DualSportBiker
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The Porn Ping Tower hotel in Chiang Mai is owned by a guy with a significant collection of bikes. Only bikes are allowed to park upfront - any car is ushered away by well trained staff.
It is not however a 5 star hotel...
Triumph Bonnevilles, Harley Davidsons and 5 star hotels.... mmmm, I never heard all those words in the same sentence before, what are you on about? .....Unless you are a rockstar? well maybe that is how you see yourself.....There's a serious elitism isue in Thailand - unless you have an expensive imported bike you'll be treated as a second class citizen wherever you go. Same thing with locally built cars vs imports. The big test is if you can park at the front of a 5 star hotel. I've seen Ducati sports bikes (not Monsters! and they need to be red), Bonneviles and Harleys parked at the front of Rennaissance and Penninsula amongst the Porsches and Bentleys. But turn up on a Versys or CRF or even worse a sc**ter and you'll be sent to some grubby corner of the car park by the bins to park.
Do they have a set of Top Trumps cards to train the hotel staff. Lambo - OK, Rolls - OK, MV - OK, Honda - Fireblade OK - all others round the back with the Finos.
I wonder if the hotel porters will be instructed to reclassify the Bonnie when the price drops?
Listen chum, if you ride a motorcycle you are a second class citizen by definition.... arriving at your 5 star hotel covered in road grime, crap and dead flies, stinking of diesel fumes and stale sweat.
Just because your bike might be as fast as a Porsche, it is still a a bunch of cheap steel tubes with an engine stuffed in it, so don't kid yourself.
OK - this reply is a bit late - but here you go - a Ducati parked outside the 5* Renaissance Hotel in Central Bangkok. (I told you so's - like revenge - are dishes best served cold.... or something like that )-
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Well understood.
I came out of a store in Wang Chao in December to find some short drunk older guy picking my GS of its stand to show them he could do it! Gave him a dressing down for doing it and his mates for letting him. Equal amout of face-loss all around...
Oh and the other thing - I often catch people sitting on my bike taking pictures. That gets me too
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Many thanks - I'll have some 5.0 oil via a local shop next week... I've not changed the springs yet, only added Intiminators which require the higher viscosity oil.
Very happy with the result even though it is a kludge...
Cheers.
You can use engine oil as well if you can not find dedicated fork oil. Or ATF as said above.
Had cartridge forks, and bikes with cartridge-emulators. No problem using anything. Experiment and find what works best for you and your bike / riding conditions.
are you kidding?,
"engine oil in forks", "no problems using anything"
you may have had more sophisticated forks but it would seem you have no idea why the wrong oil is the WRONG oil.
to the op
7.5 wt will increase the damping, not the spring rate, so both compression and rebound damping will be slower
you can add spacers to give more spring preload as a stop gap measure
also raising and lowering the fork oil height (volume) can make changes, ei: more oil = less air in the forks = stiffer (but dont put to much, hydraulic lock
is not good)
but in the end if your serious, stiffer springs is what you may have to get
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I got my GS back from the shop on Friday. Intiminators in the front shocks and a made-to-order rear shock. All in for USD720 plus shipping plus import duty on the rear only...
The end result is a massive transformation. Even with the wrong oil up-front (Dot 7.5 not 5) it feels like a new bike. Thinking about it, the turning is as responsive as a Versys - transitions more fluidly and with less effort. Less give up front when I brake, and yet it feels more solid over bumps. I went over a couple of level crossings pretty hard and it felt great.
I've only done 50 clicks of town riding, but they were fun! Admittedly I have made two changes at one time by modifying my footpegs as well (they were forcing my ankles to rotate back slightly and that makes standing uncomfortable), but all in all, I am totally happy so far.
I might take a day ride next week to find a mix of bends to give it a more thorough test... Dot 5 oil due in a couple of days - will wait till then, quick test, then off on my round the border run...
Cheers.
