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3 Feb 2007
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Morocco...how to get there quickly?
Hi there,
We're plannig to bike around Morocco for about 4 or 5 weeks. neatless to say we want to spend as less as possible on those European roads. Does anybody know a transport company or airline who can/will ship, fly or anything else our bikes to Morocco. Anywhere in Morocco will be fine, we prefere M'kech.
looking forward to any replies!
greeitngs,
Roland
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3 Feb 2007
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Im thinking the same......
Ive been thinking about the same problem and am looking into 'overland freight', ie. a trucking company. I haven't got very far yet, but i'll let you know if i find out any information.
I want to send bikes to Malaga(as i can fly there for about 25quid in January), then cross to Melilla which is a good start to run down near the Algerian border.
Anyone else done this before?
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3 Feb 2007
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from calais you can reach algeciras in 2 hard days or 3 easy ones so out of a 3-4 week holiday it isn't so bad, especially given the aggro you can get trying to deal with shipping agents, having your bike damaged by loaders etc etc
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3 Feb 2007
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Well, 2-3 days up and 2-3 days down is almost a week out of 4 weeks. hmm. too much! :-)
Why can't we set up a small motorbike taxi service. twice a year.
Renting a big truck who can take quite a number of motorbikes. I thimk there are more people who will have the same problem. Let's pick a date and anyone who's interested can sign up for the truck ride. To more the merrier, the cheaper.
Does that sound like a (start) of a plan?
anyone suggestions?
greetings,
Roland
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3 Feb 2007
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We're doing a trip to Morocco in October, but we're using the ferry to Santander and treating the ride through Spain as part of the trip.
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3 Feb 2007
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try moto-morocco.com speak to bill he take bikes down for tours mainly BMWs & the riders fly in he is also on the ukgsers.com site name is fanum (i think ) he mite be able to help or suggest someone who can.
Hope thats some help
Kev
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4 Feb 2007
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I really can't see that it's worth the bother or additional expense. You could ride down there in 3 days from northern Europe. If you wanted to fly the bikes down you'd have to factor in the time to crate up and transport the bikes, clear them through customs at the other end and then unpack them. And you'd have to do it all over again at the end of the trip. You'd still be looking at least a days work each way and loads of time waiting around at airports and customs offices.
Getting somebody to drive a van down ahead of you might be an idea if time was restricted, but for a 4-5 week trip is it really necesary?
We're doing a similar trip in April, leaving from the UK. We're away for 4 weeks in total, giving us 3 weeks in Morocco and 3-4 days easy travelling on either end. We didn't consider anything other than riding the bikes down - it really isn't far enough to make any other method worthwhile. If I wanted an extra week in Morocco it would have been far easier (and cheaper) to take an extra week off work, rather than trying to get the bikes shipped down.
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4 Feb 2007
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you have to take into account the main factor here. if you get there and customs decide to mess you around you could be waiting ages and paying bungs to the officers to get your bikes clear.
ferry to bilbao or santander and 2 days max ride to algecieras. it will work out cheaper and faster than any other way and you arrive with your bike ready to go.
i agree with others by the time you crate the bikes up and then un load them, twice you will have wasted the 2 days you could have ridden through spain.
you could do crossing to france but then you would be looking at 3 days riding to get to southern spain, i did algecieras to caen (brittany) in 3 days but recon in the summer wih longer daylight and warmer conditions you would do this in 2 days.
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4 Feb 2007
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by globalkoster
Hi there,
We're plannig to bike around Morocco for about 4 or 5 weeks. neatless to say we want to spend as less as possible on those European roads. Does anybody know a transport company or airline who can/will ship, fly or anything else our bikes to Morocco. Anywhere in Morocco will be fine, we prefere M'kech.
looking forward to any replies!
greeitngs,
Roland
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Hi Roland
Why would you want to avoid European roads? The route(s) down through France and Spain are fabulous especially if you plan it right. You can cross the Pyrenees at several high points, take in Andorra etc. Use the Ruta de la Plata in Spain and you'll pay no tolls and see the most wonderful landscapes on the way down to Algeciras. And you won't have to bribe anyone on the crossing. The Moroccan authorities are courteous and efficient.
