Camping Gear
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Most overland motorcyling trips can propably be done without any camping gear. And since taking camping gear on the bike means more weight and valuable space, this is not to be neglected. However, I don't intend to stay in hotels & yurts all the time. Taking a tent, sleeping mat & stove means more independance and the ability to roam freely – especially in the remote locations I will be visiting (particularly alongst the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan and in Kyrgyzstan).
Sleeping Mat:
Exped Synmat. Some people swear by their self-inflatable thermarests – I don't. Don't get me wrong: Thermarests are nice, and I've had plenty of good nights on them. But Exped's SynMats (and DownMats) are smaller in pack-size, more comfortable and they insulate better. Their pack-sack can be used as a cushion, and they offer an optional (small size/small weight) chair-kit. A comlete no-brainer if you ask me!
Tent:
The ideal tent for me has tent-poles that fit inside the panniers (either horizontally or vertically). For motorcycle travelling it should be slightly bigger than a bicycle-traveller's tent (in order to accomodate for tankbag, helmet, biking clothes and boots when it rains). Basically, a 2-person tent will be comfortable for one motorcylist with all the biking gear.
I went for the "Venus II Extreme" from Exped: 2-person tent, 2 entrances, large vestibules on both sides, free-standing. I manage to squeeze it into a mere 40 x 20 x 15 cm
Trip-Update: The tent is quick to set up and spacious (maybe a bit too spacious, but I don't mind that as long as the pack-size is small enough). I can't say anything about water/wind-proof because so far I haven't had those kind of conditions. One of the zippers broke and I wish I had taken the replacement zippers with me (they come with the tent).
Cooking Gear:
So you say you need a stove? Check this out. (Or this, if you happen to travel in a Land-Rover ;) OK. Back to reality. A McGyver-style-stove like the one above is nice & fancy. But a proper stove is probably the more comfortable option.
"Camping Gaz"? No thanks – 10 years ago, when I was in Kathmandu/Nepal, I remember running around for hours just to find a single camping-gaz cartridge. (I still remember the shop owner's smile when he asked me 10x the buying price for that gas-cartridge).
About a year ago I bought a Coleman Sportster. Good stove, burns standard petrol, but the burner is permanently connected to the bottle and the whole lot takes up a fair bit of space (to be precise: about 1/6 of one of my 32l panniers – far too much!)
The MSR Dragonfly is smaller & does a similar job. It runs on petrol (amongst other things), hence it's ideal for motorcycle camping endeavours. And it's easy to clean the MSR's fuel-jets if they clog up from dirty petrol.
For pots & pans, I carry a small one-person set of 2 pots & 1 pan with me (the Vango 101). Stainless steel (no need for Titanium), but very small, yet big enough to make a decent meal of pasta & pesto (or heat up water for some pot-noodles).
Trip-Update: I've been using the MSR Dragonfly extensively in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, with varying petrol qualities down to leaded 70 octane. It's clogged up once, but was really easy to clean.