I am planning a trip in april-may 2015 hoping to spend 3 weeks in morocco on my Aprilia Pegaso. Doing lots of planning! I am hoping to get as far into the Saraha as I can on some of the really desolate routes in Chris Scott's book.

I have a lot of experience green laning on Betty, my bike and am aiming to be super lightweight as ever but there is one thing that is niggling me, how many miles/gallon I can expect on the piestes? On the road, I ususally get around 55mpg from the Yam 660 single, but what sort of mileage could one expect in a hotter climate tootling along the rocky roads?

I only have a 16 litre tank so my range on normal roads is 130 to 140 miles to reserve.

Any advice on good places to go is always welcome. I like big mountain tracks, the duney deserts (but not touristy places), and interesting local people.

cheers

Dave

I find I normally tootle along in Morocco at around 70-80 kph and rarely reach the 100 kph speed limit unless the road is boring. So fuel consumption is great and on a BMW F650GS twin or Yamaha Tenere I get as much as 25 kpl (70 mpg).

On the pistes I normally travel at between 30 and 60 kph on good surfaces and the fuel consumption is pretty much the same as 70-80 kph on the roads. On bad slow tracks and difficult sand this will drop a bit, but your major enemy with fuel consumption is actually climbing hills and high speed wind resistance.

(I learnt a lot over the years watching the instantaneous fuel consumption readout on the BMW's fuel computer)

Your norm of 55 mpg works out at 20 kpl so with a 16 litre tank you have an absolute range of 320 km or 200 miles. I'm about to leave for a trip on my KTM 690 Enduro which has a 12 litre tank. Some of the distance covered in the signature below was motorway mileage but if you click on the signature you will see my best consumption to date was over 30 kpl.



I expect to see 25 kpl or better in Morocco and leaving 2 litres for reserve gives me a operating range of probably 250 km. If I feel I need more range, I can always carry fuel in a 1.5-litre water bottle and stick it in the tank after 50 km.

There's many more fuel stations in Morocco than the UK, probably because the cost of fuel relative to typical earnings is so high and locals tend to only put in small amounts. If you have a Garmin GPS you can download the Olaf maps and my fuel station waypoints.

With three weeks in country you should be able to cover a wide area. You could meander down the country visiting the Rif Mountains and the Middle Atlas (Azrou and the monkeys) on the way. The Anti Atlas around Tafroute is one of my favourites, coupled with a couple of nights in Sidi Ifni on the coast. When it comes to the return you can always hop on the motorways back to Tanger.

When travelling on tarmac try to avoid main roads and look for the green-edged roads on Michelin or Reise KnowHow maps. April/May is a great time to visit and the country will be really green with lots of wild flowers.

.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Thanks for that Tim,

I am glad I got a reply from you, you seem to know the place rather well!

I will take a 5 litre can with me for the deep desert bits. Pegs don't like to get low on fuel! I have a petrol stove, so I have a super emergency 1.5 litres as long as I don't want any tea! This should give me a good range without worrying too much.

I will take a good look at your suggestions. Its my only chance and I want to get the full cup full!

cheers

Dave

I get the impression you're rather attached to your Pegaso.

You're a braver man than me... Pack a spare wiring loom.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I don't know who you are and don't know how brave you are.

My Pegaso will go wherever a 250 KTM will go and after 15 000 miles on her and going a long way from home, she has ever only gone pop once, and that was the ignition switch.

Never known or heard of the wiring loom to be a problem.

Thanks for the encouragement.

There was no discouragement... Just a tip of the hat to you. Travelling on probably the most unreliable bike to ever be made in the history of mankind.

But that's half the fun isn't it


Joking aside, have a chat with Paddy Tyson from Overland magazine. He's done a lot of miles all around on his so he could give you some great advice..

It's always better to know your bike.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Can you tell me how it its the most unreliable bike in the world? Seems a bit judgemental?

I think you'll find Paddy's bike, Peggy, was the mk2 pegaso. Paddy, does get upset with Peggy, but it is 15 years old, and isn't likely to be in good shape after all the many miles he has done on her.

All bikes break down, and bike snobery really gets on my goat. My Pegaso mk3 is a great bike, wonderful for small people (you can laugh at my diminuitive stature if you want to, in a kind of top gear way), but I and her get me to the places I want to go. Far from the madening GS adventure crowd!

And, funnily enough, I do know my bike, I strip her down every year. I can tell you every function of the ECU pin if I have to prove it.

I am problably not what you initallly thought I was. Go easy on people you don't agree with please.

Saying that, I may just be joking.

And breath... When did folk get so serious.

No snobbery at all. You should see the old cheap things I buzz about on.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

A lesson there, in think before you 'think' you know what you are on about, and then speak.

Where's the fun In that ?

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

The Peg (Trail) is a great and reliable bike. It just gets a bad rep :-)

Dave will get by ok, he will break it and he will fix it (as usual). Stop teasing him. :-)

With reference to Paddy and his Peg what a lot of people forget is the BMW Funduro was the same bike, built by Aprilia. Yet it has a good name.

And Dave, take it easy. Ted does humour much like me, stop taking him seruously

__________________
--

http://www.ytc1.co.uk

I pity anyone with the same sense of humour as me. Bruce, we should start a self help group..

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Riding the Peg around the world is all the safe self help i need :-)

__________________
--

http://www.ytc1.co.uk

From my previous experience working in an Aprillia dealership, I won't argue with that

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Well, this topic kind of went a bit

But I really appreciate the knowledge Tim shared in the 2nd post. That was a good primer for novice Morocco explorers. I went there years ago on my 99' Triumph Tiger and was too afraid to go off the motorways ... ALL BECAUSE I DID NOT KNOW WHERE TO GO! Still had a blast despite a shortened trip.

On the Pegaso:
Maybe I'm confused here. In the first post Davebetty said his Peg uses the Yamaha 660 motor? What year is his bike?

It was also mentioned later that the Pegaso (early versions I guess) were the same as the Funduro/F650 BMW. Same Rotax motor. Since we only got the Peg here in USA for a few years (late 90's, early 2000's only) I always assumed they ALL used the Rotax motor?

When did they change over to Yamaha 660 motor? Why?
From everything I have ever heard ... that 660 motor is a bit heavy but very reliable, no? I've NO IDEA about the rest of the bike ... I did not even know Aprilia still made it ... so I'm out of touch on this bike. Can someone fill in the blanks?

Despite Ted's comments I feel DaveBetty has a decent chance of making it.
After all, he's owned the bike a long time, knows it well and most likely has discovered most of the weak points ... or at least knows about them? Even unreliable bikes can do well ... once you've fixed everything that breaks!

Good luck DaveBetty! (carry extra fuel!)