Morocco Madness, Day 11

We get a decent lie-in as there's no rush for us. The others are fed, packed and loaded, by the time we leisurely start assembling our baggage. We will be meeting up with them later at the hotel, but for now our sights are set on riding some of yesterday's trails.

We start with a day 1 trail, uphill from the Oukaimeden then dropping into a dirt trail peppered in rocks. Our bikes are both fully loaded, but one is more fully loaded that the other. 🐖🏍️🐖 Despite that, it doesn't stop porky showing a good pair of heels on the trails. It's a long drop into the valley and an enjoyable ride. Of course with our loads the bikes are not as nimble as normal but they both cope very well with us taking care. The views are again stunning, but we have a little more time to admire them today. We take photos and videos and Christopher manages to fall off a stationary motorbike while videoing me passing by. My ride-past, his fall and subsequent cursing are captured perfectly 🤣. I have to help him lift his heavy Africa Twin as it's tipped right over, but no damage.

Later the dirt turns to gravel and it presents a whole new challenge to the Africa Twin. Christopher hasn't really played around with its settings and sticks to standard tour mode. Unfortunately, in that mode the ABS kicks in rather too aggressively resulting in not much braking at all on gravel. The Africa Twin struggles to stop and on one downhill corner Christopher ends up in the bankside, the bike and luggage resting on his leg. More shockingly I'm not there to take any pictures, not hear him yelling for help. He's stuck for a few minutes until three locals further down the hill hear him and lift the bike. They do a good job of straightening the bent bits and send him on his way unharmed except for a sore foot and a few scratches to him and the poor bike.

More or at the same time Christopher notes his rear brake is not responding well. There's no damage but somehow they do not stop him consistently. We decide to head to Marrakesh to find a Honda dealer before Sunday, but it seems there are no dealers there... 🤷🏽

We explore theories, about Africa Twin ABS modes but eventually the brake comes back to life on its own. We think the first tip over may have allowed air from the brake reservoir into the brake line, which would effectively prevent any braking. The bike seems to be behaving now which is a good thing, even if it's a little lopsided. 

We head for Marrakesh anyway, but take a detour on a road more or less parallel to the main road. It's virtually deserted and a fantastic twisty dirt road ride, which we really enjoy and there are great views too.

We end up in Marrakesh and check-in to our hotel and head for the pool! 🏊🏽. The others have arrived by then too and we meet up for dinner.