I might even make a friend!
Not to be too boastful, but I ended up doing pretty well with my planning and gear selection. I read a number of motorcycle camping books (mentioned on here previously) my daughter is somewhat of a backpacking expert (has actually taken college courses in it!), Moedad recommended a Thermarest air mattress (the pro lite plus is what I got i think and it was unbelievably comfortable for such a thin and light piece of equipment.) I did bring some things that I didn't use: rope for instance, but I ended up using nearly everything (except my frying pan and my two-egg holder [which was sort of a family joke]) at least once. There were some questionable items that I used, but minimally, such as my kermit chair, my Jet Boil-er and swim trunks - but when I had a use for them, they came in handy. Some of the difficulty arises when you mix different situations - National Park camping can be very different from RV park camping.
Here are some things that really performed well for me:
1) Thermarest Pro Lite Plus sleeping pad. Awesome.
2) REI Half Dome 2 Plus tent. Up in 5 minutes, down and packed in 10. Amazingly clever design.
3) Mountain Hardware ultramariner? sleeping bag. light, warm, a little too short - go for the long if you get one and you are over 5'10".
5) Mesh jacket. Scorpion Exoskeleton something or other. Fantastic.
6) Lowa Boots. Good for riding, good for hiking.
7) Teva sandals - good for everything else, even easy to moderate hiking, especially in rivers/wading. The Lowas and the Tevas were my sole (
) footwear for the eight days.
8) Ex Officio polypropylene underwear or whatever it is made out of.
9) REI safari convertible pants
10) T-bag Super T. Easy on, easy off, holds a S-load of stuff, rock solid at 90 mph plus a 30mph headwind. Occasional 60 mph side gusts no prob. Lots of straps to hold other stuff if so inclined. Optional Roll Top add-on for two up campers.
11) Starbucks Via instant coffee. Had the Jet-Boiler coffee press - but this is way easier and tastes nearly the same.
12) SureFire Saint Minimus LED Headlamp. Pricey, but really increases your options once it gets dark.
13) Surefire 6P LED Flashlight. You could find your keys in deep grass on the Dark Side Of the Moon with this baby. (BTW, the batteries they came with lasted the entire week and are still going strong.)
14) REI Picnic Cooler. Big enough to hold a bag of ice, an eight-pack, a steak and kitchen stuff. Small enough to sit on the pillion seat. Kept my Diet Doctor Pepper and Red Bulls icey cold in all-day 100 degree plus desert riding.
15) Kermit chair. This one is iffy. If you want to sit next to your fire, you want this chair. If you don't have a fire or don't car to sit near it, it's a big packing price to pay. It is small, lightweight well made and assembles and disassembles in under 2 mins. But it is the third largest piece of gear after my tent and cooler.
16) REI Quick dry towels. Small one as a washcloth, bigger one to dry off. Stay clean, dry quick and don't get mildewy if packed damp.
17) Toob Travel toothbrush. Nothing special, but compact, stores your own brand of toothpaste in the handle, good size.
I took and used a lot of other stuff, including a nifty camping knife, a small hatchet, leather gloves, water bottles, a waist pack, hiking shirts, camp shirts, rain gear, etc. but those are all pretty standard. The stuff in the list made me forget I was living outside for 8 days. Camp gear has come along way since I was a Boy Scout (Think leaky canvas tents that weighed 1000 pounds and set up with 2 by 2's... and Spam.)