idman

Mostly Thai Yuppies and not so many tourists?????  What in God's name are you smoking these days???  When was the last time you were even at Maya???  Over 80% of the people passing through there are mostly Chinese and Western tourists.  You are so out of touch with the reality at Maya these days.  Try going back there once more.

If the rumor mill is to believed this time around Honda will unveil the new and improved Honda Forza 300 at the upcoming Bangkok Motor Show scheduled for the end of November through early December.  In my case I will not be able to attend and do a side by side comparsion.  Hopefully another poster will attend and post some photos and offer their initial impressions of the new Forza.

OMG someone actually took the bait and thought I was serious.  Who really is the insane one.  Do you even know the meaning of satire???  Pick your head up from the bar and put down your Archa, you have had wayyyyy to much already today.

Shame on those three randy bas..turds.  Of course it's not a surprise when Monks get busted for various crimes in Thaiand.  Wearing a saffron robe does not mean they actually become a true follower and believer in the teachings of the Buddha.

I'm shocked.  Shocked I tell you over this obvious smear campaign against the noble and honorable Thai police.  There is no finer example of honest policemen in the entire world than the ones you will find here in Thailand.  If this sad news is true my entire belief system has taken to blow to my mid section.  I am forced to spend the rest of this day drowning my sorrow in copious amounts of John Barleycorn.

Very simple,  TRUST IS EARNED, NEVER GIVEN.  Ignore that precept especially with the Thai Twinkies and you are a fool.

I wasted my time yesterday by actually thinking that the Northern Motorbike Expo in Chiang Mai just might have a new Honda Forza 300 on display.  Not only did this fake expo not have a Forza, it had NO Honda models, NO Suzuki models and in total there were only 26 models in total.  Yamaha were the leaders but only if you were looking for a scooter, no big bikes and only one Xmax 300.  Kawasaki had four bikes and the rest were from two obscure brands, Stallion and Gtx/Grt????  And they had the nerve to advertise this all over Chiang Mai for the past ten days, a foo...k n joke but so typical of how things work in Thailand.  Since there was a lovely dark grey Xmax I decided,, knowing of course the outcome, to ask about price, wait time and deposit/down payment.  Getting the price was no problem, the lad even volentered that it was going to be 3 months before I could get one here in Chiang Mai, after that it was a waste of time getting any further information, even using Google translator.  I will not be fooled again when I see another Motorbike Expo advertised here.  Now I can only hope that the Bangkok Auto Show will actually have a decent motorbike section as in previous years.  One final personal note, ain't no way I am waiting three months for any maxi scooter, I will entice the salesperson with a brown envelope and should that fail I will simply ungrade to a Yamaha Tmax 530, the Suzuki Burgman 650 or the BMW 650GT.  At least those are available within three days here in Chiang Mai.

Sorry but here goes.  If you are stupid enough to continue in this charade of a relationship then be prepared to be made a sucker of by this low life tart.  Man up and walk away while you still have some pride.

Yep, just what the Thais need.  Another let's go on a shopping spree.  WIth household debt at its highest and still increasing the Thai Poobahs declare a period of tax incentives if you go out and get more in debt.  Remarkable that the Thai economy is still standing.

As is always the case in Thailand pick your battles carefully.  What is the price you are willing to pay, what will the consequences be?.  In your situation if you wish to continue living there use all the available means open to you, Jurististic Office, the actual owner of your unit and the police.  You have a family to consider and their protection should be paramount to anything you might consider.  If I were in your shoes and I am single I can assure that the situation would not have gotten this bent out of shape.  I have a ready supply of stink bombs, small deadly capsules of the most obnoxious foul smelling liquid that break apart easily when they hit an object.  I have on occassion used them late at night on my neighbors property, particulary his front door or backyard.  Message received in a most foul manner.  Another favorite of mine is to buy some limburger cheese and wait until it nightime or safe to do so and using some latex gloves spread the cheese on the muffler of the car or motorbike.  When the arse...hole has started his vechicle and the muffler is heated up the smell from the heated limburger cheese will be overpowering and before he realizes what has happened the cheese will have burnt off, no evidence.  Anyhow, good luck in solving your situation with this di..ck head.