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Thanks mate - I've tracked down a reseller and although they don't have the specific fork oil, they have dot 5 engine oil. It will take them 2 months to get the fork oil in, so I'll do as you suggest until then. After my 'big trip' I wil have passed 50,000 km, and the servicing that requires will help pass the delay before the replacement...
Cheers.
You can use engine oil as well if you can not find dedicated fork oil. Or ATF as said above.
Had cartridge forks, and bikes with cartridge-emulators. No problem using anything. Experiment and find what works best for you and your bike / riding conditions.
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Here is the GPX file for anyone interested...
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Many thanks.
I have a route that has my right on the border into Mae Sai as per attached. Have you done both? Which would you ride again?
As for the 2112 - locked in already - I'll be on the Khong all the way from Chiang Khan to East of Ubon if things go to plan.
Cheers.
A few parts of it look similiar to the routes we took on our 2 rides last month,I didn't do any of the planning though ,that was all down to gweiloman,one thing we did learn though is never stay in a hotel that has the same name as the town you are staying in,it would have been the first hotel ever built there so obviously the oldest and shitiest condition......have fun!
Haha - for eg, Ubon Hotel in Ubon and Chiang Kham hotel in Chiang Kham.
God, wish I was on the road again instead of HCMC.
A couple of places I would recommend (if you're going to be staying there) is Laksasuk House Mae Sot and Above the Sea Mae Sariang.
If you're up for it and adventurous enough, I would suggest taking the 1149 to Mae Sai. Some unbelievable views from the top of Thailand over into Burma. We saw jungle pigs, cherry bloossoms, pine needles covering the roads etc. taninthai hated it though.
On the Eastern side, from Mukdahan to Ubon, you must absolutely take the 2112 - arguably the twistiest road in Eastern Isaan. Stop for a great view point at Phataem (where they have cave paintings and it's like the Grand Canyon - well worth the detour just for the view of the Mekong as well)
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So true. I arrived at Wang Chao late afternoon in December and called it a day. Did not want to ride up into the sun even though I know that road very well...
I ride Chaeng Wattana to Mae Sot via Suphan, Dan Chang, Ban Rai, and Wang Chao every 90 days... 5 to 5.5 hours is my norm.
I'll be having coffee and/or lunch with a friend in Suan Phueng, so expect to hit Sangkla by mid-afternoon. I might stay there, but if it is too touristy, Huay Mae Kamin NP has great lodging and food, good view and is almost on top of the pier for the ferry (as you know well...), so I might be passing through Si Sawat to Ban Rai in the morning of day 2. If I push on from HMK that afternoon, I'll ride the pass out in dusk where my stigmatism will come out to play, and then will be looking for a hotel right along the route you suggested...
My first ever trip in Thailand was in a Series II 88' to Sangklaburi. The road was submerged most of the way, and we had mud and water coming in the windows and mud on the mirrors as we were banked over 40º in places! Got to the top to find the toughest parts were where we'd gone around the paved airstrip - mud was laid on the side like plaster with a trowel! Looked great though... I've not been back since.
Ban Rai to Tak is easily done in a day. Probably could even go all the way to Mae Sot, but heading west on the [12] may almost be a death wish at sunset. Ban Rai has some good resorts on the cheap; if you decide to stop there for the night.
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I might be shafted until someone can carry some of this through for me ...
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I've just been told by the mechanic who fitted my Intiminators that they can't source dot 5 fork oil. 7.5 is the closest they can get. I suspect my search for a stiffer front-end may deliver too strong a result.
Has anyone seen Dot 5? I'd planned to kick off my 5,500 km ride on monday morning, so I'll ride anywhere to get it.
Many thanks.
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I've always 'known' that a dog or a scooter exiting a market would be my demise... I ride slowly through markets when there are open, but dogs are everywhere...
I have no idea if my not insubstantial GS plus my weight would plough through an average Thai dog, but I don't want to find out...
