Leaderboard

Vegas has to be done at least once in a person's life. After people watching on the Strip, doing a little bit of Fremont Street, head west to Pahrump and then down into Death Valley. Ride the valley from south to north, doing Dante's View, and all the other byways. Check road conditions before heading that way as storms did a lot of damage earlier this year! From Dante's View

Took the Mrs Christmas shopping today, she called me a 'Fucking Twat!' before we even left

They'd love you and your bike in that 'special' hotel ......................

Winter! fucking phone!!!

What show of yours is this then? Always knew there was something odd about you now we all know

The R100RS without question. Angry ornery sort of beast. Loads of torque, I forget the number, and a joy to travel on for hours on end. Also I have never ridden behind a better fairing. Old school technology but beautifully made and 100 % trustworthy. Thirsty though and the brakes were not close to modern standards. Also a rather weak alternator and a gearbox that took skill to use without protest. None of it deal breaking but stuff to consider. The K100RS had 20 bhp more but was much more clinical. A good bike much better than the R100 on paper but you don’t ride on paper. The R100 has so much character and I instantly regretted selling it, the K100 left me a bit cold really. Put it this way the R had a name the K didn’t.

I only came across a few foreign motorcyclists during these few days, because of the weather surely as it was not usual to be as lucky as I was and only get real proper rain on the last day there. I would NOT choose December as the month to go ride motorcycles in Morocco if given the choice. Out of those small numbers, one was a group of yellow plated bikes with a ktm890, a previous generation R1200GSA and a Tenere 700, the others the lone R1250GSA, an Italian R1100GS, and two riders on Himalayans. All of them can do it, but I much rather prefer to spend long hours on a comfy bike which uses a third of its available torque to ride along and have the rest to not be stuck behind smoky traffic. Moroccans cross the country in mopeds that sip fuel at 60kmh which bicycle tires, but I much prefer to be able to ride past traffic than be a part of it.

Know what you mean. I tend to choose the Bandit for long distances if there’s motorway involved just for the power but the thousand miles to Spain on the Himalayan are also a real joy. It’s such an undemanding bike you’re free to just enjoy the scenery. It’s also completely trustworthy, during the recent ride in the storm with hail and so much deep water on the roads I never once doubted the bike would go where I looked. Even when a slide started I knew the Himalayan was with me and going to come back out of it. Can’t quite say that for my other bikes.

We taking about the fat thing?

If one of my household told me they were getting a Beemer I'd kick them square in the nuts. Breakdowns involving self igniting egr valves, limp mode due to gear change position faults. Most of the older ones along with some mercs and VWs are being bought up by the immigrants and chavs who promptly remove the DPFs turning them into even more unreliable polluting bags of stinking crap. Most cars built between 1996 and 2006 were some of the best ever, that has long since passed.

You weren't allowed on some sites (especially quarries) if you weren't wearing it @busabeast is probably trying his on for size right now

The spelling! I’m not drunk yet, you’ll know if I do. I’ll call you…

Good hod! When was that and how old are you? That truck looks like it belongs in those orfan plays from the UK, with the beggar kids, Oliver!

I did an image search of Gnats and Hawks and the only easily visible difference to my old eyes is the rear tail plane is lower than the main wings on a Gnat, and higher then the main wings on a Hawk. Gnat Hawk

This is like the one I drove

My last couple of days kind of hurt my feelings with everything regarding work. Bloody greedy companies annoy me but now I know someone has plans to delete my earnings over the mid term. This has meant a pretty difficult day and I’m now exhausted even if I didn’t leave the house today. wine will be consumed shortly

Yeah it's permanent, glad to get away from the bloody agencies

A Hawk..... A gnat Pretty simple really

watch out for the deep ones.

Going bust!......the last 5 places my wife worked at as a temp went bust not long after she had been there....... Best of luck @busabeast

Good luck @busabeast My advice would be to try not step on anyone's toes until you get into it , tipper work can be very clicky. At least your truck will probably have power steering, I used to drive an 8-wheeler Scammel with NO power steering

I am starting work on class 2 tippers tomorrow so let's see if this one goes bust eh.....

