Trip to Morocco

[barnhatter]

Hi
Thinking of a trip down to Morocco, bit sad watched Cassablanca the other day and it got me thinking.
Any advice or hints woukd be appreciated.
The rough outling is a 12 day trip, not sure if its pushing it a bit.
Across by the tunnel into Calais then 4 days to the ferry across to Morocco, 3 days travelling over there, not sure where yet, then 4 days including a stop home. Have to fine tune this bit as not too keen on mega rides each day.
I will be camping on the trip, travelling alone on a Honda Hornet.
Any help, advice, suggestions etc would be helpfull.
Also what is crossing into Morocco like any hold ups or problems?
Thanks in advance
Simon.

[minkyhead]

hi barney
there four of us going in april but via santander .taking the ferry to cuata
from gib
we will be riding a lot of unpaved roads though

im just guessing around 1300 miles to the gib ferry from calaise times 2
to go back .. plus tolls and petrol santander to gib is about 550

so if you factor the petrol in and tolls and a two nights bunking that ferry is not so bad ..you can if detemined cross to morroco in two days should you want to ..it seems like a good plan if you want more time in morroco ..

anyway here a very good link off the uk gsers site hope this helps

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89396

[OB1]

I've not been all the way to Morocco, but I have been down to Faro in Portugal - 4 days each way, 3,500 miles total.

I think that you are pushing it by scheduling only 4 days each way. It is possible but you'll be knackered and you'll be on the road all day for every one of those 4 days. Think about a 600+ mile a day journey... you have to give at least 2 hours for every 100 miles, then you've got fuel stops, hold-ups and refreshment breaks!

Just by adding a day each way will make it easier on you.

[Alun]

Any help, advice, suggestions etc would be helpfull.

My best advice would be to ride like the wind down through Europe and have more days in Morocco. With only 3 days in the country you'll not have enough time to get to the main Atlas mountains, Djebel Sahro nor the 'desert' - as in Erg Chebbi - unless you rode through the night and embraced total sleep deprivation with gusto.

[barnhatter]

Possibly the timescale I have will be too tight but cant have any more time/money available.
Calais to Gib or other port is approx 1400 miles, so first day will get 100 miles, next 3 days 400 miles then 100 miles to Morocco 2 full days having a look then head back home. 1 day to cross back then 4 days home.
Not too keen on big distances as I only have a midweight naked hornet, its okay for my trips so far but possibly due to the lack of time is a step too far.
Have to have a good long think, but could use it as a taster for a future longer trip.

[OB1]

Not too keen on big distances as I only have a midweight naked hornet, its okay for my trips so far but possibly due to the lack of time is a step too far.

The bike's not really the problem: my trip to Portugal was in 1997 on a GL500 SilverWing (basically a CX500 Custom with a big fairing :blink: ). I was cruising at between 70 and 80mph on the good roads, but you can't do that all the time. I always say that you should plan for around 50 miles in an hour, that way you're not pushing it but you're not hanging around either.

I've done a few long distance trips and it doesn't matter what I'm on or how fast/slow I ride, the average always seems to be around 50mph! :woohoo:

[backofbeyond]

Possibly the timescale I have will be too tight but cant have any more time/money available.
Calais to Gib or other port is approx 1400 miles, so first day will get 100 miles, next 3 days 400 miles then 100 miles to Morocco 2 full days having a look then head back home. 1 day to cross back then 4 days home.
Not too keen on big distances as I only have a midweight naked hornet, its okay for my trips so far but possibly due to the lack of time is a step too far.
Have to have a good long think, but could use it as a taster for a future longer trip.

I don't think you need much more time to do the trip, it just depends whether you want to ride to Morocco or be in Morocco. In the first case the journey through France and Spain is as much part of the trip as the time you spend in Morocco. When I first did this trip (1970!) we were two up on a 250 Yamaha and got there and back in two weeks just using normal roads. The next time I went was on a Gold Wing and it wasn't much better or easier (we could take a bit more luggage though :laugh: ). A bike like your Hornet would have been such a huge improvement over the Yamaha and should be just about perfect for the trip. I'd say go for it. A bigger bike won't make that much difference.

[OB1]

A bigger bike won't make that much difference.

Tottaly agree - the bike itself isn't the issue.

Just enjoy the ride, that's the whole point of the journey!

[Mr Toad]

Hello mate, I went with my best girl back in October (did I tell you I went to Morocco), total trip 3 weeks 11/12 days in Morocco on two bikes. If you look back and find Memories of Morocco (4 posts) it details what we did. To much to say in text once I start but certainly if you fancy having your ears worn out I'll PM my tel number and I can talk through some of the fears that we had and the practicalities which were all far easier than we though. Though I've only been the once I'm no expert. My view for what it worth you want to maximise time in Morocco to experience traveling somewhere very different from Europe. And it's all fairly straight forward though obviously having been there it's easy for me in hindsight. I'd go on my own now if I wanted to and it's Jane that speaks French far better than I but I'm sure I would get by no worries. If you never do a RTW trip Morocco on a bike GB and back is still an adventure to dream about when we are dribbling into our food. We'll be at the boil rally too. Best regards Steve

[scouse]

I was actually considering a couple of weeks there last year, but due to work, pay freezes and people losing jobs we had to can it.

The whole idea was to use BikeTruck to ship the bikes down, fly in to Malaga and ride back - getting the bikes shipped would save at least three days travelling and when the total cost of shipping and the flight from East Midlands (which is a 20 mins bus ride from mine) came in at roughly the likely price of fuel, without factoring in food, accommodation and tolls I decided that living without the bike for a few weeks before was worth the lack of initial riding effort.

If the best you can do is two weeks off it is a good option as it gives you a good ten days "on the piste"