BlackArtemis

Guys, what do you do for transport back out to the sticks when venturing into town? Tuk tuks would cost the same price as a short stay? Song-toes dont run in the wee hours. Driving when sloppy that far on those roads??

I just don't get sloppy :shrug:

The rock trick seems to work 75% of the time.

I have had to kick a few dogs here as they lunged at me. Luckily I connected with their head each time and didn't get bit.

Had a larger dog lunge at me a few years back in the Nimm area soi's. Owners were right there and did nothing, Kicked as hard as I could and sent the dog cowering, told the owners to control their dog or I would. I've had many cases where Thai's don't give a shit about their dog harassing someone in front of them. But I have had an equal amount of times where the owner tries to shoo them or hold them back.

Actually, I forgot, I have been bitten here. Last year while visiting my EX, I didn't know her sister got a bull terrior that was quite territorial. I entered the property and the dog didn't know me and did it's job. I got a few nips, but since I knew the dog had its shots, I just put medicine on the cuts.

I was 29 last year. I got there at 6am and trained till 9, ate, took a nap, trained from 3-6 (or 4-7?) I often only did 2hrs in the afternoon.

And yeas, you are going to spend the first 30+ minutes running

then bag work and rotating in and out of the ring for 3-5 rounds.

I wish I had the time now to train, but I don't :/

I trained at Lanna Muay Thai as a newbie ad felt that I learned a lot. I paid about 8000/month for 2 3hr sessions a day. There are other options as well, but I don't have any experience.

I did feel that I learned the basics, and I was in physically better condition after I trained for to plus months.

OK, so I have returned to Thailand since last April and I have had the full intent on getting a bigger bike than the scooters I have always ridden.

I started my Honda Chaly build because I love monkey bikes, but this will be a run about for the city.

When I was in the US I was planning on a CBR250 or Ninja250 but after seeing them and other sport bikes, they're just not my thing. The Ninja (well the entire Kawa line up) is sexy but I don't see myself on them.

What I do like ar SR400/500's, Clubman 400SS, and other bikes that can easily be turned into a cafe racer or bratstyle bike.

I was going to drop the $ on one of these, but realized that while I never get harrassed for having no plates on the Chaly, a bigger bike would bring more attention and have begun looking at legit bikes.

Enter the CB series.

I have been seeing them for sale with greenbooks and up to date taxes for 60-90k depending on the engine size.

The 650 has a nice power bump over the 550, the jump from 650 to 750 isn't as large.

My questions are:

How manageable are they for someone new to bigger bikes, but years of experience ridding 100-120cc scooters in Thai traffic. I can ride a clutch Ok, I am getting better and once my Chaly is set, it will be clutch and it will be my DD.

My next worry is reliability, I am a novice at repair and while I have a very trust worthy mechanic, who does work on big and small bikes, I don't want it to be in the garage a lot or have to always be ordering parts from abroad.

Anyone have experience working on these bikes either back home or here and can fill me in on the maintenance or an idea of what parts might go first etc?

Yeah I was going to say, I work at a private school and I believe that almost everyone has a teaching degree from their home country and there are quite a few with years of experience and MA ED's....

From my dealings with some teachers here, the Chiang Mai schools are not as strict with requirements.

This does not mean I have met poorly qualified people, but rather they have told me this themselves.

Do this:

look up the list of international schools in CM or wherever you want to work

Go to each website

Find their employment section

There you will find the positions and what they expect from candidates.

Hmm, actually now that you mention it, my friend from the south says they do say the time quite differently, basically speaking in terms of am/pm.

Never heard a Thai use Hok Tum, but rather Tien Khuen.

I like tinkering with monkey bikes like the one in my avatar.

A honda Chaly in running condition will cost 8-18k with the original engine, depending on the condition of the bike. The few rare CF-70's that have plates can be as high as mid 30's

Full done up Chalys go for 20-50k depending on what engine swap, wheels, type of paint etc.

A Honda Dax/ CT70 will go for about 10-20% more than a Chaly

Don't know much about the Yamaha Chappy, but it seems in stock for that they are cheaper than the Chaly

The monkey/gorilla bikes that have popped up in the last few years run from 20-50k depending on lots of things

I also just saw a Chinese copy of the Chaly, called a Pocky. I might look into one and strip it down for everything but the frame and vin number and put all my own parts on it and have a legal Chaly.

My new Chaly:

Stripped down and mocking up the new 12" wheels and extended seat.

the Donor, I am taking the 110cc engine and have plans to have it upbored to 150cc

I took the lower forks and disc brake and the handle bars. The upper fork wouldn't work with the new wheels.

The swing arm was identical to the one from the Honda dream that the Chaly had on it already.

Been taking waaaay too long to finish it. but I only have time to work on it 1-2 days a week. Need a metal piece made to support the longer seat, then we can paint it.

