This April I shall be heading off on an offroad adventure in Morocco. This isn’t your average off-the-shelf adventure tour where 90% of the riding is on the black stuff. This tour is a bespoke tour being organised by Trailmasters. Within an hour of entering Morocco we’ll be hitting the trails and that’s where we’ll stay for most of the trip.

As I have a basically standard R1200GS, I have to do some shopping to make sure my bike is ready for the challenge, so I’m adding protection, replacing warn parts and making sure I’ve got all the tools to do running repairs on the road. Then I’ve got to make sure that the gear I’m wearing is comfortable and provides adequate protection. We could be riding in sub-zero temperature and snow in the Atlas mountains up to 30+ in the desert around Zagora and Erg Chebbi.

Of course, getting there and getting back is only half the story. I also want to be able to share the story with others. And that means having some gadgets to be able to record it.

So here’s my shopping list:

• Bike Gear:
  • Sump Guard : Touratech
  • Headlight protector : Touratech
  • Tyres (TKC80) : Motorworks
  • ROX Risers : AltRider
  • Spark plugs & coil : Motorworks
  • Levers (brake & clutch) : Motorworks
  • Air filter : Motorworks
  • Battery : Motorworks
  • Side stand foot : AltRider
  • Potentiometer guard : AltRider

• Rider Gear:
  • Knee protector : Adventure Spec
  • Jersey : Adventure Spec

• Gadgets:
  • Garmin Rino 530HCx GPS
  • Contour GPS Camera + Mounts + Batteries : Contour-HD
  • GPS Mount : AltRider

The above is only the list of items that I’m specifically buying for this trip. I also have a long list of other items that I’ve already purchased for off-roading around Guernsey: body armour, boots, helmet.

Most of the planning for my trip to Morocco this year has been out of my hands. The boats, dates, itinerary has been dictated by the group I’m travelling with. It makes it easy for me but at the moment it also feels like I’m doing an adventure by proxy.

One important decision I will have to make sooner or later is tyre choice. All the other bikes are being taken down to the south of Spain in a horse trailer, however, I’m going to be riding my R1200GS all the way down. Doing such a long distance on knobblie tyres for off-road desert riding would be pretty un-thinkable. Luckily I’ve got two sets of wheels: the first is the cast wheels that came with the bike; the second is a set of spoked wheels I managed to pick up on eBay for the bargain price of £600.

The cast wheels will be used for riding down to the south of Spain and are fitted with Metzler Tourance tyres. These will also be taken in the back of the support vehicle, just in case the worst should happen to my spoked wheels in Morocco. Having the cast wheels means that I’m less limited in the choice of tyres for the spoked wheels.

Until yesterday I thought I’d managed to decide on Continental TKC80 tyres. Thats what I’ve got on my spoked wheels at the moment and I’ve been pleased with them so far. Until recently I’ve only had one set of brake discs, so switching front wheels has meant a lots of messing around swapping discs. As I’m doing a lot of beach riding at the moment the result is that most of the winter I’ve left the spoked wheels on the bike. The TKC80s have been superb as a knobblie commuting tyre, only have problems when it’s been really cold and very wet.

Yesterday, however, I started reading some reviews of Metzler Karoo tyres (not the Metzler Karoo T!). The general consensus about these tyres is that they’re better than the TKC80s for off-road riding but not so good on the road and that their life expectancy is less that the TKC80s. With the knowledge that most of the riding in Morocco is going to be off-road and that I’m going to have to be keeping up with much smaller 650cc bikes, I’m thinking that the Karoos might be the wiser choice.

I’ve also been thinking about whether or not to get the tyres fitted with inner tubes. Whilst the R1200GS wheels are normally tubeless, it is possible to have tyres fitted with tubes. The benefits of this is easier roadside repairs, should you get a puncture. The drawbacks is that the it causes the tyres to run hotter which can result in punctures and, in the worst case, and blow-out. Not knowing how hot it’s going to get, I’ve decided that the best course of action is to get the tyres fitted without tubes – I’ve also got tubeless puncture repair kit – but take an inner-tube so that it can be used in case of an emergency.

So far the best price that I’ve found these tyres for is on Motorworks.co.uk. I have used them several times in the past and have been very happy with their service. They’re very knowledgable and are happy to help customers, wherever they may be – as Graham Styles (aka. @Brainrotting, http://www.brainrotting.com/) found out in the middle of the jungle in South America!