Wong!

^ to add to the above, you have to have a UK bike license to be able to get Thai bike license. I heard you can use your car license for smaller cc bikes in UK, but this rule isn't applicable here. However since you rode a lot in Europe I'm guessing you have a proper bike license?

 

In addition to the current Fortuner there is now also a new special Fortuner it has a different body design and some new changes inside and it is called ... "Special New Fortuner  TRD  Sportivo".
 
Toyota will only create 900 of them, about 400 have so far been sold, over several years in the  past I have bought totally three top Fortuners and all of them have been very good vehicles.  
 
Three weeks ago I did purchase this special new Fortuner and the costing price is 1,561.000 - Bt
delivery will take place in about two months.

Well done you it would be nice if later you could post what sort of Special things it has.
Question why have you had several Fortuners my one is 5 years old and it's like new inside and out.
 

 
I agree with you, Fortuners have no problems, the 3 (a) Fortuners I have sold were between 2 and 3 years old and were still in top condition inside and out, and no doubt your 5 year Fortuner is still in top position.
 
I sell all my cars (I have several) after 2 or 3 years because I like the arrival of new car designs, hence the ordering 2 weeks ago of the new special "Fortuner TRD Sportivo".
 
Many people in my Mooban are aware of this and they ask that they want to buy them when I want sell them and they have done this several times the reason they want to buy them is the costing will be 40 % to 45 below the original selling price and they know the cars will be same inside and out   
 
as new.

Now on the Discovery channel is a program called "Don't drive here" where they show the traffic in the 6 most dangerous city's of the world. Bangkok is one of them so let the Thai be proud of that.

The reason why traffic in BKK is so dangerous because there are no rules at all except for motorbikes who have to pay bribes. The motorcyclists are the most vulnerable drivers on the road and they sure don't want to drive between the bahtbus/taxi/big bus/mini bus who stop all the time and should stay left but don't.

I have seen that tv program but the host didn't drive into the real gridlocks of bkk. He drove on some quiet streets in the suburbs. Anyway it gives a good impression to the world about BKK traffic, the BIB can be proud with that, this all is because they don't want to do their job.

Except in Bangkok drivers are very bike aware (as opposed to the UK) and I feel much safer riding in Bangkok than I ever would on the streets of London or Paris.

Hopefully with Triumph's rumoured changes in how they operate, we should be seeing some of their bkkes available at sensible prices in the not too distant future.

Finally got my baby.. I'm a pig in shit. 3 days heavy riding and she is everything promised and more. A bit more like my R6 I had back home than the Ninja 650, but of course noticeably heavier than the R6. I would say it rides more or less identical to my first big bike, a 1997 Yamaha YZF 600R. Not nearly as much wind protection as the Ninja 650, but adequate. Gearbox smooth as silk, another advantage it has on the Ninja. Only one real complaint, I am seriously annoyed by the swapping of the horn and turn signal controls, plus the horn button is flipped 180 degrees from the traditional configuration. It takes me 3 seconds to find the horn which is 2.5 seconds too late. I really miss the passing trigger too and I am going to have to sort out some kind of guard for the crank case as a now have burns on top of burns on the inside of my right knee from riding in shorts. Dealing with Bigwing Phuket was great. K. Top really went the extra mile. they even extended past the promotional dates the motorshow interest rate and free 1 year 1st class insurance for me. Only have the crap cell phone cam pic.

hey nomad, congrats man.

finally got your bike, i am sure you are a happy rider now!

how did you find it? throw your impressions here once you have some more seat time.

I was frustrated with horn swithc but get used of it fast, no worries. you dont use much horn anyway in Thailand.

Also, i found integrated push button 'passing light' switch to the low/high beam light switch much more better and easier to use than index finger switches which makes it herder to pull the clutch while pulling passing light.

this way, you use your thumb which makes it less obstructive, anyway, you will get used of it too.

happy rides again and take it easy at slippery Phuket roads! it is not kawa er!

Yeah what can I say. It's everything everyone has said and everything I expected. Really a perfect riding position. I'm 6'/183cm and I don't find myself putting any more weight on my wrists other than the weight of my arms unless I am maneuvering through stop and go traffic. I can see how the CB would be much better for city driving. Great power. Dragged a Thai on an ER6n and he kept up but I was still not giving it all.

The VFR is a good case in point. The early ones (750,s) are still sought after , but Honda went astray with the 800,s with the flawed "linked brakes" and the "too sudden" VTEC system. I get it many people just need a bike - any bike , for transport , but some models with a bit more excitement in their function and design would be most welcom.With the Thai market begining to open up im sure of more choice in years to come. Just look at whats available now compared to 2 or 3 years ago. The thing is we are all enjoying bikes , different bikes - different folks.