And now Pop rentals have another Xmax 300, this one is the brown/bronze color.  The ride up around and back down was another eye opener.  Simply put the Xmax was an amazing scooter.  Power on demand when asked for, superior braking on some of twisties, comfortable seat for my bum. This scooter fits me like a glove.  The windscreen was perfect so no adjustment was necessary, I did not mess about with the shock adjustments it was a rental and I was concerned with keeping the Xmax pristine and problem free.  I will however make that one of the first adjustments when I get one.  Under seat space is fantastic, a ton of room.  I stopped at Rimping for groceries and put three full bags under the seat without a problem.  I am by no means an expert when it comes to motorbikes/maxi scooters but I have ridden the Honda Forza 300 for a week earlier this year, I rented a blue one from Pop rental and I can say without any hesitation that the Forza was a heavy and not very agile scooter.  Yes, comfortable and adaquate get up and go but after only two days with the Xmax there simply is no comparison.  Unless the new rumered 2018 Honda Forza 300 can match the Xmax then once again Honda will be playing second fiddle to Yamaha.

Yeah Baby, finally got my hands on an Xmax 300 this morning.  I had to drop off my PCX 150 at Honda Bigwing and decided to have breakfast at Maddogs. As I was walking along Moon Meung Road I looked over at Pop Rentals just up from Spotlight Go Go Bar and saw a shiney canary yellow scooter looking very much like a new Xmax.  Hurried over, yep spot on brand spanking new with only 454K on the odometer.  How much, 1200 Baht per day, sign me up for two days.  Ten minutes later out the door I went with the Xmax 300 underneath me.  The smile still has not come off my face, this scooter actually outperforms all the hype in the build up to its release.  I am 6"2' so the height was not an issue, the seat was very comfortable, the windscreen was in a perfect position for me, the weight was not a problem snaking through traffic and the acceleration from a stand still was very impressive.  The ABS system made hard stops no problem.  Once on a long stretch of open highway I opened the trottle and man was the response impressive, easily went to 115 KMP with some more trottle available.  Rock steady at that speed.  My one and only so far critique would be going over ruts and bumps, the rear shocks don't do much to dampen the effect.  An upgrade would be the only improvement I would make should I decide I want an Xmax 300 over the new 2018 Honza Forza 300.  So far today I have put 100 K on the scooter and tomorrow my intention is to go up 107 to Mae Rim, turn left at the junction for Tiger Kingdom and out on that country road, up and over the mountains until I come back unto 121 near Hang Dong.  That will be a worthy test I believe for the Xmax 300.  Like I said, the smile is still on my face and only gets bigger once I sit on the scooter and fire up the engine.  More riding later this afternoon and tonight.  IMO, Yamaha have a winner on their hands.

Electric PCX 150,  oh my that is a good laugh for the day.  As the above respondent asked, where are you going to charge it if you live in a Condo?  How about living in a house, would you simply run an extension cord to the scooter assuming of course your service is sufficient to charge a scooter???  What about the limited range, no mention by the OP of that?  Sure, around town on a daily basis it might work but for those who use their PCX 150 for longer trips it is out of the question.  Too many unanswered questions and a very very limited market for this.  Honda would be best served by making the PCX 150 a better choice over the Nmax or Aerox.

Foys Moustaschery would be your best bet, every know Moustache product available in the Old West. Oooppps, sorry I was remembering the Moustaschery in A Million Ways To Die in The West.  

I am hoping that for one day these Twatpackers, Low-So Expats have enough sense left in their addled brains to show respect and dress properly or at the very least stay in your flop house.  The day when the Thai people say a final farewell to their beloved King is not the day for you parade about in your daily attair of singlet, shorts and flip flops.  Of course I expect to see these ar...se holes showing no respect and going about like noting is special.  

Another topic that got hijacked over <deleted> n teabags.  A simple question, where to get a full English/Aussie brekkie and the poster gets information about English tea.  It should be obvious he wants to go somewhere for this meal not cook the bloody meal in his place of abode.  I cannot share any places as I have yet to find in Chiang Mai a place that serves black pudding with their breakfasts.

