Morocco march-april 2006
 

I am planning a trip to Morocco march or april 2007.
I would like to travel with 1 or 2 other riders (no large groups), preferably with a big GS as well. I have a well equipped 1150GSA that I am currently preparing for the trip (Touratech has long delivery times )

purpose: get off the "goudron" as fast as possible. Mix of technical piste and "easy" 80 mph gravel roads. I travel light (minimal packing) and the main purpose is to ride and to enjoy the view, not to visit all tourist attractions nor to lay on the beach for three weeks.

I have a no nonsense attitude and an open mind. I am pretty easy and tolerant. Nevertheless I refuse to take people that:
-refuse to ride before they have polished out that scratch in their tank
-neurotically start to look for a laundry shop whenever they spot a stain on their gear
-refuse to ride before they have had their favourite cereals (honey pops, smacks, krispies, whatever)
-want to go home after their first off
-refuse to ride before they have checked every little detail on the bike, leaving others waiting for 45 minutes
-refuse to ride when it's too cold, too hot, too rainy, too dry
-have no sense of humor and take everything way too serious
-...

I hope the non limitative list indicates more or less what kind of travel partner I am after

If you're interested in this kind of trip, let me know asap.


Cheers

Demito

Surely you mean 2007, not 2006.

I'm planning a similar trip myself, probably late April. I'll be doing the ferry from UK to Bilboa then down to Algeciras for the crossing to Morocco.
Aim to head down to the High Atlas and do a few of the pistes, then maybe over to Merzouga.
I'm only at the early planning stage at the moment so nothing is set in stone.
I'll be taking 3 weeks off work so will probably allow 4 days travel at either end including ferries, leaving about 12 days in Morroco.
I'll be riding my KTM 950 which has already been dropped a few times while off-roading on my recent trip to Slovenia and Croatia, so I'm not too worried about it collecting a few more scuffs!!
If our plans coincide then let I'd happily do all or part of the trip with another rider or two.

Mark.

Sounds great. But I'm afraid I can't wait that long :-) I want to leave second half of march. Are you alone on this trip? Any chance of leaving a bit earlier?

I find it difficult to find valid candidates. I know quite a lot of people but I have stopped counting the maybees, probablies, possiblies etc...

I also take three weeks of. I want to get to Algeciras ASAP. Max 1.5 days from Brussels. That leaves me with 18 days in Morocco. The eurotunnel might speed up things a little bit for you I guess.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers

Demito

It's too early for me to set a firm departure date yet - it depends how much overtime I can get in over the coming weeks. I can take the time off when ever I want and for as long as I need, but I need to make sure I've enough money in the bank first!! When do you need to commit by?

I'd rather do the UK-Bilboa crossing than the tunnel - it works out about the same for cost overall and saves me 500miles of dull french autoroute each way. I'd need to leave some time before you, but that wouldn't be a problem.

A couple of questions:

What day were you planning to get into Algeciras?
Have you done Morocco before? This is my first trip down there.
How experienced are you at off-roading? I did quite a bit while on holiday last month, but nothing before then. I didn't encounter any real problems - 15yrs of downhill mountain biking must have tought me something!
Are you planning on doing any camping? I'd rather not carry the extra gear.
What about tyres? I was thinking of getting a pair of TKC80's, taking them with me and getting them fitted before crossing to Morocco. If I fit them before I leave they'll have 1000 miles on them before I hit the piste's and probably won't make it back home.
What's your budget for the trip?
Do you have any routes planned out? What sort of mileage are you planning on doing on a daily basis? I haven't got a problem with long days in the saddle, but if I'm away for 3 weeks then I think it's a good idea to have one or two rest days along the way.


