Why do I need one?
Speed is the answer. After a long days riding you just want to get the tent up as quickly as possible and hit the town. With a Kyham Biker you can have it erected in just a couple of minutes.
Is it really that simple?
Pretty much, yes. The tent is a bit like an umbrella, simply hold the centre and clip the folding poles into a locked position, peg it down and you’re in. There’s just one pole to insert around the roomy front porch and if you want to have the front door open you can use the two additional aluminium poles to hold the door upright.
Is it easy to carry?
It doesn’t fold up as small as ordinary tents but it can still fit on the sprint rack on my Lambretta, or the rack on my GTS. If you’re looking for minimal size and light weight though this isn’t the tent for you. The tent weighs 6.8kg and measures 60cm x 20cm.
Does it pack away easily?
Yes, the tent bag is bigger than it needs to be so the tent can be down, rolled up and in the bag within five minutes. There’s enough extra space in the bag to carry the groundsheet, a picnic blanket and a lamp quite easily.
Where can I pitch it?
Obviously a nice bit of grass is ideal but during a trip to Croatia last summer we found ourselves on a campsite with just pebbles to pitch on. It wasn’t a problem though; just a couple of guide ropes tied to trees and a couple of boulders and it was sorted.
Is it waterproof?
We’ve camped everywhere from a lakeside campsite in Austria to a stone campsite on an island in Croatia. We’ve experienced weather ranging from
‘Scorchio’ to torrential rain – the tent hasn’t leaked yet.
Is it big enough?
The sleeping area has a sewn in groundsheet and is large enough for a double airbed and there’s enough space either side to stow two lots of riding kit, panniers and luggage for a two-week holiday. The porch itself is a great space but is open to the elements, I bought the optional footprint groundsheet which makes it more useable, although you have to be careful what you leave out there as we found out one night when a thunderstorm soaked some clothes we’d left out overnight. I’d prefer the porch to have a sewn in groundsheet like the sleeping area to make it even more useful.
How much is it?
The tent costs £169.99, the additional footprint groundsheet is £19.99 and if you’re going wild the Stormpack pegs and ropes are £14.99.
Would we recommend it?
Overall the tent is excellent, not too expensive, can be put up very quickly after a long days riding and put away within a few minutes as well, without having to fight trying to get a tent into an undersized bag. It’s not perfect but is well recommended, visit www.kyham.co.uk
Lab rating: 8