About 13 years ago I hit a dog that ran out in front of me while I was ridng my Wave- I was road-rashed pretty badly on my knees- the dog left the scene of the accident before I regained my senses (so I assume he made out OK)- I doubt the little bastard had insurance anyway.
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Hmmm, let's see if I can remember them all...
First spill on Phayathai turning into Rama 4 - cement trucks exiting a worksite not hosed down at night. Front end departed at pace, lifted my girlfriends leg up and we hit the mud and slid some distance along with the bike (Yamaha Special 650) Bent bars and muddy clothes. Two other bikes had gone down just before us and were trying to wave us off - failed to understand their gestures... Told us after we were lucky it was muddy or we'd be cut up on the road... not sure they saw the irony in that.. anyhow
Went home, changed clothes, came back out a different route, bent bars and all...Had the front wheel of the Yamaha knocked out from under me by a scooter rider in traffic - he cut me up near Makasan in light rain. Greasy road and being on the paint at the time contributed to my failure to correct it. Ruined a pair of $400 Frattelli Rossetti shoes and was late for a seminar. Gear peg too bent to repair there and then, so had to leave it and get a bike taxi...
Rolled off at low speed a few times on my first off-road adventure on my mini-GS. Missed a turn and went down an embankment on the same trip, had to cut the undergrowth away with a pocket knife which took a while. Now I carry a kukri I've sharpened well enough to shave with...
Last, but by no means least, I was riding off road in Ratchaburi on a course taught by Simon Pavey when I did exactly what he said not to do and drove straight into a hole at the side of the track, stopped instantly from 40, rolled into the track and was almost run over by the support vehicle (I was tail end charley because Pavey said "You seem sensible, why don't you mop up stragglers." Broke my wrist and nose and was driven to Suan Phueng 'anamai'
On a serious note, the x-ray at Suan Phueng showed a single clean break at the wrist. Pavey told me he road Dakar with an almost identical break in an open cast... The day after I took my x-ray, myself and my open cast to BNH to get a second opinion. 13 fractures, 7 weeks in a full cast and a rather painful resetting procedure that made me dig deep for suitable vocabulary... Don't trust up country medical equipment unless you can tell it is modern. I can't blame the Dr. in Suan Phueng, the Dr. in BNH agreed with the interpretation of the original film, just the machine was ancient...
Happy riding gents.
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For a dozen years I rode a Virago around Bkk, mostly the outer suburbs. It has a low centre of gravity and thus easy to manoeuvre through traffic. When compared to the Scoopyi that I ride now, it only loses out in very tight situations. When compared to other big bikes, it won out. Nothing amused my tiny little mind more than to wend my way through to the front of the traffic and wait for the green light, giving the throttle a twist to unleash a throaty roar every now and then. And when the lights turn. green, amble off like you're on a Sunday ride.
Would love another Virago, if anyone knows one for sale.
Guess that's where it sits for me, eeeya. Low centre of gravity and easy to handle.
Bit longer in the nose the virago over the special... Easy to ride though.
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I'll be having coffee and/or lunch with a friend in Suan Phueng, so expect to hit Sangkla by mid-afternoon. I might stay there, but if it is too touristy, Huay Mae Kamin NP has great lodging and food, good view and is almost on top of the pier for the ferry (as you know well...), so I might be passing through Si Sawat to Ban Rai in the morning of day 2. If I push on from HMK that afternoon, I'll ride the pass out in dusk where my stigmatism will come out to play, and then will be looking for a hotel right along the route you suggested...
My first ever trip in Thailand was in a Series II 88' to Sangklaburi. The road was submerged most of the way, and we had mud and water coming in the windows and mud on the mirrors as we were banked over 40º in places! Got to the top to find the toughest parts were where we'd gone around the paved airstrip - mud was laid on the side like plaster with a trowel! Looked great though... I've not been back since.
My bad mate; I read Ban Rai as Bo Rai which is in Trat - doh!