Maybe but it’s not a barge

I was going to ride up to Cirencester on the Fosseway but far too cold so I took the car.

Bob can get you a discount.

Morning mingers Kind of got the day off and the requests for dishes are in. Murgh Makhani, Begum Bahar, King prawn Korma, Samosa’s, Padron peppers, mushroom rice, poppadoms n chutneys, garlic naan followed by icecream n a nice cocktail for pud. Not making the naans or the poppadoms because it’s not worth it for the few bites they get. Pudding I’m going to do the ‘Screaming O’ a lovely cocktail of vodka, baileys, kahlua, amaretto n cream. Well worth the effort. It’s still fecking freezing but the blanket of ice over the field has made everything feel very Christmassy

I doubt it will ever happen but if I wanted a car to keep and pamper it would be German , the last of the properly made Mercedes..............

+1 or Monument Alley

Depends which Aero, now a 9000 Aero had a lot of potential. Or a 93 Viggen both with the 2.3 Turbo motor. Mind you the Viggen would try and kill you quite regularly. I know a Scottish chap who had a much modified 9000 Aero running 600 BHP, munching gearboxes was his hobby. You genuinely meet the best people through the Saab community. I was a Mod on UKSaabs for years and still think of the owner of that site as a friend.

My long term friend who recently died had a long spell with Saabs. We'd jump in and thrash it to where ever we were going to have a walk. Derbyshire, Dorset, they just soaked it all up. He had a silver aero which was "a motorbike on four wheels", his words.

Classic Saab 900 was a surprisingly good handling car, the 99 was better IMHO but you are right the E46 a much better more modern developed package in many ways. Thing is with those old Saabs you have to compare them to their contemporaries to appreciate how good they were. Back in the days when 100 BHP was a lot for a car the Saab 900 was head and shoulders above most mainstream offerings. Not just in power, the double wishbone front suspension was awesome. My C900 in that picture had 200,000 miles on it and was running 200 BHP without hiccup. The motor could have produced much more but the gearbox was the Achilles heel in that model. Again though a lot of modern cars blow both the E46 and c900 into the weeds in every measurable way but it's all about they way they feel. Whoops nearly let the geek out, its alright I have put him away again.

Super fun day today. Drove into our first mountain resort where Heli Skiing is the big thing. A beautiful place and the roads were great. I was excited to see the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. It had stopped for refuelling. It was all covered with lights and I'm sure would look really cool in the dark. Sure feel the holiday spirit here in the mountains.

Last of the real Saabs.

Did that in L.A., rode up to the front door of Loews Hollywood with 2500 miles of road dust on the bike. Two days before they hosted the Oscars. Parked the bike out front and walked in, cool as fuck.

I really enjoyed all of your reports Pedro. You have a talent for writing and engaging the reader. I had thought long trips on BMW's were behind me but reading your reports had me dreaming of more. Thanks for sharing your feelings also, gave some real emotional colour and context to the trip. The photos were stunning.