I've been looking at some of the routes on this website which look quite interesting:

http://www.voyages4x4.com/roadbook_maroc.htm

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm just trying to make sure we're thinking along the same lines.

morocco
 

Hi
been reading your posts on morocco . Me and a mate are planning to go next may, (unless we find out thats the worst time to go) early stages yet! but we'll be going to spain and back on the ferry to save on the doing the france thing! we want to enjoy everything on the trip, right from the ferry to spain to morocco and back so we wont be sticking to a totally rigid itinery,(if the plan needs to change it needs to change). Budget is a constraint so we will be taking camping gear, but will take a roof over our heads when we can afford it! (or need it) . We'll be on xt 600es ,have soft luggage and be travelling light. My mates does motocross, all i have is a bit of off road experience and a lot of mountainbiking! Morocco is new to us so it'll be a bit of a leap into the unknown but thats what its all about isnt it? If this appeals to anyone ,or you have any ideas then drop me a line!
cheers drew

Hi Mark,

I just had a peek at the website on Morrocon pistes. Looks great. That's about what I had in mind to do over there :-)
I am expecting one of these
http://www.bibliomonde.com/pages/fic...id_ouvrage=160

A good friend of mine that has done Morocco numerous times by 4x4 and bike, has advised me this book, which should be the bible of Moroccon pistes. He now leaves with a Unimog + bikes for Mauretania (me very jealous :-) )

I have no route fixed yet and doing a predefined route is not really my style of travelling. I like to know what is interesting in advance, most of the time I have a specific sequence in mind, there will probably be a couple of must dos, but the moment will decide the itinerary. Will I be travelling 400+ kms a day or 100? It will depend on the moment and how I (we) feel, the weather, the feedback of people you meet along the road etc. The main objective is to ride and I am not the type of person to give up easily, so 400+ kms of nice piste seems realistic to do in one day. Long days in the saddle no prob!

Departure date: depending on company. No date fixed yet. Will try to do so asap depending on who is willing to join me.

About rest days: no problem. Can also be rest afternoons, a shorter trip or whatever.

Budget: minimum but whatever it requires. I had planned to take a small tent for emergencies.

Tyres: i leave with old road tyres and takes TKC'c with me. I will swap them in Morocco just before hitting the first pistes.

Offroad experience: From time to time I go off road in my neighbourhood. I took the BMW offroad course in Hechlingen, Germany, as well which is great by the way. Apart from that I mainly use the bike on road (I have the bike, my wife has the car).

I'll send you an email (is your address correct?) with some personal details. If you could reply to that, so we know more or less what to expect...

Cheers

Demito

May is a bit late for me but i've heard blossom in Morocco is very beautiful. Whenever you're planning to go earlier, we could meet. Lemmenow.

Cheers

Demito

Hi Demito, are you flemmish? Because I live in Stabroek, Antwerpen.

You are planning the same trip I am except for the bike (Africa Twin) and the departure date. I was planning to leave late april, because earlier would be a cold ride to Spain.
Also I plan to take it easy driving to Gibraltar (3-4 days) and buy TKC 80's there and leave my old road tyres.
I have no off-road experience and will be doing some pistes from Chris Scott's book.
Total time 3 weeks.


Please e-mail me, maybe I'll change my departure date.
tony.peeters3@telenet.be


http://tony-ontheroad.blogspot.com

Titbird, you've got mail.

Morocco camping
 

from much of my own experience in Maroc (admittedly 30 years ago), 3 months at at time, 3 different trips, camping can be a problem. every town of any size has secured campgrounds, and if you ride up to a farm of a decent size, the gracious Koranic hospitality will get you invited to camp / eat and relax. i spent more time with people that way and had the most personal and memorable times with people i still think about.

on the other hand, free camping almost got my brains bashed out by some guys who slit my tent while we were sleeping.

even the secure campgrounds can be bad if you are near a fence; I had a knife fight with a robber who jumped the tall fence and was helping himself to all our gear in the car. no permanent damage to me -- because i grabbed the blade he was trying to stick into my belly and hung on as he sawed it back and forth. lots of blood, but he got the worst of it when the gendarmes showed up and beat him senseless. still have a scar and a great story.

moral: camp safe.

i still love maroc and am going back to do a trans-North Africa traverse this winter spring if i can get myself organized.

zigy / Boulder CO USA

Zigy thanks for that advice, sounds like you had fun! we're taking some emergency camping gear, but where we can we're gunna try and get a roof over our heads and a bit more security! Saying that it would be a waste not to sleep out under the stars the odd night!
ta drew

Same for me, allthough I was told Morocco is pretty safe nowadays. Do you have an idea on your route already DREW69?