That's what happens doing too many things at one time, and late at night... Many thanks, that route looks great, and I'll stitch it into my original route! It keeps me truer to my goal of riding close to the border...
Cheers!
No biggie.
Not sure how many km you want to knock back that first day, but there's few hotels/resorts along my route. Give me an idea where a bouts you'd like to overnight and I'll post up some recommendations in that area.
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Eeeya, come to any conclusions yet? Poles apart most answers...
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My bad mate; I read Ban Rai as Bo Rai which is in Trat - doh!
That's what happens doing too many things at one time, and late at night... Many thanks, that route looks great, and I'll stitch it into my original route! It keeps me truer to my goal of riding close to the border...
Cheers!
Hmmm, that would be pretty massive detour on an already long ride... Thanks, but... anyhow, where west of Tak? Mae Sot is west of Tak and I'll be passing through there...
Was thinking something along this route.
I've ridden all of that and it should be a piece of cake for you.
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Riding in Bangkok traffic has much to do with feeling comfortable and being able to focus - the short answer is if the 300 is causing you to question your choice, a change might be a good idea.
I commuted on a 650 Yamaha Special for 7 years in the 90s and did not ever contemplate getting a smaller bike. Perhaps because I had not ridden one at that time, but also because the slight extra height meant that I had better visibility and therefore could select the best lanes to split slightly easier than lower bikes that are occluded from a full view. I was far from the slowest bike on the road, although there were occasions when I was forced to wait for the cages to move...
Now I rarely ride my 650 GS in town, but I don't considered gear changing a burden, or the size an issue when I do. I can't recall being overtaken riding downtown. My GS is high enough that I have fantastic visibility, that added to super brakes, reasonable engine braking, and many years of Bangkok riding and actually thinking about it, means I make excellent progress.
I rode a Honda Click from Rama 9 to Chaeng Wattana just yesterday and did not enjoy it. I felt too low, the brakes were awful (I am sure they could have been better on a better maintained bike), and when I could open up, it took forever to get moving and felt unsafe as I approached 80. No car even saw me let alone gave a moments thought to let me through. I have 3,000 lumens on my GS - I burn a path in front of me! Well, almost
Caveat: I drive a 1963 Series IIa manual in Bangkok, so I lean towards manual transmissions. It's my cross, and I bear it!
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I may only have the strength for a proper massage precisely where I sleep so I can pay up and bed down in one easy move... but, I'll bear both advisories in mind!
Cheers.
A few parts of it look similiar to the routes we took on our 2 rides last month,I didn't do any of the planning though ,that was all down to gweiloman,one thing we did learn though is never stay in a hotel that has the same name as the town you are staying in,it would have been the first hotel ever built there so obviously the oldest and shitiest condition......have fun!
all good and mostly only karaoke, abnaam and massage places - lets say best girls of the town! - are always down those old hotels with the town names though:)
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Hmmm, that would be pretty massive detour on an already long ride... Thanks, but... anyhow, where west of Tak? Mae Sot is west of Tak and I'll be passing through there...
If you have a bit of time I can create a route from Ban Rai to west of Tak if you want to spice things up.I am almost dead certain that I can't pass through Thung Yai to Umphang, but I will go ask. I am therefore assuming I will cross the Srinakarin dam to Si Sawat and head north through Ban Rai which connects me to my normal route to Mae Sot for visa runs. From MS to MHS is safe, easy and fun. While near Pai I will chat with a local MX racer I know and talk through route options - I've ridden with him to Piang Luang north of Pai on the Burmese border, and he has ridden all over that area for years. I will vary as I need to, and will be asking around for tracks that keep me close to the border as well as checking how safe they are. reckon I will get connected to the BPP through a retired BPP office I know - call and confirm where is safe etc, pop in a say hi if I can - always good to know those lads...
