jamesbrock

Why not drink actual coffee, not some form of girlie milkshake.

If you know how to make or find a good cup of black coffee, then life is beautiful.

Obviously I'm too girly to handle the espresso!

Agree totally. I'm from Melbourne, which is arguably the coffee and culinary capital of Australia; and while I only occasionally hanker farang food - I very rarely find anything like that which I am accustomed. Indeed, not even the Aussie bars in Samui, where I'm currently living, can live up to the memories. I'm sure you feel the same way when you get a craving for some home comforts...

That being said, it is the coffee I miss the most, and that 'oh my god' hit you get from a great one. I have never gotten that here. Not saying it isn't out there, but as I mentioned in post #3, I'm lactose intolerant, so that precludes me from trying 99% of places here in Thailand...

Speaking of that, what happened to Mighty Mo's?

That's one of the threads I was thinking of - read through the whole thread salivating at the descriptions only to reach the sixth page and see they closed!

Back in Oz, if we encountered some backwater that hadn't heard of the flat white, we could just ask for a latte without the froth; can't do that here, though, with that layered abomination that they serve up as a latte!

Oz,,,,,,,,Great Whites,,,,,,,Great Fat Whites.,,,,,,Flat Whites,,,,,,,Great Flat Whites?....it's all very confusing.

Yes. I've been watching this with interest, especially because there is so much variation between coffee drinks with the same name. Looking it up on Wikipedia, it actually seems different from what the OP intends.

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Flat_white

Unless you've been PM-ing him, how could you possible know what the OP intends?

If you're referring to my post about what I tell folks who haven't heard of the drink, you will see in the wiki article on the Latte that it's a fairly good simile: "An Australian/New Zealand variant similar to the latte is the flat white, which is served in a smaller ceramic cup with the creamy steamed milk poured over a single-shot of espresso, holding back the lighter froth at the top."

It still makes for a semi interesting post though, to see the responses. I might do another one, one of these days, taking an exotic food or drink and then selecting (or making up) a very particular style of it and complaining there's just no place in Chiang Mai that does it properly. Should be some mileage in it.

Probably about as much mileage as you Americans get discussing your typically American deli food...

Just a small truckload of things for me.

Hi James and Nirvana,

Whoops sorry James for not replying to your mail - only excuse is we've been rather busy - if Nirvana could give me an idea of how many cubic metres of goods and when to send I will get you both a quote - James plan was to bring up goods on 6th April.

Thanks,

John

Thanks John,

The plan was the 6th April, but I've had to postpone that due to being incapacitated at the moment. Will be a good week or two before I'm fully up and about.

I'll wait and see when Nirvana is thinking, and see how mobile I'll be then. Of course, you could always grab our stuff and put it in storage until we get up there; anyways, let's see what Nirvana says.

Mmmm... 3 in 1...

Flat whites have been around in Oz for at least 15 years when I left the country. Offered with full cream milk or a "skinny" flat (low fat milk). Never seen on the menu boards here so I never ask would just add to the confusion.

Back in Oz, if we encountered some backwater that hadn't heard of the flat white, we could just ask for a latte without the froth; can't do that here, though, with that layered abomination that they serve up as a latte!

jamesbrock----Don't get me wrong I think the Hayate is a very sound bike and much stouter than the Mios, Clicks, Finadas, PIsadas and so on. And a much better choice than a Vespa with its roller skate wheels. There is no reason to take a real beating if you are thinking of going to the Elegance 135 if you are going to lose your butt on the Hayate. And as for the 125 FI Elegance we will all have to just wait and see. i mentioned it is likely to be somewhat down in power compared to the 135 carbed model, but what gets me even more is its miniscule fuel tank at just 4.3 liters. If I were Yamaha I would have made the 4,8 liter tank slightly bigger with a bit of redesign work. Okay....it went the wrong way reducing tank capacity from 4.8 liters to 4.3. Had it gone the other way by the same 1/2 liter it would have a 5.3 liter tank to the new PCX's 5,9. Probably offer as good or even better range then which would make the pill much less bitter going from 135 c'c's to 125.

But again, we will have to wait and see. The Ninja 250 makes more horsepower than a CBR 250. But, the CBR 250 from all that I have read makes more usable horsepower for the speeds we would likely be using the bikes for. Perhaps the same will be true for the new Nouvo SX. But d-----m-t.......a 4.3 liter fuel tank. That's tinker toy city.

Yeah, I must say the drop in engine size and fuel tank capacity has tilted the balance back to the Hayate's favour, even if the 125 Nouvo is still 0.8 HP up... After all, a bird in the hand and all that...

