ATF

Forgot to mention don't try to corner like this with the Missus, kids and dog onboard.

If you don't know how to countersteer you are not riding your bike correctly and are putting yourself in danger. Any bike from a scooter to the fastest bike needs you to countersteer to properly corner and weave in and out of traffic. You will find your cornering much tighter and be able to swerve at the merest touch of the handlebars. There's lots of You Tube vids about this but basically all you need to do is PUSH LEFT to turn left and PUSH RIGHT to turn right. Now that's illogical. How can that work? Well if you are under 15kph steer as normal but over 15kph countersteer. Start off on a long straight road and PUSH your left hand forward on the handlebars no more than half an inch. Your bike will move left. Then PUSH with your right hand to bring the bike back on course. Practice this until you get the feel for it before taking any corners. OK to take a corner DON'T lean your body to start with just PUSH left into a left hand bend and either ease off a little or PUSH a little more whilst smoothly increasing acceleration through the bend. You will find the bike will automatically fall to the left and ride the wall of the tire. After a few months of practice you can start to shift your weight left and drop the bike even more. It's very important you don't slide your bottom across the seat when re-positioning your weight. You MUST push down on the footpegs and LIFT your bottom over, otherwise you could de-stabalise the rear wheel. Again it's very important to keep your body parallel with the bike when you shift your weight. Don't only shift your bottom, your arms and upper body must come over too. Again whole body PARALLEL with the bike. IF YOU CRASH IT'S YOUR FAULT NOT MINE. Look at the front wheel in the pic.

This is correct countersteering. Have fun!

This thread has got boring. Let's agree that a full face helmet offers maximum protection and everything else is a trade off and you really have to me mad or have a death wish not to wear a helmet. By helmet I mean quality helmet and in reply to the OP 3000 Baht is not expensive for a helmet. I paid 24,000 Baht for carbon but you would pay at least that for minor hospital treatment. A replacement tooth costs 40,000 Baht. So I would suggest the OP buy a good quality full face Moto Cross helmet if he is scootering around Phuket or wherever if he doesn't want to look like Valentino Rossi on a Scoopy.

If its boring you, simple, just don't read it..

My choice, as i said is to not wear a full face helmet..my choice entirely, and you have the gall to call me mad or that i have a deathwish...bizarre..

I am afflicted by neither of the two, so how about just respecting my choice instead of name calling and making up assumptions and about my character.

I do it my way and have done for a long time and will continue to do so...

PS ..trying to understand this POV about being so adamant on helmets and ones own perception of whats dangerous or not and why some posters are so paranoid about "what if'..more and more of this i read i think the big issue between myself and you and RSDown and a lot of others is maybe a generation gap [or two]

The most crucial time in biking is your initial learning/experience years..most likely time to take a fall eg as you are not yet competent and understanding of the physics etc of motorbike control..

.

At this time in my life a helmet was only required if you exceeded 50kph.so i learnt the hard miles sans helmet [and obviously survived]

I/we didn't even think of a helmet at that time,when you probably in retrospect most needed one..

The whole world was so much less wrapped in cotton wool in all areas and 'freedom'' really did exist then.

You made a choice that suited you, not what all the "experts" think is suited for you..your choice, your consequence!

Anyway guys its all about the joy of riding a bike.. how you decide to do it is up to you, but dont name call others who may not have the same ideals as you do...

Ah! The thread suddenly got interesting again. Please forgive me if you feel insulted. I would never deliberately insult anyone. However if you were mad how would you know? My tuning guy won't wear a helmet and I always tease him about his kevlar headscarf, but he IS mad he's been breathing dyno fumes for so long. Anyway I am just going to post a topic about bike riding. Maybe you could give us some input.

