Hi everyone!
I am currently working in Sierra Leone and will be finishing my contract end of January 2014. I'd like to buy a bike, prep it, and take it back to France. I've got six months to go through planning and prepping.
I am eager for advice, suggestions, warnings, encouragements, whatever you have, I'll take it!

Here's the situation:

Me:
Male, 25, resourceful, a lot of experiences in Africa, been working there for a while and using motorcycles for commuting / short travels on bad roads and worse, BUT always 125cc. Good off-road experience on 4 wheels though. Mechanical skills are okay, I should have a lot of experienced help around me during preparation (yay!!) and possibly training / dress rehearsal for a week or so in SL.

The Road:
Still not sure. I'd be leaving beginning of February 2014 from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and would probably cross Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania to Reach Essaouira on the coast of Morocco, rest there for a few days, then continue to the south of France (All within a month? Is it possible?). I don't know much about these countries and their situation right now, if anybody has been there recently and / or can recommend itineraries, places or maybe a different route altogether, I am all ears.

The Bike:
I am still hesitating between buying and registering a bike in France and shipping it here, or buying one here and then importing it through customs when I arrive in France. What would be the best / easiest in your experience? I would like to avoid main roads and do a bit of desert if reasonable for a guy with my experience (is it?), so I am thinking XT660R, DR600, KLR600, XR650, NX650 or F800GS, packing as light as possible. I would actually like to work on the bike after I get home, maybe turn it into a scrambler or something like this
http://www.bikeexif.com/wp-content/u...onda-nx650.jpg
but that is another story

One more question:
I am a bit uncertain about travelling alone in tough places. I should be able to get some of my mates to join me for part of the trip, but that is hypothetical. Worst case scenario, does it seem reasonable to do that kind of trip solo solo?

Thank you for your help!

I'm going the other way round, but this time with a small VW 4x4 van. I hope to arrive in Freetown around jan-feb 2014 and maybe also drive the van back to europe if I don't sell it. Your plan seems very reasonable, it's less than 10000 km and big parts will be on good asfalt as there is no alternative, so you shouldn't worry too much. It's also very possible on a 125cc, I also might end up on one if I sell the car.
If you click on my blog below you can read about my previous trip to west africa with the tenere.

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http://tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com/

Thanks Tony! We should meet up on the road!
How much of the road would you say will be asphalt? I'd like to try to avoid main roads when possible. It seems looking at your blog that you were on dust or rocks most of the time with the ten...
Which bike would you recommend the most?
You're gonna love Sierra Leone, february is the perfect time to come down here.

Well, the part from Nouakchott up to TanTan in Morocco is about 2000 km asfalt for which there is no alternative. For the rest you could improvise if you really want to do offroad. I'm coming down in November and will reach Bamako, Mali around mid december, then the plan is to go to Sierra Leone. Senegal is a no go for me as it's too hard with customs regulations. As for a bike I would recommend the xt, just because I love my tenere and she has never let me down.
Hope to meet up with you and have a

__________________
http://tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com/

Wow, that seems like a really great trip. What kind of difficulties did you have with Senegal customs? Aren't you worried about border crossings with Mali, I've heard they are quite strict because of abductions and such...
It seems a shame to cross the Sahara on a 2000 Km tar road, does anyone know of passable alternate tracks through the desert, maybe connecting some beautiful spots? I am no off-road beast, but in my experience it is off road that you find the most beautiful and secret places. Would it be reasonable to go on that kind of route solo?

Hi everyone!
Preparations are going forward, mostly gathering documentation at this stage.
One of my friends is getting pumped up to join me from Dakar to France. YAY! this would be awesome as it would allow us to take smaller tracks without a major breakdown meaning a 50Km walk to find help.
My mate is thinking about buying a bike in Dakar, prepping it quickly and bringing it back. Does that seem like a good plan? Has anyone ever done it before? Any good addresses or even someone interested to sell a bike there?

Hello everyone!

I bring some sad news, well, sad for me. For personal reasons that shall not be put up on the interwebs, I had to cancel the Sierra Leone-France trip. I will be instead going down to Morocco with a few friends with the bikes and other vehicles that yet have to be identified, for about 3 weeks in March, which should still be a blast.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you guys for your help. I'm sorry I couldn't put it to good use, but I hope someone planning a similar trip will find it.

And I still really want to travel through West Africa on a bike, so who knows, one day I might have the occasion again !

As for now I will keep enjoying the pristine beaches of SL until my contract is over...

Au revoir!