A Bulldog to Africa
Verfasst: Mittwoch 5. März 2008, 18:12
Hi everyone, havn't posted for a while but I thought you might like to know that the Bulldog and I made it to Timbuktu and back with absolutely no problems, other than the things you can expect, such as snow, sandstorms, minefields etc.
It was a great trip, just under 9000 miles, or 14,000 Km and the Bulldog proved what a good tourer it makes, very comfortable over long distances, good fun on twisty roads and fast enough to stick with anyone I wanted to. The only limiting factor was the bash plate I'd had made up which I must have grounded 40 or 50 times through Spain and Morocco but it was worth having. Nothing broke and everything still worked fine at the end of the trip.
Maybe a 21inch front wheel and full knobbly tyres would have been nice off road but I was still able to ride confidently at about 80 kph on good quality dirt roads, but much slower on soft sand or badly corrugated roads. The Bulldog carries its weight low down and it has really good balance, which made it easier to handle off road than I expected, far better than something like the Varadero I took to America last year. The Pirelli Scorpion Syncs I fitted still gave traction in soft sand yet were really excellent on tarmac. I recommend them to anyone for everyday use.
If anyone plans to ride down that way, its tarmac all the way until you reach the border between Western Sahara (Moroccan Sahara as the Moroccans call it!)and Mauritania. Then you have No Mans Land to cross, about 4 Km of sand and rock. It was a minefield at one time as the wrecked cars in the area confirm but there are now defined tracks across it and as long as you stick to them you are OK. By next year they should have finished the road they are building from Nioro, just into Mali, down to Bamako, the capital, so you should be able to ride on tarmac all the way to Douentza in Mali, which is about 180 km from Timbuktu. The last 180 Km is all dirt and gets steadily worse the nearer you get to Timbuktu, but then nobody in their right mind would want to go there anyway as its a fly ridden, flea bitten dump in the middle of nowhere. Mali is great as is Morocco, but I'm afraid that Mauritania is the pits, poor roads (potholed tarmac), little fuel, dirty, dusty and not very friendly; paying bribes to everyone who looks official helps.
I've attached a photo of the Bulldog on the final stretch up to Timbuktu, when the roads were getting really bad!
It was a great trip, just under 9000 miles, or 14,000 Km and the Bulldog proved what a good tourer it makes, very comfortable over long distances, good fun on twisty roads and fast enough to stick with anyone I wanted to. The only limiting factor was the bash plate I'd had made up which I must have grounded 40 or 50 times through Spain and Morocco but it was worth having. Nothing broke and everything still worked fine at the end of the trip.
Maybe a 21inch front wheel and full knobbly tyres would have been nice off road but I was still able to ride confidently at about 80 kph on good quality dirt roads, but much slower on soft sand or badly corrugated roads. The Bulldog carries its weight low down and it has really good balance, which made it easier to handle off road than I expected, far better than something like the Varadero I took to America last year. The Pirelli Scorpion Syncs I fitted still gave traction in soft sand yet were really excellent on tarmac. I recommend them to anyone for everyday use.
If anyone plans to ride down that way, its tarmac all the way until you reach the border between Western Sahara (Moroccan Sahara as the Moroccans call it!)and Mauritania. Then you have No Mans Land to cross, about 4 Km of sand and rock. It was a minefield at one time as the wrecked cars in the area confirm but there are now defined tracks across it and as long as you stick to them you are OK. By next year they should have finished the road they are building from Nioro, just into Mali, down to Bamako, the capital, so you should be able to ride on tarmac all the way to Douentza in Mali, which is about 180 km from Timbuktu. The last 180 Km is all dirt and gets steadily worse the nearer you get to Timbuktu, but then nobody in their right mind would want to go there anyway as its a fly ridden, flea bitten dump in the middle of nowhere. Mali is great as is Morocco, but I'm afraid that Mauritania is the pits, poor roads (potholed tarmac), little fuel, dirty, dusty and not very friendly; paying bribes to everyone who looks official helps.
I've attached a photo of the Bulldog on the final stretch up to Timbuktu, when the roads were getting really bad!