DualSportBiker

I am doing a visa run to Mae Sot the weekend of 20 & 21 September. I was thinking of leaving Bangkok on Friday 19 early afternoon and staying one night in MS before riding to Umphang on Saturday. Early depart on Sunday to MS and back to Bkk in the afternoon.

Anyone care to join me?

I have only done this in a cage, but the road is typically in good condition, and is a more exciting choice that up and around by highway. If you are up for a long ride (you mention days) the take the right as you exit the park around Wat Pa Khao Yai and saunter over to the 304 to drop you south into Nadi and Krabin before taking the Prachinburi route back. You can also consider the route through Bang Sang which avoids major roads and drops you into Min Buri.

Enjoy.

Any recomendations on the 3077 / 2090 going through Khao Yai ?

I take more notice of fuel consumption, but I think a 100 + average is doable. I ride to Mae Sot via Suphan in 4 hours and 20 minutes. That is pretty much 500 km on the nose. Knowing I won't ride once I get there means I only stop to take on fuel, have a wiz, and replace body fluids, so 10 - 15 mins max first stop, and 3 - 5 mins for fuel only the second...

Not that it matters really...

For my next trick...

Sounds like a good set up, although lower lights pick up dirt quickly and are soon less bright than advertised...

The LED are 900 lumens and draw 0.75 Amp each. The pic shows stock headlight, stock plus 2 units 30º, stock plus 2 30º plus 1 15º spot. The pics were taken at 45 metres out.

I run with the 2 30º units in the day, and only use the spot when needed... I also where a HiVis harness...

Cheers.

Personally, I'd rather do 500 k.m. of twisties than 100 k.m. of highways, let alone 1,000! At very least I feel sorry for my tires (and the poor bugger that bought them).

Riding at night here is to be avoided, but you know that already. I have done so only once; departed Hua Mark at 15:00 sharp and rode to Nong Khai by 21:15 with dinner at Chumphae (I took the 201 from Sikhio through Chaiyaphum rather than the 'main' highway. If I did not have 3,000 additional lumens upfront, and reflectors on my panniers I'd not even think about it!

I've got 2x Denali D2 sets on my 500X...only an extra 1656 lumens but they work great for those later excursions. One set (25 degree lens) is on at all times and mounted low on the crashbar for fog light, low beam and "HEY IDIOT...I AM HERE" usage. The other set (10 degree lens) is tucked up under the nose and works really well for driving lights as they are tied into my high beam. I was also thinking about getting something more for rear visibility; was thinking about sourcing the black reflective (or even silver as either will work on my Givi Trekker boxes) 3M tape...or getting some sort of flashing led pointed downwards that isn't annoyingly bright but still will catch the eye.

Tyres are of little concern to me; I only get to use them every 4^th month so I may as well burn them up before dry rot sets in.

Personally, I'd rather do 500 k.m. of twisties than 100 k.m. of highways, let alone 1,000! At very least I feel sorry for my tires (and the poor bugger that bought them).

Riding at night here is to be avoided, but you know that already. I have done so only once; departed Hua Mark at 15:00 sharp and rode to Nong Khai by 21:15 with dinner at Chumphae (I took the 201 from Sikhio through Chaiyaphum rather than the 'main' highway. If I did not have 3,000 additional lumens upfront, and reflectors on my panniers I'd not even think about it!

Was actually over 1000 for me as the distance from the house to the meet up pushed it into that range. Perhaps if I was as good of a rider as mbox (and not addicted to nicotine) that time could have been significantly cut down.

I've done many 1000+ km day trips, but that's the only one I have a witness that can corroborate the story. However the other rides weren't as physically demanding; going down the 1090 and back up (and then getting rained upon during the Kamphaeng -> Nakhon Sawan leg) sure is rough.

I'm currently in the process of planning out a real Iron Butt trip for November. There are several options available, but I'm leaning towards sticking to major highways so I can be sure I meet the goal. When I started planning it was looking like a run up through Tak->Lom Sak->Ubon and back was in the cards. But running the numbers, there's too much traffic and curves in the beginning to make good time, as well as having at least 350km of unknown roads after dark pretty much precluded that.

