DAVE'S DIARY - MOROCCO ADVENTURE OCTOBER 2015



JANUARY 2015
After much procrastinating and telling close friends and family that I intended to have a ‘Big long adventure on a motorbike’, I thought I’d better start putting my money where my mouth was and at least start looking around to buy a bike to show others and, perhaps more importantly, myself, that I was serious!
After reading Chris Scott’s overland bikers ‘bible’ and checking out Horizons Unlimited I settled on a short list of three. BMW’s 650 X Challenge, Kawasaki’s KLE 500 and Suzuki’s DRZ 400. My only other stipulations were that it should be under £2,500, have under 10,000 miles on the clock, be bog standard and appear to have been reasonably well looked after.
Cue much scouring of E Bay, Gumtree and Bike Trader! I found plenty of candidates, but they all seemed to be in far flung places like Penzance, North Wales and Aberdeen!

EARLY FEBRUARY 2015

Spot potential candidate on E Bay. Suzuki DRZ400, Yellow (My favourite colour!) Under 5,000 miles on the clock, standard, looked in nice condition on the pics, had a ‘Buy it now’ price of £2,500 and it was only at Chesham, about an hour from Reading!

TUE 3rd FEB 2015

The DRZ’s listing was due to finish this evening and surprisingly as yet, despite something like 72 ‘Watchers’ no one had put in a bid! I therefore phoned the vendor, an amiable sounding chap by the name of Gareth. He knew some of the history of the bike together with previous MOT’s all of which tended to suggest the mileage on the bike was genuine. I decided to travel up and have a ‘gander’ at it!
I know one mustn’t stereotype but I was reassured upon my arrival to see that it was a nice house in a nice area of Chesham! Gareth was there with his mum and both seemed honest and straightforward, as was the bike! Or so it seemed! No, it wasn’t immaculate, but what do you expect, after all it was a trail bike and it was over 11 years old now! Although I’m no expert I could tell that the engine was running sweet as a nut, it was still all screwed together tightly, wheel bearings, chain and sprockets all seemed pukka! I made an offer of £2,200 and for another fifty quid and a £100 deposit the deal was done!
A provisional arrangement was made to collect it on Saturday and I left with a few butterflies of dread and excitement about what I was letting myself in for!

FEB TO AUG 2015

I obviously intended to regularly update this blog but as you can see other things seem to have taken priority! However a lot of those things did relate to the bike! For instance to get the kind of rack and pannier supports I wanted at a relatively reasonable price I had to order them from The States (they seem to have all the good stuff in relation to dirt bikes)! I was initially going to just rely on my Michelin Morocco map but bottled it and purchased a Garmin bike sat nav for just under £300. I managed to wire that in straight to the battery as I did with an all-weather cigarette adaptor socket, which I taped to the rear side of the cowl above the headlight.
I then went on a camping equipment buying spree in Decathlon. Bought a two man hiking tent, a self-inflating mattress, a sleeping bag, an aluminium saucepan, mug and some cheap plastic cutlery. I seem to recall this lot lightened my wallet by about £130. I could’ve bought a cheap Calor gas stove but being concerned I wouldn’t be able to get replacement canisters in North Africa I ordered a petrol primus burner from e bay for about £60.
Next objective, strap it all to the bike and go on a mini camping expedition to see how everything holds up!

So at the back end of May off I headed to the West Country for my mini adventure staying on designated sites at Corfe Castle, Exmouth and Porlock. Thankfully the rain just about held off; however the first couple of nights were unseasonably cold! Considering I haven’t slept under canvas for about 45 years it didn’t go too badly. First night I hardly slept a wink, second night slept for about 4 hours. By the third night I was so knackered I think I actually got a full 8 hours or maybe I was just getting used to the whole ‘camping’ environment!
The bike itself performed faultlessly apart from one embarrassing moment on the morning after my first camp. Whilst sat down enjoying their bacon sarnies my ‘next door neighbours’ had been gleefully watching me carefully load up the bike. When I turned my back just for a couple of seconds to attend to another chore I heard a deep ‘crump’ sound. Turning back, my bike had toppled from the side stand on to its side, breaking the plastic clutch hand guard. I quickly hauled the bike up again pretending nothing had happened. I had gone from Mr. Supercool to Mr. Supertool! The underlying reason for the mishap was the fact that the previous owner had lowered the suspension of the bike without fitting a shorter side stand meaning, when parked the bike was almost bolt upright instead of leaning at a nice safe angle!

