Review: Hilleberg Nammatj 3 GT tent

My previous tent, a 3-person dome from Cabela's, was getting long in the tooth and lacked some features I wanted in a motorcycling tent. After doing a lot of research, and realizing that I'd wasted a lot of money buying cheap tents in the past, I decided to get the best tent I could and stop this repeat purchasing madness.

I chose the Nammatj 3 GT tunnel tent by Hilleberg.

The Nammatj is somewhat expensive, costing me $795 for the tent and $96 for the matching footprint. I purchased both online from BackcountryGear.com, a retailer based in Eugene, Oregon, and received the gear the very next day after ordering -- with free shipping! As my review will show, it's not about the cost, it's about getting more than you paid for. That's how I define value, and the Hilleberg delivers value in spades.

Unlike a free-standing dome tent, the Nammatj is a tunnel design that requires staking down. The downside to this is you can't pick up the tent and relocate it to fine-tune your spot. This is a minor issue, however, as you merely need to pick your spot a bit more carefully -- which is something I do anyway.

As you can see in the picture, the tent has two chambers, the sleeping quarters behind the yellow door and the storage 'mud room' just inside the door. There are vents fore and aft that provide a surprising amount of ventilation. Because they are sloped down, you can open them even in bad weather.

The matching footprint has dongles that let you tie it down at key points around its perimeter. This prevents the footprint from moving around once it is in place under the tent. The footprint packs up to the size of a hardback novel when folded, or a can of Fosters when rolled.

The tent itself can be set up in the rain without worrying about getting the inside wet. My previous dome tent had a mesh no-see-um material for the roof, so setting it up in the rain got the inside wet. It didn't become weatherproof until I attached the external rain fly. The Nammatj doesn't have a separate fly; the tent material itself forms the weather barrier. The inner tent (in yellow) is actually attached to the outer tent using a series of dongles and can be removed, making the outer tent just a shell. This is great versatility.

When using this tent, it becomes clear the designers at Hilleberg thought of everything. The attention to detail is impressive and the craftsmanship is superb. I expect this tent to last many years.

It took me 15 minutes to set up the tent for the first time, aided by watching a video on Hilleberg's web site ahead of time. Now that I have practiced, I could probably get the tent erected in under 10 minutes. Break-down takes even less time.

Everything goes into a stuff sack that easily fits on top of my waterproof duffel on the passenger seat of my Suzuki V-Strom. It's too large to fit into a side case or top case, however. The tent is too heavy for backpacking, but that's not why I bought it. If that was a requirement, I would have purchased the Nammatj 3, which is a single chamber tent minus the front 'mud room' chamber.

After spending a night in the Nammatj, I can say the purchase price is easily forgotten and the tent quickly becomes a joy to use. For motorcyclists looking to save money on motels, or those simply wishing to enjoy the outdoors, I heartily recommend Hilleberg tents in general, and the Nammatj 3 GT specifically.

V-Strom Mid-life Maintenance

I took my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 to the shop this week for some mid-life maintenance. It now has 53,000 miles and other than a faulty TPS sensor, it's never had a thing go wrong with it. Think about that for a second. That's the equivalent distance of riding twice around the planet with only a single electronic sensor going bad.

I'm having the coolant flushed and the radiator, hoses and clamps inspected. It's getting some new shoes, another pair of Metzeler Tourance tires. I prefer Shinko 705s, as they have quite a bit more grip, especially on wet pavement, and a bit more off-road traction. However, I can only get about 5,000 miles out of a rear Shinko; the Metzelers give me 10,000 miles, which will last me all season.

I'm also getting the battery replaced, not because of age but because I ran the current unit down by leaving my Garmin Zumo 220 GPS plugged in over night. It draws current even when powered off. Speaking of which, I'm having the shop re-route the GPS' power cord to a switched circuit. This will prevent power from going to the GPS when the ignition is off.

Finally, I'm having braided stainless steel brake lines installed, replacing the factor rubber hoses.

Hanging off up the river

We've had two dry days in a row in Western Oregon and I've taken advantage of it to put some miles on the GSX-R750. I rode it to work on Friday, carrying my gear in my MotoCentric soft bags. They are light, functional, and look fantastic. I rode the long way home, following the Sandy River through Springdale, past Oxbow Park, then through the rural communities of Aims and Bull Run before emerging back up the hill to Sandy and home.

