motorcycle photography Photos from The Cockpit

[Buckster]

On 20/09/2022 at 15:42, Skippy said:

It’s the bloody thing that stops me seeing the Mediterranean Sea from my solarium Bob!

I think it’s called the Sierra de Moreras……..just a ribbon of hills that stops the sea from rushing inland.

When a meteor hits the ocean and causes a tsunami the height of a block of council flats you won’t be complaining about them.

[Tango]

[boboneleg]

17 minutes ago, Tango said:

Don't be paying to much attention to the vines on the left or you may find yourself in the ditch on the right   

[Buckster]

7 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Don't be paying to much attention to the vines on the left or you may find yourself in the ditch on the right   

Video or it didn't happen.

[Tango]

23 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Don't be paying to much attention to the vines on the left or you may find yourself in the ditch on the right   

The state of that road requires full concentration,  Bob!

[boboneleg]

1 hour ago, Tango said:

The state of that road requires full concentration,  Bob!

Apart from the vines it looks just like some of the roads on the Somerset Levels , they have a ditch (rhine) on both sides 

[Pedro]

 

[Sir Fallsalot]

4 minutes ago, Pedro said:

 

I hope you had your suspension set to off road in case one fell off LOL

[Pedro]

11 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

I hope you had your suspension set to off road in case one fell off LOL

The clio made the van brake, which did make the guy with he white shirt hold on for dear life.

Also saw plenty of those vans carrying schoolgirls on top sitting on the luggage rack, but did not take pictures of that.

[Sir Fallsalot]

1 minute ago, Pedro said:

The clio made the van brake, which did make the guy with he white shirt hold on for dear life.

Also saw plenty of those vans carrying schoolgirls on top sitting on the luggage rack, but did not take pictures of that.

That would be no good here in the uk too many low bridges 

[Pedro]

[yen_powell]

16 hours ago, Pedro said:

Can't quite see the cock pit from that angle.

[Catteeclan]

7 hours ago, yen_powell said:

Can't quite see the cock pit from that angle.

Noooooo.

[Pedro]

[Sir Fallsalot]

30 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Whats the temperature like there Pedro cant quite make it out on your dash is that 85f

[Pedro]

9 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

Whats the temperature like there Pedro cant quite make it out on your dash is that 85f

That’s engine coolant temperature, so 85ºC.

woke up far away near mountains to 5 or 6°c, rode off at about 10, then it varied between 12 and 15 for most of the day, by mid-afternoon it got to 18 or 20 and stayed like that untill sunset. 

Minimum over last night was 2C

Yesterday morning it was 7C in Ifrane, and 10 for quite some time. It’s chilly, so not really swimming pool season up here yet. I have been lucky with plenty of sunshine as the wind feels proper cold, had it been overcast I’d freeze.

[Sir Fallsalot]

1 minute ago, Pedro said:

That’s engine coolant temperature, so 85ºC.

woke up far away near mountains to 5 or 6°c, rode off at about 10, then it varied between 12 and 15 for most of the day, by mid-afternoon it got to 18 or 20 and stayed like that untill sunset. 

Minimum over last night was 2C

Yesterday morning it was 7C in Ifrane, and 10 for quite some time. It’s chilly, so not really swimming pool season up here yet. I have been lucky with plenty of sunshine as the wind feels proper cold, had it been overcast I’d freeze.

That's a temperature i could live with, looking at your photos they remind me of one of those days here that start with a frost but remain sunny all day with clear sky's. 

[Pedro]

Tomorrow, I’ll see camels and big dunes!

Just now, Sir Fallsalot said:

That's a temperature i could live with, looking at your photos they remind me of one of those days here that start with a frost but remain sunny all day with clear sky's. 

Indeed, but here temperatures drop about 10°c once the sun starts to set, I’ve never experienced such quick changes in temperatures. Plus riding around quite comfy, stopping and realizing it’s actually warm but then a wind gust blows by and it feels freezing. It’s very odd weather, but I have been very lucky indeed as I am not prepared for proper cold.

[Sir Fallsalot]

2 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Tomorrow, I’ll see camels and big dunes!

Indeed, but here temperatures drop about 10°c once the sun starts to set, I’ve never experienced such quick changes in temperatures. Plus riding around quite comfy, stopping and realizing it’s actually warm but then a wind gust blows by and it feels freezing. It’s very odd weather, but I have been very lucky indeed as I am not prepared for proper cold.

Sounds like typical UK weather except we get rain thrown in with that

[Pedro]

3 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

Sounds like typical UK weather except we get rain thrown in with that

 

Where I rode today would normally be snowed in by now, and I wouldn’t have dared. Nor would I with rain, that’s serious country there to mess up with the weather.

[Sir Fallsalot]

1 minute ago, Pedro said:

 

Where I rode today would normally be snowed in by now, and I wouldn’t have dared. Nor would I with rain, that’s serious country there to mess up with the weather.

Yes i was thinking those dirt roads would get a bit messy after some rain

[Pedro]

3 minutes ago, Sir Fallsalot said:

Yes i was thinking those dirt roads would get a bit messy after some rain

It’s that, floods that wash you away, and mud slides that block roads. I wouldn’t get out of tarmac if it rains.

Plus the GS and mud simply doesn’t sound like a good idea.

[Pedro]

I treat my bike like a touring bike, which is what it is. Nothing I rode today is not a road if you look at a map, the parts with the biggest drops in those pictures are a regional road too, which the step down from a National 

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

14 minutes ago, Pedro said:

I treat my bike like a touring bike, which is what it is. Nothing I rode today is not a road if you look at a map, the parts with the biggest drops in those pictures are a regional road too, which the step down from a National 

How do you plot your route? Or don’t you?

[Pedro]

1 hour ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

How do you plot your route? Or don’t you?

Well, you look where you want to end up and pick the roads that look the most adventurous on the map. If in an unknown area, which this is not, I just set a destination and follow the tiny twisty roads. In the case of today I already knew the areas and what I was going to encounter more or less. I was surprised to find a substantial amount of "let's call it adventurous" road has been sanitized into a wide tarmac section, and other parts that I expected some better quality tarmac now have no tarmac whatsoever, this made the ride feel almost like a novelty in roads I had already ridden.

Google maps pretty much tells me what I want in Portugal, you look and it's easy to see which roads to take, tiny and twisty. For Morocco it's the same but you can't be sure of road quality from google maps. For Morocco, you get a Michelin 742 and it's the best guide for finding out the best roads, the ones marked with green surroundings and plenty of lookout symbols are always great, and the ones market "dangerous" are even better.

Top tip for Morocco: bringing your Michelin map, either carry it in a closed pocket in your jacket and never show it, or carry two (one on top of your luggage, one in the bottom). They are now confiscating these maps on customs as they identify the Ocidental Sahara as a country and Morocco does not like that one bit. You might be able to them buy those same maps on shops outside the customs but that a different matter 

As a note, I would not want to ride the roads I did yesterday and today in a purely road bike with road tires and small wheels. Sure you can do any road in anything, but it's too easy to damage a more delicate tire on these roads, and the suspension and riding position, etc etc. For those bikes, you can find nice scenic roads too, but in my opinion you will not be seeing the cool stuff in the mountains. The locals will ride everything in a chinese 125, but they are going slowly, not carrying much luggage, and not doing big distances. In the coastal areas and south of the Atlas you can see cool stuff on any bike and sticking to nice enough tarmac, though.