dec

@ gsxrnz... same paint as my K7 !!... have since changed it to all black with stickers due to a unfortunate crash at Keang Kachan circuit

I spent ages going around there but nver asked how much is the rent and deposit for these now? And if they want to take hostage of your passport ?

Didn't ask but would expect it to be 1k max, less for longer rental...i was recently quoted 7-800 for some kind of a naked Aprilla (place on Soi 8 entrance which usually has good prices)... for sure only give copy of your passport, can't remember now but never paid much of a deposit... maybe a 1k ?.

Saw one today for rent on Beach rd Pattaya next to a Z1000... i thought it would look cheap next to its big brother but looks just as good without too much inspection.

Will be definitely renting one with the lookout to buy one but need to sell one of my track-bikes to make room for it... and always hard to sell a bike

go up central rd towards Sukumvit, take the left on to the Sukumvit and there is a small Honda dealer... i got my CRF there which was a good bit cheaper that other quotes around town.....good service all round.

tail section of the CBR 600 is looking fairly dated by now... very 2003 ish :/...anyway, i won't be holding my breath especially after Hondas latest offerings and restricting the only proper performance bike they sell in Thailand

i had a couple of mm play in my trottle which gave it a horrible jerky feeling... i tightened it up with adjustment screw near the lever which made a big improvement.. Before you go off, turn the handle-bars side to side to make it doesn't it doesn't rev up while turning.

i picked up some solid stands at Kawasaki Pattaya... quality & price was well above the usual tat you get for about 2 k but you get what you pay for !

My seals are okay on my CBR250. What's the story with just getting them to change the oil and put the old seals back on, good idea or bad?

i've changed oil a few times on USD forks just by taking them out and turning them upside down to drain the oil.. give them a few pumps to get as much of the old oil out.

Good idea to measure how much oil comes out so put the same back in.

on another note, why does Crf have different levels for each fork ?

any expat with a modicum of common sense keeps a year or two of cash in local currency. Only the poor and the foolish get caught out by short term currency fluctuations.

But the question is wheres it going to be in 2 years ?...

fallen below 45 now and i thought i got a bad deal at 47 last month ....this along with dire interest rates makes a pretty depressing scenario... guys on a pension must really be feeling the pinch especially if they moved here 5-6 years ago when the rate was a heady 65-70

couple of days overstay stamp doesn't mean anything for future visa applications .. just like a history of long-stay visas mean anything for any future applications..just tell the immigration officer at airport 'have overstay'.... save him wasting time looking through you passport.

off topic but April 2010 I built an imaginary portfolio on google finance.. bought $1000 of every ticker on the NYSE corresponding to A,B,C,D right through the alphabet...as of today i am up 40 % which is a hell of lot better than my real portfolio or any mutual funds i have....luck/timing/ coincidence ??..food for thought

the 'Bangkok' brigade

the 'Pattaya is a sleaze pit' brigade

the 'my wife is from hi-so family' brigade

the 'all thais are stupid & lazy' brigade

the 'compare everything here with their home-country' brigade

the 'gone native' brigade

the 'best breakfast in pattaya' brigade

farkin hell.. just did a 10 k spin today and will definitely have to do something about the seat.. just ordered gel shorts from ebay, see there is a good selection of gel cushions as well... might call back to the shop and see if they stock them or else will order one..(don't really expect them to swop it unless i requested before i left the shop).

Didn't bikes just have hard plastic for seats 20 years ago.. how come they didn't hurt ??

Went to Numchai yesterday and was a bit over-whelmed with the selection they had... asked the lady for something for 10 k thereabouts.. she pointed out a few and picked out a 'mongoose'.. looks alright with cable/disk brakes front & back ..was tempted to go for another brand with hydraulic brakes but probably is a complication i don't need..was a few k more.

Rode it 5 km home in peak afternoon heat but pretty happy with it, only problem was the seat is hard as !!.. not sure if i got it too high or what ? its about level with the handle-bars ? ....going to have change it or buy padded shorts something ..(can't remember having this problem 20 years ago so maybe just getting old )

pretty much summed up my experience today... went to extend tourist visa based on marriage... had all my docs, pleasant young girl gave me the form and rattled off what i needed and told me i could get 60 days max and come back at 1.00 (was about 11.45)

Came back at 12.55, the Thai information guy completely blanked me as he sat there shuffling envelopes (i can remember this guy from soi 8) ..eventually got a ticket from the foreign guy, he was fine but seemed surprised that i requested extension on tourist visa based on marriage and said i would maybe get 7 days (i had requested 14)... anyway after about an hour l got 60 days stamped, guy and the issuing lady in the background were very pleasant and bantered away to mrs

Quiet funny, whilst i was waiting there was a farang couple at one the processing desks and at some stage the wife whispered "crazy" to the the husband.. the female officer wasn't impressed .. 'who say crazy, what you say crazy. etc etc.....kept going for at least 2 minutes !!

Just wondering... what price range are you looking at for half decent mountain bike.. mixture of light trails / road.. just to get fit so won't be ripping down any mountains or anything...opt for disk brakes or standard.. full suspension back and front ? what size ?

... went to one shop in Theprasit few weeks ago (same side as the chopper shops) hoping the guy could be a bit of help but completely blanked me as he was too busy on facebook or something..

cheers

they already have most of their advertised big bikes (including 2 x fireblades) in the honda shop next to the unfinished place......ironically it is directly across the road from Kawasaki big bike shop..

Didn't weigh it but was surprised how light it was compared to original .

cheers guys ! ... anyone know is this a relatively new thing as I was told it wasn't possible when i tried few years back ?

I work away month on month off so have been using 28 day Tourist visas for last year or so... this time i need to extend for maybe 3 weeks before i go back to work....can this be done at local immigration in Pattaya ?

I asked a few years back but they refused and only got 7 days but was told different by a guy last year... can't remember the exact details but similar situation.

cheers

dec

regarding 20 year old technology... take a look at Honda's latest CB### 500 ## offerings.. what a bunch of crap bikes :? crappy forks, single disks on the front....but disguised with flashy plastics making them looking like more expensive models ...

think a lot people have different ideas about gyms .... the whole idea to go to the gym is to work out and build up a sweat so not sure why the hang up about AC, as long as they have decent fans should be ok..... not hard to bring your own towel and have a shower when you go back home (for me, which is better than sharing showers anyway)

Tonys in Soi Nernplubwan is pretty good.. good mixture of machines, weights & cardio.. only thing that pisses me off is you have the maintenance guy sitting on his ass watching blaring Thai movies on the TV so bring your own music.... went to Tonys on Siam Country Rd and the same f**ker was there watching Thai crap on TV .. when he's not around they also play a decent dance soundtrack

is there something i'm missing here ? ..why would you want a 2 year old receipt for floor tiles ...

got some more water from the shops

Nestle is 176 ppm

Purra (Singha natural mineral water) 260 ppm .. (it lists potassium,sodium, bicarbonate, iodine, calcium, magnesium, flouride, sulfate on the label)

Water from machine at side of the street 6 ppm

So i suppose the conclusion is Neslte & Purra is the healthiest as they contain minerals (probably taste better as well ?) with most of the other brands being RO processed with really low PPM content and the delivered / street stuff also very clean.