Trip through Africa

[Brother Jasper]

Hi everyone,

 

 I’m new here, and relatively new to motorcycles. I’ve been riding a 125cc for the past year pretty much every day. (A Yamaha 125Sr from 1988 if you’re wondering).

 

 I’m planning to move to Uganda in a year’s time, and recently had the thought of riding all the way there on a bike.

 

My biggest question so far is if it’s worth doing it on a 750 Africa twin (or similar), or could I make it on a 125??

 

 

My main concern about the 125 is the speed to get out of any trouble if needed, but I’m also afraid a larger bike will get stuck more easily.

 

Either way, this could be one hell of an adventure!

 

Cheers,

Jasper

 

 

[bonio]

Hi Brother Jasper. What a crazy trip

I'd go small. And old. And simple. Speed isn't a great asset on most of the roads you will be riding.

You need a bike that's capable of handling a good amount of dirt road and worse. Old, almost certainly something that has carbs - old bikes can be repaired by someone in workshop who only has access to spare tin cans and a spot welder.  

There's a great little charity, Two Wheels for Life, that raises money for motorbikes and support for use by medical workers in Africa. They use bikes 100-200cc bikes like the Yam AG100. They used to rely a lot on a Honda 150 - can't remember quite what - but it was another bike that was happy off tarmac as on it.

Are you going Egypt / Sudan or Mauritania / Senegal? 

[Brother Jasper]

6 hours ago, bonio said:

Hi Brother Jasper. What a crazy trip

I'd go small. And old. And simple. Speed isn't a great asset on most of the roads you will be riding.

You need a bike that's capable of handling a good amount of dirt road and worse. Old, almost certainly something that has carbs - old bikes can be repaired by someone in workshop who only has access to spare tin cans and a spot welder.  

There's a great little charity, Two Wheels for Life, that raises money for motorbikes and support for use by medical workers in Africa. They use bikes 100-200cc bikes like the Yam AG100. They used to rely a lot on a Honda 150 - can't remember quite what - but it was another bike that was happy off tarmac as on it.

Are you going Egypt / Sudan or Mauritania / Senegal? 

Hi Bonio, thanks for the tips! It does seem a bit mad . That’s exactly what I was thinking regarding a smaller bike, and I’d almost certainly have something with carbs to keep to a budget, even if were to buy an adventure bike. The plan would be to start in Algeria, and go around the Senegal route to see more countries.

My concern with the power is more to do with safety in some places, I like the idea of being able to escape

[bonio]

Escaping is a good plan, especially as you head toward the DRC. Some years back I read the blog of a bloke who rode from Cirencester to Cape Town, taking the same route as you. I can remember just one time in the whole trip when he needed to escape, and he managed fine... on a push bike.

Now I know that this is a long way from a complete survey of all the possible attacks on travellers in sub Saharan Africa, but it would make me think that speed isn't everything.

I'll see if I can find  link to the blog. You might enjoy it.

[Ronnie]

Watch Itchy Boots on you tube. She's doing that route just now.  You could learn a lot from watching her show !

[bonio]

13 hours ago, bonio said:

I'll see if I can find  link to the blog. You might enjoy it.

Nope no good. The bloke's site is still there, but the blog seems to have gone.

[Brother Jasper]

On 05/06/2023 at 10:32, bonio said:

Escaping is a good plan, especially as you head toward the DRC. Some years back I read the blog of a bloke who rode from Cirencester to Cape Town, taking the same route as you. I can remember just one time in the whole trip when he needed to escape, and he managed fine... on a push bike.

Now I know that this is a long way from a complete survey of all the possible attacks on travellers in sub Saharan Africa, but it would make me think that speed isn't everything.

I'll see if I can find  link to the blog. You might enjoy it.

Right! That must’ve been quite a trip for him.

[Brother Jasper]

12 hours ago, bonio said:

Nope no good. The bloke's site is still there, but the blog seems to have gone.

Ok, I’ll keep doing some research

[Brother Jasper]

13 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Watch Itchy Boots on you tube. She's doing that route just now.  You could learn a lot from watching her show !

Thanks Ronnie, I’ll have a good look at her channel 

[John]

I’ve travelled down through Africa, not by bike; by truck. 
 

The roads in places are very difficult and dangerous and decent fuel was an issue. My journey took place in the late 80’s so the politics of the region was a lot different to today. As others have said KIS- keep it simple.