Your trip starts from the moment you leave home - make it a good one...
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5 Feb 2007
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getting there
We have the same problem, however we only have 2 weeks.... in the end we're renting a bike from Peter at Bikerhome....
If anyone does plan on taking bikes there, i'm interested in having my Tenere dropped off in Malaga..... in return will offer garage space for your bike...
cheers
Matt
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5 Feb 2007
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How much does het charge for a rental motorbike and what do you get?
mvg,
Roland
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5 Feb 2007
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There are a lot of trucking companies that will transport between the UK and Spain, mostly carrying personal effects of people moving. Assumedly you could get the same connections from northern Europe.
We had two bikes trucked from London to Murcia in Spain, which is half a days ride to the ferry crossing at Malaga. You can then pick up a flight for about £30 with Easy Jet. As we were going in the middle of winter, it saved 2-3 days of riding time in the cold! Costs were about £180 per bike, which is comparable to the ferry + fuel + accomodation costs to get there.
cheers
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5 Feb 2007
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Last year I looked into freight companies moving my Suzuki DRZ to southern Spain (Malaga). The most helpful/responsive were PremierMovers ( http://www.premiermovers.co.uk/index.htm ). They quoted £250 oneWay for the bike, incl door to door pickup/dropoff. I ended up not using them because a mate was going down there on holiday and took it in his van.
The bike is still in Spain and I'm off to Morocco at Easter and the Pyrenees in summer.
HTH
ChrisB
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5 Feb 2007
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I met a couple of guys from this site (Caesar and Filippe) in Morocco a couple of weeks ago who found it straightforward to ship their bikes on pallets to Spain and then fly in from Verona in Italy. The bike transport took something like four days. Flights to Spain are inexpensive and there is no customs hassle as it's within the EU. In the morning they flew into Seville, by that evening they were in Morocco. Definitely the way to go.
Peter at Bikershome can be contacted via http://www.bikershome.net/
Tim
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5 Feb 2007
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Sounds like the start of a plan to me!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by globalkoster
Well, 2-3 days up and 2-3 days down is almost a week out of 4 weeks. hmm. too much! :-)
Why can't we set up a small motorbike taxi service. twice a year.
Renting a big truck who can take quite a number of motorbikes. I thimk there are more people who will have the same problem. Let's pick a date and anyone who's interested can sign up for the truck ride. To more the merrier, the cheaper.
Does that sound like a (start) of a plan?
anyone suggestions?
greetings,
Roland
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Well, i'm definately interested Roland. I'm trying to get a small group together to be in Morocco around Dakar time (i'm working in China until 3rd January), the main issue for everyone is time. 3 weeks is the absolute max i can get and riding an XR400 done through Europe in January sounds crap to me(and before anybody calls me a puff i have ridden from Iran to UK in mid-winter and have the photos of 2 foot deep snow to prove it).
So if there are any others who like this idea then lets make it happen.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Matt Roach
There are a lot of trucking companies that will transport between the UK and Spain, mostly carrying personal effects of people moving. Assumedly you could get the same connections from northern Europe.
We had two bikes trucked from London to Murcia in Spain, which is half a days ride to the ferry crossing at Malaga. You can then pick up a flight for about £30 with Easy Jet. As we were going in the middle of winter, it saved 2-3 days of riding time in the cold! Costs were about £180 per bike, which is comparable to the ferry + fuel + accomodation costs to get there.
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I personally think this is easily what it will cost you to get to the Ferry ports. Working on about 100quids of juice, a couple of nights digs and eats at 25squids a pop plus food on the road and lets not forget a half shagged set of tires and an oil change etc.
Okay maybe in spring/summer/autumn camping is an option to save some coin.
Does anyone disagree with 250pounds minimum to get from UK to Morocco?
What time of year would people like this service to operate?
Does anyone know anyone in southern Spain who could receive the bikes and arrange safe storage?
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