Just got home, 4am

Zoe opened at 12, closed at 2 but had no music. Went to Chiang Mai Bar / Eve and it was still going at 4, despite the fact that a cop came and inspected them.

Heard Riverside did 12-2 tonight, didn't bother cause I figured it would be crammed with locals hoping to get out this weekend.

Hope this info helps for next election.

Where is Chiang Mai Bar/Eve ?

behind some shops after the old Spicy, before the 7-11

I don't have a greenbook for my monkey bike, but Cops do care about choppers etc. I would never buy something above 50-100cc w/o a greenbook

Just got home, 4am

Zoe opened at 12, closed at 2 but had no music. Went to Chiang Mai Bar / Eve and it was still going at 4, despite the fact that a cop came and inspected them.

Heard Riverside did 12-2 tonight, didn't bother cause I figured it would be crammed with locals hoping to get out this weekend.

Hope this info helps for next election.

getting mixed messages about bars tonight. I don't know if people are getting the times of when "you can BUY alcohol" and "when the bars open" confused or what.

Some are saying normal hours others 12...

"For years these mafia scum have been taking kickbacks that are rightfully mine! I will fix this!"

My ex can rattle off the Konami code in Thai because she had an NES growing up. They were quite rare, but they do exist.

I got some cheap ones for like 80-120baht (might have been less, it's been a year) at Gat Rincome. I went down the aisle furthest to the right.

Honestly I believe the answer is simply lack of vacation time.

and a lack of a passport in 80% + of the population

If you can't get the vacation time to make it worth a trip outside the US, why bother getting a passport?

Getting a passport in the US is rather simple.

Most amphibians will try to eat anything they can fit in their mouths, they're voracious eaters. Glad to hear the poison didn't affect it.

When I moved back to the US I almost bought a breeding pair of Tokays because I missed their calls haha.

As mentioned, Brits are far more likely to travel internationally by % of the population than the Americans.

I know a lot of Americans who are delighted to see as much of that cast country as possible and don't see the need to travel overseas and I understand that. I think it's a badge of honour to be able to say you have visited all 50 states.

One of the primary drivers for Brits is the weather, our winters can be atrocious, and we along with a lot of other Northern Europeans need to know that we are getting good weather when we are on holiday. Hence the reason why so many of us arrive in the Winter........anything to avoid the -15 temps.

It's quite simple. The U.S. is a huge place. New York to Los Angeles is further in distance than London to Moscow.

The U.S has every type of climate you could desire 365 days a year. The U.S is also a very cheap place (with the exemption of the major cities). If you go out to a place like Pensylvania, you can get a big burger, french fries and onion rings for $3 in most diners.

It's also a 20+ hour flight from the East coast of the U.S. to Thailand.

I also think that South/Central America is to U.S citzens, what Thailand is for Europeans. I met several times more expat Americans in Peru, Bolivia, etc. than I have ever met in Thailand.

$3 is stretching it. But Central PA is rather cheap. I lived in one of the wealthy (expensive) areas outside of Philly but did my first degree in central PA. Much cheaper, only downfall is that it's one of the top 3 places in the US for KKK activity. The other two being New Jersey and Indiana. Notice all three are above the M-D line...

I honestly was going to move to Minneapolis before moving back here this year. Freezing cold winters kinda suck, but the summers are great, insanely active town. One of the most commuted by bike towns in the US. Very young population and tons of different ethnicities means awesome culture and food. But Chiang Mai just kept tugging at my heart strings.

A poster on the first page said it right. When Americans are sick of where we are, we can move states and it's almost like moving to a new country. Culture and people vary greatly throughout the US and we have almost every climate you could want. I am hoping that this move just pans out for me to make it permanent, but if it doesn't I won't be heart broken to return "home".

I heard that riverside is going to open from 12-2am on Sat... I expect some lines.

I don't mind the no booze, I really don't need them. But I do spend my weekend nights in the bars with friends. A shame since I am meeting up with a friend I haven't seen in a year and two more really good friends are coming tomorrow. Saw them last time stateside in January.

Just something we have to live with here I guess, cause i don't see it ever changing.

In the US our Vacation days on average suck.

If we want beaches we have lots of nice beaches on the continental 48, have Hawaii, the Caribbean, Central and south America which are far closer than SE Asia and offer a lot of the same geography.

There are TONS of cheap package tours to any of the places mentioned as well. When I lived in the US I predominantly saw adverts for the Caribbean and Central America as well as other states, I rarely saw adverts for anywhere else.

Kinda upset I didn't end up taking that road trip when gas was under $2 a gallon, still need to sleep under the stars in the middle of nowhere South West.

Thai friends have this passing around facebook:

First thing I would check would be the air filter and spark plug. Had a Friend's Mio doing the same. The airfilter was clogged and getting the bike to breathe and spark correctly helped it immediately.