The Moroccan Shakedown - Page 5

Hogslayer · 09-25-2011, 01:43 PM

Great pictures really love the landscape there especially the shot from the hill looking down on the oasis town in the desert.

I don't see the 800GS carrying any extra fuel and with a fuel tank around 4.2gal or around 16 liters is that sufficient between fuel stops or are you guys sharing fuel when needed?

FloorPoor · 09-25-2011, 01:49 PM

Subscribed!

Colebatch · 09-25-2011, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hogslayer

Great pictures really love the landscape there especially the shot from the hill looking down on the oasis town in the desert.

I don't see the 800GS carrying any extra fuel and with a fuel tank around 4.2gal or around 16 liters is that sufficient between fuel stops or are you guys sharing fuel when needed?

The weakest link was the KTM with 22 litres. That was a touch less range than the 800 with 16 litres. Those guys shared the capacity of the 5 extra litres.

Colebatch · 09-25-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motoreiter

Walter, please a shot of this new rear rack! I am in the market for one and was about to order one from a metal fab when I saw your post. Does it mount on the standard TT pannier rack?

Will try and get a pic tomorrow morning mate.

Basically the rack is a 3 part rack ... there is the top rack and the two side racks.

The idea is that the top rack is always connected to the bike, for convenience. The side racks are detachable, so can be used when using side bags, or easily removed in 5 minutes when not required.

On this trip, as I was just taking a single ortlieb bag, I used just the top rack and left the side racks at home.

That way the rack system is of maximum utility and flexibility. So it doesnt use the touratech rack, it has its own set up. Erik looked at many options for mounting the top rack, but has gone one way for strength. Same with the side racks ... he looked at my racks from previous years, and has used that experience plus my suggestions of what is most handy when touring, to design the side racks.

Colebatch · 09-25-2011, 08:50 PM

Igor picked up a flat near the end of the piste, and after fixing it in the baking sun, we limped into Bouanane looking forward to lunch and a few cold drinks.

Here, having helped get the back wheel off, Grom and I walk away from Igor's bike. Its his flat ... so his problem

Here is Grom returning to help do the valve into the valve thing ... something which seems to take him no more than about 5-10 seconds, every time:

A few cold drinks soon became over 2 litres of Coke and water each, and lunch turned into a 3 hour affair. I took advantage of our heat exhaustion and went to find a mechanic to drill out my snapped bolt and try and insert a new one. Several blunt drill bits and considerable damage to my alloy lower frame later, the old bolt was out and a new one brutally jammed in there to replace it. It was a brutal, ugly job, but sometimes an ugly result is better than no result. I hoped it would get me back to Holland where I could get it properly repaired.

Our 3 hour lunch ended at about 3pm, at which time we decided just to cruise to our next stop, Merzouga, at the foot of Erg Chebbi, the edge of the Sahara and home to the biggest dunes in Morocco. The temperature hit 41C on our drive to Merzouga and I was in no mood to compromise tonight on a hotel. Merzouga sees a lot of tourists and is not a one horse (and one hotel) town like Beni Tadjite was last night. We would have a wide choice of hotels, many of which would be quite empty as it was way too early for tourist season in Morocco.

We arrived about 5pm and I insisted on a place with swimming pool, showers, and wifi. Half the places in and around Merzouga seemed to meet those criteria. Sometimes its good to be in touristy areas. We found a place, convinced the staff to score us some cold beers, stripped down and jumped straight into the pool. A swimming pool never felt that amazingly special as that first plunge today.

DaveyDave · 09-26-2011, 12:17 AM

Great report so far mate. Looking forward to seeing how all the new mods work out for you!

Love the look of the KTM fairing too. I keep swinging both ways on which to get off Erik. Somedays I love the two 'eyes' look on 'his' fairing but other days the 690 look pulls me in. Decisions decisions :)

magsd · 09-26-2011, 02:49 AM

I'm a bit scared of the tire changes.
Hopefully that won't happen too often to me, because I'm a single driver.

Better safe than sorry, I bought 2 new mantles for front and rear.

