Agusts

Just to be clear, whenever I mentioned open face in any of my posts, I meant the ones with proper visor, plus flip up sun-visor in addition to the main one, I wear prescription glasses, so the sun-visor is a god sent. I get occasional bugs or debris hitting the visor, and always thankful for it, I never ride a helmet without visor, just not find it pleasant... I'm back in London now and will be looking into a custom made earplugs, I heard these could be more comfortable and maybe not bother me as much - or cause wax etc., they have home kits version or go and get impression done etc. - latter much more costly... I have more ear problem as I get older and one of the main culprits seems to be growing hair in the ear..., all the blessed aging symptoms we should look forward to...!!! ? 🙄

This maybe true in some ways, I have LS2 Advent modular that swing back 180 degree, all the way, so certified to ride in both configuration. The wind noise in both setup is exactly the same at 120kph...!!!? Only get some more wind draft (not noise) when used as open face. So as you say not good for cold weather. I'm convinced the noise is produced from wind turbulencem/buffet hitting the outer helmet shell, nothing to do with gaps and vents and full face or open face etc. , I have done a lot experiments to come to this conclusion... You can try it to, just put some soft foam or cushin in the gaps, or as I have for testing, cellotape the vents, block and smooth over it, I even mounted big headphone round cushins inside where my ears are, no effect, because the shell itself is making the noise, it's not coming from anywhere else, like the sides, to reach eardrum...! The headphone cushins were hollow in the middle, so ear cannal open path to the shell... I can't use earplugs much, it causes ear cannal irritation and wax build up, big problem over time... 🙄

Don't worry about it, as long as keep both hands on the handlebar and it does not shake, it's not a problem... We have this on Forza models too. The box at the back causes uneven aerodynamic and weight distribution, but if both hands are on the handlebar it has zero shaking or no effect on riding. People do a lot of things to cure it, even Honda changes tires, even wheels under warranty, it reduces it a bit, but never completely goes away....

I use earplugs on long trips, but I don't like it at all, going to shopping mall 10 or 15km away, can't be bothered. My ear is small, none of these regular plugs mentioned fit, I have to find kid's ones and they are not good either..., generally annoying and not that effective...! I have tried many... In addition to the wind noise damaging eardrum progressively, it causes fatigue and distraction, loss of concentration and not hearing traffic well..., to me this must be the highest priority in helmet manufacturing, but I think it's their last on the list...! They are more concerned about protecting our head if hit something head on at 100kph...!? Don't they realise at those kind of speeds it doesn't really matter if the skull is safe, neck or spine probably break and end it anyway, so who cares...! Marketing like this material can stand 100kph, but the other one only 80kph...!? So it's double the price...! 🙄

After years of buying and wearing various helmets I have come to some conclusions about helmet noise. The noise has not much to do with wind sneaking through from neck cushins or cheek cushins or visors etc., not to do with full face, open face, modular and so on, I had them all... The thin outer shell of a helmet, no matter what material it's made of, acts like a drum, when wind, which is usually has some buffeting and turbulence due to front of the bike or low windshield, hits the shell, it makes the sound like drummers hitting theirs...! Even the aerodynamic shape and testing doesn't help much, because the wind is not hitting the helmet smoothly, it hits the front of the bike first, then comes with turbulence all over... I actually found with no windshield at all and on naked bike, sometimes I get less noise, more smooth wind...! The only thing I think helps is how the inner layer of the helmet, the foam or whatever they use, is attached to the thin outer shell, what material it is, and how it's attached or glued to it. That makes the drum less hollow and create less noise..., to see what I mean get a small deep pan and knock on it, then fill it with water and knock again..., a lot less noise. But they use very light, foam, material to reduce weight, hence the drum effect is there, whatever they do... I haven't come across a quiet helmet yet, and that's because it's hard to impossible to make it, maybe if they use thicker layer shell, but keep it light and strong, but hard job.... For now I'm happy with my Forza electric windshield, it's a God sent at 120kph, I don't think I can ride without it anymore, very addictive...!