I had went to bed early, and did set an alarm clock for the first time in weeks, to 06:30. That gave me time to enjoy waking up lazily in bed, procrastinating getting up while enjoying my own company. Breakfast was the only poor one I had this trip, that went nicely with the theme of this visit to Fes, croissants were stale and worthy of one single bite, orange juice hadn't seen an orange since an industrial factory somewhere once processed them, and coffee tasted like Nescafe. In Morocco there's no excuse for non fresh orange juice and shit coffee, but it made sense as that hotel didn't even offer a breakfast free stay, they had to push people to eat it I was ready to go a little after 7, but as I looked around the streets seemed really wet and it was going to be dark for a while after leaving, so grudgingly put my plastic rain pants and jacket on. By 07:25, I was ready to go: Put navigation on heading to Ain Dorij, and rode off, google maps took me out via tiny streets that seemed more complicated than needed, but the low traffic showed me a less seen side of Fes. It was interesting. Getting out of town and rain starts to steadily fall, at 08:15 I had had my only really challenging moment on the road and stopped to enjoy the sunrise a little, on a particularly muddy and poorly surfaced bit of road tilting to the right, I was forced to brake a little and basically slid off the road, I spotted the gravel bit outside the tarmac and simply pointed to that and rode it for a while. I am most impressed at the Mitas E07 + Dakar, they're sound tires even if the manufacturer warns that they have poor performance in rain and cold. 08:15: Rain properly starts to fall shortly later, my phone is now safe in my jacket and I stop for a moment's rest after spotting shelter. Someone takes my picture as for whatever reason I was enjoying it quite a bit. The above was at 08:55, I then put the phone back in my jacket pocket safe from the weather, and rode all the way to Tangier with no need for it. Navigation was easy and although I was riding on less than main roads I knew I had to go pass Ouezzane and then Chefchaouen, it proved easy. Rain didn't stop for the rest of the morning, averaging from hard to very hard and very windy at the same time. I got stopped at a checkpoint and after the initial small talk the officer told me I had been spotted at 95kmh on a 60, I got off the bike with the helmet open, got my right glove off and introduced myself, told him I would be more respectful from now on, but that I was intended on catching the Ferry and wanted to not miss it, all while putting my biggest possible good guy big smile attitude. Then he asked me for my papers while looking at the back of the bike, and asked where I was from as clearly I didn't have a French or German plate, upon the answer of "Portugaise" he enthusiastically shook my hand and after becoming friends sent me on my way with a big smile and a "ride safe" farewell. Portugal is a good nationality to be in Morocco, our national football team shares the same colours, and we both like beating the French and Spaniards. From there it was very smooth to Tangier, if plenty of wet. The last miles before Tangier were dry and windy, which allowed the overalls to dry on the outside. I had money with me so stopped to top up the bike at a Shell station, rode into Tangier feeling like a road worn adventurer, and quickly got lost in lunchtime traffic Stopped at a cafe with outside tables on a common street and ordered a sandwich. While it took forever to arrive I took the overalls off and made myself comfortable. Turns out my overall pants aren't really waterproof anymore, my jeans were wet on the outside all over the waterproof stitches, and my chest and upper back was fully wet too. Good stuff! The bike looked proper and had just proven to be a trusty friend, a true work beast or a war horse: It was good to ride to the port without the blasted rain suit, hang around for a little getting in line for the bike to be x-rayed, it all went easily as if hipotetically crossing between any European countries. The crossing was a little choppy, the storms seemed to have angered the Mediterranean and the boat rocked heavily the whole trip. At first it was funny like so, look at the water level in the horizon: But after a while people started to get a little tired of it, I felt like having a piss but sat firmly in my seat at the risk of falling over when walking or throwing up if standing, two guys started praying to Allah, and a few people had hands on their faces like trying to prevent eyes from popping out. We made it ok though, lack of paperwork on the boat was a bonus, I don't envy people crossing the other way and having to write stuff down, I would succumb to that for sure! Got out of the boat in my due time, and pushed the bike along with all the line of cars that got off the boat before I did. Tarifa looked stormy, so I put the rain stuff back on, the time at Tangier and on the boat had dried my clothes so I felt comfy and fresh. It was past 16:00 by the time I rode out of Tarifa, I had looked at hotels around there and also the weather forecasts, it was rain for the next few days, so feeling fresh after the ride from Fes I decided to go home for the night, Waze sent me via Badajoz which wouldn't have been my preferred route, but as it was raining through Sevilla (or was it Huelva already? I don't know...) I was lazy and followed it's guidance. Storms were littered all around, with orange warnings for heavy rain so I figured there must be a reason for the longer route. Right before entering Portugal I stopped for a snack after riding all the way from Tarifa in heavy rains. 20km into the trip a water barrier descended upon me with such violence that water pushed into my overalls with ease through my neck and wrists. This stop made sense, and the tiny jamon con queso bocadillho provided me with a little comfort from the belly outwards. The beer is 0% alcohol, too. The snack and fuel stop was at 20:09, I made it home at 22:54 and the bike looked pretty much like I did except prettier, just as wet. That was an epic day riding, around 300/320km in Morocco's backroads and around 700km in Europe with port crossing and a choppy ride in the middle of it, I felt like it was a proper day to end a proper trip, and was comforted by a hot shower in my own house, that I grew to love from Maria. Heated up some of Sofia's shepherds pie and opened a bottle of red wine. I was feeling energized when arriving home, despite the long day, but as soon as food and wine hit my stomach and I settled from the excitement of riding through rain storms, I started feeling tired. That night I fell asleep moments after laying down, and the rain lashed the outside of my bedroom walls through the night. On this trip I travelled with Maria and Sofia, and have to thank you all for providing an audience, the taking pictures everywhere provided with a distraction to some of the very intense feelings I had. I got through it and the extreme darkness I feared didn't appear, only sorrow and the memory of loving times did. I hardly ever felt alone on this trip. It was a nice one, there will be more. Thank you for all the nice comments.