I own the newer Hayate 125Fi (8,000k) and have owned the Elegance. This comparison of a Rolex to a knock-off is overdone. The Hayate is every bit as quick and light footed in town, agile and comfortable. Nothing has been less than perfect with my Hayate so far - nothing.

Elegance probably shows to advantage in the torque department uphill and may be slightly steadier at max cruise, not that I experience a wiggle with the 'Zuki. Also, recently alloy wheels got you tubeless tires with the Elegance and I believe (shocked, I am) that the Yamaha gets better mileage, a bit, due to liquid cooling and diasi (tight specs). It's easy to add a top box to the Yamaha as the company provides the parts - not Zuki.

Style aside, I cannot see the new SX as being an upgrade - rather the reverse. Nothing would convince me to trade in my Hayate for this new disappointment. As an added note, I prefer the twin headlight arrangement used by the Elegance (and Hayate and...) as it defines clearly a motorbike coming toward you; single lamps or over and under leave some doubt (car with on bulb out?).

Hey CMX, thanks for posting; I was hoping you'd turn up to provide some balance, as I'd been reading your posts going back to buying your Hayate.

As I wrote earlier, I've been riding the Hayate for six or seven weeks now, and really liked it. Physically, it's a great size for me, yet it's nimble enough to weave through traffic pretty easily. I'm currently in Samui, and I've not once thought I'd like more torque that the Hayate gave me, especially two-up between Lamai and Chaweng.

Stylistically, I actually like the Hayate better than the Elegance, especially the red model I had/have with it's black alloys, and I like them even moreso after this upgrade.

All in all, I reckon I will keep the Hayate, as, in all honesty, the new Nouvo is quite a disappointment, but it's been good to get both your and Jack's opinion.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but the question was asked "what alternatives do you have in this price range?" and I am surprised at how rarely the Hayate comes up in comparison with the Nouvo...

Was the gauge reading full when they filled it?

I'm no expert but i would expect the tank to still show full on the gauge but your car wouldn't start / run. I would check for leaks.

I'm only looking at it that way because i would expect it shows full / half full / empty by pressure and not the same as a petrol tank. I.E by a float in the tank. So if it's done by pressure, you would need a leak to empty the pressure and that would be with gas or air.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

I'd agree with your reasoning; but, hey, we could both be wrong!

ATM and Debit Cards for online purchases are different here in Thailand then in say USA. A USA Debit card can be used like a credit card or debit card because it has the Visa or MasterCard logo on it and the vendor may ask if you want Debit or Credit?

What I have found in Thailand is when you open a local bank account and they give you an ATM card, it will usually only be good at ATM's and NOT imprinted with your name. On the card it will say "Electronic Use Only" on it someplace. This means that the card has to be physically swiped at an ATM or CC reader in a store, is what the lady at Siam Commercial Bank told me. If you want your name imprinted on the card you have to leave the first card they give you at the bank and wait for the imprinted one to be made up and sent to the bank. If you get an ATM card with your name imprinted on it still cannot be used for online transactions. But I do feel a bit safer with my name imprinted on the card

To use your ATM card online I found that Bangkok Bank Be 1st Card to work, even though it also says "Electronic Use Only" So who really knows?. You will have to get your name imprinted on the Be 1st Card. A quick side note on getting your name imprinted on the Be 1st card, they only allow 18 spaces in total for your complete name. The 18 spaces include the blank spaces between your first and last name. So when they first filled in the form to get my name imprinted on the Be 1st Card they copied down my legal first middle and last name with a space between each. In total, with blank spaces it is 20 spaces. So when I picked up my card it had my complete first, middle and only half of my last name. When I asked them to correct it they told me that the last name was not important in Thailand and only the first and middle name was used. After a lot of run around I found a bank agent that filled in the order form for the new card and she only used my middle initial.

Also when you pick up your new Be 1^st card with hopefully your correct name imprinted on it they will ask you to enter a security code that verifies you as the user when you use the card online. I believe it is an 8 digit number. I have used the card with no problem when ordering things online from the US and UK. I have bought airline tickets with it on United and NOK air with no problem. But when I tried to use it with Thai Airlines it would not take it. I called Thai airlines and they said that they could not process the transaction with the card as it was a debit card. But they were able to make the transaction with my US Debit card. Or I could pay at 7/11. I believe what happens with Thai Airways is that their web site does not jive with the security window that appears from Visa that ask for the 8 digit security code, but not sure?

The lady at the Siam Commercial Bank obviously doesn't know what she's talking about, which was proven when you were able to use your Bangkok Bank Be1st Visa Debit Card.

