BlackArtemis

Thank a lot for all your very helpful comments. After driving the route from Khenmarat to Bangkok, I know the roads very well and whatbtype of drivers use it. Mostly camacazee bus and truck drivers. So as big and load a bike as possible, comfortable and withers much overtaking power as possible, which is why I was looking at the big muscle bikes of yesteryear. Now it is interesting people as swayingbmore towards the modern 500/650 bikes.

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My leo vince slip on was ungodly loud when I got it up to 7k+

don't have a decent video of me revving mine, so here are two videos of others

http://youtu.be/WrevzpnUUNY?t=1m40s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n1HknPI1BU

Decent, but still don't compare to real life.

It was great riding it in Thailand, bright Kawasaki green and loud as hell. Thai's on scooters actually looked my way before pulling out in front of me.

Hell, I would blip it while lane splitting to let people know I was coming.

Also depends on age, I am in my 30's and was comfortable going from Chumpon to Chiang Mai in a day o my Ninja 650. This was my daily driver as well around Chiang mai. You are more upright than you would think.

It is nicer than the 500f or r, has dual discs in the front and alot more grunt. Due to the Honda 650 it has dropped in resale value, just like the 500's.

The 500x might be a decent choice due to comfort level, but as I said in my first post, I would get a Versys over it. These are also coming down in price, but are quite a bit more expensive than the 500x

Ignore anyone who is telling you to get a scooter or take a bus/train. They fail to realize you actually enjoy the ride.

While I prefer Kawa to Honda, I would strongly consider the shops around you. Getting a Versys while having no Kawa shop around you means finding a reputable big bike shop, but even then this will hurt resale because it was not serviced at kawa, This goes for Big Wing as well.

I would also like to correct my math in the first post.

say you do 12k/year on a kawa

Insurance is ~1b/km

fuel is ~1b/km

Tires ~1b/km

3 oil changes and filters, 1 spark plug change, other things like sprockets/chain sets are 6k

so around another 1-1.5b/km

Expect to pay 4-5b/km for a newer Honda or Kawa 500-650

ER6n for 130-150k

Versys for 170-200k

09-11 will be cheaper than 12+ as Kawasaki did a lot of changes.

Other numbers to consider, First class will run you about 10-12k/year

Tires will run you 12-14k. They will last about just as long. and fuel is about 1bt/km

I would say with maintenc they will run you about 2.5b/km

Cb500 is less bike for about the same money, just newer

CB300/Ninja300 could also be a possibility. Better mpg, cheaper tires and start off around 120-140k depending on age (Ninja 300 has been out for a year, CB is brand new).

Of course you could always go with one of the older bikes like CBs, XJs, steeds, viragos etc etc, but you will not find many off the shelf parts making maintenance a bigger hassle. 

I know of a few expat families and friends who go regularly, maybe about 10-15 total including kids. Sometimes they get a much larger group going.

I see lots of people I would call a monitor lizard. Does that count?

If they just had a bunch of motorcycle cops at the rincom intersection ready to chase down red light runners, and do this consistently for a few months. That would improve that area 1000 fold. Plus they would bring in a lot of revenue. But my hope is that they begin to at least photo there.

I know that for most Americans the collective noun for just about everything is 'a bunch', but I think you'll find that the correct word for police is a 'sounder'.

If they just had a bunch of motorcycle cops at the rincom intersection ready to chase down red light runners, and do this consistently for a few months. That would improve that area 1000 fold. Plus they would bring in a lot of revenue. But my hope is that they begin to at least photo there.

I ended up rent a room at a place in Nimman area. It was an art center for kids on the weekend, but 90% of the time I had a whole townhouse to myself for next to nothing.

Before that I found cheap 2 room bungalows out in Umong area.

When I was together with my Ex we had a 4 story town house inside the old city which doubled as a tutoring center for us.

For me, when I am single I want a place with little to no maintenance, because I am more likely to spend my weekends and holidays out and about.

