Scandinavia, the alps, the riviera, Morocco and back
 

Hi Guys! :welcome:
As i'm taking my license soon i'm thinking about a longer trip, though it's only on the planing staduim i'm pretty sure it's going to be reality :thumbup1:

My experience of motorcycle travelling lies only in Scandinavia so it's quite limited.
But on the brightside, i can handle 3 diffrent langues Swedish, English and Spanish, which i think will be enough.

The trip (as for now) is estimated to be around 14,000 km and be about 23-30(EDIT: 40-45 days) days on a budget of 2,400-3,500 euros(=20,000-30,000 Swedish crones)

The thought was that i was going to blast down from "Sundsvall, Sweden" to Münich and there take a two days rest at a nicer hostel of some sort.

Take my time through the alps and follow them down to the French-riviera, going down to spain and Gibraltar were i will take to ferry over to Morocco.

I'm still not quite sure how long i will stay in Morocco if i feel safe i want to stay longer of course.
After discovering the Shara i will go back through Spain/Portugal to France, Normandie and continue through The Netherlands, Beligen, Denmark and then Blast home :)

How safe is it really in Morocco? :confused1:

What is the fuelprices in those various countries i've accounted for here?

I've been thinking of bringing a tent but seems like waste of space when some hostels seems just as wallet-sucking as a camping?

Do you guys think the budget is going to be enough for food, fuel and places to sleep for 28 days more or less?

The trip is going to be preformed on a Yamaha XT 660 with a little touratech candy :mchappy: (its fuel consumption is about 0,4-0,5 litres/10km

By the way i'm going to be 18 year old when i'm out, is that going to a problem security vice?

Would it be better to bring a "companion" with me?

That's a lot of miles/kilometers in a short time. If you like staying on main roads you can do it; if you like back roads, especially in Morocco, you're in trouble (and won't be taking your time through the Alps or enjoying many rest days along the way). If you're hoping to take in the sights, meet the locals, hang out in the evenings....no way.

Your budget is fine if you camp through the more expensive countries in Europe, or if you plan around a lot of hostel stays. In Morocco camping won't save much, but wherever you go it's nice to have the option (IMHO).

You don't say what time of year, but if during fall or winter it would be wise to include some bad weather days and to be flexible around major mountain ranges--Alps, Pyrennés, High Atlas, etc. Remember that days will be short as well, meaning you'll spend most of every day riding. During summer, days are longer but much of Morocco gets ridiculously hot.

I no longer remember what it's like to be 18, but it's not difficult to meet other riders to travel with during the normal riding seasons. In my experience most of them vanish throughout Europe when the weather gets chilly and the days short. There are good reasons for this.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Mark is right, take your time and get done what you really want to do, even if you don't achieve everything in the first trip (after all you are young!) - nowadays I don't like the "pressure" of staying with a self-imposed schedule, but especially if it is not realistic and if it becomes an episode of "Iron Butt".
Put another way, turn around and go home when the budget is about to expire - keep enough in the bank for the home run.

If you do take your time in the Alps, you should do the same in the Pyrenees :thumbup1:
I've just finished about 4500Km in 11 days, mainly in France with a bit of the Spanish Pyrenees, and I was riding most days, all day i.e at least 8 hours in the saddle.

There is a subject specific forum in here for Maroc and it is covered pretty well in there.

Fuel prices in western Europe don't vary significantly, which might lead you to think that the prices are fixed!! :innocent:

By the way, you only have to add Chinese to your languages and you can tackle the world.

Sounds great!

I've always managed with just English, so I think you'll be fine!

Morocco is pretty safe. More so than many parts of Europe IMHO. Especially once you get over the Atlas and away from the more heavily touristed ares.

You'll have no problem meeting up with folks if you are staying in hostels. The bike will be a great conversation starter with bikers and non-bikers alike.

The tent is a very personal choice. You'll no doubt save money by camping (and potentially extend your trip) but adding a tent, sleeping bag, mat, stove and all the other camping nonsense adds a lot of weight which you will feel on the pistes of morocco. On the other hand it gives you the option of camping in the dunes. On balance I would probably take it if I were you.

I agree with what others have said about not pushing to hard. Ride as little or as much as you feel like in any given day. Don't set yourself a destination to reach. I'd just cruise on south and see how far you get. If that's Morocco, great. If not, you can always go another time. I think, by the time you've ridden all the way through Europe, you'll feel a lot more confident about Morocco. Its just a half hour ride on a ferry and fairly easy dash through customs.