Only Thai females will call it the Ka, we blokes will have to call it the Ford Krap.

I saw 6-7 of them in the convoy today....man,this 'baby shit' color looks bad...

Saw one today on a transporter heading south from Chiang Mai (nobody wanted it?). That colour is awful. Nothing like the publicity shots ( same with Ford's Chilli orange). Hideous is an understatement

F800GS just became available as an option, for 530k a really good deal. Sorry I just think the FZ-09 is grossly overpriced - it's a fun, budget bike, except in Thailand it's not budget so it sort of defeats the purpose.

I'm still madly in love with my Hypermotard; best bike I've had, everything else feels lame now. Tested a Multistrada 1200S Pikes Peak recently - awesome bike but felt kind of sluggish coming off the Hyper hahaha.

Out of interest what expected LOS pricing do you have in mind to label the FZ-09 as "grossly overpriced"? I'm not trying to pick a fight here - I'm genuinely curious as to what you think. Personally I do think it is somewhat overpriced even by LOS standards, but not by much - I'd say around 400K would be 'reasonable' for LOS (400K would be UK pricing) for a CBU Jap import.

Shouldn't be more than 350k. In the USA this bike costs the same as a Versys with ABS.

I understand it's overpriced because it's an import. But that doesn't change the fact?!

Thanks. At 350,000 it would certainly be a great deal - way cheaper than RRP in UK and many other countries. Strikes me that the US price is just incredibly low and it's a little unfair to expect LOS pricing to be anywhere near that. I believe the FZ09 is also cheaper in US than a CB650F.

As an aside I met a Thai guy today at the Ratchada Yamaha dealer: turns out he has a new Hypermotard with the Testastretta engine, but said after riding the 09 he thought the 09 was much more powerful

I'm not saying it should be priced as US prices. I am only comparing relatives here.

Versys and FZ-09 are both $8000 or 260,000 THB in the USA. In Thailand thanks to various taxes and whatnot the Versys is 315,000. And the FZ-09 450,000. Hypermotard costs $12,000 in the USA, or 50% more than the FZ-09. In Thailand, the Hyper is 11% more. This is not difficult math.

It's the reason I think the FZ-09 is overpriced. Because relatively speaking, it's way more expensive than comparable value bikes, and almost as expensive as more-value bikes.

Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it! Or have fantasies of power 555

Imported BMW, Ducati, KTM and whatnot are worse value still at US price x 2 and more, and people enjoy those too

What about the various taxes in the US? I remember Americans saying the Honda 500s were cheaper in the States than Thailand when in reality the on the road price was about the same.

60 on the front and 80 on the rest is perfectly fine.

I don't any more. Bores me to tears.

Wow... I can't believe I have wasted hours over the last week or so reading (or at least scanning) this huge, but inane thread. My apologies for adding to the garbage, but I feel the need to vent. I promise to add useful stuff in my next post.

I have to say that if Tony (BigBikeKnobBKK) had not repeatedly posted the same garbage it would've helped – that would have saved ten pages. He is like the drunken bar bore, endlessly spewing the same garbage... Tony, please go and ride, at least that way nobody can hear you, or have to read your repetitive childish rubbish!!!

Those were the days, I do miss his colourful posts

Well he hasn't been posting mainly because he thinks TV is shit and because he's been riding across the northern USA and Canada with his son..a couple of thousand miles.

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Ladies......This thread is about the 300F not about tyres.

I've just bought a 300F and the IRC tyres seem ok to me, so i won't be changing them just because Jeffrey whats his face says they're crap.

My thinking was the same as yours, the stock IRC tires looked ok and i decided i would ride them till tire wear would indicate they needed changing,

Some months later without any notable wear and around 13k km they started giving me moments where my heart jumped and my poop nipper went in to action,

They also started jumping from side to side off the road markings, wet roads gave the impression of riding on greasy glass,

Self preservation forced me to fork out 7500bht in fear i was going to land on my ear.

If there was no notable wear after 13k km they must be very hard tyres. Back in my bigger bike days I was lucky to get 8k km out of a rear tyre and I didnt ride that hard.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

In former times i also had bigger bikes where the rear tire had a very short lifespan, at times i used to take a new michelin m45 down to a slick in a day, tire technology has changed much in the last years,

Often times between jobs or even part time i was a motorcycle messenger in europe both long and short distance, would have been much safer if we had the tire tech available these days,

The last heart pumping moment the stock IRC tires gave me were on highway 304 traveling a modest 80-90 kmh bkk-prachinburi and the heavens opened up, althougth intending to go straight the bike drifted across all three lanes, with more luck than judgement i made no contact with other vehicles,

For the next few km i stayed at 40kmh on the hard shoulder until dry roads and my heart rate slowed down,

The stock IRC tires honda are putting on their bikes regardless of model are downright dangerous.

