To help picking the bike up we got two great tips from a guy we met going down. He organised some old "vespa" tyres which we strapped to the side of the Goldie`s boxes. This prevents the things from being scratched or eeven smashed open, he also suggested we mount a "pyramid shaped" "church spire" type construction onto the frame of the bike, below the cases, so that when it does fall, it doesnt lie on its side on the ground, but instead leans at an angle a bit more severe than if it is lying on its side rest. The guy who told us this (Kevin) used to drive a V-Max in Mali, he sold it to a Spanish mate of his who I met on returning to Spain. Seemingly the V-Max was driven more than 50% of its time off-road and there were no problems picking it up. To give an example he said that Kevin raced him on an African Twin and another Spanish guy on a KLR650 from Kayes to Bamako, the V-Max won simply because he didnt have to keep picking it up. I admit it isn`t the most elegant solution, but it worked a treat. We bolted it on so we could take it off whenever we wanted to (10 mins) and it worked a treat!

In Western Sahara there are campsites in Layoune and Dakhla (definitly), apart from this there are hotels where there is either an enclosed parking "courtyard" or a watchman. We met Kev in Agadir and just followed him, every night he just drove a couple of hundred metres off the road and slept in the desert, works too!

Is the road boring? Depends, the enormous wide open spaces I find personally exhilirating, going for an hour and seeing no other car, person or animal, for me it´s paradise, stopping and hearing no other noise than your own breathing and the engine ticking in the heat? Perfection! No it isnt everybodys cup of tea, but for me it compares with the Tundra and the US West as one of the most fascinating bike routes I have ever done!

Jay