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[Indenial]

I can second the Cabelas XPG Ultralight. Have one and it's great. 2 man is good for 1 man, so you have room to move. Easy to set up and waterproof. Durable too. I would also use a good air mattress, as it helps the sleep for an old person. Takes up some room, but worth it at 3 AM.

[mrmagloo]

While I can appreciate the value of a good expensive tent, nothing worse than having a varmint knaw his way into the tent and destroy it. Or some drunk jackass that stumbles on your tent and screws it up. Seen both happen a few times. I've seriously considered purchasing some very lightweight backpacking 3 man tents, like the MSR's, and some of the other big names, but imho, all tents are just too easy to destroy.

If you look closely, you can find pretty decent tents very inexpensively. Just in the past couple of months, I got a Eureka Teregon 8 a 4 man tent that's 8.5' x 7.6' with 5' center height for $60 brand new. Breaks down to 8.6 lbs, and rolls up plenty small.

I got a Coleman Hooligan 3, a 3 man tent that's a little smaller at 8 x 7 but it has a nice vestible for dirty boots and stuff. Got that on Amazon or something a month or so ago for $55. I also got the larger Hooilgan 4, that's 9 x 7 again with a vestible online for around $60.

All of them easily fit on the bike and are decent enough to do the job, keep me dry, and well ventilated as necessary, and if something destroys one, or it gets too muddy, I toss it in the garbage without batting an eye. However, if it was a $400 tent, I'd be spitting blood.

I did however splurge on those items that are a little more durable or protected, like a great Exped Synmat 9 air mattress that packs down to the size of a soda can and has a built-in pump - I love this thing! Also, a nice down sleeping bag that is rated for 40 degrees but also packs ultra small - Can't recall the name, but another good investment. MSR mini stove, a mini propane lantern, and those items that aren't at risk of being torn apart by nature, and I can keep in the tourpack to avoid theft. That's where to spend the dough on.

My .02 fwiw.

[arcticdude]

There's a hotel at the Yukon river, mile 60; lodging at Coldfoot, mile 175; at Wiseman, mile 188; and finally at Deadhorse.  How often does he think he needs to rest?  Remember, you've got 20 hours or so of GOOD daylight, so you can easily (relatively) ride up in a day, spend a day and back the third.  If he still thinks he wants a tent, I tied mine on the rails around the saddlebags across the back of the bike when I went up.  It was out of the way, didn't get too dirty and didn't block any lights or access to anything else.  A better one shouldn't stick out the sides, so no clearance issues.

[cvobiker]

. If he still thinks he wants a tent, I tied mine on the rails around the saddlebags across the back of the bike when I went up.  It was out of the way, didn't get too dirty and didn't block any lights or access to anything else.  A better one shouldn't stick out the sides, so no clearance issues.

Arcticdude,

The saddle bag side rails are great for strapping and stowing gear, if you have them. I don't and desperately needed storage space. Ace hardware (out of all places) have these neat little chrome u- brackets (so to speak). I pop rivit 6 of them, 3 evenaly spaced on each side, under the Touring Trunk. They're small enough not to present eye sore but big enough to accept bungie strap hooks. I can strap two mummy bags, tent and sleeping pads under the trunk with a little room spared. Of course, you've got to have the backpacking variety of gear and if you do, it's total amazing how much you can pack on one bike.   

[arcticdude]

As long as you can keep the lights clear, you can pack a ton of chit on these things and still ride them long distances when you want or need to.