cairo to cape town

[jadedragon]

Hi
my partner and i are wanting to do cairo to cape town around september 2013.
we are wanting to hire the bikes (bmws) and want a guide for easy negotiation through the borders.
we want to cut costs where we can and dont have a problem sleeping under a tarp rather than hotels (obv cant do that in cities though)
All the tours ive found at the moment are extensive offering 4* hotels etc. but are charging $25,000 (£16,000) we'd prefer to keep it to £5000.

Has anybody done one of these tours or done it independently and if so, how was it and how much did it cost?
did you use your own bike or a rental?

any advice / reccomendations welcome.

cheers

[Phil TK]

Golden rule of adventure biking is DON'T use a rental bike, buy your own. You don't want to be stumping up for cosmetic damage on a rental that you wouldn't bother with on something you own -if you see what I mean.
I was reading about this tour only yesterday, it sounds right up your street. Go for it.

http://www.nicksanders.com/2011/adventures.html

[alan sherman]

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

Is THE resource for adventure motorcycling.  Plenty of inspiration to be had, but also a hell of a lot of good advice.  I don't like being hassled for money all the time so decided that adventure biking wasn't for me!

[jadedragon]

okay, thanks for the websites, some good info on there.

have sent some emails to various tour and hire operators but in the meantime ive been looking a bit more into doing it independently.

the rental of a f650 would be just over £3k and a gs1200 would be £3600. but it seems you can pick up some nice f650s for £1200 on bike trader and im sure it cant cost more than 1800 to ship it over so seems more economical. My partner has family in cape town so we're thinking we could stay with them, change the plates, and sell the bikes once we're finished to save having to bring them back too. fuel shouldnt be more than £1k for the trip either and if we camp it should mean we could be able to get by on the 5k budget.

My dad reccommended using an XT 600 since its air cooled and simple to fix. not sure if this would have as good a fuel range as the bmws though?
but it may be more feasable for me (5ft 5)

Its just the border crossings we are dubious about and general security. has anyone here had experiences of borders in africa?

cheers

[Phil TK]

My dad reccommended using an XT 600 since its air cooled and simple to fix. not sure if this would have as good a fuel range as the bmws though?
cheers

That's the idea, you'll find that the more things you sort out yourself without the help of guides and 'tour companies' the more satisfying a trip it will be. There are some good forums on the internet with plenty of advice.
Your dad is correct about the XT600, they are a bit of an old horse, but are up to the job if in good nick, I bought one when I was over in Queensland in the nineties and did some great rides accross outback country riding hundreds of miles accross hardpack and sandy trails, it didn't break once and I must have dropped it a dozen times. Fuel consumption was good, I can't remember the exact figures though. Another good choice is the later model KLR650, I bought one of those too in Australia, they are fine, but I preferred the Yamaha.
You can do adventure biking on basically any bike really -and people do. I myself am touring Burma via Thailand at the end of the year and I've noticed that the Versys is very popular in Thailand so I'll be looking for one of those when I get out there.

[gpc1501]

I have no idea about costs, etc. But I would say plan your route very carefully!


The brother of a friend of mine started a trip to Cape Town end of last year with a few others and he/they were kidnapped and are still being held to ransom in Mali. One guy he was with was shot dead at the time. Not saying this happens everywhere, but there will be hotspots for trouble and places to definitely avoid.


Apologies if this dampens the mood somewhat, but rather be prepared and all that...

[locksmith]

Ask Ewan Mcgregor, he did it on a budget :lol


With regards to gpc's post I'd say thats a very good piece of advice, hope it all pans out ok for them.

[jadedragon]

Thats awful!! isnt the UK embassy doing anything about it??!?!?

Yes the reason i was looking at tours first is mainly due to security.

The route would mainly follow the trans africa route going egypt, sudan, ethiopia, kenya, tanzania, malawi, mozambique, zimbabwe, botswana, nambia, south africa and my partner grew up in cape so he know where to avoid there.

I definately want to keep away from somalia and the kenyan coastline.

Though we may have just recruited our local backstreet mechanic, who is a big hungarian guy, which would help in 2 aspects.

Just read about the problem of the front wheels snapping off on pre 2003 bmw f650s. hmmm, pushing me towards the XT 600 but how safe is it to drive with a jerrycan of fuel on the back?