Have fun!
Matt :)

When I went to Nordkapp, i average 720km/day, and it was not
to bad.
XTZ 660 Motala to Nordkapp and back!

/Lasse

I was thinking of July-August, yeah it's surely the hottest time of the year but i'll get att real "Shara" experience :)
The first 3 days of the trip is only motorway/autobahn and also when i come back to Sweden will it be just plain boring motorway :clap:
It would be wonderful to do maybe 300-400 kilometres a day(excluded rest days), that i would do 470+ kilometres was a miscalculation.

Is it wise to bring 2 locks or is it enough with one?

Does anyone have any roadtips? :)

Yeah if i go alone i would surely do a longer distance a day but since i think 1 or 2 friends will follow it seems dumb.

Easy enough to do long distances in northern Europe. Not so easy if you're taking back roads through the Pyrenées or Dolomites. Dangerous, and maybe impossible, in Morocco during summertime. Always more difficult if traveling with others unless you happen to be very good matches (and no one breaks down). Always more difficult on a budget, too.

It's your trip, not mine....but you'll want to think about the fact that almost all responses suggest you're over-reaching.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

PS: have a look at today's thread about Morocco temps. This would not be a good time to be riding south of the Atlas. Over-confidence about such things can get you sick, injured or dead.

Nevertheless it's feels good to have friend if a problem comes up!
Ofc am i not seeking my own grave so pushing me to the furtherst limit isn't an option.
Food and water storage can maybe take to place which the camping equipment would have taken.
A rather big miscalculation, if time expand is what the trip needs it will get it maybe 40-45 days. :)

One question also were to you get fuel?
I've seen a lot of videos and pictures were people stand with a olderly pump or even a bucket!!!
Is it usaly som signs put up or do you have to ask around in the local village?

PS: yeaah 40 degrees celcius seems quite freaking hot..

Safe? Keep your wits with you, be consciderate and respectful towards others, stay sober, and think about where you walk after night fall, and you should be fine most places on earth. Morocco is safer than many places in Europe.

You plan to do a lot of kilometers - it can be done. But, you won't be doing much camping if you travel at that speed in this part of the world (if any) - you will be sticking to main roads, and ride all day, every day (forget rest days). You will never be too far away from a hotel, and you will want to stay in one with that travel pace. And, bush camping might not be so easy to find.

I would consider having my bike shipped on a truck to Malaga. Fly in, pick it up, and ride into Morocco the same day. Ride arround Morocco for a week or so. Then, spend another week or so to ride back to Sweeden from Spain. The days you have left over you spread across your trip... It will save you many days of boring expensive european highways and hotels. Also, you wouldn't need to backtrack over the same land twice. You would save time and money. You would see more stuff and travel at a nicer pace.

I usually travel very fast for 2-3 weeks at a time. I strongly advice against doing 14.000 kms in 20 days. In fact, even half that is a lot by many peoples standards.

In a earlier post i've admited that 14,000km in 20 days was a miscalculation.
I was thinking about 40-45 days.
And then 3,000Km of the trip will be transportation.

There is a lot more to staying safe than keeping clear of muggers and thieves. Far more trips end due to accidents than violence--and Morocco is a good place to find an accident if you're tired, inattentive, stupefied by the heat (which last week ranged well over 40C), or inexperienced. Of course, the same is true of Europe--you're far more likely to get hurt riding in traffic than wandering into the wrong neighborhood.

OP, even at 40-45 days you're going to be hurrying a lot, although that's definitely an improved plan. Just be prepared with a sense of your own priorities so that when you're running short of time you know where to skimp. If you're riding with someone else this becomes even more important, since you might want to spend time exploring the Atlas ranges and then make a mad dash for home, while your partner prefers a leisurely trip through Europe with a side trip to the Picos de Europa (yes!) on the way back.

Fuel won't be a problem unless you get someplace unusually remote....and even then. When I need fuel in an area with no official stations I just ask around: there's always someone. You'll notice that locals don't usually fill up--they buy a little bit at a time, and therefore need to re-fuel frequently. That means there's usually a supplier close at hand, whether official or not. I carry a separation filter/funnel, but I very very rarely use it--even the fuel pumped out of barrels or poured from wine bottles is usually fine.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

I'm not that inexperienced i've done trips by myself all over scandinavia on my varadero 125cc were i where out in 14 days doing 4,000km at the most.
To Norway, Denmark ect. :)

Yeah i see your point, if i am gone 45 days i'll do cerk 270km a day which TO ME feels little but if i want a rest day i will have to do 270 x 2 next day.
In theory cannot i be gone longer than 45 days but then again i'm sure school doesn't mind if i'm gone 4-6 days extra :smartass:

If a buddy where to come he and i will most likely brake up at the border of Spain and France when he don't have the kind of budget i have.