Just got a new iPhone so photos are guaranteed - ContourHD is coming too, although I'll have to be selective or I will run out of SD cards! -
The planned route is 5,480 km, but I will make errors, detours, and may have to rethink if unpaved roads turn into tracks not suitable for riding solo... I reckon I'll get back home with 5,500 +- 5 to 10% - I am expecting a minimum of 12 days riding, perhaps 3 days off to wash my smalls...
Great.
How many kms. do you expect to ride.
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I am almost dead certain that I can't pass through Thung Yai to Umphang, but I will go ask. I am therefore assuming I will cross the Srinakarin dam to Si Sawat and head north through Ban Rai which connects me to my normal route to Mae Sot for visa runs. From MS to MHS is safe, easy and fun. While near Pai I will chat with a local MX racer I know and talk through route options - I've ridden with him to Piang Luang north of Pai on the Burmese border, and he has ridden all over that area for years. I will vary as I need to, and will be asking around for tracks that keep me close to the border as well as checking how safe they are. reckon I will get connected to the BPP through a retired BPP office I know - call and confirm where is safe etc, pop in a say hi if I can - always good to know those lads...
Just got a new iPhone so photos are guaranteed - ContourHD is coming too, although I'll have to be selective or I will run out of SD cards!
Cheers.
cool man.
especially the section from Nong Khai to Ubon is great by Mekong River, been on those roads before many times.
dont miss Mukdahan - Riverfront Hotel.
Ubon is nice but please visit Si Phan Don( Thousand Islands) http://wikitravel.org/en/Si_Phan_Don in Laos as it is very close to the Thai border in Ubon - Chong Mex.
How will you go from Kanchanaburi to Chiang Rai by the border, not sure. It might not be super safe as well.
good luck, please post some photos!
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I'm pulling out all the stops and getting myself out on a massive ride in the next week or so. The goal of the trip is to stay as close to the border as possible starting in Suan Phueng, Ratchaburi right around to Bo Rai, Trat. I will probably ride for 3-4 days then take a day off. I'll be 'taking notes' for places to visit again, explore and invest time, but for this trip, I need to focus on completing the ride and getting back to work in around 2 weeks. I am hoping that my Anakee 3s will be fine; they suck on wet mud, but are fine in gravel and dusty tracks.
I would be very interested in, and grateful for information on places to stay, or rather where not to stay if you have stayed somewhere you would not recommend... Any scenic restaurants that I might plan a day's ride around would be great also. Pointers on roads or places to avoid could come in handy.
I planned the route in BaseCamp, so can't share a GoogleMaps URL for comments or suggestions, but I guess I could share the Garmin route if anyone was interested.
Cheers!
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Try Siam enduro club; they are very active...
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Dear all,
The OpenStreetMap project has released a web site that allows download of user-contributed maps; Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam are all covered in fairly good detail. The site allows selection of the areas or countries of interest and then compiles a series of compressed downloads including for BaseCamp on both Windows and Mac, and a generic format to copy to a SD/MicroSD card for the device.
Those who have newer devices will have more upto date maps and this may be of little interest. Others, myself included, have older devices and devices bought outside of Thailand can benefit from obviating ESRI's exorbitant pricing.
I spent several hours planning a multi-day trip I've been dreaming of recently - my first use of BaseCamp yesterday was pretty productive and I have over 5,000 k.m. of back-roads planned out. The content is pretty interesting; viewpoints, fuel hand-pumped from drum, shelters, toilets... The coverage is incomplete. I compared it with Google Maps and there are plenty of back-roads missing. However, I see this as a chance to ride those routes and to contribute by uploading maps I make and the POI I log as I ride the dusty tracks.
Using any of a number of conversion tools such as GPSBabel it is possible to convert these .mapi maps to run on a number of other GPS platforms. I've not played with this, but I guess the Maps and GPS forum may already have something useful there.
Hopefully some of you find use for what amounts to man-years of work contributed to this public project.
Cheers, and happy route planning!
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Shock mods and upgrade - BMW F650GS
in Motorcycles in Thailand
Posted
Can't see much installed...
The better pics are on the ricor site[emoji1]