first trip to morocco

**mr bonnie** · #1 25th August 2009

hello juys new to the forum lookig for a bit of info.
im making my first trip to morocco in early october ill be doing
the trip on a ktm 990 adventure .driving from dublin in ireland
all the way down . what i want to know is is most of it exsesable on my bike what should i be thinking about as in spare parts to bring .also what ever info on good places to go and stay and great driving roads thanks .

**carliO** · #2 26th August 2009

Hi Mr. bonnie,
great decision- I had been in Maroc in March 08 on a 950 s it was excellent.

If you still have the original exaust mounted, then you need unleaded fuel.
In some regions in the Atlas montains (e.g. Agoudal) it is a problem to get unleaded fuel (they really have leaded fuel).
Change the exaust or carry at least about 8 Liters extra.

Cheers carliO

**Mike Philippens** · #3 26th August 2009

Great idea! I'm going in October too, with 5 other guys we're doing a 'Short Way Down' tour to Morocco from the Netherlands. We don't go too far off-road, maybe just a gravel/dirt road, nothing fancy. I'm driving a couch (BMW RT), so no desert driving for me.

Unfortunately (for you), our website is in Dutch, but you can check out our route at Short Way Down 2009. You see two maps, the first is the route from Holland to Almeria where we take the ferry to Mellila and the second map is our intended route through Morocco.

Clicking on the red magnifying glass makes the map full screen.

One tip: check out Bikers Home in Ouarzazate. It's a Dutch guy who has a offroad centre over there. We're going to stay there for a day or two. He can give you some advice.

**Endurorally** · #4 26th August 2009

Pick up insurance at the port, make sure you have the Michelin map, head off to Er Foud and Ouarzazate, as the south-east area is the best, and the maze of roads north of the Todra Gorge (used as a film set by David Lean in the making of Lawrence of Arabia), is a great place to take a bike. Get the Chris Scott guide book, Morocco, his latest book on where to go, where to stay - answers all the questions. Someone can post up the website here on where to order it. Do some homework before you go from the armchair...the book and Michelin map will transform your trip. Dont leave home without it.

**Mike Philippens** · #5 26th August 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Endurorally

make sure you have the Michelin map

The Rough Guide map of Morocco is also quite good. Printed on double sided, non-rip (plastic) paper, makes it a bit better suited for heavy use (folding in your tank bag). Read this for some insight in maps of Morocco. I picked up the Rough Guide map together with the Morocco Overland book.

**mr bonnie** · #6 26th August 2009

good evening chaps,thanks for the info i got the maps and chris scotts
overland book so i have that part sorted. the one thing i dont have is a gps i have one put in my budget i was thinking about the new garmin zumo 660
is that suitable for morocco . mike great looking site shame i cant speak dutch ,i should be down in almeria in or around the 7th or 8th of october .ill getting the ferry from portsmouth on the 5th. one more thing carlio was saying about the lack of unleaded fuel down south does leaded fuel l make a big deal to the bikes

**Mike Philippens** · #7 26th August 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr bonnie

mike great looking site shame i cant speak dutch ,i should be down in almeria in or around the 7th or 8th of october .ill getting the ferry from portsmouth on the 5th. one more thing carlio was saying about the lack of unleaded fuel down south does leaded fuel l make a big deal to the bikes

The guy from the offroad centre (Bikers Home) in Ouerzazate told us that Morocco went unleaded and that it would not be a problem. My bike does not have cat, so I can manage with leaded fuel. Don't know if it will run any less on leaded fuel, but I won't break anything.

One thing with Morocco and GPS is that Garmin only give you coverage of the main roads. And that is no good if you'd like to travel anywhere off the beaten track. Fortunately there is this guy called Olaf and he made a custom map of Morocco by just driving the roads and tracking it with his GPS. Others have contributed too and you can download the result here.
That map is just a picture for the GPS; it will show your position on the map, but it can't lay out a route for you. You can make a track (in Mapsource) and get directions in the form of arrows pointing you in the right direction. It can't tell you to go right on the second street on the right since it doesn't know there is a street. But it's better than nothing I guess.

We leave on the 5th and we take a sort of scenic route through France, so we may arrive on the 8th or 9th in Almeria. Look out for the six of us as we may meet each other there. Would be nice!

**mr bonnie** · #8 28th August 2009

hi phil sorry for taking so long to get back
i was on to touratech about gps and they where saying
you can download on to all the highend models .but im new to gps so im wondering how hard it is to put the vector maps on to the gps and is map source easy to use .

**Mike Philippens** · #9 28th August 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr bonnie

but im new to gps so im wondering how hard it is to put the vector maps on to the gps and is map source easy to use .

It's not very hard. On Olaf's website there is a guide how to install the maps om your PC (with Mapsource installed). You have to get used to Mapsource obiously, but there are more than enough sources of information on Mapsource operation, quirks and guides. I'm planning our Morroco tour with Mapsource right now. I'm using route via points to make the route.

I'll make a tour in the area here to check out how that works out. Would be a bit embarrasing to find out in Morocco that I made a mistake... However, I have a mini laptop (EeePC) with all the necessary tools to make adjustments.

**mr bonnie** · #10 28th August 2009

i have to say your a bit of a nerd. but thats good im miles behind this trip im planing is a bit last minute . so im rushing the planing of it, but im sure it will work out im going to search for a download of mapsource because i get my gps from the uk next week so that should give me enough time to work out what i need to do.thanks for all the info mike

**Simon F** · #11 30th August 2009

Hi Mr Bonnie
Hoping to get a similar trip together late October myself-so all good info.

Via babel fish website-I did a translation of the Dutch one if you are interested-it didnt like the maps but apart fro that its not a bad translation-try this

Translation result for http://www.shortwaydown.nl/about/

Simon

**Mike Philippens** · #12 30th August 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon F

Via babel fish website-I did a translation of the Dutch one if you are interested-it didnt like the maps but apart fro that its not a bad translation-try this

I think the translation is quite hysterical...

If you have specific questions about our trip, just ask. I thought about making translations of the pages about the trip and the team. Maybe I'll do that. In the meantime: ask. It's free!

**kholty** · #13 1st September 2009

Hi,

I am Ali and i live in Casablanca Morocco.
i am planning to travel in the south of morocco (desert...) and i am looking for a companion.
I have one of those KTM 640 adventure 2006.

I would be more than happy to join you. I rather prefer to be on offroad than on road. As my bike has been built for that.

Please let me know if you are interested.
My email : kholty@yahoo.com

**Mike Philippens** · #14 3rd September 2009

I finished translating the Trip and Team pages, so it's bit better for non-Dutch speaking people. Another tip: if you want to understand a bit more of the rest of the site, use Google Translate; it does a much better job than Babelfish.

**versys** · #15 4th September 2009

hee kholty meeby in bikerhome we meet.
greet tom
Short Way Down 2009