okay, here we go.... maybe not all info is applicable for you, but it is also a memory-dump for me ;-)

Time of travel:
It is a bit chilly now, and in mid winter it can be freezing even in Morocco.
France is crowded with tourists in July & August (mainly Dutch ;-)) and I always avoid this. Campings ware a lot cheaper in low season too!

France: I don't really like the west coast that much; think Bordeaux is a bit boring... but that may just be me. The east is very beautiful, also the Alps are really nice! I love the central massive, really nice.
- Peage is expensive, north to south is about 50 euro's per bike. You can easily avoid the toll roads and have an amzing ride (but a bit slower) on 'Route National', or RN. Nice roads, takes you through all nice little french villages.
- Cheapest gasoline is at big supermarkets, or hypermarkets. Huge difference with gasstations near the roads.
- Cheap camping: ask/look for 'camping municipal', that are non-profit goverment campings. Sometimes boring, sometimes surprisingly beautiful. Always cheap.
- On the south, where the Rhone goes into the Meditteranian, you can camp for free on the beaches.
- If you are in a hurry, from Germany (Dusseldorf) you can take a car/bike train to Narbonne, but that is expensive. From there, you can drive to Barcelona, and hop on a ferry to Marocco.
To give you an idea, we drove a few years ago with the car and bikes on the trailer from Luxembourg to Algeciras in 26 hours. Only peage, slow car though ;-)

Spain:
- Gas is cheaper here than in France
- Fastest route to the south is via the coast; peage. Cost is about 50 euro's per bike too.

Portugal: never been there.

Morocco:
- Ferry from Algeciras to Morocco is easy, there are plenty available and we payed about 110 euro's , two way for bike+rider.
- Border is easy, Morocco wants to stimulate tourism. European insurance for the bike also covers Morocco.
- The north is dodgy; just drive to Chefchouen (about 200 km's south) on a clear day, as you come from the ferry e.g. in Ceuta. Don't stop for people, they just want to sell you drugs. We really didn't like this part... Chefchouen is nice, from there on we loved the country and had great fun.
- Campings are nice, although you'll find them sometimes super basic. (put your tent on the parking lot... ;-))
- Moroccans are supercool people, hope you speak some French! They all do.
- Roads are good, can by gas everywhere. Easy on a big wing ;-)
- Don't forget to camp in Ouzoud at N 32.00.351 W 006.43.177. Say Hi to Paul and Renate for me; great people. Can also tell you everything you want to know about Morocco, so you might camp/slep there on your way down?

On my website (Far Away From Flakkee) you can go to the tab ' vakanties 'and check out our route and pictures. Any questions, feel free to ask.

* Hi,

I’ve come across this topic very late in the day but I hope I’ve got a few good tips to offer, at least as far as crossing Spain is concerned. Firstly, some of the advice you’ve had really is way off the mark, although I’m sure it was meant with the best intentions:

* This would be the journey from hell. Spain’s Mediterranean coast isn’t quite the ‘Wall of Concrete’ that is often described. Well not quite, although it has some beautiful cities such as Valencia and Cartagena, stylish resorts like Sitges and Palamós and stretches of wild and unspoiled coastline, the Cabo de Gata in the south and the Cap de Creus in the north, to name but a few, motoring down the coast offers a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, the national highway is almost entirely urbanized and horribly congested while the autopista merely offers you a fast ride past the ‘back’ of all the beauty spots, which, somewhat typically of Spanish geography, are grotesque blobs of hideous fringe development inland of the coast itself. If you went this way you’d regret four days of wasted life!

* This is more on track but for a few important errors: there’s no point in going to Barcelona to get to Zaragoza, you’ll pass through the most c9ngested region along the Mediterranean coast and then the busiest ‘corridor’ in Spain, i.e. the highways and autopistas between Madrid, the capital, and Barcelona, where all the trade goes. Not only that you’ll be doing a huge zig-zag, having gone well east of the Pyrenees you’ll then be heading almost due west to Zaragoza instead of south towards the Straits. So why not cross the Pyrenees over the Somport pass north of Zaragoza? It's one of the loveliest and the road on the French side is both in good condition and not very congested - somewhat of a rarity - and if the weather's bad, no snow in May but serious visibility issues in rain or fog, there's always the tunnel.