I do know that It has been documented by many including yourself. My problem is, and it is my problem, I have travelled a lot of miles on my R100RS and K100RS, powerful bikes with good fairings if I were to travel long distance again I would want more of the same. I love my Himalayan for its ease of riding and frugal nature but I can't see myself doing hundreds of miles in a day on it. I know it can, as could a C90 cub, but I think I would find the low power frustrating pretty quickly on faster roads. Horses for courses. I think for commuting and rural bimbling around my Himalayan is perfect for me, for belting up to Scotland or across to Ireland I would want more.

Cool, I love my E46 318Ti also, right engine, right gearing, right balance, right car. Of course I may be bit biased. I bought it 3 years ago with just 60,000 miles, new cam chain as well for good measure. Can't find any decent photos of it right now but do have them some where. When I was Saab mad I used to do track days mostly at Castle Coombe and Thruxton. Kids came along and took the budget for those high jinx. The E83 is my wife's money pit.

Agree , I wouldn’t get in a helicopter …

Get arrested trying to take the gun back to Canada, cooler story. End up as Bubbas wife in supermax, priceless.

we have -5c stuff that freezes at 0c LOL

Yup it was a bit nippy today @Saul, I was north of you in Tenby, It was -8.5c when i arrived this morning and i was working outside in it, never went above 2c all day. I have been working in temperatures below freezing all week, but never mind about my easy job lets hear some more about how hard Pete's getting it in his warm office pressing those spring loaded keys on his keyboard for a living, must be absolute hell

Thank you for the kind comments, guys! You don't need a BMW to do any of this stuff and many bikes would probably be a lot better offroad, but I really appreciate mine and it absolutely suits my riding style.

Thanks for the ride Pedro, excellent report. Felt a little emotional for you reading some of that. My favourite pic.

Absolutely cracking.

