Dellboy218

Dont know if anyone has mentioned this already....

For those riding bikes around the loop. Just after the Mae Rim turn off from the Hangdong - Samoeng road, road construction is under way for 1-2km. Apart from hard packed earth there are very thick layers of loose gravel. Take it carefully!

I think a new battery would be far less money and hassle. Zero running cost too.

That depends what bike you have. The official battery for my bike is 10,000B. A good charger is much more economical.

Yes there is a difference to charging the wet type battery and the gel type. The big old car battery charger you buy from most hardware stores, unless it specifically says for gel/sealed batteries, will probably wreck your sealed/gel battery. These chargers are very basic internally with a rough DC output. The front panel current meter is likely to be an old moving iron type which are very slow to react and will only show the a general average. This will not show anywhere near the current peaks caused by the rough output so it will probably be charging the battery at a higher rate than you think it is. This higher rate can cause the battery to 'gas off'. In a wet battery this is not a problem, you have filler caps and they have vents in them to allow the gas to escape, I think everyone has seen a wet battery bubbling away. This gas by the way is Hydrogen so do not try smoking over a charging battery. Your sealed/gel batteries have no such vents except an emergency one which prevents an explosion. The charger mentioned on here, the Ctek and others provide a smooth and generally, a low charging current to prevent gassing. The Ctek is available here in Chiang Mai from at least one motorcycle shop that I know of. Another make is Optimate, I have an older version of this type which has always kept my bikes ready to go after laying idle for 3 months at a time.

As no one has mentioned Fluorescent strip lights..........These are switched on and left on because it is only a 20W tube or perhaps a 40W tube. This is true but........If you have that old wire wound ballast, the cheap one that lasts for nigh on a lifetime, it gets hot. That heat is energy being wasted. If you put a meter on the complete circuit you will find your 18/20W tube is probably taking in excess of 80W, your 40W tube circuit will be taking around 110W. An unfortunate feature of an inductance (the ballast) is to slow down the current waveform so that it is no longer in synch with the Voltage waveform. A capacitor of the correct value put across the input to the ballast can correct this and will reduce the overall Wattage to around 30W (for the 18/20W tube circuit). Or of course you can buy an electronic ballast instead which does not use the offending coil. Maybe time to ditch them in favour of the compact fluorescents, they are energy saving as they have electronic ballasts or LED's.

Liquid goo in tyres can settle in a lump and put the balance out...plus its almost impossible (illegal in the UK) to vulcanise a tyre with sealant in it. Best use those repair kits that push a rubber 'worm' in the hole n get it fixed later at a tyre shop.

Ive used them on big bikes and they work fine....but you need 4 of the gas refills to do a 180 width tyre!

Just in case people get confused.. Goop and other products have none of the properties described above. Goop comes from the UK. It is aqueous based so if the tyre has to be patched or replaced it will simply wash away. It does not settle in lumps and supposedly helps to balance the tyre. It is not to be confused with those products that fill the tyre with foam after a puncture. These products have to be applied before there is a problem. Just thought I would point that out!

I disagree with the earlier post about computer use though, my machine is on like 10 hours each day and with a 600 W power supply that means I am using 60 Bt per day ( 1,800 Bt/month ) just to feed the computer. Laptops are more economical, but along with their running cost you have to look at replacement batteries every 2 years which can also cost 3,000 to 4,000 Bt or about 40 Bt per week just for that. Do not regard a computer as trivial usage. Everything hinges on the wattage of the power supply and VERY FEW of them are below 300 W

Just one comment......Because a power supply is capable of delivering 600W it does not mean it is. It is capable of delivering that when called on by by various resources of the computer when it is working hard. sitting watching the internet I would hope it was running at a much lower wattage.

One of several products to prevent punctures

For an online site in Thailand try

www.helmet2home.com

if nothing else it will give a general idea of pricing.

For reviews on helmets and all bike related equipment. They do include useful comments about the ventilation.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/

For independent safety testing you can always try this site from the UK

http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/home

If you are thinking of buying from the UK then may I suggest

www.motoin.de

or one of the other German outfits. Helmets in the UK are not subject to VAT (or at least they wern't). The helmets I have looked at before have been cheaper in Germany with a 19% tax on than in the UK with no tax. The outfit mentioned above and others will automatically deduct the VAT which will just about pay for the postage. I have used this particular company before and found them to be reliable.

Revzilla ships to Thailand using a Thai bank card. Note that they don't send stuff if the manufacturer prohibits it (some helmets I've noticed). You also get the great USA prices!

I'd still recommend trying helmets on before buying though.

