I've not done it but that's what I've heard so I imagine it might be a struggle on a Vespa. Easier option: get a Nigerian visa and nip through the NE corner of Niger in a day, depending on where exactly the unrest is up there.

Ch



C1 Nguigmi – Ndjamena (The Lake Chad Route) [620km]
(from 2003)

Description
This route takes an inner course close to the lake with a landscape of savannah with many trees and wadis. You’ll see many small villages, and nomads with goats and camels. A carnet for the car is not necessary. At both customs you can buy a laissez-passer for a couple of thousand CFA. Passing through Bol is not compulsory, although it’s the only place on the route where you can actually see Lake Chad. No one asks for car insurance, like almost everywhere in Chad.
People can be quite nasty, especially in Massakori and Bol. Often kids throw stones at passing cars. Some Germans we met had to pay a lot of money because a small boy asking for a cadeau was hurt when they opened the door of their car. It was not their fault, they said, but the police forced them to pay – ‘a lot’, they said. We heard many similar stories.

Route-finding and markers
Navigation is the main problem on this route, especially around the many small towns between Bol and Nguigmi, where many tracks come together. Looking at the Michelin 741 map, it seems that there are two routes; a main one via Mao and this lesser one closer to the lake via Bol. The Mao route may well exist, but all traffic these days seems to go through Bol and we saw no obvious split in the piste that may have gone to Mao.
All border formalities except carnets are completed in Daboua (not on any map). GPS is only helpful to find the towns. On many parts of this itinerary the main route seems to be changing all the time.

Fuel
Petrol and diesel can be bought at many places, but mostly at high prices. Better to fill up in Nguigmi (or better still, Diffa, nearer to Nigeria and so probably cheaper) or Ndjamena.

Water
Many wells, although the water is not always good. Ask the locals.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail