place way out in the woods that the bike can get to fairly easily and far enough away from the kind of people that I don't want to be around.
There is something about the higher altitudes, the clear night sky, and an open fire that you just can't get in or near the city.

I used to camp back in my late 20 and early 30's by motorcycle and 2 up. Used 2 army sleeping bags and 2 old army tent shelter halves nothing fancy. But the bike was crowded. No Tbag company back then or other sissy bar type options like we have today. Plus the bike was a Sportster.

I'm thinking that when I'm heading to Alaska I should have some camping back up in case no hotel can be found.

BI63, I wonder if the new idea is "event camping." You find an event (bike show, Sturgis, Laguna Seca, Labor Day rallies, Thunder Runs) you drive your bike there as transportation and stay for the duration.

Like you, I used to know lots of guys that would make an entire loop of the USA, go out heading south, and return home from the north. Modern bikes do it easily, ergo, The WingDingers.

To be honest, not a single one of my circle has done any of this lately, in fact, many guys go to South Dakota a few weeks early. The points of interest are open, and the place is less crowded.

Obviously, another factor is 'age.' Our taste in entertainment changes. One friend says that he doesn't need to pay eight dollars for a tap beer to see a girl in a bikini. Three guys I met at local restaurant were there on a Tuesday. They took one look at the rows for squad cars going into Sturgis, and just turned around.

Besides, every three days or so I needed a soft hotel bed and a shower...

With all the storage on your bike taking a small hiking tent and a twin sized air mattress would be a great back up.
Even a small 7x7 tent with the rain fly doesn't take more room than a rolled up jacket and I'm thinking you have a cig. lighter outlet on your bike so you could get away with the small plug in air pump for the mattress.
On my longer trips I have a picnic blanket that I stretch out (for a short 30 minute break) on after too many hours in the saddle, but I have a bad back. I'd think that on an epic trip like one to Alaska having the self support option of a small tent would be a god send. Not so much to send an entire night in but if just taking a short nap and not being "bugged" to death. Summer months offer lots of extra daylight so riding for a spell in the morning and taking a nice nap and riding some more might be a good way of making up miles if need be.

Dam BI talk about a wealth of info. I'm going to copy and save it. Thank's. Also thank's for starting this thread RK.

Event camping is great and you should do it if never done before. However after so many Laconia's,Daytona's, Rendezvous, Myrtle Beach,swap meets etc...they kinda all feel the same. To me at this point I look at them as giant cash grabs and aren't fun. Its a benign and muddled experience for me, devoid of any endearing memories other than being able to say "I was there!". Plenty of fingerless gloves,do rags and azzless chaps in attendance getting their biker on.

For me the path less taken and with as much family as who wants to tag along, has been much more enjoyable.

Eddie if ever you get the notion you start heading East I'll start heading west and we'll meet somewhere in the middle...why not,lol.