29th November, Tuesday, and I wake up after a nice quiet night of deep sleep. By 08:15, just a little after sunrise I'm already outside, and the bags packed and on the bike. Breakfast was luxurious, starter was very spicy eggs followed by lovely msmen. I felt proper cold when taking the luggage to the bike, and although I was sure to warm up a little going to the desert later on, starting a cold day on a full stomach is a nice thing. Leaving the hotel first thing was a nice idea, got to see the sun start to climb over the canyon walls as I rode down to Boulmane to put fuel in. Today I knew the ride was going to be flat and smooth rolling on main roads after exiting the canyon, by mid afternoon at the latest I would be in the dunes of Erg Chebbi. I rode slowly and took in the views as the bike was almost empty of fuel, it was proper cold inside the cold rock walls, and the early sunlight was almost magical when hitting the redish surroundings. Rode past Boulmane with just one short stop for a picture, and stopped for fuel. The gas station clerk was a little surprised to put 28 liters into a motorcycle since the moped on the next pump had just filled up with 2 After Boulmane the riding changed from the previous day's mountains and twisty roads and trails to empty spaces, the feeling of riding out of a deep tight gorge into wide open terrain makes you feel free and I both look forward to the desert and already miss the Atlas, the remaining of them here to the left in this picture. Fully fueled and cruising at a steady 80 or 100 depending on limits the GS is indicating 750km autonomy, a little optimistic but it is very frugal when going this slowly, fuel average dropped down to 4.1 this morning, from the previous day's 4.2 or 4.3lt/100km. Almost 10AM local time and I'm entering Tinghir, which is a proper town at the end of the Dades Gorge, the other main Gorge flowing south. In Portugal it's almost 9AM and I need to call a couple of guys so I stop for an expresso and walk around a little while getting those work things out of the way to then enjoy the rest of the day, which was going to be both beautiful but also emotionally demanding. And back on the open road heading SouthEast, everything changes as you approach the Sahara, people's faces, their clothing, cars and houses, all within 100km or less. Close to Rissani, I get out of the road for a discrete pee and the GS rolls on hard desert for the first time this year, the famous golden dunes in the distance! I go off piste before Merzouga. It was still early and I had time, plus part of me was a little anxious about arriving too. Off-piste is a great way of getting lost, even with the dunes in the distance as a clear orientation point I ended up getting half lost and stuck, so went back and found a clear trail Stopped by a souvenir shop to buy a couple of small gifts to take home and kindly refused their offer to rent some sand boards Now heading to the hotel, my previous shelter for a few times was the Auberge Dunes D'Or, and this time too. This place feels like a little oasis in the summertime, it's inner garden with a few trees and a nice swimming pool providing foreigners and all kinds of birds with much needed cool and shade. To get there I took a little sand road and avoided the tarmac, having not ridden on sand for a while and the GS being almost fully fueled and loaded with both cases, as I got distracted by this great tamarisk tree the soft sand around it surprised me, I slowed down, the front dug and I dropped the bike. Even if almost stopped when going down it did affect my confidence. The bike stood on it's own after I picked it up, and I took a few pictures to let it rest instead of running the engine right after being dropped. Then got going and a couple of miles later made it to my destination, pride slightly bruised but ok and no damage done by the soft sand. I got the same room as always, with the same amazing access to the sand from the back Made it to my room at around 16:30, having procrastinated for about 2 or 3 hours between coffee stops and souvenirs. A shower, a little conversation with the hotel owner, and off I went to walk up a big tall dune before sunset. Erg Chebbi is a very pretty place, the color of the sand is unique to this place, at sunset it glows in the most amazing tones of gold. People come from all over to stand over the tallest dunes to watch the sunset and sunrise, it was on top of one of the dunes that has since shifted that right before sunset I proposed. It has always been one of my favourite places before and still is. After taking all these pictures I just sat there and thought for a while. I was deeply sad up there, remembered one of the happiest moments of my life quite clearly. Over the next days I did look at the dunes a lot but didn't go up there to watch sunset again. It got cold and after a while I walked back down, the guys had kindly fixed me a welcome home Moroccan tea, but when they noticed I was sat there on top alone decided not to bother me. Teat was now half cold but I had it anyway, along with some peanuts. Dinner was a chicken and vegetable tagine, it doesn't look great on the picture but the aubergines were amazing. Very spicy, very nice and just what you need on a cold desert night. A few glasses of cold sharp whine wouldn't have gone to waste, either, but not on this hotel. That night I didn't sleep very well. I was comfy and warm in bed and it was very silent, I remember laying awake in such darkness that you can't tell if your eyes are open or closed, and thinking of things from the past. The plan for the following day was to wake up with the sunrise casting light straight from my bedroom window onto me, and enjoy the place with a nice ride around, an early swim in the pool while it made sense, and just enjoy the silence. 