Jesus, Mary andJoseph, a guy asks a very simple straighforward question and the usual flamers, alcoholics, reformed alcoholics have gotten their knickers in a wedgie.  We all know that the 26th. for all intent and purpose Thailand will come to a halt and rightfully so.  As for the lead up days and the few days after there has been mixed messages and anyone with the definite answer was asked by the original poster for their input.  Simple one would think but oh no.

The Tmax 530 comes in two trim levels, 530K for the lesser model and 530K for the top model.  Those prices put it right up there with BMW GT650.  As one poster noted the acceleration of the Xmax 300 was on a par with the bigger scooter. and I would imagine that unless you are going to be doing a lot of long distance touring on major highways the Xmax 300 is the way to go, particularly in busy cities.

I posted that price, closer to 12000 baht though.  That came from the saleman at the Yamaha bigbike showroom near Kad Suan Khow.  He actually looked it up on his computer and showed me the prices for the bracket and top box. Sod those prices, there has got to be numerous shops in the bigger cities that offer better prices.  

Not manipulating the precious Baht????  The Bank of Thailand have been getting away with this B.S. for the past year.  The Baht was nearly at 36 to the U.S. dollar and suddenly it fell like a rock to 33 within less than a year depite all legitimate economic indicators.  When the big shots in the export business complain loudly that this is hurting the Thai economy and nothing is done you know strings are being pulled to protect the very rich in Thailand.  Every week you read about another worrysome economic indicator, bad loans on the increase, houshold debt at record highs,  increased taxes to prop up the government, proposal to increase the VAT, stagnant spending by the average consumer and constant worry by the average Thai about their economic wll being.  Yet the almighty Bank of Thailand ignores all this, they get their minions to issue B.S. reports contradicting anything negative about the economy to save face and try and convince the world that the Baht is strongervthan ever.  A house of cards that will fall and fall hard, not if but only when.

A few months ago there was a corner unit on the 6th. or 7th. floor available.  Huge unit, two bedrooms, fully furnished.  It was priced well over 5 million baht if memory serves.  Why don't you simply contact the Juristic person and ask about what is currently for sale, 081-724-7958.  Or visit the Pefecthomes website and ask Simon the oner what is available and get on their mailng list. Ezee, pzee I would think but up to you of course.

I fully expect things here in Chiang Mai to come to a complete halt on this sad day and rightly so.  Farangs living here with half a brain in their heads should have made plans accordngly.  Have food, have alcohol if that is your poison, have other incidentials taken care of.  Spend the day watching a once in a lifetime event take place.  The T.V. coverage will be everywhere and I am sure that at least one station will have commentary in English to help us understand the ritual going on in front of our eyes.

It really boggles my mind that Honda have fallen so far behind Yamaha in the production of desireable scooters here in Thailand.  Honda brough out the Scoopy and Yamaha countered with the Grand Filano and blew the Scoopy out of the water.  Honda introduced the PCX 150 and ruled the roost until Yamaha two upped them with the Nmax and the Aerox.  Honda did nothing but add some new colors and pin stripping.  Honda came out with the Forza 300 which while having the grunt looked like a bloated PCX150 but at least they had no competition from Yamaha until.  Yes, Yamaha is about to blow the Forza 300 right out of the water with their Xmax 300.  From the overall look to the specs the Xmax 300 is positioned to once again one up Honda.  At least from the latest updates it would appear that Honda will not wait but will counter with a new and improved Forza 300 for 2018.  For Honda to have to play catchup these past half dozen years is simply unacceptable.  At least in the near future there will be two dominant players in the 300 cc. maxi scooter market with very desireable scooters to choose from.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Finally found updated information and photos of the upcoming release for the 2018 Honda Forza 300.  I did a Google search for the release date of this model hoping something would pop up.  Low and behold Google came up with a bunch of different articles.  Photos, technical stuff but no actual release date for Thailand mentioned.  The one thing I can say without hesitation is that this new Forza is gorgeous and has shed the bath tub on wheels look.  A much narrower profile, very similiar IMO to the Xmax 300.  There might be a new dog in this fight.  Use Google and check out the articles for yourselves.