jackjones

Have the Leo and Chang breweries shut down? It is getting difficult to get a large bottle of either. When the boxes do reappear on the shelves, I will probably be so grateful and thirsty that I will be happy to pay any increase no matter how high. Hope that's not the plan.

I have seen boxes of Leo large bottles at 580 and 575 Baht in two local shops. The same shops are asking 50 baht for a single bottle. I suspect the big stores will be selling the boxes at about 570 or so. Has anyone seen the prices in any of the big stores?

I also have an older Mio and after about five years it started to go off tune, not just stalling but also being quite hard to start and warm up. I took it to the local mechanic who told me to buy a new carb as the Mio carb wears out. I think it is something to do with where the needle from the slide goes in. It apparently wears the alloy there and widens the hole and it can not be repaired. Anyway, I got a new carb for about 1200 Baht and it cured it completely and I have had another four years or so with no problems at all.

I spoke to a KLX owner and he said that dent in the tank is on all of them. Apparently it is to allow the plastic panels to fit in fairly flush. I don't own one so I cant check. Any owners out there who could verify this?

I think the last post was well thought out and in my opinion what most likely actually happened. The bike was not crashed and having ridden a few of them myself, I doubt if there had been that many heavy front wheel landings. They are quite a heavy bike and not that powerful or fast. It is hard to imagine anybody getting them into the air that often and I don't think there would have been that many heavy front wheel landings. At the end of the day, even if you had banged the front down a few times or knocked into a few bumps, you would probably hope that your dual purpose bike would be able to handle it without the frame giving way. I hope it was something to do with the quality of welding or metal used in that actual bike and not some design flaw.

There is an interesting post on the Chiangmai based site rideasia about a KLX which had a frame break while trail riding. Apparently the bike had never been on a motocross track, had been bought from new and with only 26,000 k's on the clock the frame broke entirely in two just below the headstock. Fortunately it happened during a trail ride and not when it was being ridden on the road.It just happened while it was being ridden along and there was no crash. It seems it could be due to metal fatigue. The photos show the extent of the break and if I was an owner of such a bike, I would be a little concerned and would be keeping a close eye on that part of the frame.

There is a Thai restaurant/bar behind Big C Extra that had a blue grass band to start with and then later in the evening there would be a band playing different country and western songs. Sorry to be so vague but it has been a while since I was there. The same restaurant used to be on the canal road before relocating.

I am also interested in small sailing boats, but do you think there is enough wind?

I see the European Junior Cup, the one make series to introduce new talent, has now switched over to KTM 690 Dukes after a few years on Ninja 250's. They race on the same weekends as some of the WSBK meetings. The 690 is quite a powerful single and should also handle well. It wil be good training to get them up to speed for Moto3 and above.

I am afraid I haven't read through the last 20 pages on this topic, so this has probably been said before. As the burning is against the law, then can someone or a concerned group of someones not take the Ampurs and therefore the goverment to court for not effectively enforcing the law?

I got cheered up by an American over here. I was at the buffet lunch in the Empress and the Thai entertainer started to sing "When the saints come marching in." A large American suddenly recognised the tune and started clapping loudly over the song and looking around for others to join in. He then shouted quite loudly, " Yeah, God Bless America, best goddam country in the world." The memory of that still makes me smile.

I see that there will be a Supertwins class at both the IOM TT and the North West 200 this year and it will be dominated by ER6's. Jeremy McWilliams will be racing an ER6 at the North West. They can really make those bikes fly.

Congratulations on the new bike Tony. It should surprise a few people at those kawasaki off road days because it looks quite standard and I also believe it is a 351 which sounds cooler to me. Will be a great tool for practicing wheelies and powerslides so hopefully a few videos to follow?

Go on then. Enlighten me.

Quite a few people said they were here because of the " intrusive " government back in America. How bad is it and how did it actually affect you? Just interested.

I have never been to the States but it does seem to be a vast country with a great variety of scenery, wildlife, climates and people. If I came from there I can't imagine why I would want to live here. America seems to have everything; mountains, beaches, deserts, wildernesses and big cosmopolitan cities. Yet there does seem to be a lot of Americans living here. I can't understand why they would want to leave all that and come and live in a condo or mooban in Chiangmai.

Congratulations to both Newf and Luke for their progress last season and for landing a team ride. How does that work? Are you going to be using your own bikes or will the owner be buying you a pair of 2012 WSB spec Fireblades? And what about the 250 Newf, do you still intend to race it? Anyway, good luck to you both for the coming season and I hope you have a great time and some good results.

What model is the one jumping ( the one with the right way up forks )? I can not place it.

I am looking forward to this bike being available but I am a little concerned how that wee cheeky scottish chap in Bangkok will cope with another rival to the Kawasakis. He is still quite upset about the CBR 250 actually being called a CBR and now this new model will be called a CRF but will have the engine from a CBR. Oh dear oh dear.

Newf.

There is a post on gt-rider where a guy changes the fork springs on his CBR by using some from a 250 ninja. He says they are the same size but with a different spring rate. Apparently they cost 135 baht each. He also put 350ml in each leg rather than 331 and used 10 weight oil. He said it makes a big difference to the handling and the ability to soak up the bumps.

Just checked with the wife and the Maejo agricultural fair starts on the 1st December until the 11th. It is open all day until about 10.00 pm at night. They have previously had a section with lots of machinery like grass cutters, tractors, strimmers and woodchippers etc. Last year they were selling 4-stoke Makita strimmers for 2,900 Baht and I still kick myself for not buying one. The wood chippers I saw last year were petrol engined and quite simple. Unfortunately I can't remember the exact prices, although I can remember they seemed quite reasonable. It was also a good day or night out if you have kids, as there were a few attractions like paddle boats, bouncy castle, a snake show, rides around the area in little horse drawn carriages and lots of stalls selling clothes, food and toys. Hopefully it will be the same again this year.

It might be worth a trip to the agricultural fair held at Maejo University every year. This years one starts on the 1st December and lasts about 10 days. I have been to the last three and they have had a few woodchippers on sale and you get to see them working. I am looking for one for myself. It is also good for all sorts of gardening equipment, tools and plants.

Does anyone know where the new CRF250L will be made? As it will be using the engine from a CBR250, I hope it will be made here in Thailand but I haven't been able to find out if this will be the case.

I tried a place called " Take a zeat ' It is on the soi that has the night food area and just opposite the parking area. It is 138 baht, all you can eat and is open from 5.00 to 9.00 pm. There was a fair selection of food, including pork,chicken, fish and beef steak, salad, fresh prawns. I enjoyed the pork ribs myself. There were also french fries but like the other dishes they were sitting in unheated containers so were a bit cold and soggy. There was also a chicken carbonarra dish and sweets as well. I went about three weeks ago. The place is roomy and has aircon. Seems popular with the Uni students.

I have read that Kawasaki US have just released details of their 2012 Ninja. It is the same bike as 2011 and they are staying with the carburettors. However they must have been reading this forum because they have dropped the "R" from the name! I wonder if Honda will follow suit? Anyway, the new bike will be available in " Passion Red, Metallic Spark Black, and Candy Lime Green." All sounds a bit saucy!