30th of November, I wake up with the sun indeed, but lay in bed a little tired from the night's lack of sleep. I made it breakfast by 9 to my usual msmen and coffee in one of my favourite rooms to have breakfast in. Sparrows couldn't care less about the quiet portuguese and finish up the crumbs left by messy guests. I throw them a few bits of pancake, which quickly disappear. After the previous day's lack of confidence in the soft sand, I felt little confidence in tackling that terrain. Armed with that little confidence, I went exploring what I could and see how the piste that went from Taous to Zagora was like. It's said to be something 120km of not too hard piste, some of it a little rocky and hard (typical of the region) but a sandy oued after Ramlia challenges heavier bikes and less confident riders or drivers. There is a tarmac road being built now, to help with he crossing, so now instead of an easy piste after Taous you've got tarmac almost all the way to Ouzina, a good 15 or 20km more. I faced desert traffic getting there, though: Tarmac ending is done with plenty of warning and I venture forward to see what it's like. The bike now has a little less fuel, no cases, and I am fresh after breakfast instead of late in the afternoon after skipping lunch, I have also loosened the damping overall. The piste doesn't seem as frightening today, and my newly found confidence allows me to appreciate it all a little more. A few kms later and I stop to ask a dude working on a land moving machine what he feels of the trail ahead. Ibrahim and me chat for a while, he talks about his times working as a truck driver in Mauritania and how cold it is getting now. His reasoning is that I might struggle with just a tiny bit of the crossing but if I can handle that area where we are ok, then I should have no issues. I feel good, and proceed ahead, after a bit I do come across a few softer sections but knowing that Ibrahim is around and that there is the ocasional 4WD driving past I am a little confident that nothing too bad would happen if I do get stuck. That confidence allows me to give it a go and turns out that it isn't that bad. The closest I came to dropping the bike that day was balancing it on the sand while stopped, the wind suddenly shifting causing it to drop towards me. It didn't touch the ground, but lesson learned and don't be cocky I start to warm up from the offroad riding, so stop to take off my warmer layer and just breath it all in. Desert sand smells like adventure! School walls in Morocco are always painted in random bright colours, even if the surrounding village is all built out of the same dirt colored clay, schools are always filled with laugher and brightness Exploring back near Merzouga, I found a dry lake. It does fill up with water after heavier rains, but not today. Some parts were perfectly flat, and I might have recorded the highest speed of this 5000 km trip on this spot, it was too tempting to resist... You better keep your eyes in the distance when doing higher speeds, though, because suddenly you'll be facing the sort of surface that makes me choose rugged tires to ride the desert. I suspect these will make easy work of softer road biased rubber. Lac Dayet Srij: It wasn't late, but I was getting tired, so headed to Merzouga to drink a cold coca cola and walk around, ended up buying a little bit of a spice mix and a few flowers to make tea with back at home. Also did the tourist thing and learned how to tie a head cloth berber style Went back to the hotel, and went on the swimming pool. I feared it would be cold from the night temperatures, but the theme of this trip has been to do what comes your way instead of obsessing too much about it, fill your day with things. So I dived head first, and promptly swam to the other side and went out, it was indeed freezing cold. Reinvigorated from that cold shock, I leisurely sat and watched the dunes imperceptibly shifting, similar to watching paint dry but more serene and zen. How cool is this? that day I watched the sunset from the hotel, it was also spectacular but more of an emotional serene experience. Later on, dinner was meatball tagine, and it was fenomenal. The previous day a group had arrived on a guided tour. The sort of thing that you book 2 weeks off and for 750€ get taken on a nice van all around, a couple of night in each location. Overall it's nice value to see stuff without the hassle of planning, all in this small group were individual travelers too, so they all got a chance to make friends. That night after dinner I went in to solve a little difficulty in communications and ended up spending the evening around a fire playing the drums. It was a nice evening too, and it felt nice to have company and good conversation late into the night. I had planned on leaving the next day, but had such a nice day riding around and contemplating the dunes that in my mind I wasn't going anywhere tomorrow either. Went to bed calm and slept from the previous night's lack of sleep. The next day would be my best day ever for riding my bike offroad.