When a card says it is for electronic use only, it simply means you can not use it in an imprinting machine - remember those old swipey things? And this is why they do not have embossed writing or numbers. Think about every transaction that you need to make, and tell me which of those aren't electronic?

People also need to make sure that their debit card is not just a debit card (a bog-standard ATM card), but is either a Visa Debit card or a Mastercard Debit card - it is the generic use of the term debit card that confuses a lot of people. A Visa Debit card and a Mastercard Debit card (cards that use your money, as opposed to credits cards) can be used online, an ATM card can not - both, however, can be used in ATM's and with EFTPOS.

Another issue, is that there are a lot of payment gateways out there that do not accept expiry dates as far into the future as the Thai banks tend to give us. That being said, my Be1st Visa Debit card has not been declined on any overseas online purchases that I have made - and I make a lot.

A few years ago, a couple of GM's of upmarket resorts tried to get the 'loudspeaker' boats stopped from screaming out their wares whilst trawling up and down Chewang beach. The GM's were told that these (and the trucks) are a part of Thai culture and tradition and that they would always be allowed.

I wonder how long it actually takes for a moronic public nuisance to become part of the culture?

I guess it's much like that ancient tradition of beeping ones horn as you drive past the lookout on the way to Lamai...

The basic insurance does not cover damage to your bike.

It's only cover damage to third party and hospital up to 15.000 baht.

Yeah, a mate crashed his rented bike when we were in Chiang Mai in Feb, and the hospital dealt with the owner of the rental shop to cover his expenses (which were, coincidentally, 14,900 baht); he didn't have to do a thing. This did not happen for me at Nathon hospital, but considering how quickly they wanted to get me out of the place, it's not surprising. I assume the second hospital I went to assumed the first hospital I went to initiated the insurance proceedings. Regardless, it was pretty much the last thing on my mind at the time!

It will be worthwhile trying to get some of my costs back, now that the dust has settled, if it is possible once I have paid the charges myself.

Edit: Gf just told me the insurance was discussed in the first few days, and was refused by the owner of the motorbike - her reason being that I didn't die. My gf and our friend went back to the police station to complain, and the big copper there told here there was nothing he can do as the never actually filed an official report! (Upon hearing this, my gf got angry and asked - in the crowded station - "Do you want more money?") So, there you go... Gotta love Thailand!

Great story parallaxtech, good to hear these types of things, as they seem very rare.

I think you definitely did the right thing.

I purchased a bike this week, and one of the first things I bought was one of these... 1500 baht, free delivery from Bangkok to Samui.

What's needed (particularly outside the home/overnight stops) is 3m of suitably gauged chain & a heavy padlock through the wheel & around a concrete pillar. Supot sells the chain by the kilo IIRC.

That'd work too!

Back on topic. The 135 cc Yamaha engine appears to be bullet proof. If Yamaha does change to a 125 cc, I know for sure what my next bike will NOT be.

Ok, but what alternatives do you have in this price range?

I know this is a Nouvo thread, but as the question was asked, I'll ask another: What's so wrong with the 125Fi Hayate that no one even considers it in the same class as the Nouvo?

First off, if you go back into the threads here there have been a couple of proponents of the Hayate. Now.......if you go out and buy yourself a tape measure you will see that the Hayate is a knockoff of the Nouvo. Here's what I am getting at. Take my old Nouvo MX. Friend of mine got a Hayate. Had the same identical wheel and tire measurements of my Nouvo. Had the same lines. An Air Blade has smaller diameter wheels (14 inch) but they are wider. The overall appearance of the Air Blade is short coupled. Stubby compared to the Nouvo. The Hayate had the same long lanky appearance of the Nouvo. Even had the same little cubby holes in front of the driver for small odds and ends. Obviously one bike had copy catted the other. And since the Nouvo has been out since 2002 I believe the Suzuki is the one that's been doing the copy catting.

Now....the Hayake is 125 cc's right? Wouldn't you rather have 135 cc's than 125? I'd presume the 135 has more power. And especially whenever I used to look for horsepower figures all over the Internet I'd come up with nada, nothing for the Hayake. Not so with the Yamaha Elegance or its predecessor the 115 c.c. Nouvu MX. It was not hard to find the figure of 11.2 h.p. listed for the Elegance posted nearly everywhere. I could only conclude that Yamaha is rather proud of the power it had put into its engines. As for the 115 c.c. MX, the horsepower was 8.9. Which means that extra 20 cc's was providing the Elegance a 26 % horsepower advantage. That is truly significant and I can tell you from owning both, you can really feel the 26 % difference.