Bless you I'm sorry your guide book didn't inform you that sidewalks are motorcycle lanes. In Thailand only peasants walk. Regarding compensation just kindly ask the offending motorcyclist to immediately call his insurance company so you can file a claim. It's usually pretty quick, only takes 15-20 mins for the insurance assessor to arrive. However Thailand provides a special service if you are knocked unconscious. You will be transported free of charge to the nearest government hospital where you will receive treatment. Unfortunately when you come to pay the bill you may find your wallet and credit cards have disappeared along with your Rolex watch.

I thought the meat wagons took you to the private hospital that offers the highest bounty, not a govt hosp.

Sure if you look cashed up you're going private 5 stars all the way!

Bless you I'm sorry your guide book didn't inform you that sidewalks are motorcycle lanes. In Thailand only peasants walk. Regarding compensation just kindly ask the offending motorcyclist to immediately call his insurance company so you can file a claim. It's usually pretty quick, only takes 15-20 mins for the insurance assessor to arrive. However Thailand provides a special service if you are knocked unconscious. You will be transported free of charge to the nearest government hospital where you will receive treatment. Unfortunately when you come to pay the bill you may find your wallet and credit cards have disappeared along with your Rolex watch.

This thread has got boring. Let's agree that a full face helmet offers maximum protection and everything else is a trade off and you really have to me mad or have a death wish not to wear a helmet. By helmet I mean quality helmet and in reply to the OP 3000 Baht is not expensive for a helmet. I paid 24,000 Baht for carbon but you would pay at least that for minor hospital treatment. A replacement tooth costs 40,000 Baht. So I would suggest the OP buy a good quality full face Moto Cross helmet if he is scootering around Phuket or wherever if he doesn't want to look like Valentino Rossi on a Scoopy.

Hull and Glasgow are the two most popular Thai Consulates being used by visa service companies in Thailand. Anyone could mail a passport from Thailand to the UK and get a twelve month visa. Looks like Thai Immigration have now closed the loophole.

I think that riders of big bikes have a certain balls-out aura. An 'I'll punch off your wing mirror if you <removed> with me' thing going on. Even the BIB sometimes don't mess with them. After all, it takes a fair bit of confidence and physicality to ride one of these beasts through traffic or blasting down the highway.

Scooter riders on the on the hand are little fairy gaylords.

Yeah I've kicked a few cars and trucks in my time. Only thing worse than the Gaylords are Gaylords with a shop or sidecar made of angle-iron or re-bar on the side of their crappy two stroke.

You may be driving less than 40kph but a pick-up truck traveling at over 100kph could T-Bone you or hit you from behind or front on. Accidents happen when they are not expected. That's why they are accidents. I bless my Alpinestars SMX PLUS boots everyday because once when I was tuning my bike my foot slipped into the dyno rollers when it was doing over 100kph. Didn't feel a thing, but if I had ordinary shoes or flip flops on I could have easily lost my foot or faced a 500,000.00 Baht hospital bill. Too much protection is never enough. God Bless.

Maybe you could explain more. The dyno roller only slightly protrudes. I don't see how you foot could go in between the roller and tyre???

CropperCapture58.jpg

The dyno was a car type dyno with two rollers per wheel which can be used for bikes or cars.

i dont believe in 1/2 or 3/4 helmets

its got to be minimum dot rated or snell and a fully constructed helmet

i have seen pics of accidents where the jawbone was ripped off in these

helmets without a proper chin piece so i would rather sweat in a full helmet

than risk that ...........

A Moto Cross helmet is a full helmet without a visor and well suited to scooter speeds. Snell was introduced in 2010 and is superior to DOT.

Andre,

Of course you have the God given right to do whatever you want. You can drink and drive, take drugs whatever. However please ask yourself the question would you like your children to wear a helmet or not? I don't believe people are dumping on you, just concerned for your safety. I cringe everyday seeing people riding in shorts, flip flops no gloves, jacket or helmet. Over 90% of accidents happen at less than 40kph. I saw a female student fall off the back of a m/c taxi doing less than 20kph. She hit the back of her head on the tarmac and judging by the amount of blood I wouldn't expect she made it through.