Cheers

Demito

morocco
 

not yet demito, we have only got 3 weeks max for the whole trip so we've gotta make it fit! ive just ordered chris scotts overland book as ive heard about a route from near the algerian border to the atlantic that is "adventurous but relatively easy" mainly on tracks and within normal tank ranges for petrol stops! like i say im gunna look at the route, it may well be too far south for us to have a crack at!

drew

i might be the exact type of person you would like riding with. bought an xr600 a few months ago in peru and have ridden all dirt (nearly) to mendoza. infact, i have yet to see another bike on the backroads and the xr is absolutely filthy and rigged with some JB weld. the ski pants i am wearing have the ass ripped clean out of them and the lowe packpack on the back rack is wearing apart and i love it. most nights are spent sleeping on the raid. im young (27) and dont have the $ for a GS1150 in africa, but can pull off something. i still have another 7months or so of completely flexible adventure. let me know what your plans end up being.

Morocco in March
 

Hi
I'm going down to Ourzazete on a Aprilia Caponard - using the ferry to Santander and riding through Spain with maybe a day around Granada to enjoy the tracks/roads then onto Morocco riding pistes as far as possible.
I've a fair amount of experience off road on an XLV 750 and lived in Africa for a couple of years a while ago. Depart Plymouth 18th March and return from Santander 29th March. There may be another guy on a KTM 950 coming along.
Probably using Almeria to Nador and lots of gorges and interesting routes to meet up with the Marathon des Sables and give some moral support to a competitor!
Probably stay fot two days and then return etc.
Let me know if you like the sound of the above.
Tim.

We are a group of three riders now and have decided this is just the right number for a trip like this. Feel free to post further on this thread to look for travel partners. We might meet along the road.

Cheers

Demito

Morocco from Spain by mid February
 

Hi Demito... I would like to get in touch with you to exchange info.. I'll be crossing from Spain to Morocco on a GS1150Adv (currently in Madrid) but apparently I'll have to do it before the 17th (february) since the permit for the bike expires by that date.. (the bike was shipped to Europe after a north to south southamerican crossing by the central Amazonia region)
Plan to ride for 2/3 weeks aprox. and then back to Spain no particular routes yet and willing to connect with others traveling in that area by that time

(tried to mail you but for some reason doesn't let me..) ( drop me a line.. )thanks Fabio.

Sorry Diablo, but myself and Demito have finalised our plans for the trip now - we've decided on the first three weeks of april. Ferry tickets are booked, and we're pretty well advanced in the trip planning now.
We've decided that the 3 riders in our group are pretty well matched and 3 riders is the ideal size of group for this sort of trip.

no need to be sorry... it was not my intention to join your group.. April is too late for me anyhow and it was already clear by Demito's post #16 that you decided that a group of three is the right number for you... I just wanted to share info of about the trip.. so good luck and thanks anyway...

I'm flying UK to Malaga on 31March and back on 15April. My Suzuki DRZ400 is parked 20 minutes from Malaga airport. I'll either go Algeceiras-Ceuta or Malaga-Melilla. I plan to hit the hills and desert a.s.a.p. As many dirt roads as possible. Will either camp or stay in cheap hotels and avoid all cities.

I was there Christmas/ NewYear 2005 ( http://www.thebrightstuff.com/morocco2005overview.htm ), but the bike couldn't handle it.

If you're doing something similar, maybe drop me a PM or email (also via my website) or leave a message here.
Ride safely,
ChrisB

hi diablo,

always nice to get in touch with people with similar interests. I don't know why you can't send an email. Checked my public profile and all is fine.

If you want to get in touch with me, email to: d e m i t o at p a n d o r a . b e
(leave out the blanks and replace the "at" of course).

Cheers

Demito

Morocco
 

Demito

I wil be interested,