mark131v

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

And what exactly is considered a "correct understanding"?

The little generals version of events is the only one that is 'correct' 

Surely this is clear and who could doubt the wisdom of Thailand's self elected and benevolent leaders....

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

"Let me put it this way ....

before there was lawlessness,  road blocks,  protests, airport closures, shootings, bombings, killings, fighting amongst parties, and general anarchy.

Now that the Junta have stepped in this has all stopped so there is no more lawlessness ... it's controlled and Thailand cannot work a democracy unless someone with a high authority is in power.  It may not seem right by you but it's better than the previous.  Also, you can still do as you generally want to day to day ... shop, drink, travel etc ... so what is wrong with that ?   or do you prefer the anarchy before   ??

I as many ....   prefer it the way it is now ....  at least it's  '  CONTROLLED '  and not the wild west as before .....    

Nope still unsure though I am erring towards a possible paediatric head injury.....

20 hours ago, steven100 said:

Very good Khun Prayuth .....      we all love you ...  You have bought stability and security back into Thailand.

You are very wrong Steven very, very wrong.....

I am still not sure if you have us all on a bite or whether you were actually dropped on the head as a child

1 hour ago, JAG said:

The only way to bring these militants, insurgents, terrorists, whatever you call them, to the negotiating table is to close down their ability to carry out terrorist operations. You do this by extensive 24 hour a day patrolling, allied to observation posts, both overt and covert, snap vehicle check points and intelligence directed searches.. This prevents the terrorists from moving around when armed, makes it difficult for him to move weapons to where he wants them, and hide them effectively. It is manpower intensive, and requires relatively large numbers of well trained troops, and critically good leadership at junior (section, platoon and company) level. It is hard work, unrelenting and takes determination and time to achieve results. It needs to be conducted with a lightness of touch which avoids completely alienating the civil population.

 

Once they ( the terrorists) are prevented from functioning, then they will start talking.

 

The Thai army has the manpower, does it have the training, leadership and above all else the interest (amongst its Officer Corps) to do this?

 

Pattani is a long way from Bangkok.

You know the answer to that....

It is possible to train troops to be effective but to train an officer corps and to a lesser extent an NCO cadre from a generally uneducated no fail system where ability has little to do with position is a much harder proposition

It will never happen until the whole system is kicked into the long grass and then re started from scratch, problem is in a society of kow towing to your betters that whole concept of putting country before personal enrichment is completely alien....

1 hour ago, BBJ said:

Having owned and modded a Versys for off road, it is more than capable of some tricky off road.  But as one as pointed already, it boils down to cost.  I spent about 60k on mods such as protection, shocks and tires and it coped well with up-hill climbs such as Khao Krajom that many have struggled to tackle on lighter bikes.  Other than replacing the forks seals on a couple of occasions, it gave me 40k of reliable fun.

 

I've since changed to the Africa Twin, and while a great bike, the suspension is not ideal if you weigh over 80kg and intend to take it off road.  I've spent 60k on protection for this bike already such as bash plate.It all boils down to what riding you prefer.  I say prefer because despite spending most of its life on tarmac to get to the off road routes that I enjoy, I will spend money on the bike for off road use.

 

Personally, I would consider the V-Strom which has been mentioned, before modding a 500x unless you can find a good second hand one.

 

Kitted with Heidenau K60s

 

Nice looking bike that!

How you finding the AT compared to the Versys?

4 minutes ago, JAG said:

 

I wonder whether they have thought of the logistic support, communications equipment, self propelled artillery support, armoured engineer support ('cos these MBTs will certainly be too heavy for 90% of the bridges off major roads), armoured infantry units, workshop facilities and all the other elements required to support and operate a modern armoured formation in the field. It is eye wateringly expensive, and requires constant training and exercising to keep it all working..

 

Maybe they will just line them up on a range once a year, pop off a few rounds, and then drive past a grandstand before the General stands up on top of one and makes a speech?

To think about the logistics would need a level of forethought and professionalism I fear is lacking if their glorious leaders are anything to go by.... 

I would be willing to bet all that stuff is way down the list same as maintenance, training, and combined exercises. Still they will look nice parked up/broken down by the camp gates and will give the illusion of an effective fighting force....

A conscript army lead by untested, uneducated badly trained leaders who are picked by having the right connections rather than any ability what could possibly go wrong, not sure they would last 13 hours before crumbling to be honest.....

