Looks like you are still with the silly open face lid,,,,lol,,,great trip you are having looking forward to the next chapter.

DAY 5 - 8TH OCTOBER 2015 - GRANADA TO MALAGA - 80 MILES APPROX.


Yes that's right folks, a measly 80 miles today and no crossing to the 'Promised Land' today I'm afraid!
By 8.30am I was down by my bike tools laid out in the car park adjusting my chain. The trouble was by the time I'd tightened everything up I only had a couple of notches of adjustment left and I knew there was no way after a week and a half of riding in Morocco some of which would be dirt roads, that the chain would last. And the chances of being able to get a new chain there would be extremely unlikely. Secondly I did a careful check of my oil to find there was no oil !! Well that's what my dipstick said anyway! I had bought 500ml of oil with me, half of which I used right at the beginning of my trip. So in went the rest and thankfully my dipstick was happy; for the moment! The fuel problem is still occurring although seems to be ok whilst the engine is running, so I must just remember to turn the fuel off when switched off
So it was first big decision time. Stay in Spain to try and get the problems fixed or risk it for a biscuit and travel on regardless. It was a no brainer really, I had to get at least the chain and oil leak seen to and thankfully with modern technology I used my laptop to locate a motorcycle repair shop in Malaga and then programmed in the address to the satnav.

WILL THIS SHOP SAVE MY DREAM?
Within a couple of hours of riding, once more in glorious sunshine, I pulled up outside Moto Sprint in Malaga. Thankfully the female receptionist spoke a little English and together with the mechanic who came outside to check the bike I was able to explain about the chain and the oil leak ( I had already bought a gear shift shaft oil seal just prior to my trip as Malcolm, my mechanic back home believed that's where it may be coming from. The annoying thing was I took the bike out for a good 20 minute test ride during the week before leaving and I swear on that occasion it didn't leak. Hence the reason I didn't get it seen to prior to leaving. B-----ks!!) As I suspected he would, the mechanic recommended I also have the sprockets done at the same time. Cue several phone calls from the very helpful lady. After about 40 minutes of phoning round she announced the best they could do was order the parts today and hopefully they would arrive first thing tomorrow. I then asked if she knew of a cheap hotel nearby. She pointed along the road 25 yards and there was the Hotel Guartin right in front of me! After parting with another 40 euros I was shown to my very pleasant room and being assured it was a safe area I was able to park my bike just along the road from the hotel.
Trying to look on the positive side I made good use of the afternoon by going for a jog to downtown Malaga to take in the sights. ( I intend to walk back down later to get some pics and probably have a sit down meal). Also it's given me time to catch up with this blog after yesterdays setback.
So you must all be on the edge of your seat now wondering ' Well when are you going to Morocco Dave?!' Well I think even if they get the bits and the job is done by early afternoon it will be too late to go tomorrow as I don't want to be arriving there late afternoon looking for accommodation as it gets dark, so I'm afraid it looks as though tomorrow will also be another night spent in Spain.
I spent a delightful evening wandering around the city centre. I arrived at the wide main marble, yes marble, pedestrianized shopping street just as the sun was setting and all the street lights were coming on, magical!
For anyone who's interested I've worked out how to copy and paste maps on to this site, so I've updated all the previous days travelling if you want to take a look!

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DAY 6 - FRIDAY 9TH OCTOBER 2015 - MALAGA TO ALGECIRAS ( 87 MILES APPROX)



Greetings all I bear good news. My bike is fixed, well sort of! The chain and sprockets have been replaced, brilliant. The oil seal was also done but unfortunately it appears the leak may be coming from the seal right next to the gear shaft that senses when neutral is selected. So I have bought another litre of oil and hope this will see me though the next week or so, fingers and everything else crossed!
Thankfully I didn't have to be out of my hotel room until midday so this allowed me time to book my ferry ticket at a nearby travel agent (one less thing to worry about!) for about £60. Worryingly my Santander Zero credit card wouldn't work in the ATM so I thought the logical thing to do was go into a Santander bank after all they are based in Spain! However the branch I went into was a small one with one girl serving a long queue and knowing my midday deadline I went back outside and used my normal Santander debit card instead which, thankfully, worked fine. Back at the hotel they allowed me to store all my luggage and riding kit down in the basement.
Back at the bike shop the parts still hadn't arrived, but I was assured they would and the job would be done by the end of the day. So camera in hand I wandered down towards the city centre and came across the official city tour bus. Twenty euros later there I was on the open top bus enjoying the warm Malaga October sunshine and learning all about the city.
Factoid: Pablo Picasso was born here! Half way round the trip we alighted from the bus and were taken on a walking tour of the city centre which is all pedestrianized. It was one of those hop on hop off services with buses passing every 20 minutes. So having done one circuit I stayed on board and this time alighted at the old castle high up and overlooking the city. The views were stunning and after some hastily taken pics it was back on board the fun bus to continue my 2nd tour of the town, although this time I did alight early at one of the stops that was closer to the area where I'd stayed the previous night.

THE DREAM LIVES ON! MY SAVIOURS FROM THE BIKE SHOP!
Back at the shop it was now 6pm but there was my bike resplendent in new sprockets, chain and oil seal ! So after parting with another £100 and hastily getting changed back at the hotel I was back on the road heading for Algeciras. However at my next fuel stop, as stated earlier, I realised oil was still dripping and the fuel coming from the breather pipe from the carb is getting worse.
I arrived at the hotel Victoria Marina, which was situated immediately adjacent to the port, in darkness. As I couldn't park directly in front of the hotel I rode round into the side street where there was little, if any, street lighting and further along in the gloom I could see a large group of mainly black African looking men. As they heard my engine and saw my headlight they seemed to all stop whatever it was they were doing and look towards me. Thankfully I was able to do a quick 180 and head back past the 'lady of the night' hanging about on the corner, to the bright---ish lights at the front of the hotel. The hotel was a bit seedy with a scruffy greasy haired male receptionist who curtly told me I couldn't leave my bike out the front and that there was a car park down the road for 10 Euros (£8) for one night. I agreed to move it once I'd unloaded my gear. The room,up on the 7th floor, was basic but large and clean. Once sorted I returned to my bike and simply moved it about 15 yards away from the hotel entrance and used my cable lock to secure it to a nearby lampost.
It took me a while to drift off thinking about catching the right ferry, being there in plenty of time, complications with the administrations of getting into Morocco, finding a cash machine, purchasing insurance and finding accommodation once there. Not much to worry about then eh?!!

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Nice post, I'm off there in April with some mates! As for the seat, I swear by gel pads, not the cheap ones, but the decent medical grade ones designed for people who sit in wheelchairs all day.

There's a company called something like medica gel? I think they also sell on ebay. They not only do gel pads for medical use, but as a sideline for motorcycles. I have one and made my own strap on pouch.

I rode my Elefant back from Italy last summer, just under 1,000 miles, in a day. No usual arse ache! I also rode my Ducati cafe racer back from the South of France last weekend in two 360 mile days, in relative comfort. Highly recommended ;-)

I'll try to find a link.

This is the company I used, decent medical quality stuff, well worth it. Riding on one feels weird at first as you move around a bit, but a friend with an airhawk pad says the same about his.

http://www.danmedicasouth.co.uk/prod..._wcB]DebbonAir

Hey Thanks Nick I've invested in this beanie bag thing now so I'll see how it goes for this trip. If it's not up to the job will definitely look into your suggestion.
Thanks again
Dave

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