I was in a mazda 3 hatchback. The road was very wet. My tyres (dunlops) were not old but I had given no particular attention to specifics when they were replaced. 
 
Having never been in a skid before and (sub)conscious of the drop to my left, I admittedly panicked and anyway was ignorant about the various correcting tips that have been suggested here. At least in a future such situation I might recall some of these - and more importantly keep my head. 
 
I shall in the foreseeable future be getting a new car or suv (but not a pickup). Based on your suggestions/comment I should
1) try to get awd if available/affordable - as it would reduce the chances of a skid in the first place
2) ensure good tyres - suggestions? - and replace sooner not later; also keep them under- not over-inflated if likely to be on wet roads.
 
The key conclusion if going into a downhill bend in the wet (or if skidding) seems to be to not use the brake - and reduce speed, if need be, solely with a lower gear. Once in the skid I should have ensured my foot was off the accelerator, and turned the wheel towards the right - but not too much.
 
However, and contrarywise, WarpSpeed says maybe turning hard right but without the brake might have done it - I can't dispute it because I almost certainly did brake. And seedy thinks I might have got away by flooring the throttle and turning the wheel, which would have taken guts when the car was skidding towards the barrier and mountain edge.
 
It's comical that the salesman assured me again and again that abs was the key helpful feature and awd was irrelevant. I am however curious about the Electronic stability control (tywais). Presumably if Honda (CRV and Mazda cx5 are among my options) and Toyota have it all modern cars/suv s also would?
 
Thanks for all comments already made.

@OP. They do it all the time here.

Terrible riding position and an engine that's coarser than a Kawa's? I hope the 821 has removed these major flaws.

I ride this one a Honda CB500F as of today. My first bike.

I'm already thinking about some customizations, mainly for visibility such as maybe HID headlights and/or LED running lights, and brake modulator.

cool man, congrats!

very wise decision to get this bike for the beginning. this bike will show you all the necessary dynamics of a bike you need to know in a forgiving way. Ride it a year or two and jump to a faster bigger bike like a cb650f

white looks nice too and i think you got it for a good price as that yoshi pipe, sliders, tank pad, these cost around 20 k thb alone! How many kms is the bike?

and a great bike to start riding big bikes.

Headlight is pretty OK for cb500f and hid s are heavy and sensitive and lots of work to get one installed, removing the headlight, nearly crack opening it, cleaning inside, lots of wiring, putting it into a oven! not worth the hassle imo and no turning back on this. But check led headlights, they are new and it is plug and play, no modifications needed.

can get some led signals and there is a tail tidy available for it which really transforms this bike, not that expensive.

Best mods you can get for cb500f is the rear YSS shock being sold at bigwing for 11 k thb and a fresh set of Pirelli rosso2s for 8600 thb including labor. These will make this bike handle and feel great and will provide you lots of confidence. Also consider changing that plastic brake lines with braided steel lines. costs around 3000 thb something at RSV racing. Also consider getting a steering damper for cheap as the biggest gripe for me for 500 series is the light front end. yes, it makes the turn ins telepathic and make the bike nimble but you get wobbles on bad road surfaces especially two up. These will make your bike greater.

Rambling, how did you find it? put your impressions in honda 500 thread so we can easily follow: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/583461-cbr-500cc-leaked-pic/page-110

happy rides.

Panda is my preferred purveyor of helmets.

Mazda have dealerships everywhere. Do you go round with your eyes shut?

you would have to have good eyesight to see the one in Phetchabun province, its 110 km from our house.

The new Ford Ranger and the Mazda BT50 are, as others have posted, nigh on identical and both vehicles are highly rated. I know owners of both and all are extremely happy with them. Well worth a gander IMHO

Interesting, I read somewhere that the Mazda BT50 doesn't come with airbags and their dealer network isn't that comprehensive, plus parts are more expensive for Mazda than say Isuzu or Toyota is this true?

Any feedback on the BT50 in terms of reliability and quality of ride, issues? Is it one of the better trucks available - must say I'm not overkeen on the look!

NO. The Gold one looks like a Pimps Ride.The Gray one is quite tasteful.

Again Wrong : this is getting repetitive lol

It's not Gold : It's Savannah Orange

I saw today that both Isuzu & Chevrolet have trucks in orange.

Is orange the new black white? Toyota & Mitsu to follow?

Should be good to hide the red clay we get on the roads everywhere with all the dump trucks moving the earth around......

Looks 'orrible IMHO