How far (and back) from uk in 5 weeks?

[kilver]

Hi
I was wondering. I get 6 weeks holiday each summer, last 2 in July and the whole of August.
Question: Riding my BMW 80RT, which is happy to cruise at 70+ MPH, how far could I get down through Africa, from England, in 2.5 weeks? (Then stopping for a week, then riding back for another 2.5 weeks).
Or, how far across Asia, again in 2.5 weeks? Camping. Lots of 'ifs' and 'buts'.
(I have ridden from England to Olympia, in Greece and also down to Gibraltar in the past 2 years).
Ideas welcome.
Thanks
Tony

[*Touring Ted*]

Depends if you want to ride 500 miles every day or just it easy !!

If you plan your ferrys carefully, you could make it to Kenya but it wouldn't be much fun..

Five weeks sounds like a nice trip around eastern Europe or Scandinavia...

[Thefastone]

My mantra is dont plan start the engine and go some days you might only go 5 miles others 500, give your self a dead line to reach and it becomes less off an adventure

steve
thefastone

but there again my advice is prob the worst on here as i just nip to malaga for the day

[Wheelie]

If you really push it, and you mostly stick to the quickest and easiest roads, you could with that bike realistically make it to Dakar in Senegal, even further if luck is on your side and you and your bike have a lot of endurance. But, we are talking riding every day and being on the road from sunrise to sunset most days, with only shorter brakes throughout the day.

It is not he cruising speed of the bike that will dictate your average speed, not so much as fuel stops, lunch bakes, border crossings, flat tires, etc. If things go your way, you could probably even go to Bamako or Bissau or even both. Remember though, there is a lot of border crossings and check points that will slow you down a lot, so the top speed of your bike is in the larger picture not so inportant. I would not estimate more than plus/minus 45 kmh on average even with a quick and suitable bike - this includes quick fuel stops, lunch brakes, check points, etc. On really tough days (due to tough terrain and technical problems), or beurocratic days, your average speed could easily drop to 35 kmh and even 25 for that matter. I doubt that you on any day would average much more than 55 kmh on even the best days, except for maybe in Europe where you will encounter little beuracracy or flat tires etc.

I think that if you want to push yourself, see how far you can go, within a given time limit, then I'd say go for it. Even though you will only dig surface deep into each country and culture you meet, you will still have a lot of worth while experiences. The only thing about your trip is having to backtrack - going down the west coast of Africa, there are not a lot of alternative return routes for that bike in the time frame given - you would pretty much have to ride the same way back. If I had the money, and found myself in a situation like this, I would look into shipping the bikes ahead of time to Southern Spain so I would not waste valuable time in Europe. I would also look into shipping the bike and myself out of Africa so I would not have to back track.

If you can ship your bike and yourself in and out, then you are free to start and end wherever you like. Next year you can continue where you finished the previous year. You could for instance start in Cape Town South Africa and end up in the North Cape; Norway - riding either the eastern or western route through Africa----- but it is expensive.

In January together with two friends I will compete in the Budapest to Bamako Enduro rally (destination Guinea Bissau) - 9300 km in 16 days. We will be riding classic Vespa Scooters. Bamako by Vespa

[Wildman]

If I'm planning, I usually aim to ride 250 miles/400 kms per day. I've done 500 mile days but don't enjoy them and for me, I find that anything more than 300 miles or so becomes an unnecessary burden. I averaged 236 miles per day on a four week (19 days riding) trip through eastern Europe and Scandinavia last year. Highest mileage in one day was 348; the lowest, 48.

Can't comment on Africa but a trip down to and maybe around the Black Sea might be fun and would fit you time scale.

[baluchiman]

You could easily do Timbuktu and back.

[Wheelie]

Originally Posted by baluchiman

You could easily do Timbuktu and back.

... and I believe it... ...

[dave ett]

Why not go north and ride up to the arctic circle instead? Be pretty damn warm in Africa during August...

[James Rothwell]

Originally Posted by dave ett

Why not go north and ride up to the arctic circle instead? Be pretty damn warm in Africa during August...

I did this a few years ago in a car, was awesome!

Why not ride to Eastern Turkey, going and coming back very different ways?

[hairybiker]

Im with 'thefastone'...planning is bit crap. I went to Morocco last year in 3 weeks with the gf...we HAD to do 100 to 200 miles each day and it wasnt fun...add an extra stop over fixing her bike, meant longer days in the saddle...but we did manage down to Meknes and back in 3 weeks.
5 weeks? Im very jealous...You could always pop to Germany and get train from Dusseldorf to Triest (excuse spelling) then ride round balkans. Mind you, train is about £600 for the over nighter, but takes off a good few days of riding.

[ta-rider]

Hi,

I would not go further then Marokko with this little time rather travel nice offroad paths within the italien/frensh border or enjoy swiss passes and mountain trails in the north of italy. This all will be much more fun as to organize the visum for mauretania just to blast through western sahara and back...

Travel save, Tobi

[Mehmet Zeki Avar]

Turkey(Cappadocia,Mount Nemrut,Stone Road,Dark Canyon,Kangal,Zigana Pass,Trabzon)
1-Trabzon Sochi by ferry,west by north coastline of Black Sea,Europe,Home
Maps,supports,advices available while having welcome drinks in the club garage.

Wish you all the best..
zeki.

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