Flood · 09-26-2011, 05:00 AM

Spectacular reporting, as usual!

ata · 09-26-2011, 05:54 AM

doesn´t sound like another "fantastic trip trough Merzouga´s big dunes"

have you been at plage blanche?

I´m in

incredible mark · 09-26-2011, 06:03 AM

Hello Walter, I see you got yourself into another epic adventure, thanks for sharing this here.
Maggie’s adventure has unfortunately ended premature so I was looking around for a new inspiring RR. I am so glad you didn’t back out.

Be safe, you all!!

bigborefan · 09-26-2011, 08:01 AM

Is Walter having fun? I can't tell yet...

BigMike40 · 09-26-2011, 12:33 PM

Walter, I know you're away but just so you know (in case you didn't already) the navigation on your sibersky website isn't working.

You'll get a good reception at Ibrahims place at Maherch at the end of the dakar piste if you fancy it. Coordinates are N 30 45.587 W 4 33.807

This is Mike btw, we traded emails re Siberia.

ChrisB Kiwi · 09-26-2011, 08:42 PM

3 other adventure riders who also go the soft side bag route! Those big hard panniers most inmates seem to run just scream broken ankle to me.

Fantastic report, pics and adventure!!!

Colebatch · 09-27-2011, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ata

doesn´t sound like another "fantastic trip trough Merzouga´s big dunes"

have you been at plage blanche?

I´m in

Yes we did the amazing Plage Blanche piste between Tan Tan and Sidi Ifni. Wow, what a cool piste.

(but the next part of the report will be Merzouga's dunes

)

Colebatch · 09-27-2011, 07:15 AM

Our route took us through Merzouga. In fact the next piste started for us just 20 km away, where the asphalt runs out in the village of Taouz. And we were staying in Merzouga. So really we had no excuse to not take advantage of the edge of the Sahara dunes in Merzouga ... the Erg Chebbi.

The day began with breakfast ...

Then we saw the hotel reception being cleaned (dont worry it will be dry in 5 minutes)

And out in the car park we spotted a couple of spanish 2 strokes that had been trailered down overnight:

09-25-2011, 01:49 PM	#62
FloorPoor Studly Adventurer Joined: Feb 2010 Location: Spudville, Idaho Oddometer: 582	I think this is gonna be another good one. Subscribed! __________________ You can have anything you want, but not everything you want.

09-25-2011, 08:50 PM	#65
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,831	10.09.11 Beni Tadjite - Merzouga (part 2) Igor picked up a flat near the end of the piste, and after fixing it in the baking sun, we limped into Bouanane looking forward to lunch and a few cold drinks. Here, having helped get the back wheel off, Grom and I walk away from Igor's bike. Its his flat ... so his problem Here is Grom returning to help do the valve into the valve thing ... something which seems to take him no more than about 5-10 seconds, every time: A few cold drinks soon became over 2 litres of Coke and water each, and lunch turned into a 3 hour affair. I took advantage of our heat exhaustion and went to find a mechanic to drill out my snapped bolt and try and insert a new one. Several blunt drill bits and considerable damage to my alloy lower frame later, the old bolt was out and a new one brutally jammed in there to replace it. It was a brutal, ugly job, but sometimes an ugly result is better than no result. I hoped it would get me back to Holland where I could get it properly repaired. Our 3 hour lunch ended at about 3pm, at which time we decided just to cruise to our next stop, Merzouga, at the foot of Erg Chebbi, the edge of the Sahara and home to the biggest dunes in Morocco. The temperature hit 41C on our drive to Merzouga and I was in no mood to compromise tonight on a hotel. Merzouga sees a lot of tourists and is not a one horse (and one hotel) town like Beni Tadjite was last night. We would have a wide choice of hotels, many of which would be quite empty as it was way too early for tourist season in Morocco. We arrived about 5pm and I insisted on a place with swimming pool, showers, and wifi. Half the places in and around Merzouga seemed to meet those criteria. Sometimes its good to be in touristy areas. We found a place, convinced the staff to score us some cold beers, stripped down and jumped straight into the pool. A swimming pool never felt that amazingly special as that first plunge today. __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE World Motorcycle Altitude Record video HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com