Okay....I just discovered this. http://chinabusiness...ev-up&Itemid=65 Note that the horsepower for the 125 c.c. Hayake is 9.6 in this article. Which means the Elegance has a 17 % power advantage over the Hayate. Once again I view the Hayake as a poor man's Elegance. It is a fine bike no doubt for the type of man who wants to settle for second or third best. It is perfect for the kind of man who is happy with a skimpy dealership network. I want to add that the handling of the Hayake was just a tad off from the better road manners of the Yamaha while its appearance detailing was cheaper looking. So---overall I view it the same way as I'd view a Taiwanese copy of a Rolex watch. I'd rather have the real deal, wouldn't you? And with an Elegance, unlike my Swiss watch example, you don't really have to pay much of a premium to be able to get the real thing. I think it's only a five or six thousand baht difference, so for that kind of money, I'd rather pay the extra to avoid having to live on the poor side of town with the other have nots.

Thanks Jack, I'd been reading your posts here a bit, and hoped you'd reply - even if I did know which way you'd be leaning. That's not to say leaning towards the Elegance is a bad thing, if it's the better bike, which based on how rarely the Hayate is mentioned I have no doubt that it is.

I have only ridden the Elegance briefly, and while I liked the feel of it, it wasn't long enough to get a good feel for it. I had been riding a Hayate for over six weeks now, including nearly two in Chiang Mai, and I really like it. Of course, that is in comparison to a Scoopy and a Click, so it's hard to not like it. My plan was to next rent an Elegance, so I could do an in depth comparison - maybe even having both for a week or so - however I crashed the Hayate last Sunday, and have ended up buying it (had to pay the lady I rented it off for a replacement, and got ownership of the one I crashed in the process). Based on your experience, I was already leaning towards the Elegance, and the only reason I started with the Hayate was that it was the first one I found available to rent.

Now my dilemma is, once the Hayate is repaired, do I sell it and upgrade to a carbed 135 Elegance, or wait and aim for a (possibly) 125 Fi Elegance...

Well, we're moving from Lamai, so it's not like Nancy's version will be a shock to the system!

Besides, I'm pretty sure we'll be out and about exploring all the amazing rings Chiang Mai has to offer, and not hanging around with the sexpats...

Wawee Coffee on the corner of Ratchadamnoen & Ratpakinai Rds in the old city at least knows what they are! I wouldn't say they're great, but I'm lactose intolerant, and they're one of the very few places that have soy milk, so they got my repeat custom when I was there.

Of course there is the safety concern with an open face. I took the visor off my current one and have perfectly clear 180 degree line of sight. When I put on my fullface HJC it feels like I'm looking through a matchbox, with terrible lack of side vision, driving around the city feels thrice as dangerous.

Yep, I know exactly what you're saying.

Hi Nirvana,

When are you planning to move? I ask because I'm planning to move the opposite direction (at a date yet to be determined).

Just over a week ago I sent an email to Chiang Mai Removals asking for a quote to collect my stuff from Samui and bring it to Chiang Mai. Despite their website boldly proclaiming that "We won't let you down" and stating that they will get back to us in 24 hours, I have still had no reply - maybe it just wasn't worth it to them...

However, if our dates match up, it may be that we could find a company that will take the job...

The OP might find this site useful. http://www.bikez.com

I can't help thinking the OP's post is a bit like "I've heard in Thailand that some pieces of string are longer than others. How long is a piece of string?"

Not a bad site but it doesn't even have a CBR150, or any scooters that I know in Thailand except for the PCX and it doesn't show the HP values for most of the bikes i looked at.

What I was really trying to ask for is something that is of benefit to others. For example, someone may want to buy a new Click or old Mio and can't decide, so which between the two has more power, ie faster? Maybe someone can't decide between a CBR250 or a Ninja 250, so which has more HP or power so to speak? Should a PCX125 owner buy a new PCX? What's the HP difference?

I'm no expert on bikes but I'm guessing that a bike in the same class with more HP is faster than the other. eg If a CBR250 has 20HP and a Ninja 250 has 25HP then its faster and justifies its higher price.

So a list of HP values for local bikes could benefit others.

I think the flaw with your premise macknife, is that you're comparing scooters and motorbikes. No one buys a Scoopy or a Click, or any scooter for that matter, to go fast. People will (or should) buy a scooter based on a number of variables, not just 'Omg, the PCX 150 has 1 more horsepower - must buy!'

One of the main considerations should be to buy a scooter that fits them; for example, I feel too hunched over on a Scoopy or a Click, but feel much more comfortable on an PCX, Elegance or Hayate; that being said, the PCX feels too big for me, whereas the Elegance and the Hayate feel nimble enough, while still giving me a comfortable ride. These are, of course, my personal opinions - YMMV.