When in a relationship I prefer a 'home', something with a yard for a dog etc etc

For your price range, I see townhouses for rent. 7-10k

Look around the Suan Dok, Suthep, Jet yod, Wat ket, and Hang Dong areas. These are close enough to town, but offer great selection. DDproperty was a good indicator of cost, but often they forget to take down already rented units.

I don't know about you, but I feel that the new batch of Hondas, the 650 and these 300s, are getting back to a sexier design.

I never even considered a 250 or 500 because I felt they were quite ugly compared to Kawasaki and suzuki's offering.

After riding the Ninja 650r for a year, I realized other than bombing down from Cm to Malaysia I never really needed all that displacement and a 300cc is a great bike for most of what I wanted to do.

Though, a new 300 or a used 650 is still a hard choice since they are the same price, but the 300's are making a great argument and that White 300 is sexy.

Bikeless and in the US... It sucks. Waiting for work to pan out, but I came home at a bad time for education jobs.

Hoping to pick up a 2004+ 883 Sportster and do a 1250cc kit for 90rwhp with a few RSD goodies. Then next bike would be a Versys or Vstrom.

I wouldn't mind owning a 1980 gs550 or 750 as well, but I plan on doing a cafe/brat build on the sportster.

Speed is cheap here, I can pick up a track bike sv650 for $2000 as an entry level bike.

too many bikes and not enough money rolling in. I have the $ for a bike, but I don't like spending large amounts of money without security.

95% of all my friends are Thai and only a handful of them speak decent English.

My Ex has a masters in TESOL and she was able to explain a lot of more complicated subjects in English first as well.

I rarely watched Thai TV, but I liked some movies. Generally the music I like is still quite fast, but I try to use the lyrics to practice reading.

I would say that besides while I was working 90% of my interaction was done in Thai and even at work I would converse in Thai with colleagues.

On a side note, I talk toooooo damn much. Not being able to converse makes me feel like a boiling kettle. So I try to learn a language as fast as possible, even if it's just a vacation.

Moved back to the US and don't have Thai friends here. So I skype with friends back there.

I also have a Thai friendly account which I explicitly state where I am and I am only interested in practicing language. This has really improved my reading. However, 99% won't correct my Thai but rather just comment I am "good enough already". Which is more a statement on this country's level of effort...

One thing I learned from my own parents was "you not only marry the girl, you marry the family".

Unless she hates her family and has cut them off, you WILL have to deal with them in some capacity and through her they will have influence on your life.

I wouldn't even bother with a girl's family who had a low mentality, put up with laziness, theft, or scamming within their own family. Why bother with a family who worries more about their perceived face or stature over the happiness of their daughter.

Best to learn about family before things get too serious, just my two Baht.

I had a Leo Vince and loved it. But in certain areas cops are going after aftermarket exhausts. Tsugki or whatever brand it is has the correct stamping to make it legal. Probably not mapped or dyno proven, but it's louder and legal 100%

I just moved back to the US to help with my aging father. But I worked as a teacher, not an English or ESL teacher, and I was able to put way a good amount of money each month as what I would have called my retirement. Now I find myself in the US for I don't know how many years. Plans will be for me to buy a condo or two and then have them rented out via an agency while working for a well paying school upon my return. Furthermore these schools also offer free tuition for staff children, so that's upwards of 500,000B a year depending on the school and age of the child that I won't be needing to pay.

I am 32, I would like to make it back to Thailand before 40. However, I will make good use of the time here and continue to teach and build up money etc etc.

Buddy Internet has the MSX for 400B/day. I rented it for a day when they first came out. Fun bike, but the worst seat design ever.

I just moved back to the US to help out with my family. I was also teaching in Thailand, though at a school I would be fine with my children studying at.

However, now I am jumping through hoops here as the US restructured their teaching certs and it's difficult to find work in the age group I want. So I find myself studying again to get 3 more certifications.

The upside is that once I do find full time work I will be able to get my Masters paid for. I also can attempt to get into a program where I would receive a huge discount on buying a foreclosed house for being a teacher.

My goals however are to move back to Thailand, there are a smattering of schools there that are worth it and my experience and degrees would help get me in, thus giving my children access to decent education.