After the that the route to Albacete and on to the coast via Ronda makes great a deal of sense, but for the detour to Cuenca, which is way off the route unless you're gone round - or heaven help you through - Madrid. Instead, from Zaragoza head via Teruel and then Utiel (avoiding Albacete) Ciudad Real and on to Granada - but see below)

All this is based on passing through Spain as quickly as possible, which seems a waste as you’ll be avoiding some of the best scenery, and certainly the best roads, in Europe! If you plan to dally in Spain take a look at my guidelines to route planning on my blog, The Spanish Biker, But if you do have to pass straight through – and I’ll be disappointed of you if you don't find a way to stop over at San Sebastian, a serious ‘must do’ city break - then take the Somport/Jaca route described above and pick up the autovia there to Huesca and Zaragoza and onwards from there.

The hint about riding down from Ronda to Algeciras is spot on – a fabulous ride and Ronda is a good place to stay – but the while of the coast there is horrible so I’d try to ride as little of it as possible. But one worthwhile exception would be to get the ferry from Malaga and stay a night in that lovely city, the ferry port is right opposite the historic city centre so you won’t spend expensive holiday time lurking around for hours on some grotty dockside.

There are numerous detours you could do from this road alone plus some specifc little tricks – south of Zaragoza follow the original national highway as far as Teurel – this used to be a notoriously dangerous and horrible ride but now the traffic has gone it’s lovely – and almost completely empty! I don’t do specific route guidance but one itinerary springs to mind: stay your first night at Jaca (pronounced Haca by the way), it’s a lovely small city and a very good introduction to the peculiarities of Spanish lifestyle, like browsing for tapas while you wait to eat sometime after nine p,m.! Then follow the above route and stay your second night some way short of Granada at Cordoba, one of the three great Andalusian capital cities and by far the easiest to explore: the Mesquite really should be one of the Wonders of the World and you won’t find a better example in Morocco, not even Fez.

Coming back up though Portugal is rather off my patch, but I find that central Portugal is very poor riding, one village no sooner ends than another begins, whereas the Ruta de la Plata, either the original or the modern autovia of the same name, follow the border closely and you can pop over to see the sites - and eat and sleep more cheaply

If you do go that way then following the Cordillera Cantabrica through Austurias to the Picos de Europa is a 'must do' and , ideally you'll have time for that final break in San Sebastian - I really am jealous!

Anyway, enough of my rambling – Enjoy!

Simes

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Just to add to the info. My wife and I rode Roscoff-Saumur-Clermont Ferrand-Massif Central-Milleux Bridge-Jonquera-Valencia-Sete Aguas-Ecija [? West of Seville] Huelva-Faro-Lagos-Sao Bras de Alportel-Setubal-Lisbon-Serra de Estrella's-Zamora-Santander then the boat home to Plymouth. If in Algarve don't miss the Moto Clube de Faro, on the En125 a mile east of Faro town centre. The most fantastic bike club with an amazing atmosphere. Accomodation, showers, kitchen, all for the asking. Cheap bar and hot food, with a supermarket across the road and BP garage next door. If you need time out from the road - go here.

Some perhaps not so useful info. Bike is an 06 carburettor T100 Bonny with 30K miles when we set out. 19 tooth front sprocket/42 tooth rear. Givi A660 screen. Triumph K&Q seat. 45 lt topbox, Oxford throw over rear panniers, LIDL 10 lt pushbike panniers and tank bag up front. 54 mpg, 25 kg luggage. We rode 2 tanks/240 miles a day, on average, 16 riding days. Never set off before 10 am, lunch about 2pm, looking for cheap hotel from about 5 pm. Beer in hand by 7pm - never missed. Navigation by tearing pages out of an old road atlas. Spent £ 2K all in and thoroughly enjoyed it. Are we going again in 2013 ?
Marrakesh, Istanbul and Moscow maps are out right now.
And our combined ages are 118, how daft is that ?