They maybe great US prices but unfortunately for my helmet at least, a Nolan, they are considerably more expensive.

For an online site in Thailand try

www.helmet2home.com

if nothing else it will give a general idea of pricing.

For reviews on helmets and all bike related equipment. They do include useful comments about the ventilation.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/

For independent safety testing you can always try this site from the UK

http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/home

If you are thinking of buying from the UK then may I suggest

www.motoin.de

or one of the other German outfits. Helmets in the UK are not subject to VAT (or at least they wern't). The helmets I have looked at before have been cheaper in Germany with a 19% tax on than in the UK with no tax. The outfit mentioned above and others will automatically deduct the VAT which will just about pay for the postage. I have used this particular company before and found them to be reliable.

www.helmet2home.com

I was in there the other day and they have some decent Komine armoured mesh jackets.

As FolkGuitar says, dont be put off by a pretty bland exterior, there is a lot more on the inside, the better stuff being in the small glassed off area.

At least one of the shops in the market at the top of Suthep Road used to sell botles of it.

Prof. Sudhee still works out of the Ram so thats where I go!

As a temporary fix, if you have a smart phone, you can use that. For Android Auto boy black box is one such application. It is the one I normally use.

Chaing Dao is nice as is the Fern in MHS or it was the the last time I was there. If you are only looking at a couple of days and you do not want to go too far from town. Somewhere a bit different...I know they dont have separate bungalows as such but there is Dream catchers in Seraphi

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g2237298-d779618-Reviews-Dreamcatchers_B_B-Saraphi.html which would be about 30 mins from the airport.

or perhaps Belle Villa out on the Samoeng Road,

http://www.bellevillaresort.com/chiangmai/accommodation_detail.php?room=10 Which would be about 45 minutes.

Both places are secluded.

Congratulations and enjoy

Big C or Home Pro sell 3M soft silicone plugs for 90 Baht something. I wear ear protection all day long at work and have found these pretty good. Never could get on with the foam type. Use a dab of cream to ease them in at first if you are not used to them.

If you are on the south side of town there is a shop at the back of Hangdong Road Big C. Unless you walk thru to the covered car park you will not see it. He does cars, bikes and house keys.

I read sometime ago that his is because Lumphun residents have problems getting to the airport. Unfortunately so do most people these days. It would seem odd to have a new 6 lane highway when the SUPERhighway only has four and as we all know is blighted with traffic lights stopping numerous vehicles for the sake of one or two. Not quite as bad as the Hangdong Road these days but it certainly adds to the frustration and pollution. The obvious answer would be to uprate Route 11 or move the airport. The airport was supposed to have been relocated years ago but as the land was owned by a famous fugitive the plan was shelved. As it is, common sense may prevail. It may not come to pass and as the other side of my wall is BWT village I certainly hope not.

I'd like to see an IKEA here!

and where are the straight people supposed to shop?

A car park would be useful!

How many days has it been and they have yet to identify the pills? How can that be when it only takes size shape color or even what's written on the pill to identify it online.

The RTP are basing their natural death theory only because no break in or theft occurred. How does a pretty y good young woman die naturally. The picture here states it was taken a few days prior to her death and she doesn't look deathly ill.

A British newspaper said she had phoned home complaining that she was unwell and had just spent 60 quid on penicillin. That is or would have been a serious amount of penicillin.

These Junta clowns are repeating their 2006 failure. They have silenced all opposition voices with their guns and oppression and now idiotically believe that the dearth of criticism of their ridiculously biased actions is proof of their correctness and vast public support - idiots one and all. This right wing extremist joke is hurtling inevitably towards its deserved demise

"Examples need to be set that those who commit wrong will be punished, so no future leaders dare repeat these actions. This will create sustainable reconciliation," the NACC member said.

- Does this line of thinking apply to the Army leaders and the coups they continually inflict upon the nation? Selective justice is no justice at all!

Reconciliation cannot be forced by one side onto the other at the barrel of a gun.

Your post seems to be in contradiction with your name! Except for the last line which is very true, it also includes intimidation and burning down buildings of those opposed to your ideology.

Well it is good if they pursue legal actions as well as impeaching her. She needs to be held accountable for such huge losses to the country and from what I understand in this article they have enough proof that she contributed and benefitted from those losses as well.

They should immediately revoke her passport or she is going to follow her brother and do a runner.

I would imagine they might prefer it if she did!

Just a thought, with low air flow it is possible that the condensation drain path or part of it is icing up, hence when you increase air flow you do not have a problem.

You can always go to the LG service centre at Chiang Mai Gate to ask.

www.helmets2home.com is the site for one of the CNX shops