Best Tents for Motorcycle Camping

Ryan Adams
by Ryan Adams

Treat yourself to a night under the stars

What makes for a “best motorcycle tent”? Typically, it’s going to boil down to weight and size. The smaller you can pack down your tent, the more room you’ll have for necessary items like your Nanopresso espresso maker, or your high heels. Because backpacking and camping are such big business, motorcyclists can benefit from companies making lightweight, small camping setups, too. Here, we’ll take a look at a handful of options that stow well on a motorcycle and let you take your two-wheeled steed into the great outdoors for a night under the stars.

Table of Contents

Wolf Walker Waterproof Instant Motorcycle Tent

These are some of the only real “motorcycle” specific tents on the market. The Wolf Walker motorcycle tent features the same basic design as the Redverz and Lone Rider tents that made this style popular. The standout feature here is the “garage” for your motorcycle. Being able to pull your machine in at night offers a number of benefits ranging from keeping your ride out of the weather, to deterring theft.

The Wolf Walker tent uses a “Waterproof, rainproof, windproof, sunproof fabric, firm and durable” polyester construction and comes with aluminum tent poles. The tent is designed to sleep two people and one motorcycle and packs down to a claimed 24 x 11 x 6-inch storage bag. The Wolf Walker Waterproof Instant Motorcycle Tent is said to weigh 14.9 lbs. Another reason to consider the Wolf Walker tent is that you’ll save more than a few hundred dollars compared to competitors, but any tent of this style will pack down much larger than a traditional tent. If you’ve got the room and want your bike to be a bit more secure overnight, give ‘em a gander.

Kelty Late Start 2

I have two two-person tents that I’ve been using for moto-camping for years, one of them is a Kelty. Two-person tents work great for camping off of the motorcycle because they give you just enough space to sleep and lay out your gear, achieving a nice balance of utility and compact storage. 

There are plenty of great tent brands out there, and Kelty is one of them. We’re giving the nod to Kelty for its clever and intuitive design that makes setup super quick and easy, even if it’s your first time. The Late Start is actually available in one, two, and four-person sizes if you need more or less room. This tent features a polyester construction with a mesh top for excellent nighttime views but also comes with a rain fly for cold or wet camping. The Late Start uses two aluminum poles that help to make pitching your tent a breeze. Set up dimensions are 85” x 54” x 40” with 29.5 square feet of interior space and packed weight is approximately 4.5 pounds.

Winterial Single Person Personal Bivy Tent

If you’re not concerned with interior space and just need room to sleep, a “bivy” or bivouac sack is a super small, lightweight option. Bivy sacks are basically single person tents designed to be just bigger than your sleeping bag that offer full-coverage and are made of tent-like materials. Originally developed as emergency shelters, Bivy sacks offer a utilitarian approach to camping when traveling light is of the utmost importance. 

The Winterial Single Person Personal Bivy Tent offers a bit more space and features than traditional bivy sacks. This three-season option comes with a rain fly and uses two aluminum poles to keep the tent’s shape. The Winterial weighs just under three pounds with set up dimensions of 38″ x 28″ x 90″. If you’re looking for smaller options like a more traditional bivy sack which is little more than a durable, fully-sealed sleeping bag, there are plenty of other options available like the Sierra Designs Backcountry Bivy Bag which weighs in at under one pound.

ENO Junglenest Hammock

If you’re looking for another lightweight option, a hammock could be something to consider. Of course, you’ll need to be camping somewhere that you can attach straps, and you’ll probably be best off in temperate weather, though there are workarounds for that, too.

ENO is a well-known hammock brand that was founded in 1999. The ENO product and accessory range are vast, including everything from rain tarps and bug nets to top and underquilts for warmth. The Junglenest hammock combines two of these with the benefit of being able to close itself off from buggy conditions with its integrated SkyWeave bug net. This hammock has a 300-pound weight limit, nylon construction, is 10-feet long, and packs down small, weighing just over a pound.

We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews. Learn more about how this works.

Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.

Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams

Ryan’s time in the motorcycle industry has revolved around sales and marketing prior to landing a gig at Motorcycle.com. An avid motorcyclist, interested in all shapes, sizes, and colors of motorized two-wheeled vehicles, Ryan brings a young, passionate enthusiasm to the digital pages of MO.

More by Ryan Adams

Comments
Join the conversation
Next