We all make decisions everyday which affect the rest of our lives. May I suggest an alternative for you maybe a Moto Cross helmet with sunglasses?

You may be driving less than 40kph but a pick-up truck traveling at over 100kph could T-Bone you or hit you from behind or front on. Accidents happen when they are not expected. That's why they are accidents. I bless my Alpinestars SMX PLUS boots everyday because once when I was tuning my bike my foot slipped into the dyno rollers when it was doing over 100kph. Didn't feel a thing, but if I had ordinary shoes or flip flops on I could have easily lost my foot or faced a 500,000.00 Baht hospital bill. Too much protection is never enough. God Bless.

Seedy is right check the tire wall for the max pressure but if you have quality tires their website will give the recommended pressures. Always inflate your tires when they are cold i.e. in the morning and invest in a portable air compressor and do it yourself. One of the best investments I've made. They are very cheap and work from the mains or cigarette lighter in a car. Less pressure = more grip but higher fuel consumption and slower speeds.

Any engine will keep pumping the same amount of fuel into it's cylinders regardless of the enviromental conditions unless it has appropriate sensors to compensate. The more oxygen it receives the more fuel it is capable of burning. Loss of power at high altitudes comes from too much fuel entering the cylinder which can't be fully burned, which is noticeable by a chug chug feeling, loss of acceleration and the smell of fuel when you stop the bike.

If you're riding a Harley it probably won't be that noticeable but on a high revving sportsbike you will definitely feel it. AFR at sea level should be around 13.2-13.8:1 . My bike works best with an average 13.5:1 AFR That's 13.5 parts of air to one part of fuel. At higher altitudes you could go 13.8 to 14.6:1 but again every bike and riding style is different so knowing your fuel curve is of the uptmost importance. What target AFR was you current vehicle pre-programmed for? Remember when cars had manual chokes? This was to increase the amount of fuel on cold days because cold air is very dense so more fuel needs to be burned.

OK what I know!

A properly tuned engine will produce more power on alcohol than on "benzine" a fact that can be confirmed by looking at the specs of any Brazilian Flexfuel car. BUT you will use a greater volume of fuel. You will use about 30%+ more volume running on alcohol. E10. E20 etc.. use less volume that E100 but still more than pure "benzine"

.

Fuel injected bikes have sensors that measure barometric pressure. temperature etc.and maintain the correct AFR. So living in Chaing Mai will have no effect on a bike what so ever. This can be confirmed by looking at EFI "cheater boxes" that fool the system into believing that it is at sea level and in a cooler climate thereby changing the mixture accordingly.

Yes you are correct drag racers use 100% ethanol and tune their engines accordingly.

Methanol is 108.7 RON 88.6 MON and 98.65 AKI Ethanol is 108.6 RON 89.7 MON and 99.15 AKI Almost identical.

Some bikes have barometric sensors and/or wide band o2 sensors to compensate, however others do not. More octane or fuel does not equate to more power or better performance, neither does more air. It is the correct balance of the two at different revs/speed which brings maximum results.

A cheater box is a simple device which does not take into account gear, speed etc. They will not produce a proper fuel curve. A Power Commander with Autotune is needed for that after the bike has been properly dyno mapped.

I hope to clarify better the differences in fuel as addressed by another topic Benzine vs Ethanol which has gone off on a tangent.

All fuels have a Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON). In Thailand only the RON is stated which can be 8-10 points above the MON rating which is a more accurate measurement of the combustibility and inherent energy of the fuel contained in the octane level. This is why you notice differences in gasohol and benzine from different oil companies even though they all have the same stated RON number i.e. 91/95. Therefore 91 gasohol could actually have a true octane level of only 81. Another factor to be taken into consideration is altitude so if you are living at sea level it is best to use fuel with a higher octane level because this will give you more power by being able to burn efficiently due to the extra oxygen, in the air at sea level, and not running the engine lean. Lean running makes the engine hotter and reduces it's life. The reverse is true if you are living in Chiang Mai, which is 1200m or 4000ft above sea level. Your engine will run rich reducing your BHP by up to 30% due to the diminished oxygen, although the cooler air may compensate slightly. So unless your vehicle has had your Air Fuel Ratio (AFR) retuned for higher altitude you would be better running 91 RON to maintain the stock AFR.

