Ride down to Plymouth and do the Plymouth/Sanatander crossing, unless you want to ride down thru France. Goes overnight both ways, whereas the Portsmouth/Bilbao one takes 48hrs there & 24hrs back.
Decide if you want Spain to be part of the trip, ie blat thru it in a day or take 2-3 days.
Decide how much off-road/trails you want to do in Morocco. You can get all the way down to the Sahara at Merzouga on tarmac. Or you can have a real adventure - Chris Scotts book details some trails. Going on your own?
Consider going with somone rather than on your own. Put all you gear on the bike, get kitted up, put your bike on it's side, jog round the block (the bike on it's side will hasten the jog
), and then try and pick it up. Then consider going with somone again................Two means you can split spares & tools.
Two also means, unless you're a seasoned traveller who never worries, you won't get paranoid or worry about anything and have someone to turn to and say "
me! Look at that!". They can also take photos of you
Work out what you need clothes wise, and then lose half of it. Hotels do laundry so you can always get some done one evening.
Both times I've been down we stayed at the Parador in Ceuta the evening before entering Morocco, which means you go thru the border early and have all day to go down thru the Northern part of Morocco. There was a 2hr time difference last time. 8am Spainish/6am Morrocan. Gives you more time to get further if need be, or just enjoy scenery etc.
You could stay Spanish side and ferry across in the morning, but personally I think the Parador is worth it.
There will be people at the border trying to give you forms and saying you have the wrong ones/colour. They're after dosh. Just ride thru the Spanish part (obviously stopping for the guards
) and into the "compound" part of the Moroccan one to negate this.
Get your border forms from the ferry company at Algeciras when you buy the ticket. Complete them before going thru the border and save a bit of hassle. You can go thru without a man helping you if you want, but it WILL take longer. Have 5 euros or something like that to give him. Choice is yours on that one.
If you can get insurance for Morocco before, great, if you can't buy it at the border. Takes 10 mins, is pratically worthless, but if you haven't got it and something happens, you're in the poo.
Consider cracking on down to Fez/Meknes. Either way do the first 100 miles sooner rather than later. For me, Morocco doesn't start until Fez really.
You can go down the Motorway they have - fantastic, no traffic on it
, but tolls, although cheap to us. Always handy to know if you want to come back in a hurry for any reason. I did Marrakech-Ceuta in a day with another guy when we had to get a written off Dakar back thru the border into Spain. Note: if you're in the poo, there's always a little man at the border who will be able to "arrange" things for a "consideration"
There are Ibis hotels in Morocco if you fancy a bit of Western style. Failing that others will no doubt offer other recommendations. In Fez & Marrakech they're located by the railway stations, which makes finding easier as the stations are signposted.
Desert Inn outside Erfoud is worth a stay. They sometimes do a night out in the dunes miles from anywhere, dancing girls etc. Quite a laugh.
Add more days than you think to give you time to see sights and maybe have a rest day/sightseeing day if you want. Don't have a really tight or rigid itinery that means you have to be somehwere at a set time - apart from maybe ferrys.
When you come back thru the border, don't queue, ride right to the front and park your bike next to the window for getting into the "compund". Others may expand on this, or I may remember more later.
I've got the ferry after coming back thru the border and stayed in Spain, and crossed the border and stayed in the Parador again before getting the ferry back across to Spain the next day. For me the Parador was better as it gives you a chance to walk round Ceuta and have one last look across the border at the mountains and where you've been.
No doubt I'll think of more.................., but whatever you do, do it
Send me your e-mail address via PM and I'll send you some of Moroccan waypoints.
HTH
Jon
ps. If you're using a GPS and see a sign marked "Fez" to the right, trust it and not the GPS...........................
would be glad to hear how others found it.lol.. 