The only damage was to the plastic clutch lever protector which had sheered completely, but at least it saved the lever itself! More worryingly whenever the bike has been running for a while and I park up I notice the slow dripping of oil from the underside of the bike. Unable to identify where it’s coming from I decide, for the moment, just to keep an eye on the level.
Upon returning home, I take stock of what I’ve learnt:
1) I need to get the bike raised back up to its proper height to avoid further embarrassing bike falling over moments!
2) Get the oil leak checked by someone who knows where to look!
3) Get a screen to make ride more serene!
4) Probably ditch my open face patriotic union jack open face helmet in favour of my old full face. Although it looks cool and funky I just find it too noisy and drafty!
5) Lastly and perhaps most importantly I have to do something to try and
make the ‘razorblade’ seat more comfy!
Point 1) was sorted by a lovely old boy by the name of Malcolm who has his own little back street workshop in Caversham. Thankfully I had the original suspension support links which returned the bike up to its proper height. He also checked point 2), the oil leak which he seemed to think was as a result of being over-filled when I did an oil and filter change soon after purchasing the bike. Reference point 3),I have bought (directly from China!) and fitted a windscreen which has made riding much less drafty! Point 4), will wear my old faithful Shark full face which matches the bike better to! Point 5) I have bought thin weather proof cushion full of what appears to be those little dried beans you get in kids small soft toys. I have tried it on a ride down to Devizies and back and my bum did seem to feel better! But I guess the real test will come when I spend most of the day in the saddle!

SEP 2015

OK so as my departure date approaches (Sun 4th Oct 15)my bum is getting quite squeaky as there are lots of jobs I could and should've done sometime ago but for one reason or another, well in fact no reason, I haven't done! For instance I've known one of the the fork legs is leaking oil from a seal for sometime but have chosen to ignore it until now! Malcolm to the rescue! He has now replaced both seals for me and put on a couple of rubber fork gaiters to preserve said seals! So here I am, last week in September still no travel insurance, still learning how to use my new little travel laptop, trying to learn how to do this blog and upload pics, haven't fully loaded the bike yet to make sure everything fits on and won't fall off half a mile down the road! Perhaps most worryingly I couldn't find my MOT so checked on line only to find out it expired at the back end of April! Cue panicked phone call to MTC Motorcycles in Reading to book an MOT for Saturday (the day before I go!).
Further panic, I was hoping to take Friday off but too much going on at work, still haven't sorted travel insurance and just realised my number plate is too small and won't pass the MOT. A quick phone call to MTC! They will make one up for me for the day of the MOT for about three times the price you can get them off of e bay, but time is now pressing so I've told them to crack on! I also had a crash course from my son earlier today on setting up and using Skype as my sisters are getting all worried about me and want to check I'm still in one piece after a remote day in the Moroccan desert!
Ok so it's Friday night now and feeling a kind of nervous fear/excitement as my departure early sunday draws near! I have sorted the travel insurance for under £30 with a company recommended, called Navigator Travel Insurance.
Oh I also forgot to mention that although on my foray earlier this summer I camped I have decided for this trip to just find accommodation as I go for two reasons. Firstly I didn't feel confident about fitting everything I needed on to the bike and secondly,apparently most of the hotels in Morocco are dirt cheap; so I'd be lugging around a load of stuff on the off chance that I might decide to camp for the odd night. Maybe next time eh?! :-)
So manic Saturday is upon me! Start doing a bit of packing but have to get the bike down to MTC for that pesky MOT. Anyway the bike flies through the test with it's new big clunky plastic No. plate firmly attached! The guy in the shop also notices there's an oil leak. He seems to think it may be coming from the gear lever shaft or nearby, however he seemed to think it wasn't 'Federal' and I just needed to keep an eye and top up when needed. When I mentioned I was off to Morocco his eyes lit up as he'd ridden out there about 10 years ago. He kept coming out with words and phrases like 'Brilliant, 'It'll blow your mind' and 'The people out there are so friendly and helpful'. So with a spring in my throttle I rode back home to be greeted by my sister with scissors and electric clippers in hand. Half an hour later I was sporting a grade 3 crewcut, well it just meant no worries about what style my hair might come out after being stuck under a crash helmet all day!! Then I continued packing and by 7pm I had the bike fully loaded and all my biking attire laid out in the spare room ready for the next morning. I guess the only logical thing to do was go down the pub for a couple of pints and home for a supper of fish chips, hopefully not 'The Last Supper'!

__________________