I dont know of an interesting off road route between these towns, and straight long the N10 (even via the Kella bypass) will be a wasted day.

Day 3 better to ride Ozt, Skoura, piste to Nekob (MZ1).
This will be the highlight of your week.
Day 4 up the road to Ikniouen and MH10 east to Alnif, or turn-off for Tourza at MH10 31.17266, -5.41787 (about MH10KM73), the to Tinerhir.

D5 you could do a great, mostly road ride over the Atlas watershed and back:
Tinerhir, Todra, Tamtatoucht, new road west to Msemrir (unfinished), north over Atlas to Agoudal (also unfinished), over the town oued and back over Atlas to Ait Hani, turn south back to Tamta, Todra and Tinerhir.
It is 350km which will be on the limit of a 310GS. Ask in village shops or nip up to Imilchil fuel station (34km north of Agoudal).

Then next day back to RAK.

I have tried all the hotels around Loc but missed the Hotel Terranga.
If you booked direct, hotels in this area of RAK can often be casual about confirmation. If you booked via booking.com (often cheaper) you should get the usual confirmation.
This is why I settle on booking.com in Mk, even if I would rather the hotel got all the money direct. Their system works.
I use Les Ambassadeurs on the corner; same distance from Loc.

Thank you very much, again, Chris!

There is some good tracks on the south edge of the High Atlas between Ouarazazate and Boulmane. They take a bit of finding as they aren’t shown on maps yet. One of the best was blocked in May and could also have damage from the earthquake

I see now that I need to bring the bike back on friday afternoon, so that means I'll be spending Sun - Fri on the saddle.

If I'm RAK - OZT (1) OZT roundtrip (2) OZT - Nekob (3) Nekob - Tinehir (4) Tinehir roundtrip (5), will Tinehir to RAK be doable as a race back to Loc? It's more than 6 hrs of driving, according to Google, not sure if that equates to a 8-9hrs ride.

Should I stretch the OZT to Nekob with Tinehir as my final destination for that day? Then do the Atlas watershed and back, and make my way more slowly to RAK?

This would be a long ride, about 7 hours.
Remember, once on the road your plans will soon slip like sand through your fingers, but you have to start somewhere.

I suppose you could do OZT Nek (5hrs tiring) Tin in a day, after a lunch rest at Nekob.
Its a great ride over Jebel Saro: Nek > Tin. About 2 hours.

Hello again!

I'm now finally on the road, and since I booked my bike late, all Loc had for me was the medium BMW, so I'm on a GS800.

I've taken a road off the main line, somewhere Taferiate. There were gravel sections along the way, and since I have never ridden this size off road bike, on anything bar tarmac, I don't feel too comfortable going off road with it.

I've been looking at you site Chris, and read the book and maps, since you've been there, just how gnarly are the gnarly parts of the Skoura Nekob road? Is it more difficult coming from the north than the way it's described? All I have is my map and my phone, will there be signal all the way through?

Cheers!

Do an Internet search and find out how to download offline map files from Google Maps to your phone, then if you don't have a phone signal you will still be able to access the maps and the built-in GPS receiver in your phone will show your position.

They gave me an 800GS (Rallye?) one time.
I was so pleased when the radiator sprang a leak on the first night and they came out with a KTM.
It really was a handful, and that was just on the road.
It would have been awful on the piste - or taken some getting usde to. Maybe Rallye is massively heavier.

The only difficulty on Nekob Skoura are the loose-surfaced bends (some ground down to powder by the mine truck axles) but there are a few hundred of them. There is no technique other than going slowly enough not to fall off, which is partly down to tyres and ideally not a full tank.
It is also a long piste - nearly 100km and about 4 hours.
Lately we always we a bunch of KTMs tearing past with a support pickup

I have only ridden it to Skoura. Don't know about signal - probably.
But you can download maps for offline, no?

Cheers, guys!

I've been advised to download maps.me as its offline mode is quite good. Something I can voucher for.

Hello!

Here is a link to my saved track between Nekoub and Skoura, I did it in Dec22 from North to South:
https://fr.wikiloc.com/itineraires-m...jgal-120430340

The app Wikiloc allows you to follow GPS tracks saved by users even if you do not have signal, people comment on the quality / difficulty of each track, also in the stats you can see how long it took to people to do the track.

If you want to have a look on what to expect on this trail, have a look at the small vid I posted last year on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmmUU..._web_copy_link

Enjoy! :)

I have now spent my week on a beemer i Morocco, and have safely returned home to this land of ice and snow...

I want to thank everyone of you who have helped my plan my trip, and especially to to you Chris! Your book was a great read and it also gave me something to ponder while on the saddle.

I ended up opting for mostly the sealed roads, as I never really got comfortable on my GS800. I haven't ridden one previously, and when I went on gravel and narrow roads it didn't give me a stable feel, always felt top heavy with a tendency to tip over.

Anyways, the roads I did ride on.

From Marrakesh to Ouarzazate I was adviced to turn off after Taferiate and take the P2016 to Zerkten. Then the next part of the N9 to miss is the detour down the P1506 via Ait Ben Haddou.

I had a day from OZT via the Flint Oasis to Tazenakht, the to Agzd then south before returning to OZT. Knowing what I know now, I could have taken to Nkob to Tinghir. Start early doors, and Tinghir is quite achieveable.

Did a day to Dades and Toudrah gorges. Dades was pretty, Toudrah was awesome! Getting there ahead of the tourist buses was key.

I will definitely return to Morocco, and ten days will probably be the minimum stay next time round.

:thumbup1: