What bike?

[afirmative]

I am planning a trip from London to Cameroon through Spain to Morocco then round the coast via Senegal, Ivory Coast etc next year. My companion is taking a BMW R1150GS, and is convinced it is the best tool for the job. We will both be riding 2 up, and while both are experienced road riders in the uk neither of us have off road experience.
My 3 questions are:
1 Can that route be done without serious off roading?
2 If yes is it the best bike to take?
3 Am I mad to undertake this adventure as my first major outing?

Cheers
Matt

[Chris Scott]

1. nearly - see atlantic page
2. not bad, esp 2-up
3. no

bonne route

Chris S

[Suz]

Why not hop along to the BMW offroad course in Wales with the bike and try it? I'm sure the experience would be handy. But!! My friend with the same bike refuses to take it to Morroco because he doesn't want to ride it off-road. I keep trying to
convince him otherwise, with no luck.
What a waste!!!!

S.

(ps) If Chris would like to email me I have an update for page 504 of his book.

Suz

[Ian]

As far as I can see (although no experience with this bike) the biggest problem is the weight - so if you team up with other overlanders for the desert - as you probably will - ask them to carry your luggage which will help out a great deal.

For Q3 - No. I did this run and I'd never been abroad before on a bike.

Have a good trip.

[edseven]

Originally posted by Ian:
As far as I can see (although no experience with this bike) the biggest problem is the weight - so if you team up with other overlanders for the desert - as you probably will - ask them to carry your luggage which will help out a great deal.

For Q3 - No. I did this run and I'd never been abroad before on a bike.

Have a good trip.

[edseven]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by edseven:
There is little doubt that the BMW is a great bike, but it is more of a " Tour Europe and look great " bike than anything else. Extremely heavy and computerised fuel injection - the latter is not something you want getting blocked or broken in the middle of Africa. However, keep the system clean and you should be fine. If you feel confident about servicing, or want an easy to work on bike, consider the Transalp ( Honda XL650V ), very economical but water cooled ( more plumbing ) and woefully overpriced, or the Yamaha XT600 - as simple as they come and available in Britain for 3.000 sterling.