To complicate matters further there is an Anti-Knock Index (AKI) number which is posted in some countries which is the median between the RON and MON numbers It may also be called the Pump Octane Number (PON).

Generally speaking Benzine will NOT give you better performance over Gasohol, but your vehicle MUST be Gasohol compatible. You cannot use E20 in a regular vehicle which is Gasohol compatible ONLY E10. However Benzine is a must for European and American bikes. Most Japanese big bikes are correctly configured to run on Gasohol but always check your handbook. Most handbooks are online.

I suspect some Benzine gets tampered with in Thailand and other countries too for that matter. That's why I always get the best performance out of my bike when I fill up at a Caltex outside the Rayong refinery. They pay jack in delivery charges so messing with the Benzine isn't a priority.

Methane (Natural Gas) has a 120 RON 120MON and 120 AKI. Impressive. Propane (Cooking Gas) has a 112 RON and 97 MON again pretty impressive. Obviously NGV cars are not being tuned for performance but economy.

You ride your bike at 220 KPH on the highway, when max speed in Thailand is 120 KPH, and call other people out there clowns

I think you need to look in a mirror.

Windy your comment is well deserved all I can say in my defense is that traveling between 280-320 KPH is such a rush. It's like time is standing still it's amazing. Only problem is at that speed you run out of road so quickly. On the positive side you don't get any tickets or jail time.

Used i.e. secondhand bikes are not allowed to be brought into Thailand period! This law was pushed through by the big bike companies about two years ago. The only exception is if you already own the bike overseas, and I am not sure regarding how long the timeframe has to be, but aside from taxes the only stipulation is you have to keep it in your name for three years.

Please don't take my word for it and get proper legal advice before trying to import one. However I believe this to be true in principle.

WRONG ! used big bikes and cars are still coming in legally and getting registered but you need to be a pro , with a registered companies and contacts to do it , There is NO new law against it as that would contravene Asian and WTC agreements just better enforcement of previous regulations in order to get more money from the gray importers .I have explained this many times before ,

Well if it's a law or a guideline or whatever it is extremely difficult to bring in a used bike unless for personal use. If you have a copy of the exact law I am sure the guys on the forum would like to read it.

On another note instead of buying first class insurance for your bike, especially if it has been modded, it's better to buy personal accident insurance. Most insurance companies charge high premiums for first class insurance for big bikes but if you just insure it against theft and buy personal accident insurance you will be covered for death and injury up to 5M baht as opposed to normally 2M baht for bike or car insurance. This will also circumvent any problems about modifying your bike and the cost is the same around 15-17k per year.

Garry I don't know exactly how Ducati engrave the frame numbers but the letters and numbers are formed in raised dots. However when changing the frame simple stamping is all that is required according to the Department of Transport. Of course you cannot reuse the old frame without removing the old numbers first.

Used i.e. secondhand bikes are not allowed to be brought into Thailand period! This law was pushed through by the big bike companies about two years ago. The only exception is if you already own the bike overseas, and I am not sure regarding how long the timeframe has to be, but aside from taxes the only stipulation is you have to keep it in your name for three years.

Please don't take my word for it and get proper legal advice before trying to import one. However I believe this to be true in principle.

A few years back the tool box from “Spoonman” would have worked, but now a day the Department of Transport is checking the validation of a VIM with the official representative in Thailand.

They have to announce the VIM validate or not and any additional information... Most modern motorcycle manufacturers now-a-day keep track of who the owner of a motorcycle by the VIM, so if you try to change the VIM you will not only change the age, origin and previous ownership... You actually face serious time in Bangkok Hilton...

