JimsKnight

So..... guess everyone has finally accepted that the Thai police are a large organised crime syndicate right? No more ridiculous arguments defending them like in the pai murders right? Its finally blatantly obvious RIGHT?! God I hope so.

Blatantly obvious that THESE cops are dodgy yes.

thai drivers are crap,go to fast and too close to each other,and swearving in and out ...depending on their mirrors all the time ..never thinking of blind spots.......hope you get everything fixed up

Depending on their mirrors?Most thais consider that as an accessory to be able to puke hair out of your nose at a traffic light.

Indeed- when Somchai made a sudden lane change and bumped me on my Ninja because he couldn't be bothered to LOOK at his mirror first I returned the favor by knocking the dam_n thing off and speeding away! (Dave_Boo is my witness!)

Cool biking man, that'll teach the fcker!

Hope you're machine gets fixed soon mate

Bangkoks traffic systems and transport network, price for price tend to be better than londons.

In the UK we have LED signs displaying simple stuff like congestion etc, in Bangkok there is more detail to it. There are large digital maps displaying traffic density in certain parts of Bangkok.

The apartments blocks are also, typically more advanced too with regards to Security. I know security guards sitting outside often fall asleep, but at least there is a presence.

I was talking to some people back home in the UK about the biometric systems (fingerprint,eye etc) for entering apartments in Thailand and they were amazed!

It's like the Asians embrace technology in a different way to the EurIn hopeans.

I saw this mint one in Silom a while back, I'd prefer one of these over the sonic any day of the week

Some decent helmets are the 'REAL' brand about 1,000 - 1,500. and get your kit A.S.A.P. TRUST ME I'VE JUST HAD ANOTHER ACCIDENT AND MY KIT SAVED ME FROM BAD SHIT.

Well said, hope your able to get parts for your old bike mate.

Another good brand is INDEX and STM. Both retail at around the figures quoted above.

Typical size is medium, not large, unless you've got a head like goliath.

Yes <deleted> is a word and why would I need to have you quote silly statistics to me? Your "experienced Thai riders" will include kids that are not yet even teenagers to old people far past the ability to see the road much less react to it. It will also include people pissed to the gills that haven't breathed a sober breath in months etc etc!

What it won't include are very many adult riders on bigger bikes etc.

I ride 100+kms every day and yes I know about the risks .. as does ANY experienced rider anywhere in the world.

It still doesn't negate the fact that one hit from a car at 100km/h + will kill you on a bike.I believe the actual death toll is much higher then published.100 + km/s a day,it's only a matter of time before you have an accident,hopefully it will not be serious.

IF you get hit! And that's a big IF! Mr Negative should be your accolade my friend.

So don't be such a pussycat, that sort of thinking will keep people off bikes and not even take up biking!

One hit at 100kph will not necessarily kill you. If you're armoured to the gills like I and others are you'll stand a fair chance of walking away and looking upon !

I've seen an unarmoured rider (not even a helmet!) walk away with two broken fingers from a smash at that speed!

I will be getting married in march and my fiancee wants to honeymoon for a few days in Chiang Mai, but I want to go to Phuket after that for some sun and water. She currently owns a 125cc Honda, but thats not suitable for long range touring. Is there a place in Thailand that I can rent a bigger bike, maybe 1000 or up thats good for touring? I want to try and avoid buying one because I would not want to keep it. The best bike for the job would be a Goldwing, Harley Ultra, or BMW R or K 1200 with bags and top box.

Also, does anyone have anything bad to say about long range touring? Dangerous? Any pitfalls?

The alternative would be renting a car or taking the bus or plane to Phuket, but to me thats not as much fun.

Well it, like most things in life, depends on a zillion factors.

How good a rider are you?

Are you scared and rattled easily?

Are you used to biking on the 1 litre roadships like HDs and Goldwings?

People harp on about its dangerous out here in Thailand, it is but not if you keep you wits about you and be wary of EVERYTHING!

Long-range touring bad things?- Depends on the highway you are going to be using. How far you want to go each day and the speed you go at.

Highway 1 isn't too bad overall, don't hammer it between Tak and Khampaeng Pet as it's in sht state there.

Highway 4 between Pranburi, Prachuap Kiri Khan and Bang Saphan is pretty sht as well. In fact I fcking hate that stretch, even on a big bike!

Don't take the bus man, those things are as risky as bikes IMO. Train is safer but sucks unless you get a sleeper.

The Cagers crowd (cars only people) will harp on about doing it their way, don't listen to them, do it on a bike and experience some of the wild sht on the roads of thailand.

Around Pattaya - but indeed everywhere - I see increasingly guys riding motorbikes with those extreme, raised, Peter Fonda/Easy Rider- type handlebars. There's probably a name for them but I don't know it.

As I'm obviously not a biker, I'm maybe missing something but it seems to me that that raised-arm position must become very tiring, that it must add considerably to the wind drag and that the rider must have less control of his bike than someone in the position I would associate with, say, a Valentio Rossi.

But are there advantages or is it just something that some folk like to do for effect?

Dude, I'm a sports tourer biker and I often think the same thing.

I don't see the appeal with the humongous bars either, but then as my father once said - If you buy a Harley, you like to pose. I think the hard-ship goes with the image, if nothing else it'll toughen up your arms and give you a work-out

If you have a chopper then you really are an exhibitionist.

Which is why, when you go to the biker festivals and the super-choppers turn up everyone marvels, cause they are an extreme spectacle.