That's 900 k.m.! Holy crap! That is some ride!

Don't know what the hate for small bikes is....mbox and I have done the Nakhon Sawan to Umphang and back trip on a pair of 250 (Ninja and Boxer). Eating lunch there and still got home after 12.5 hours. And I'm not that good of a rider.

I've been exploring back-roads around the furthest parts of Nonthaburi - beat up roads, but even though they are flat, there are plenty of curves...

Nothing beats the roads heading to and in the north. I take the 106 from Theon to Li when I ride to CM; fantastic road. Sports bikers should wait till just before the rainy season 'cause that road gets potholed so badly during the rains and they take a while to fix it.

I do my visa runs in Mae Sot and don't use the highway once I get to Suphan - 3 and 4 digit roads all the way to the 105/1108 junction. The extra distance adds about 40 minutes to the trip, but takes all the hassle of busy roads away; much recommended. That route has plenty of fast (up to 150) stretches of sweeping curves and sections of 2nd and 3rd gear tight turns... I'm due to run there in September and am looking forward to the ride and Moei fish when I get there.

Start with the courses that the manufacturers run, Yamaha Honda and Kawa all have proper physical courses and pretty good instructors. How is your Thai language proficiency? These courses may be only available in Thai.

Khun Ball from Bkk Bike (BMW Dealer) is apparently available on occasion for private lessons, but is expensive. There is Storm Academy where for sure some of the teachers speak good enough English to get you through.

Get Twist of the Wrist. Ride with people who are more experienced and watch them...

Ride safe.

I wonder what my tolerance-ratio is. By that I mean how many extra miles will I ride to avoid straight and find the twisty?

I used to make maps of curvature density, but that was for Nana and the Pong; time to redirect and focus on my new addiction

Sent; how is not important.

I don't like early starts (can't wake up due to going to bed late). So usually start around 9 am. I like to finish before 6 pm as I don't like riding in the dark due to the inherent dangers of riding in Bangkok. So, I would say that 8-9 hours in total (including stops) would be about the limit for me. I have of course done 12 hour rides out of necessity but ideally 6-8 hours.

As my usual speeds are between 100-140 kmh, that limits it to 400 km round trips for day rides.

Each to their own of course, but IMHO early starts is where it's at. Cooler air, emptier roads, morning sunlight. If I hit the road by 06:00 (Chaeng Wattana) I can be in Kanchanaburi town by 7:30. Getting the flat and boring out the way gives me the option of Si Sawat by lunch and over the pass and either back to Kanchanaburi town for a night of revelry, or back home. For 'full disclosure' I've never done Bkk-Si Sawat-Bkk in a day, but I've ridden there (anti clockwise), and checked into a hotel in Kanchanaburi by 15:00, so I'm pretty sure getting home by sundown is not an issue

I guess I have ridden for up to 12 hours with 'more' frequent stops, but that is close to the limit!! Longest ride of over 800 from Mae Sot to Mae Hon Song via Tak and Li; twisties all the way... Totally poll-axed after that day!

I think Si Sawat is doable on a day-ride. Sorry Gweiloman, it is a push, but within limits.

Cheers

Day rides or overnighters??

Just day rides for me mate.. Usually leave my young fella with a friend while I'm out.

How about yourself?

For day only rides, the options are very limited. Nakhon Nayok is ok but will get boring after a few times. Khao Yai is a much longer ride so that would mean earlier starts and higher speeds to get back before sunset. Si Sawat District is too far for a day's ride.

How many hrs do you limit your day ride to?

Previously some of my day rides have gone for over 12hrs as long as Im having fun and the occasional coffee stop to remove any numbness.

What bike are you riding?

I have less free time than in previous years so day rides make more sense. However, I rarely do day rides... How bad can it be? Where are you based? I am on the NW side of Bkk, perfect for rides to Karn and the north...

Nicely done! "I think I am pretty experienced" , but your social skills are dodgy!

Fellow riders, take your pick; you are either crazy or naive. I'll plump for a third option of being not sufficiently arrogant to rate my own riding skills, and dis a community within two sentences...