We will see how it goes though, right now I am focused on resume building.

One of my ex's had some tattoos. She was not a bar girl for sure, but she wasn't near in intellect to the other girls I dated.

However, I am sure that when others could see them when we were together, they assumed she was a bargirl.

Here's some good advice, take each person as they come and decide from there.

7-11 is great for letting you know winter has arrived in CM as well. It's the only time of the year the inside of a 7-11 is actually warmer than the outside.

But seriously, they offer so much convience. I returned to the US recently and agree with everything NancyL has to say about them. Luckily I live in the NE and have WaWa.

Yaaaayyy.....

More confusion. It does seem the serial abusers were the ones punished though.

It sucks, because I recently moved back to the US and I was hoping to spend my summers in Thailand. This would probably be less than 60 days, but more than 30.

I am 32 and teach in the US, so retirement is not an option.

Oh well, I have a whole year before I really have to worry about it. I am sure it will change 42 times from now till then.

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Didn't someone post somewhere, or was it in the news, that CMU might have approached being in the top 100 universities in Asia? We're not talking about the world rankings. Not sure, but is one supposed to be impressed with CMU, or tertiary education in Thailand as a whole? Cute uniforms for trim upperclassmen, however.

CMU is a rather mixed picture, the medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy faculties are well respected.

Other faculties a very mixed picture, and the total number of courses conducted in English language you can count on one hand.

re: '...the total number of courses conducted in English language you can count on one hand.'

I hear that even their MA in English is taught in the Thai language, apparently the English language can be quite arduous for most aspiring to teach it.

My Ex did he MA TESOL at Payap for this reason, she hated Payap and it didn't have the name. But she felt that at least all the classes were in English. She was also offered 20-30k by at least 4 CMU MA students to write their Thesis. Thesis writing can be a major source of income for Thai's who are skilled in English.

Ugh sorry guys, made a lot of mistakes. Stateside now, perhaps I should have slept before posting...

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well! If we're going to stay here in CM, then what are the options? An international school which will leave her (from observation) with a strong American accent and little Thai? (She's never going to go to Uni in Amarica) or a 'decent' Thai school that will prepare her for life as a Thai?

Then you have APIS, Grace, Lanna, NIS, and CMIS which are proper American international schools, expect them to be higher been awhile since I checked their Kindergarten fees, but I believe it's 80-100k plus with upwards of an extra 40k in fees, especially if the student is ESL.

Lanna is a British International School.

Thanks, I knew there was more in CM and writing that out felt odd.

well! If we're going to stay here in CM, then what are the options? An international school which will leave her (from observation) with a strong American accent and little Thai? (She's never going to go to Uni in Amarica) or a 'decent' Thai school that will prepare her for life as a Thai?

Go listen to the kids at the international schools which teach British English, the students still end up with an American accent of varying degrees due to movies, music, and a large contingant of people speaking American English.

Your choices are K2 and up

Montfort, Prince, Dara, Sarasas, Wichai, Regina, Sacred Heart, Varee, for ~30-45k a term.

Don't expect much at these schools, but it could be fine if you plan on having a large influence in the kid's education and then in Matayom having them go on to a proper school

Panyaden is Bilingual, and is about 60-70/term and has certified foreign teachers, not kids with 1 month TEFL's. Best of the bilingual programs as far as actually achieving the goal of students being bi or polylingual. However their philosophy isn't for everyone

Then you have APIS, Grace, Lanna, NIS, and CMIS which are proper American international schools, expect them to be higher been awhile since I checked their Kindergarten fees, but I believe it's 80-100k plus with upwards of an extra 40k in fees, especially if the student is ESL.

Prem is the only other one I can think of at the moment. They are also the most expensive.

Just thought of some other schools that I have little idea about

Hannah Christian, Baan khun Mae, CM Christian, and the Christian German school.

Long story short, expect to pay a few hundred thousand a month for a western level of education. This does not mean that there are not many successful Thai's graduating from private schools and in country universities.