Even if you try to cheat a fake frame number pass the DLT in most European countries and probably the USA you probably face serious amount of time in jail... Thailand is not different...

Richard,

Seeing as you are in the "biz" thought I'd send this to you. Went to renew my car tax today and they had to give the car an inspection before they would give me the tax disc. Asked the guys doing the inspection could I change the frame and/or engine on my Ducati? Answer no problem at all Sir! I said my frame number has a raised not punched VIN number. No problem Sir, just get the new frame punched with the same VIN number and bring your old frame along so we can check. I asked do I have to keep my old frame for future inspection-no not at all. Can I sell it-yes! Just grind off the old VIN number and you're good to go. If someone buys your frame they can stamp it i.e. if they've crashed their bike. Same with the engine, just show the old engine and they will change the engine number in the green book.

Good luck mate, but more to the point what ARE you building?

Reads like there is some sort of implication in your question which I don't understand. Taking your question literally my plan was to put a modified Ducati Monster 1100 EVO engine into my Ducati Monster 796. However in the meantime I have got the BHP up to over 100 BHP which is standard EVO spec. I'm not going to proceed with the engine upgrade. Because my bike is much lighter now so I'm getting 100 BHP out of an 803CC V Twin which is plenty of power for where I live and gives me over 220 KPH on the highway which is as fast as I'm prepared to go with all the clowns out there. However I would still like to change the frame to titanium alloy and the rear frame to carbon but Satan has arrived in the form of the KTM 1290R. 1301CC's 180 BHP!!!!! Check out this VID you'll love it!

http://www.1290superduker.com/cms/#specials

The main reason for your condition is that Thailand is a hot country therefore you will drink more liquids. Beer, water,coke orange juice whatever. So your body has to process the excess liquid as efficiently as possible. It has nothing to do with Leo but I would suggest moving to a premium beer such as Heineken because it is the only world class beer brewed in Thailand and to my knowledge has the least chemicals added.However all beers contain a huge amount of sugar. Most Thai beers have a combination of chemicals added and for whatever reason are not required to disclose what chemicals they include. Strange for a food product when all other foods have to declare their ingredients. Google " diacetyl " to see some shocking results although it is a natural by-product of the brewing process it is eliminated by the premium brewers.

If you are going to drink it is to your benefit to drink the highest quality alcohol possible. I've given up my 38 year love affair with beer and now drink exclusively tequila made with blue agave which has significantly improved my health and I have imbibed just about everything. My only exception is a bottle of white wine when I go out for a good meal. Red wine is not as good for you as you have been led to believe. Again the sugar content is much higher.

A few years back the tool box from “Spoonman” would have worked, but now a day the Department of Transport is checking the validation of a VIM with the official representative in Thailand.

They have to announce the VIM validate or not and any additional information... Most modern motorcycle manufacturers now-a-day keep track of who the owner of a motorcycle by the VIM, so if you try to change the VIM you will not only change the age, origin and previous ownership... You actually face serious time in Bangkok Hilton...

Even if you try to cheat a fake frame number pass the DLT in most European countries and probably the USA you probably face serious amount of time in jail... Thailand is not different...

Richard,

Seeing as you are in the "biz" thought I'd send this to you. Went to renew my car tax today and they had to give the car an inspection before they would give me the tax disc. Asked the guys doing the inspection could I change the frame and/or engine on my Ducati? Answer no problem at all Sir! I said my frame number has a raised not punched VIN number. No problem Sir, just get the new frame punched with the same VIN number and bring your old frame along so we can check. I asked do I have to keep my old frame for future inspection-no not at all. Can I sell it-yes! Just grind off the old VIN number and you're good to go. If someone buys your frame they can stamp it i.e. if they've crashed their bike. Same with the engine, just show the old engine and they will change the engine number in the green book.