Now that’s a good question. He’s actually got a hand pump with him that he refers to as his ‘Swedish sex toy’ because it’s pink and looks like one. So if needs be he can pump from one of our tanks into his if he runs out in the middle of nowhere. Of course the Tuono has no fuel gauge either. Yesterday when I rode it he asked me how I was doing on fuel? ‘I haven’t got a bloody clue’. I said ‘No light’? ‘Nope’. We’ve been careful to pull in early though and fill up. We’ve noticed a bit of rough running with some brands of fuel here. Well, they have, I point blank refuse to put anything other than Shell in my Italian bitch. Today I pulled in and said in my best French ‘fill it up with the good stuff’ only to be waved over to the standard pump because all the ‘high grade’ pumps were only dispensing fumes. Merde!
The Joy of Six Six is enough. Any more and the pack takes too long to assemble. It becomes too difficult to keep everyone together and with higher numbers there’s more chance of an inter bike pile up. Four is good but we max out at six. Therefore we have bro 2, bro 3(that’s myself), bro 5 and bro 6. Plus Jorg the Laughing German and Kawasaki Gary. It’s been a few years since we’ve had a family outing like this but so far so good. Although it did take some assembling. Pedro the Cruel lives in Spain so it was easy for him as he was at the starting point. He instigated the trip while recovering from a spinal operation earlier in the year. He put the question to me knowing full well what the answer would be. ‘If I actually live to get out of here and can walk, I want to do a tour of Morocco. I have to have something to look forward to and think about while I’m lying here. Do you want to come’? ‘ Yup. You get yourself better and we’ll do it’. So that was that. Although some credit has to go to bro 6 as well who apparently has been saying to bro 2; ‘I want to do Morocco, I want to see what it’s like’. Cool. So bro 2 was in Spain along with his Honda VFR 1200. I was booked to go to Spain in the car with the lady Dulcinea when it occurred to me in a flash of genius that my car has a fold away tow bar. Not only that, I have a folding motorbike trailer too. I wonder how much extra would it be on the Portsmouth-Santander ferry. Hmmm maybe towards double for the extra length? Who knows, worth an ask and it’ll save me flying back to ferry it over etc bla, bla, bla. Earlier in the summer I’d used my Spanish registered Monster to go from Andalucia up to Andorra and the Pyrenees and back. While it was good fun when there, it didn’t really cut it on the traverse. I found myself longing for a small screen or half fairing and cruise control. No, Morocco needs a Multistrada. In fact I need a Multistrada in Spain, which is where I’m doing most of my touring from but that’s another story. Don’tcha just love man logic. Had it not been for the outright stupidity of Brexit I’d have just registered the Muti 1200s down there but now due to Boris’s ego it’s now no longer viable. A quick call to ‘Brittney Ferries’ as they loathsomely call themselves nowadays and it turned out to be less than 50 quid! Instant decision, done deal. Meaning I can trailer the Multi down to southern Spain and then have a proper tourer for the trip… and that’s what happened all be it from Plymouth because Portsmouth was fully booked. El Nicko, aka bro 5 took the precaution of trading a slow moving Harley 1200 Sportster against a Honda 500 something or other for the absolute bargain price of £6k brand new. Less the price of the aforementioned agricultural implement, which wouldn’t have cut it on this trip unless he’d set off a good week before. We’re glad not to be held up by it. Pedro and I went and picked it up for him from Honda Malaga. It seems like a good machine that can be wound up to a fair speed but just lacks overtaking grunt. All in all it’s a good little adventure bike that’ll serve as a run around for years to come. Maybe I should have a ride on it. Bro 6 brought his Tuono down in October and parked it with a bike hire company at Malaga airport. He flew in on the Friday for the princely sum of 20 quid, picked it up and we met him at the ferry in Tarifa after he overnighted with friends in Estepona. Laughing boy brought his Honda 1000 down from Germany although he too lives most of his time in Andalucia as well. He’s now apparently beginning to wish he’d brought his Honda VFR 1200 instead but hey ho. I’ve riden the 1000 before and don’t feel the need to further educate myself. Which only leaves Kawasaki Gary who also lives at the start point in Andalucia and no prizes for guessing what he’s riding. Maybe I should have a go on that. Maybe. Bro 2 with the Honda what’s it called.
I recall the tea being just a sweet and unpalatable. Apparently orthodontics is the business to be in.
