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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 11 Jan 2012
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Middle East biking - help!

Hi there! I'm actually doing research for my brother who would like to tour the Middle East on a Motorcycle. A few questions he had ---

1. Where in the ME is it realistic to ride -- He is most interested in Turkey, has anyone traveled there on bike? What about Yemen or Syria, Egypt or Tunisia. Iraq seems like a bad idea. But what about the Emirates? Or Saudi Arabia? Or Jordan? Or Lebanon?

2. What is the variety of roads and terrain?

3. What types of motorcycles did or do people use when they tour this region?

Any other help or information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank you so very much in advance!!

Sincerely,

Natalia
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Old 11 Jan 2012
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Posts: 738
Hi Natalia,

There is a ton of information on this site in regards to those countries, just use the search function with google or go to the regional forums for additional background.

For some basic background, one common route riding down the east coast of Africa has people coming from Europe, through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and onwards, so yes under normal circumstances they are all great to ride. The only complicating factor is that the current situation in Syria changes things and makes it hard to predict whether a person can count on being able to cross the country when they get there. If he is most interested in Turkey, then that would a great place to start. Great riding and an amazing country. From there he can figure out if he wants to try some of the other countries which may be more difficult to get into for visas, etc.
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Old 11 Jan 2012
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewToMotorcycling View Post
Hi there! I'm actually doing research for my brother who would like to tour the Middle East on a Motorcycle. A few questions he had ---

1. Where in the ME is it realistic to ride -- He is most interested in Turkey, has anyone traveled there on bike? What about Yemen or Syria, Egypt or Tunisia. Iraq seems like a bad idea. But what about the Emirates? Or Saudi Arabia? Or Jordan? Or Lebanon?

2. What is the variety of roads and terrain?

3. What types of motorcycles did or do people use when they tour this region?

Any other help or information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank you so very much in advance!!

Sincerely,

Natalia
Just to add a point to Moutainmans' answer, it has often been said in the HUBB that specific questions will almost always get good responses.
In this case your questions cover a mass of forum and hundreds, if not 1000s, of threads; on the upside that just gives you so much more reading to enjoy.


+1 for
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Dave
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  #4  
Old 23 Jan 2012
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 21
Middle East biking

Natalie,
This is my quick appraisal of biking in the Middle East, centered around Oman

Biking here is AWESOME. Good quality roads, from bendy stuff, to straight cruising highways. Offroad Gravel, Rock, Sand and Desert.

Things which are not good are ....

Quality of local drivers, Donkeys, Camels, the Heat from April-Sept

Tim - Muscat

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