I was in the no1 bar in Chiang Mai a few years ago. A Harley Rider rolls past, nothing too unusual, except he is lit up like a fcking xmas tree!! I'm not joking he and the bike were lit up like the bad guy off the Running Man! Blue leds and all sorts flashing and blinking!

He came to the bar and was talking to the 'fans', I couldn't make out all what he said but I gathered he'd had the work done in the states and shipped her over here. Total geek-dude but for sure an enthusiast on the custom HD scene.

''No more boom and bust''

Now we only have bust.... Thanks Gordon.. you moron...

I wonder if the new guy running the Tory Party Ken Clark would fair any better,Dont forget the last time the Tories were in power we ended up in the same mess as we are in now,PS I am not a labour or Tory supporter I hate them all Never voted and never will.

Yes, but the tories know how to ride out recessions and fix the problem while the sun is shining, not like the current bunch of labour clowns!

Let's say I go to Youtube the Youtube page appears but not the video not even a black screen? I have Internet Explorer.

Try a few refreshes of the page (hit F5 a few times) if that doesn't work you've got a mega slow connection OR Youtube is up to its maintenance mischief again

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Got to be careful on this road. It's arrow-straight but there are people just swerving and u-turning up on ahead in front of you. Be wary, a biker buddy of ours was nearly killed when he hit a 'pull-out' bike as he rocketed along at 260kph!!!! People out in Thailand aren't quite used to those speeds when doing their u-turns and the like.

But no such craziness on this vid, more 'sober' speed of around 130-140 kph.

On the Road to Cha-am...

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Got to be careful on this road. It's arrow-straight but there are people just swerving and u-turning up on ahead in front of you. Be wary, a biker buddy of ours was nearly killed when he hit a 'pull-out' bike as he rocketed along at 260kph!!!! People out in Thailand aren't quite used to those speeds when doing their u-turns and the like.

But no such craziness on this vid, more 'sober' speed of around 130-140 kph

It's a small cam-corder strapped to the side of the helm.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B...0013SJTRS307030

The film depends on how big your memory chip is.

With a 16 Gig. chip I get 4 hours shooting at 640 x 480 res. (the highest it goes up to)

You can enquire and order them from Red Baron Bangkok, but be prepared to pay the piper!

Best method is to bring them in or order from abroad.

Mounting them to a helmet is a test of ingenuity and bloody-mindedness though!

crackdown on webpages never work, Abhisit isn't an idiot, he knows that. So why they do that nonsense?

Yeah, isn't this what Toxins TRT party and cronies used to harp on about?

Jeez, the faces may change but the same old bs gets spouted eh?

Thats incorrect my friend, we have bought 4 bikes over the last 2 years and had no problems, you are dealing with an imbecile ,however your re education i fear will fall on deaf ears, .

Yep, the small-time dealers are not 'in-the-loop' for selling to farangs. Those that know, know. Those that don't will pull out the 'cannot sell to farang' lines.

I had the same bs up in Phitsanoluk waay back.

Welcome to the CBR club

Right the first thing to do is check online for the armour scene:

http://www.ontheroadthailand.com/Thingstocarry.htm

The next is to head out to your local market / Tescos and get gloves and a full-face helmet. Theye sell those chunky, builders kneepads which are worth a look-in. You may look a bit of a gimp wearing them over your pants, but at least if you take a tumble you won't be so gimped, so to speak.

Get a thin silk scarf for your neck. Thailand is silk-land and it's dirt cheap out here. Sun protection and keeps debris and sht off the road from embedding itself in your neck

Make sure the gear, especially the full-face helmet fits you correctly.

Now, for the 'proper' armour you've got two options.

Option one is to head to Bangkok and do some shopping

Red Baron Bangkok

The Paddock

Another one called Panda-something.

If this isn't your thing then you can order via email and paypal with Red Baron.

They aren't cheap though.

Budgetwise you'll be better off shopping around locally.

You may find a second-hand shop/market that sells leather jackets. I've found one in Chiang Mai and one in Bang Saphan Noi.

So the chances are even Khmer / Isaan will have them.

They usually are around 800 - 1500 baht for a bikers jacket.

Hope this helps.

Be wary, I've heard from other bikers that the Vietnamese are finicky about both small and big bikes being let across the border.

A few bikers have attempted this and I've read of them trying different crossings in Cambo. to check there instead.

Only a few have made it across.

GT Rider has a few Trip Reports of folk who've done this.

Heh, ok ok for the next coyote 'scene' I film I'll make sure they've got better moves then this.

KEEP DON MUANG!

I don't know what disturbs me more, the fact that the op's profile indicates she's only 9 years old or the strange way she writes this sht!

Just heading out to Bang Saphan.

This is a short section heading into the main town off the highway.

Roads pretty decent but watch out for the potholes and roadbeds that can catch you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q34E1QTyF8w

Go Go Gadget Sterling!

Do your rocket ship thing baby

Always been a pepsi drinker.

Pepsi max does taste slightly sweeter IMHO.

We have lived in Thailand for some years and currently live in a small close with just 6 properties, all farang owned. The occupant of one house has set up a kiddies play centre. He did this without any consultation with his neighbours who are increasingly fed up with the noise level and traffic that results from this business. Does any member have any views about this? Is it a business that a farang is allowed to set up? We have not yet sought legal advice.

Yeah, it's stories like this that make me glad I rent properties and if crazy stuff like this goes down you can move on elsewhere until it's either fixed or you find a better place

Hope it gets sorted for you JJ