Camper Shell Build for Dirt Bike Hauling and Moto Camping

I have a 2017 TRD Off Road I use for hauling my dirt bike. Seems like I'm doing more trips where I base camp and ride out of the same area for a few days.
I've been using a hitch carrier recently and with all the cool camper builds going on here felt motivated to do my own.
I added the Leer 180 back in January and also added the Roadmaster Active Suspension the better handle the weight of the shell, 100 lb. hitch carrier and 300 lb. Honda CRF 450L.
Here is how the truck looks now.

With the hitch carrier and bike

Goals for the build:
* easy set up and tear down since I use my truck for other activities
10-15 minutes
* light weight. I need to be able to manage all of the parts by myself
* keep the cost down by using materials and gear I already have
* storage for all of my riding gear, camping gear, clothes, small cooler and a few days of food.
* storage for an extra set of wheels

I started with a complete list of every thing I wanted to carry along with some sketches

I bought 2 sheets of cabinet grade plywood.
1 sheet of 1/2" and 1 sheet of 3/4"
This material at Lowes was the best deal I could find in my area.
About $80 for both

 

One of those 270 degree awnings would be cool to have, protect you and your bike when you’re camping. Stay dry while you work on your bike or cook.

 

First step was to build the supports for the 26" wide bunk.
I had some ruff cut Cedar and Poplar from another project
I used pocket screws for almost all of the construction.
Building the bunk frames

Checking the height with the bed features

Added the bunk surface, 1/2" plywood

I wanted a simple storage drawer under the bunk.
I used wooden rails for a piece of 3/4" plywood to slide on. The drawer will be flat with small dividers. I want to use totes that can be accessed from inside the truck through the openings in the bunk supports

 

They look nice.
Maybe I'll add one later.

 

The next item is a storage area on the driver's side of the bed.
This is where I plan to store my riding gear and the wheel sets.
In an effort to keep the weight down I used 2" strips of 3/4" plywood.
It was difficult to assemble this contraption

Test fit with the wheel set

 

Today I covered the bunk and a floor section between the bunk and storage rack with the foam interlocking tiles.
I found these at Lowes for $20/set.
I needed 2 sets
Also added some plywood shelves to the storage rack.
Here is my status as of this afternoon



I still have more to do. I'll post more updates in a day or 2

 

Looks great so far.

 

I finished up an access cab organizer I seen over in this thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/access-cab-storage-organization.453774/page-11
I liked the mod by @OldSkoolArcher and used the pattern he provided.
It fit perfectly. I covered it with some of the left over foam tiles and used some tool box tray mat on the back.
I still need to trim out the plywood edge.

I finished out the drawer with a folding leg and some tool box mat.

Loaded all of my riding gear into the shelf
to check the space.
Pants, jacket, body armor, gloves and hydration vest on the shelf
Boots underneath and helmet on the floor.
It's easy to load most of the items thru the windoors.
The extra wheel set will go into the 2 slots on the end.


Monday I'm headed down to western North Carolina for 3 nights camping and 2 days riding.
I plan on loading all the gear on Saturday and the motorcycle Sunday afternoon.
I'll do some real world testing and make any mods/improvements when I get back.

 

Subd!

 

(Cries in Canadian)

 

I thought you guys made all of the plywood.

 

Lol, I doubt it. Weyerhaeuser out in BC makes a lot but I just googled it and didn't see their name in the top producers.

Didn't mean to thread jack anyway, just makes me mad - I actually work for a different division of the company I posted above and the excuse they give us for prices being so high is demand from the states. Makes me wonder.

 

I'm headed down to western NC tomorrow. I loaded all my gear late this afternoon.
Basically riding gear on the left side

Camping gear on the right side under the bunk

Cooler in the middle.
The only thing I don't have in here is a small charcoal grill.
It would go in the middle as well. I'm not going to do a lot of cooking on this trip so no need for it.

Clothes and a small amount of food in the cab.

Overall, plenty of room
I'll load the bike in the morning.

 

Just got back from my trip down to western North Carolina.
The Roadmaster Active Suspension worked really well leveling out the Taco with the bike on the hitch hauler
.
Slept in the camper for 3 nights. Overall it worked pretty well. I need to work on the gear storage area for a little better organization.
Also need to come up with a way to hang up some jackets.
Curtains would be nice as well

Also rode the dirt bike in the mountains for 2 days.

 

How was the fuel economy loaded with the Leer Shell and your Honda on the hitch hauler?

 

On the interstate I drove 70 mph and got 20-21 mpg.
There is about a 2 hr section of twisty, steep mountain roads where I only averaged about 30 mph. The mpg dropped down to 16-17 in that section.

 

Nice simple but functional build. A couple of questions: how does the drawer slide, with wood on wood? Did you use any finish, wax etc to make that work better? Also, just curious why two sets of wheels and tires ... the pictures of the wheelsets on and off the bike both look pretty knobby. Can you just use DOT knobbies like Dunlop 606 or IRC TR8?

 

The drawer slides are just wood on wood at this point. Maybe later I may add some thin nylon strips if necessary.
I unintentionally ran across someone selling the wheel set late last year.
The set on the bike has aggressive off road tires with the Tubless System.
The other set are dual sport tires with inner tubes.
I'd like to take the extra set of tires for a 10 day trip to Colorado later this year. You never know when a tire failure could run your trip.

 

I've used Tubliss on my FE501 all over CO, UT, WY and last year in ID with no problems what so ever except once coming down Imogene to Ouray I got a front tire puncture. Popped in a plug, aired up and was on my way. Run a Goldentyre GT216AA front fatty and a Michelin desert with 8 f, 3 r psi offroad. Works great in the rocks. I'd just take the Tubliss set up on your moto and leave the other set at home. You will love CO for riding.. make sure not to miss the San Juans and it is easy to even ride from Telluride over to Moab and do the White rim trail.

 

My ride last week was my first real experience with the Tubless.
I rode about 350 miles and was really impressed with the feel of the tires.
Not only the traction but also the way the tires soaked up the smaller bumps and improved the suspension.
We plan to ride 4 days out of Ouray so I hope to ride most of the Alpine loops and maybe Black Bear Pass as well.
I'm still debating on which tires to get.
I would like to try some of the gummys but maybe a tough desert tire would be the smarter choice.