Gael warning on the Ivory Coast

The police were pretty active with speed checks and in fact we saw more speed guns in this short ride than in the whole week we've been here. Of course, as respectable citizens we didn't get caught, but maybe riding small bikes also helped. So the road was good and the bikes were great but what we saw along the way was amazing.

Firstly goats do climb trees. We came across these goats(how many can you count) grazing on these Argan trees. It wasn't staged and we didn't pay to get the photos, they just naturally do it.
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6d9bc1e2-7e91-4406-bf69-40382dfd9396.jpegA few reflections from me after a week on the road:

Firstly, the bikes: they are going well, although Jim had some slight vibration concerns (which the new tyres don’t seem to have remedied). They are (so far) all you hope for from a small Honda. Start on the button and handles well, particularly in cities where the comparative lightness is appreciated. And the cornering on mine had been magical since Lukasz rebuilt the rear suspension last week. Of course it’s been hard work so far on the big roads, riding a 250 cc single at a steady 90-100 km/hour true speed per GPS. To be honest, up to this point my Goldwing would have lapped it up (and at times I hanker after its magic carpet ride).

Secondly, the blokes: it’s eight years since Jim and I last rode down this way and neither of us has got any younger or stronger since then. Now with an average age with a 7 in front of it 🙄, we are both glad of the the lighter bikes and think they will come into their own further South. Health wise, we seem to have avoided the ever present risk of stomach upsets so far, and hoping our luck (combined with frequent hand washing) will hold.🤞

I for one am nursing tendinitis (‘tennis elbow’) in my left arm, which I think is due to a lot of trail riding all summer with a lot of clutch control involved. Whilst it’s a constant ache, judicious use of argan oil and the odd dab of ibuprofen gel seems to be keeping it under control so far 🙏🤞. My capacious medical chest includes a course of anti-inflammatory drugs that I am keeping in reserve.

We will need to manage our resources judiciously through the heat of southern Morocco and Mauritania. As accommodation options are limited I have been scouring iOverlander and Googlemaps, so we can put together a string of 400 km days…not much on a GS but on a 250 in the heat it will be more than enough.

Today is our first rest day so Jim is fettling his bike and I have been doing some planning and paperwork. Fortunately our lodgings are 3 minutes away from the souk so it’s easy to pop over for some supplies. I was very proud to be able to locate some contact cleaner spray in one of the inner recesses of the market this morning. It’s a dull day, only 21C so quite good for hanging around and recovering from the past week.

Last night I found a coffee vendor who kindly agreed to grind the coffee beans that Jim had gifted me…he wouldn’t accept any payment but asked for a photo of us all behind his counter.

Also shown below are a few more delights of the souk:IMG_0869.jpegIMG_0866.jpeg
 
This next section is a little technical, so some may wish to pass it by. The fettling that Simon alluded to was me trying to identify a loose connection that prevented my Aoocci C6 Android Auto from working reliably. It was great to have the bike in a well lit underground garage for this work. There were some flattened cardboard boxes, perfect for kneeling, and an empty box for my tool roll.
I've been using my 2nd phone on a Quad Lock mount for Google maps navigation since we arrived, and it has confirmed and how accurate this can be. With this rest day, it was time to get the connection issue sorted so i could use the maps on the C6.

The C6 is powered of a twin USB socket fitted by the previous owner, run from the auxiliary output behind the right fairing on the CRF. This means it's a switched supply, which is handy. The wire from the auxiliary socket has a little transformer dropping the 12V down to 5V for the USB. It then has an online connector before arriving at the USB socket. I first checked the auxiliary socket and all looked good. I checked the USB socket, which unscrewed, and again the connections checked out. Simon had brought a nifty multi meter, smaller than a cigarette packet, which was useful for checking voltages. I was getting 5V at the USB socket, but occasionally it would drop, particularly when the handlebars were turned.

My focus now was on the cable, which looked OK but when I moved the online connector I could cause the connection to fail. This is where switch cleaning fluid would have been handy. However I decided to replace this connector, before Simon returned with his can of cleaner, and install an old time chocolate box connector, which I had in my spares. This sorted the problem and I hope to have the C6 working properly for our ride tomorrow.

As an aside, I helped Simon mount his little thermometer. He seems to think we may experience some high temperatures over the next few days He mentioned something about a lot of sand and camels Anyway he's now well set up to tell how hot it is.

One note, this is the first time I've worked on a bike while a person prays next to me. It seems this part of the garage is where the staff unroll their prayer mats and point towards Mecca. Travel broadens the mind!

Photos of my workshop today and the offending plug/socket.
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Only a week on the road, on 250s, you’ve traveled so far and seen so much - surely a great inspiration for others to ride a bit further 👍
 
gspod said:
Only a week on the road, on 250s, you’ve traveled so far and seen so much - surely a great inspiration for others to ride a bit further 👍
Click to expand...
Cheers Dermot! So far the CRFs are acquitting themselves very well. Today we covered 430 kms by 3 pm, with a lunch break. The bikes seem to bowl happily along at a true 100 km/hour outside towns (where our eyes are on stalks, dodging pedestrians, motorists, and waving politely to policemen.

On one slower section we were getting 19 miles out of each litre of fuel or over 80 mpg….that drops down to the 60s when we are hammering along.

The run from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott will be the acid test of our true range 🙏🤞🙄
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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