Is a main battle tank overkill for suppressing the civil populace? 

lets be honest that is the only possible use for it but it's still more useful than the sub at least when this breaks down they have a ready made checkpoint.....

1 minute ago, CLW said:

Guys, relax!
You are talking about rally modifications.
Let's be honest, who needs that in Thailand and probably most parts of SEA.
You don't have the chance to drive cross-country neither you want to break a new speed record.
Or would you attempt to drive around Chiang Mai in a Mitsubishi Evo?
Absolutely over the top. Same with luxury cars or even pick up trucks though the latter might make sense because of higher clearance and you can transport something at the back.
Just look at the locals at the countryside, Honda wave with rough tires can take you anywhere...

I am very relaxed as I imagine Richard is too, essentially I am saying that you can have a cheap go anywhere bike that is reliable and easy to get fixed without having to spend massive bucks

I would imagine there is a bit of interest in this subject as there are AT and BMW GS as well as KTM's and the odd Tiger 800 out there so people are spending the money and buying them 

At the end of the day it is about choice and choice is good, would I uprate my CBX, no I wouldn't but then again I don't go offroad enough and my skill level don't justify the purchase but there are plenty that do and I thought passage of information was a good thing

Opinions are like <deleted> but just because we don't agree does not mean we are going to fall out...

7 hours ago, Richard-BKK said:

Maybe if you can find a Honda CB500X in prime condition for a soft price it would make sense to get a Rally-Raid Level 3 Adventure Kit.

 

But for a new Honda CB500X the numbers just not make sense to me...

 

Honda CB500X               220,000 THB

Rally-Raid Level 3 Kit   138,000 THB

                                                 -------------------

                            total         358,000 THB

 

This while a new Suzuki V-Strom 650XT cost 369,000 THB ...

Why does even getting a new model and putting a level 3 kit not make sense?

I have posted a shed load of information of which there is an absolute abundance stating that the uprated cbx is an excellent bike and arguably better than the opposition in this class

I have also shown by a quick search of the classifieds that good 2nd hand cbx's are available and make for a very cheap option to own a very capable go anywhere bike

Seems a bit pointless conversing on the subject as it seems you have a closed mind and are unwilling to accept that the point you initially posted is completely false:

'The Honda CB500X in an off-road situation is completely hilarious, sure you can do some hard surface off-road… maybe a few centimeters deep sand...'

I have Pirreli MT40's on my 500x they are a good tyre and though I cannot remember what I paid for them it wasn't expensive, I had scorpion trails initially and prefer the MT40's to them

Well most people reckon the KTM 690 is pretty special off road and this bloke with both reckons the Rally Raid 500x is able to go anywhere it can and is actually a better choice for most scenario's

Nice 2nd hand model in classifieds:

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/ad/6D3JBK5F/2014-honda-cb500x

So if your numbers are right 140,000 for bike 110,000  for Rally raid level 3 kit seems pretty affordable to me and is a really good option 

Don't want to get into a pissing contest with you but personally I think you are wrong, the cb500x can be very, very good off road and in the grand scheme it is not that expensive

You can also take off the level 3 kit when you sell it and return the bike to stock and sell both on there own, I really don't reckon you would have too many problems getting most of your money back if that was your intention

4 minutes ago, Richard-BKK said:

The Rally Raid CB500X Level 3 Adventure Kit cost around 2500 English Pound, which is in Thai THB probably aroad 106,000 THB... (without import duty) No need to say that this is a lot of money for a motorcycle that cost 220,000 THB new...  With the overall cost of getting a Honda CB500X to be a real adventure bike, maybe people should look at the Suzuki V-Strom 650XT (which everybody seems to love as adventure bike) which cost out of the showroom only 369,000 THB and is MADE in JAPAN....

No argument here Richard there are lots of good options out there but the question of if the 500x can be good off road is well and truly laid to rest.....

Marry a 2nd hand bike with a level 3 kit and you will have a really good value for money go anywhere bike that the Vstrom and versys will not be able to live with off road or at least that appears to be the consensus from people far more knowledgeable than me

A cracking video of the 500x and what it can do with a good rider....

Interesting review of the rally raid cbx, think it put's to rest the 'can a cb500x be good off road' question....