Of course one more consideration that is much more important than straight out speed - remember we're talking scooters here - is torque. Can your scooter get you from 40 to 60 quick enough to take advantage of that gap? Will your scooter get you and your gf up Doi Suthep without labouring too much?

I guess my point is, top speed itself is a rather useless comparison, as it fails to take into account all the different variables of all there different makes and models. Not to mention that you also do not take into account the different weights of all the bikes you listed, which will of course affect how much speed they can get from their horsepower anyway...

Back on topic. The 135 cc Yamaha engine appears to be bullet proof. If Yamaha does change to a 125 cc, I know for sure what my next bike will NOT be.

Ok, but what alternatives do you have in this price range?

I know this is a Nouvo thread, but as the question was asked, I'll ask another: What's so wrong with the 125Fi Hayate that no one even considers it in the same class as the Nouvo?

I like the look of the GJ-603, the Ozzy doesn't seem to provide too much jaw support (call me strange, but after reading of a girl having her lower jaw ripped off while wearing an open helmet I went straight out and bought a full-face).

Great story parallaxtech, good to hear these types of things, as they seem very rare.

I think you definitely did the right thing.

I purchased a bike this week, and one of the first things I bought was one of these... 1500 baht, free delivery from Bangkok to Samui.

Just looked at the pictures, you're a lucky guy James.

Indeed I am.

Have to say this all sounds a bit odd.

Fistly, 3rd party insurance here is compulsary. OK, not everyone buys it, but in order to get the tax disc, you need to show a valid insurance document. So that angle is worth pursuing.

Secondly, when you told us of the accident, and the damage, I have to admit I was expecting to see the bike in a worse state of repair. Your injuries were bad, no doubt at all about that, but the bike, well is it really going to cost THB 30,000 to repair it? I am no expert, but it doesn't look like it should cost that much - especially when compared to the price you have bought it from the owner. I am guessing the owner of the bike has sold it to you at a price she considers to be its' replacement value prior to the accident, together with a mark-up and probably compensation for loss of earnings etc. So a similar second hand bike should cost you perhaps between 30-35,000? And yet the repair shop says it wants 30,000 to put it right?

What, the motorbike rental woman wanting the faring to pay for the motorbike he crashed, and collecting the insurance on the same motorbike? That sounds odd? It sounds normal practice for Thailand if you ask me.

That being said, I don't know how she'd go claiming on the insurance, seeing as though the ownership has already been transferred to my gf's name. Maybe it's just a case of the motorbike rental woman being as clueless as me when it comes to insurance in Thailand.

The 42,000 baht replacement price was determined after checking prices of similar aged Hayates, and with the assistance of the Suzuki dealership here on Samui. Sure, you could probably find a few in Bangkok for a few thousand lower, but the fact is I destroyed her bike, and wanted to make sure she wasn't out of pocket too much (we had a good relationship and I'd like to keep it that way despite what happened), and, most importantly, it was a price I was comfortable paying.

As for the disappointing damage, perhaps my mate should have shot the side that was scraped down the bitumen for 20 odd meters...

My gf took a picture of it in the shop (since deleted, as she doesn't like to think of it and didn't want to see the picture on her phone), and the only salvageable parts - as insertmembernamehere suggested - were the engine/transmission, and rear wheel; everything else was either damaged beyond repair, or damaged so much that repairing it would cost more than replacing it. RRP for this model Hayate is 52,000 baht; of course being Samui, the price we were quoted here is 56,000 baht, so paying just over half the new price for a one year old bike (with just over 5,000 km on the clock, and many many new parts) doesn't seem that bad at all IMO.

Like I say, I am not diminishing your injuries, and I am not an expert, but I would get another opinion before proceeding.

I understand you're not diminishing my injuries, and I do value your input; but all decisions regarding the bike have been made with other opinions.

Not sure if this is relevant:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2756

Note: If you leave the Personal Hotspot screen or put your iOS device to sleep, the device only broadcasts the Wi-Fi network for an additional 90 seconds. If no devices join the Wi-Fi network during that time, iPhone or iPad Wi-Fi + 4G stops broadcasting your Wi-Fi network. You can start broadcasting your Wi-Fi network again by tapping Settings > Personal Hotspot.

Perhaps, but I assume he had connected prior to leaving the Personal Hotspot screen or putting his phone or himself to sleep. I do know the Personal Hotspot disconnects after a period of inactivity (but I can not find the details), and I assume this is what happened last night.