09-26-2011, 12:17 AM	#66
DaveyDave Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Nov 2009 Location: SE Queensland, Upsidedown land Oddometer: 294	Great report so far mate. Looking forward to seeing how all the new mods work out for you! Love the look of the KTM fairing too. I keep swinging both ways on which to get off Erik. Somedays I love the two 'eyes' look on 'his' fairing but other days the 690 look pulls me in. Decisions decisions :) __________________ No trees where harmed in the sending of this message, however a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

09-26-2011, 02:49 AM	#67
magsd two stroke fanatic Joined: Apr 2009 Location: Zwickau Oddometer: 83	I'm a bit scared of the tire changes. Hopefully that won't happen too often to me, because I'm a single driver. Better safe than sorry, I bought 2 new mantles for front and rear. __________________

09-26-2011, 05:00 AM	#68
Flood F5lood. Joined: Oct 2005 Location: Austria Oddometer: 9,375	Spectacular reporting, as usual! __________________ TEAM F5 RallyRAIDio on Twitter RallyRAIDio on Facebook

09-25-2011, 01:43 PM	#61
Hogslayer motomaniac Joined: Oct 2007 Location: 37.7 miles west of the Donner Party! Oddometer: 140	Great pictures really love the landscape there especially the shot from the hill looking down on the oasis town in the desert. I don't see the 800GS carrying any extra fuel and with a fuel tank around 4.2gal or around 16 liters is that sufficient between fuel stops or are you guys sharing fuel when needed?

09-26-2011, 05:54 AM	#69
ata Iron Man Joined: Sep 2007 Location: Bilbao, close to the fu****ng Guggenheim Oddometer: 2,016	doesn´t sound like another "fantastic trip trough Merzouga´s big dunes" have you been at plage blanche? I´m in __________________ Youth is wasted on the young Need some help<<<<<<>>>>>>> wet wanderings

09-26-2011, 06:03 AM	#70
incredible mark n00b Joined: Jan 2010 Location: Sweetlake City, Holland Oddometer: 3	YES!! another one Hello Walter, I see you got yourself into another epic adventure, thanks for sharing this here. Maggie’s adventure has unfortunately ended premature so I was looking around for a new inspiring RR. I am so glad you didn’t back out. Be safe, you all!!

09-26-2011, 08:01 AM	#71
bigborefan Making new friends Joined: Jul 2007 Location: USA - Midwest, Central Illinois Oddometer: 718	Is Walter having fun? I can't tell yet... __________________ 2010 KTM 530 XC-W / 2009 KTM 950SE I don't know everything, but what I don't know, I lie about

09-26-2011, 12:33 PM	#72
BigMike40 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Aug 2011 Location: NW UK Oddometer: 197	Walter, I know you're away but just so you know (in case you didn't already) the navigation on your sibersky website isn't working. You'll get a good reception at Ibrahims place at Maherch at the end of the dakar piste if you fancy it. Coordinates are N 30 45.587 W 4 33.807 This is Mike btw, we traded emails re Siberia.

09-26-2011, 08:42 PM	#73
ChrisB Kiwi Adventurer Joined: Nov 2010 Location: Brissie Oddometer: 56	It's nice to see 3 other adventure riders who also go the soft side bag route! Those big hard panniers most inmates seem to run just scream broken ankle to me. Fantastic report, pics and adventure!!!

09-27-2011, 07:15 AM	#75
Colebatch ^OP "Moto Porn"ographer Joined: Jul 2006 Location: Sunny London Oddometer: 3,831	Merzouga Our route took us through Merzouga. In fact the next piste started for us just 20 km away, where the asphalt runs out in the village of Taouz. And we were staying in Merzouga. So really we had no excuse to not take advantage of the edge of the Sahara dunes in Merzouga ... the Erg Chebbi. The day began with breakfast ... Then we saw the hotel reception being cleaned (dont worry it will be dry in 5 minutes) And out in the car park we spotted a couple of spanish 2 strokes that had been trailered down overnight: __________________ Sibirsky Extreme 2009 BOOK and DVD available HERE Moroccan Extreme 2011 DVD available HERE World Motorcycle Altitude Record video HERE www.sibirskyextreme.com Colebatch screwed with this post 09-27-2011 at 09:20 AM

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