Saturday I took the Gixxer up the Clackamas River on Highway 224 to Ripplebrook Ranger Station. It was overcast and chilly up the river valley but the pavement was mostly dry. There was only a smattering of sanding gravel in the center of each lane on the last few miles before reaching the turn-around point.

The ride wasn't just for fun (although it certainly was that). I was specifically practicing my right-hand turns. To counterstear, you push right to turn right, and push left to turn left. The problem with pushing right to turn right is that's where the throttle is. You don't want your pushing to affect your throttle input. So how do you push without pushing?

I practiced two techniques. The first was gripping the tank with my knees and keeping my upper body directly lined up with the bike; i.e. no hanging off. This works fine for slower cornering, but doesn't work if you jack up the speed around the turn.

The second technique was to lean my body to the right, hanging half of my butt cheek off the seat, and supporting my body by pressing the inside of my left leg and my left elbow against the tank. This removed weight on my right wrist. I made sure I was supporting myself enough by flexing my right hand and ensuring I had a light touch on the grip.

After riding 80 miles of a decent set of turns, it started to become easier. By the time I was heading home I was easily able to double the posted corner speed with a great deal of control and comfort.

Getting paid to ride

I work in Gresham, Oregon but we have a satellite office in Lacey, Washington. I needed to install a new server in that office so I used the opportunity to ride there on my 2007 Suzuki V-Strom 650 yesterday. I left home at 7 AM and got there shortly after 9 AM. It was a chilly ride, never getting over 40 degrees until late morning. Other than some chilly toes and finger tips, my Aerostich Darien jacket and Firstgear Kathmandu pants did a great job keeping me warm.

The V-Strom ran perfectly, too. It has a neutral seating position and good coverage with the Givi after-market windscreen (and Madstad windshield bracket) and both combined to make it a comfortable ride.

By the time I got back home at 5:30 PM I had ridden 284 miles round trip. That's easy to do on a 'Strom.

Trip Itching

No, I'm not talking about frustrating skin conditions when traveling long distances on a motorcycle. I'm talking about itchy feet, the desire to travel that occurs in the late winter months. I've spent a lot of time indoors and haven't taken any overnight or multi-day rides since the Fall and I'm feeling a little stir-crazy.

I have some trip ideas for the upcoming riding season -- scratch that. Let's call it trip season, since I ride all year long. One includes a jaunt up into southern British Columbia, another involves a fair bit of off-road adventure riding on the V-Strom. Yet another idea is to take the same route of last June's 5,000 mile ride to Colorado, but in reverse order. Every given road you encounter provides two experiences, and it's a good idea to ride it in both directions to experience each.

My V-Strom has 53,000 miles on it and I've got some major preventative maintenance scheduled in the coming weeks. The bike has been rock solid reliable and preventative maintenance is the key to making it so. I'm also just a few miles shy of 3,000 on my GSX-R750, and I'm gearing up for some overnight trips on that as well. So far it's only been used for local day rides.

Although the plans haven't firmed up yet, 2013 looks to be a high mileage, high smiles trip year.

Chains and frost

Saturday I pulled both bikes out into the driveway. It was chilly, in the low 30's, but the sun was shining. I gave the chains on each bike a thorough cleaning, then added fresh lubrication. I ran the engines for 10 minutes, and using the center stand on the V-Strom and the paddock stand for the Gixxer, was able to run the bike in gear.

I rode my V-Strom to work last week so it received it's once-a-week maintenance ride, but my Gixxer hadn't received any forward momentum love. I decided to suit up and zip into Gresham and back on the sport bike. It was good to get it out onto the road, although anywhere shade crossed the pavement I encountered a frosty road surface. Those kind of rides require a mellow throttle and brake application.

Cold maintenance rides

This is the time of year when I seldom ride for fun. I commute occasionally, as weather and errands allow (I oftentimes have to run errands that require the use of a four-wheeled vehicle). I also try to ride each bike at least once a week just to keep it running. I don't like to let my vehicles sit.

One tip I've read is to either park your bike with a nearly empty tank and fuel stabilizer added, or better yet, park it with a full tank of fuel. When bikes sit for long periods, water condensation can form on the inside of the tank. If the tank is full, there is very little exposed surface area inside where condensation can form. That is why I choose to keep my tanks full when they are parked.

I'm not a mechanical expert by any means, so if any of my knowledgeable readers want to pipe in and comment on the validity of this approach, I'd appreciate it.