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/rally-raid-cb500x-review/

23 minutes ago, Richard-BKK said:

I like this tread, I only have one question does anybody here know what makes a good adventure bike? Reading all the CB500X comments I doubt it, the Honda CB500X looks like an adventure bike but is as far from it as it could possible be…

 

More performance make a better adventure bike? That’s something you would think if you read this forum tread, while off-road on dirt roads you can find the bigger adventure bikes in deep trouble… With the exception of a few BMW and KTM bikes Thai dirt roads request a good amount from a adventure rider… The Kawasaki Versys 650 and 1000 (with some modifications) are often good enough for an adventure rider…

 

The Honda CB500X in an off-road situation is completely hilarious, sure you can do some hard surface off-road… maybe a few centimeters deep sand… but anything more the Kawasaki Versys-X 300 will dance around the CB500X if it was in its natural habitat...

 

I have a friend who bought a Honda CB500X for doing some adventure riding, off-road he was not capable to keep up with anybody on real adventure bikes or dual-sport bikes… So he started to modify his CB500X, he now spend more than if he would have bough a real adventure bike...

It is possible to do and has there are kits from rally raid products that change the bike to a very capable off roader

If you where to marry a good 2nd hand bike to Rally Raid kit you would have an extremely capable bike at a pretty low price

Bit of information for you: 

https://www.cb500x.com/index.php?topic=5239.0

http://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk/

3 hours ago, howard ashoul said:

I has gear indicator! That's what I'm missing on both of my motocycles. I never have a idea what gear I'm riding until I can't shift to higher or lower gear.

Seriously??

It is a nice to have but hardly vital to riding looking at the revs and listening to the engine note will tell you whether you need to change up or down and most modern bikes are very forgiving and will happily take off in 2nd or 3rd if needed

18 minutes ago, halloween said:

Your faith in the veracity of the BBC is interesting. Others are far less trusting.

Ahhh is there anything the Junta do that you cannot justify?

This is about whether it is fair or right for a kid to be locked up for sharing a report from a world respected news source, whether you respect that news source is neither here nor there but locking a kid up for sharing a report sounds a little bit over board especially when you look at recent reports of people who have allegedly done far far worse crimes

2 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Dear lord above us. 'Progressive cancers'

 

Two quick questions:

 

1. Are we not always learning as we go along? 

 

2. Can we learn from history?

No!!

Thailand does not need any of that new fangled thinking when they have the all seeing oracle and his mythical section 44 to do the thinking for them....

43 minutes ago, SiamBeast said:

Good traditions need to be preserved. As long as activists like that will try to abolish traditions and push progessive cancers under the name of "equality", Thai people are not ready for a democratic government, and we need Prayut to continue what he's doing.

Oh dear........

Yep the country definitely needs the little un elected hypocrite to bring them into the 21st century..... 

Not often you read about anybody openly taking on the little general and the hierarchy and actually having the <deleted> to practice what they preach, good to see and this place really does need more people like him, cannot help wondering what law they will use to close him down though....?

Seems these 'netizens' and their fallang supporters are a wee bit thin skinned, time to jump on the outrage bus again, sad really....

5 hours ago, CLW said:

Depends on your purpose.
I tried the CB500x for touring in Northern Thailand, it's a good bike and easy to handle on OPEN roads.
I need my bike also for commuting in central Bangkok and I don't want to have a heavy and big bike similar to CB500x or even Versys.
So I think if someone wants to have only one bike, the Versys 300 might suit better.

The CB500X is not big or heavy when you are on it and carving through traffic is no problem at all, it has really good manoeuvrability is very forgiving and has a tight turning circle nothing to dislike during city riding....

5 hours ago, Get Real said:

Pattaya, again! Beautiful place, isn´t it?

However, I hope they get smacked up real good in jail for assauling a cop. Just something that you not do, and they take care of themselfs.

Assaulting a cop? the buffoons in brown are just a bigger gang of thieves nothing more, they bear nothing in common with a Police force they have no guts no loyalty and no honour and are an absolute embarrassment, cannot bring myself to have pity on anybody involved in this none event....

ps ask the red bull bloke about how the Police look after their own 

Why on earth would they care?

Absolutely nothing the public or press can do about this they hold all the cards and have the a complete and utter lack of scruples, they also care not one jot about what anybody else thinks so long as it does not interfere with the income stream....