Sunday 12 May 2013

Day 29 and Day 30 THE END !!

And so we come to the end of our epic month long trip.

The Last two days were spent on the ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth which we boarded Tuesday morning and after a pleasant day and night spent with fellow bike travellers we departed at 10 am on wednesday.
A 3 hour ride home and our trip was over.

It was a fantastic month with lots of fantastic memories. We have tried to document as many on this blog as possible. However their are so many moments and memories which we cannot always remember to blog. My advice to anyone reading the blog to see if Morocco is for them is to just do it.
It is a fantastic country . The people are fantastic , wecoming and extremely friendly , the scenery is fantastic and if you can get off the main roads and get onto some of the pistes (trails ) , then you will see sights and meet people that you will not believe.

My personal biggest memory (Ian ) is travelling along a fast piste , coming around a corner (a little too quickly) and there on the side of the piste was a young girl of about 8-10 playing the violin !!!!!!!
My regret is that i was travelling too fast to stop . I would definitely have liked to have stopped , listen and yes offer her a few Dirhams! There are lots of other memories , but that is one i will never see again ! (I have even forgiven the beaurocratic, (crazy), unorganised , entry system as i now believe i actually had it easy , but dont let it put you off going to Morocco ......its all part of the Adventure.

A few product Reviews.
1, Yamaha Tenere 660 XTZ (Ian and Justin)
Absolutely fantastic bike choice. Neither my bike or justins missed a beat. We suffered no break downs, worries or any problems of any sort with these bikes. Highly recommend for any RTW trip .

2, Kriega Overland 60 Luggage.(Ian and Justin)
We had a few initial concerns with this soft luggage system rather than the metal boxes we could have taken . However we had no security issues at all . The ski clip mounting system is a little fiddly and can be awkward to undo , especially next to the exhaust , but you soon get used to this . We both suffered with a clip breaking which was the one supporting the fuel and water cannisters , which we had to then cable tie on , possibly a design fault? Due to the weight of the fuel/water? However as we were not removing this panel from the bike (we locked it on every night ) this did not become too big an issue.
Fuel was not actually required as the long range of the Tenere was superb.
Water was extremely important in the Desert.

3, Lomo Roll bag.(Ian and Justin)
Excellent roll bag for storing all that camping equipment.

4, Klim Badlands Jacket.(Ian)
Superb Enduro Goretex riding jacket.
Lots of vents to allow airflow even in the 39 degree heat.
Stayed dry in the heavy Spanish rain.
Tough and felt that it would offer superb protection if required.
A Heavy jacket , but this is due to the top quality armour fitted to back , shoulders and arms.

5, Rukka Trousers (Armacore) (Ian ) Jacket and Trousers  (Justin)
Again superb kit . Stayed dry in heavy spanish rain and fitted really well . Justins Jacket was a bit lighter in weight but still tough and again felt like it would offer top protection if required. Only thing we noticed was that Justins Jacket bled colour when it became wet , which was a little concerning.

6, TKC 80 Continental Tyres. Both Bikes
Really good on /off road tyres. We had extemely good grip off road and never felt like they would give way. A few issues in sand but lets be fare , the bikes were too heavy for this and if you were only doing sand you would have a different tyre and bike choice. On the road we could not believe the amount of grip and lean angles available on these tyres.
Expect approx 4-4500 miles on rear.
Highly recommend

7, Sidi Adventure Gore Boots. (Ian)
Really comfortable, and extermely waterproof (even river walking). A taller Enduro style boot which i prefer.

8, Arai x4 Crash Helmets (Ian and Justin)
Extremely comfortable and great helmet. Easy to use with Goggles as well as visor as opening is large enough.

These are just a few bits of our kit that we wanted to review.

SO THATS IT FOLKS
18 Months of planning
1 Month of our lives .
And an experience we will never forget.
We hope our blog has been of interest to anyone reading it , and most of all we hope it makes you want to get out there and do your own little Adventure. No matter how small or long .......Just do it .........
YOU WONT REGRET IT .............WE DIDN'T

Thanks for reading 
MIDLIFE MOROCCO 
IAN & JUSTIN






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