marcusb

^ there is  KTM in Chiang Mai, bit closer. 

Why do you keep saying illegal? No one has ever mentioned an illegal crossing. … 

"""""You check out of Cambodia at Prek Chek Immigration and enter and Vietnam and obtain you 15-day free visa.
At this point you _are_ in mainland Vietnam and continue riding onto to Ha Tien. 

Both Ha Tien (mainland Vietnam) and Phu Quoc island are part of the economic zone. We were unsure
of that when I initially wrote the report, but later added an addendum at the bottom of the report.""""""""

Economic zone with limited access. 

Its the same if you cross into Burma from Mai Sai or Mae Sot, you can cross but your riding area is very limited.  

Sorry I can't be bothered to find a link either but as he said there is one crossing south cambo to VN. But you can only ride in the area 25km or whatever. Its just a quirky thing, but good for those who want to boast and say they've toured in  Vietnam.

 Few months ago friends had to hit 3 crossings before they could get into Cambo. Kinda like Laos, whats good one day may not be the next.

For 300 baht I got a kill switch from a KSR mounted on my KLX as a headlight switch, trouble free. Its also a law in Laos but have never heard of anyone being stopped.

Should be Kawa, suzuki, yamaha, and Honda in Phuket, each one has one or two bikes in that range. 280,000 -350,000 ish. 

The Vientiane Times of today reports that the border crossings in Xayaboury Province do not allow motorbikes and bicycles to cross into and out of Laos. It concerns the Huay Khon to Mueang Ngeun crossing, the Phu Duu to Pakeo (Uttaradit to Paklay) and the Nakraseng (Tha Li - Loei) to Nam Heung (Kenthao) crossing.

Kawasaki picked up my bike 90Km out of the city with first class insurance.  I didn't have it, they thought I did. So I had to pay 1500Baht.

True, I think they have just about doubled this year. 

I know nothing about that, but consider the post office, might be easier. I've had good results

Huay Kwan gets weird sometimes,  a while back bikes got through thai customs and Laos said they were too loud, had to backtrack to Nan and quiet them down. …. And its all luck of the draw, could be fine the next day. 

3 hours ago, AllanB said:

In fact according to the border officials, the Laos government is not allowing any bikes of any cc in at present, due to some row with China?

 

You won't believe this,  a friend crossed over at Nan, no problem Thai side, refused on Laos side. He tried bribing, everything, no go. 

He was on a BICYCLE!!!!!

Same excuses about china I think, he had to ride back to thailand, use his second entry etc etc…..

sure is a confusing time. 

On August 17, 2016 at 8:54 PM, ktm jeff said:

Or you can opt for an ENTIRE NEW ENGINE , with new engine numbers , to be fitted.

Well there you go,  an easy solution.  

If that doesn't work I can vouch for the udon Honda/kawa shop,  possibly you could pre arrange and drop it off on a sat morning and get it sunday. ..  They should have a Facebook page. … otherwise I am sure KK,  Ubon, etc have decent Honda shops. …

Rev I think any Honda dealer you feel confident with should be able to do the work. My Kawa was bought in Udon and I had the recall work done in Chiang Mai…..  worth a try..

No I don't, I know Kawa in KK and Udon are the same family… but thats it. Kawa is on the same street as the main post office and Police station(klang mueang Rd) , but they are both south of Sri Chan road, Kawa is north two or three blocks of sri chan, on your left heading north, yamaha  is one block west on Na mueang rd (which runs north and south).

 If you buy a bike in KK, Guts rider, 500-700m south of the train station can get you any add on bits or safety gear.

I think you will have to go to Udon (not sure about Yamaha) or Khon Kaen. For Kawasaki I prefer Udon. Never checked out Yamaha but they have a new big bike showroom in KK. Couple blocks away from Kawasaki.

There is a great report on GTR I read before about two guys who bought scooters and rode the coast road without a guide, I forgot the details but it's a great tale. If you want to do the trip, there is a way but it taking your bike in probably isn't an option.

I drove 30.000 km the past 2 years all over Laos , Thailand , Vietnam all with Honda dream so I guess it's not the bike which is the issue

You took a Thai registered Honda Dream into Vietnam?

Myself, i wouldn't post or ship by rail a bike I thought was pretty. I used to ship my KLX, usually got a couple new scratches but I didn't care as it was an off-road bike.

50cc bikes don't require licence or tax (as far as I know) …. they look silly as hell but…..

I agree with above, I don't think you will get the green book till finance is done. As far as I know bikes and vehicles that are still being financed cannot cross into Laos.

I dropped a valve on my er6n on a ride to Chiang Mai, messed up the pistons, cylinders etc. Was quoted around 60,000B, if I remember correctly(could have been 40,000, was a while ago)

The bike had 35,000KM on it and was out of warranty.

I sent a nice letter to Kawa BKK and said I thought this was way too early in a bikes life to have such serious problems. No response. When I went to get the bike the invoice was about 7,000 baht, for gaskets, fluids, etc., Kawa BKK had covered the rest.

I was a happy guy.

Obviously they were aware of the faulty valves. I think they will replace faulty valves before they snap for a good price, kind of a quiet recall…..

30,000km seems very early to be doing piston work on a cbr 150, or any non racing bike for that matter. Hope this one lasts you longer. Good price though.

Its kinda big, and kinda heavy….. for years I've been using a kryptonite 2 meter cable and a Kryptonite U-lock. Bicycle locks. Not only does the bike get locked… you can lock it to something. Can easily do both wheels and a post for example.

Years back in Kanchanaburi (?) I went out to my bike in the morning, at that time a cbr 150, The bike was two feet away from where I parked it. There was a dent in the cable where someone tried bolt cutters. I had the cable wrapped around a sign, so it was anchored. Just that one night paid for the 5,000 baht I paid for the lock and cable, 22 years ago.

Ebay; installation not needed; just hide on bike and change/charge battery every month to two.

Get one for the GF too.

For the girlfriends bike? or for the girlfriend in case someone steals her?

I Agree on MHS loop, road in poor condition on a lot of corners, way too much traffic, lunatic silver vans cutting the corners, and those switchbacks lose their novelty after the first 30 or so, not much fun.

Honestly, go to Nan, best roads in Thailand, very little traffic. They built the roads along the tops of the hill ridges and then deforested it so you can see several bends in front to see if traffic is coming so you can get the hammer down.

Have a read of my trip report on Nan below.

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/thailand-ride-reports/6580-famous-five-take-fabulous-four-nan.html

Dude, quit talking about Nan. Its supposed to be a secret. Shhhhhh.

Sanook Kanock (happy helmet_? ) has a big selection in udon, not sure if they have kids helmets. .. If your coming from the south on number two its the second traffic circle, take the first left, about 300 meters up.

I had a KLX, Ninja 250, Er6n, they were serviced at Kawa Khon Kaen and Kawa Udon. I always felt Udon did a more professional job and were also easier to deal with…….. My friend in Khon Kaen was also impressed with Korat but not KK….. just luck of the draw sometimes