"Yeah if i go alone i would surely do a longer distance a day but since i think 1 or 2 friends will follow it seems dumb."

Then you have to cut it to at least half.

/Lasse

Yeah i'm aware of that, nice to see another swede :)

The questions of how many kms/day keeps popping up all the time. So, I took the opportunity to start a new thread that deals with this general question - for people to share their opinions and personal experiences... Hopefully you will find it useful

You can find it here: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...377#post393545

Pretty intresting, but how many KMs a person can do is probably individual.

Counting in how well trained you are, if you sleep in a hotel or not.
It's not just hours that counts, its how well you sleep.

Personally i think as you, 300km/day is a good number for trips in Europe/America. 300km/day = 8 hours riding, 8 hours freetime, 8 hours sleep.
Just like a regular school day, exccept the riding.. :)

I totally agree, it depends on person, bike, region, quality of road, etc. The advice was more as a general guideline for the average ambituous rider who wants to travel long and fast but still enjoy their trip - pushing it to the edge of the comfort zone, but not beyond. Where this limit is is very personal. And, for many, fast and efficient is not even remotely their thing. But for me, traveling fast implies sticking to the better roads most of the time and pushing it to the edge of the comfort zone...

Keep in mind, if you want to average 300 per day, including the occasional rest day, brake downs, border crossings, poor stretches of road, etc - you will have some days with catching up to do, where you might be doing as much as 4-500 kms or more, and where a typical day of travel is about 350 kms, or 6 hours on the road (+/- 2 hrs). Of this, following my guidleine, approximately one hour of this would be spendt refueling, stretching your legs, etc. I think this is quite ambitious for most.

Also, there is only so much you can shave off this time by cutting back on brakes, and depending on place and time of year, you might not have the option to add much to your riding time before you are traveling after sunset and things get hairy. Personally I think it is a good idea to have at least a couple of hours leway to avoid riding after dark - i.e. if you get caught behind after a flat tire. During the Moroccan winter for instance you may have only 10 hours of ample riding time, but in Northern Norway during the summer you have 24, and on the equator the average is 12 hours all year round.

Personally I find that the faster parts of Europe is not much faster than the fastest bits of Africa, and I find that my guideline applies pretty well in both places - atleast for me :mchappy:

Hi

I come from Scandinavia my self (Copenhagen). I also dreamed about long bike tours when i was your age (now 32). My experience have learned me that you just have to relax and go for it, but be open to change your plan.
I one time drove from Copenhagen to Bolzano in Italy in one go. After falling a sleep on the bike on the German autobahn , where i woke up because my helmet hit the handlebar at 150km/h, i learned this was not the way to do it.

When i drive now i set a goal far ahead. Like "I would like to be around Sicily within a week". And then I just drive with the weather. If it rains to the west, I drive east. If I see a nice road that more or less goes the direction i want, I take that. This way have given me the best tours so fare, with plenty of good unplanned experiences. If i reach my goal or not is not so important, i will have a hell of a tour anyway.

A too tight plan, will make you focus only on the final destination. And put your attention away from where you actually are. On a bike to enjoy yourself!

If i was you. I would drive direction Maroco. But without planning too much. See where the road takes you...
You will be in Maroco after a week with no problem. Then take your time in Maroco. When you have a week left , head home.

Enjoy your Tour....

Christian :palm::mchappy::palm:

Yeah guys, kind of a sad thing has happened.
I got my first paycheck from my new weekend job this week.
Found that i had been payed to little so i rang up the company i WAS working for and explained the problem (and wondering if there was any problem or mistake).
Two hours after that call i got a text saying; I will hear from you if we'll acquire your service further // ****

That will say i got fired VIA a text cause i wanted to ask if there was anything wrong with my paycheck.
Words around town says that the guy actully is kind of unreliable when it comes to money :(

So i'll try to get sponsors and if than doesn't work i think i will have to cancel the trip..

Kind of sad really..