Perhaps you can comment with many RE bike experiences, I was looking at most of their bikes like in your photo or Himalayan or Scram 411 which are air cooled and their exhaust seems to tilt to the right side, right out of the engine, and then go down along side and in front of the right leg and then under it... I wondered would that not cause a lot of heat specially at slow speed or heavy traffic, which are directed at front of the leg and also under it...!? Do we need some really thick pants and armoured boots to counter this..., anything flimsy, or God forbid short and sandals could basically make a roasted leg after a trip in these tropical countries...!!!?

That looks terrible, they should have stopped it going into that bad weather, and diverted it. Must have been obvious on any radar...! Are you guys saying they take this kind of risk every time due to flight path restriction...? That will be big news around the world against China and their safety reputation..., and not many foreign airlines would accept such a risk flying to that place... 🤔. Very strange...!?

Must sell it, they only work with a sales contract - or they prepare one there and then, and must pay all taxes. Can put 1 baht as sale value, but as mentioned they use their own assessed value if more than sale value. Absolutely no need for either party to go there, power of attorney letter works fine, but the letter must be signed, witnessed and notorized according to land registry office regulation, or they don't accept it.

I recommend Honda Rebel 300 or 500, it's hard to beat that in Thailand for a cruiser. There is also more expensive Kawasaki Vulcan 650, but the rake on that think is really large, sit on it in the showroom to see if it suits... The ones you mentioned are really old, Boss or Phantom, over 15 or 20 years now, pretty under powered for Chiang Mai mountains too, hard to find a really clean one, probably need a good overhaul after buying, take that into accounts..

As soon as item arrives, the drivers take it away, then deliver at their leisure... , it doesn't quite work in this case... I have tried it with Lazada LEX recently, even went to their sort station in Chalong, nearest to Rawai..., totally incompetent bunch of useless people there, instead of holding the item for me to pick up, they cancelled it and send it back ...!? Their driver claimed "refused at doorstep" status, when in fact he came at 21:30 without calling first and I was not home of course ..., how can I refuse if I'm not there..!? In Patong the deliveries were excellent, always call before and come in the morning, since I'm in Rawai for the time being, it's been dreadful, 5 or 6pm or even later, never call ahead and if I call them never come on the time that they promise... That's why I thought I do away with delivery and just do the pickup option if available.

I read from their help pages that it's possible to select an office or sort station nearby to just pickup your item, rather than it is delivered to an address. But in neither of them I get this option of delivery on their website (I don't have the app), for various reasons I far prefer to do this if I could, have you ever done this...? I'm in Phuket, I wonder if it depends on the location, maybe not available here...! Or only available on the app..., can let me know if you see it there...

This just for info, and for my curiosity. I know can pay PrommtPay using various mobile apps and scanning the QR code. But I noticed on BB iBanking website, there is a PromptPay transfer section, so I activate it attached to my mobile number, just out of curiosity to see how it reads the QR code. But then at payment section it only asks to enter mobile no. / national ID / tax ID...!? (plus amount of course). Then did some investigation and found out PromptPay QR code actually contains that info, plus amount to pay, plus some other stuff. In fact there is a website that allows me to create QR code for myself with my mobile number. I can also read any PromptPay QR code on that website, but the text produced is not clear where the exact data is, long string of numbers... So is there an easy way to get the required data from QR code and then pay via iBanking website ...? Would that be the same as paying PromptPay via bank apps...?

I always see Thai taking small kids on the bike, and wonder if I do it...! But 1 year old is too young and fragile..., be careful a lot more... Lucky the snake didn't come to bite you for good measure....! Always count your blessing....!? 😜

Yeap, million years ago at midnight the belt snap on my small rental scooter in highway, that probably never seen a service station in its long life..., a very nice Thai guy pushed me a few kilometers to safety. Then amazingly with some help from rental guy, I called and woke him up, an open mechanic shop was found with a new belt. I was back home in an hour from the incident and like £15 spent - only in Thailand...!!!

This is your answer, no matter what, when, where tax renewed, it always start from exact same date was first registered. The penalty is 1 baht per month late, as far as I remember, so no problem if late... (only problem is police, if they stop and check, they fine a lot more...!)