Always good reading you, Sam. I've done Morocco several times, in a big group at first and then with progressively fewer people - I was on my own last time. By far the most liberating. No issues, Morocco is safe. Stick to the road and there will always be somebody willing to help you, if you're in trouble. Now that you've been infected with the Morocco virus, you will want to go back. You are there for 8 days, not enough to see it all. If I may advice, aim south next time, to reach the desert of course but also the Anti-Atlas mountains, the region of Tata and Tafraoute. Mind boggling spectacular. And please avoid Tanger next time, it's pure chaos. Take the ferry from Algeciras to the port of Tanger-Med, much more civilized, and you are closer to Chefchaouen. Enjoy your time in Morocco!
It’s not for me that’s for sure. I like a bike that takes off like a scalded cat, no matter what speed I’m opening up from. It’s a bike that’s ideal for pootling about. Whereas the Multi with the full system Akro and Rapidbike Evo is a fantastic combo. I’m keeping it and next up is an up n down quickshifter.
Is that a 1200 multi DVT ? If so, I would be grateful if you would elaborate on the up and down quickshifter, please.
The Oasis Another Tagine. Note the goat on the roof. After Fes we headed for an oasis near Errachidia. It was a great days riding. The roads improved so much that Gary said it was the best road he’d ever ridden. I’ve ridden better in Spain but nonetheless it was really good and very little traffic. Previously the grip had been questionable, we’d all taken it carefully and noted the bikes felt like they were drifting sideways in the bends. However the new tarmac between Fes and Errachidia was a real pleasure offering plenty of grip. We crossed what looked very much like Arizona, then we were in Switzerland(ish) next we cruised through lush green valleys, cedar forests and natural parks, followed by by a stint crossing the bleak Yorkshire Moors! All in one morning. I cursed that I didn’t have my GoPro. Before departure someone had told me that up in the mountains it was like Switzerland. Just as I was questioning that in my mind we arrived at Ifran in the Middle Atlas Mountains. Ifrane features unique buildings with long steeply pitched alpine-style roofs and chalet-like designs, which apparently is a legacy of its French colonial past. Also it’s known for its cleanliness and well-maintained gardens. Sure enough gardeners were spraying water with abandon over the well groomed grass verges and the whole place looked finished. Which came as somewhat of a surprise, being quite a contrast to the rest of the country which is definitely still under construction. It’s significantly cooler than the rest of the country, with regular snowfall and winter sports. Who’d have thought. Apparently it’s 1600 metres high so nowonder I felt the chill as the temperature dropped to 11 degrees C plus the wind chill factor. I needed another layer and the heated grips got turned on, only because Gary suggested it. I’d completely forgotten I’d got heated grips, never even occurred to me. Up until then I just had a T-shirt underneath my jacket… in the middle of November!
Rock the Kasbah This is what we came to Morocco for. The further south we’ve gone the better the roads, the less the traffic and the more it’s become the Morocco that in our naivety we were expecting. Although today’s riding across arid countryside was more straight roads it was still interesting and there was one section that was really twisty and fun on the RN10 near Boumalne Dades. Last night at the little oasis it was a really old hotel next to a river with palm trees but everything for miles and miles all around looked like a cross between the moon and the Arizona desert. In fact, as I mentioned before the landscape in that part of Morocco does look very much like Arizona. It reminded us in parts of Monument Valley although it was somewhat more sparse and less dramatic. The people are more friendly and the kids just want us to rev the bikes up. They’re happy if we blip the throttle whereas in Spain young kids want you to bounce the engine off the rev limiter. It seems to be a good place to buy a dressing gown, they seem very popular out here despite the temperature rising up to 27 degrees today. Obi-Wan Kenobi keeps popping up out of nowhere with his brown dressing gown and pointy hood. I thought he died a few years ago but apparently not, he’s got a few more appearances in him yet. Tonight we’re staying in an ancient Kasbah on top of a hill with views of the surrounding countryside.
Some cracking pictures Sam, thanks for posting. Seeing your pictures of the Souk reminded me how much we disliked Marrakesh, but the pictures of the countryside are much more up my street.
Marrakech Express The ride wasn’t massive today but it was seriously good. Over the 2,200m high Tizi Tishka mountain pass to Marrakech. It wasn’t too busy, the bends were mostly fast and predictable with only one small section of road works. As rides go, it was a top one. We’re now outside Marrakech (that’s how it’s spelt here) in a very nice hotel and the gin& tonics are £3.40 a pop. So we’re taxiing into Marrakech this evening rather than facing the madness in the city on bikes.