Part of the skill required is being open minded - not making assumptions about other road users.

I've been riding a bike on and off for 16 years in the UK including London so I'm pretty experienced. I'm not crazy or naive enough to ride in Thailand but there must be a skill to it which is different to the UK.

Anyone cracked it how to ride safely in Thailand?

Day rides or overnighters??

Many thanks

Smallish groups are great fun and if you employ the corner man system with a tailgunner no_ one ever gets lost and the fast riders still get to go fast

Would you care to elucidate?

corner man system you have one person leading all the time and one person always stays at the back (the tail gunner),when making any turns the leading rider points the person behind him to wait at that turn,that rider will wait until he sees the tail gunner coming then he can set of again and race back near the front of the pack if desired.

its a good system which allows everyone to ride at there own pace yet still get the whole group to the destination.

little vid below explains it better

I know exactly what you mean about clearing your head. I had just returned to Singapore after my start -up had tanked and was fighting my partner in a messy breakup. Flew to Krabi and rented a 750 Honda cruiser and rode to khao lak and back. By the time I was back in Krabi I had a strategy to close up and get that douche out of my life.

Oh, I too am open to riding with new groups and am not fixated on finding mud...

I need my solo rides to clear my mind. Groups are ok but as some said dont like it too big groups; sometimes i joined groups but their riding styles or just personality/ preferences doesnt fit. So i skip these and ride with riders iam comfortable with; however still joining new ones sometimes to see if i fit in

Sent; how is not important.

Smallish groups are great fun and if you employ the corner man system with a tailgunner no_ one ever gets lost and the fast riders still get to go fast

Would you care to elucidate?

I got a ContourHD - works great, even if the company has gone rubber side up!

sgpsimonb is the totally forgettable youtube channel name i post to...

Barcelona and Storm did their first off-road skills training out there - I took part. When it rains that mud is like ice! Myself and many others were on TCK80s and survived, but others on Metzler Tourance were really struggling.

I've taken one of my Landys out there to teach a colleague the basics of driving off-road - good fun in the mud and the food ain't bad. I heard they stopped letting trucks in there - is that true? Something to do with dragging too much dirt out on to the road and pissing off the neighbours...

Can't drink for 3 hours these days, and won't contemplate drinking and driving/riding... I might pop out one weekend, but need to change tires first as I am on Anakee 3 now which are OK for gravel and dry mud and rocks, but not ice-like mud!

Cheers.

I prefer riding on my own, mainly because of my choice of bike. I prefer back roads to highways and rarely turn back when the road disappears and the mud and potholes appear (normally immediately after a blind turn...)

I've done a number of BM GS events with whole-day rides on the Saturday. It was really fun to ride in a convoy of 100 to 200 GS for a day, but once a year is 1 less than too many! I have a group of mates who fly in for Chinese New Year; they rent 250 MX bikes and we rides dirt roads in the North and Nan - that is more of a social break than a hard ride though - tons of fun and I'd do more if I could.

The combination of my bike and my skill (lack of) means I can't really ride 'tough' MX tracks in the rainy season without lots of friends to help me pick the bike up (strength fails me at fall No. 3++...) Ends up a bit of a compromise, but I've been lucky with route choices on my own, and have enjoyed splendid isolation and some awesome views on rough roads with no traffic.

The biggest problem being based in Bangkok is the distance to fun roads - take a couple of hours to get anywhere with a curve!

The bars I have been known to ' occasionally ' visit in various cities and municipalities in the North East cannot display anything that shows alcohol so,  for example,  no beer mats,  bar towels,  posters,  bunting etc.
 
No direct advertising on television but what about the sports events that are sponsored by beer companies etc. as around the arena every second sign shows the company name ?   I can't see such sponsorship being stopped as it's too valuable,  the companies are big and well connected.
 
The whole attitude is hard to understand.

 
But it's quite ok for companies like Singha to have massive bill boards and signage on tower blocks in BKK advertising their amber fluid.....
Chang do similar and are massive sponsers of local and International sports......!!