jackcorbett

Does anyone know if and when the 135 Yamaha Elegance will be available with electronic fuel injection?

still comes with a Mikuni carb, and is still strongest small scoot up the hills. There is no substitute to cubicinch the americans used to say

fuelconsumption is on par with PCX 125 injection

I'll second that one. Also......although I see a lot to like in the Honda PCXi 125 the Nouvo 135 c.c. Elegance is the best all around motorbike for areas such as Pattaya. It's got a nice hook in front of my seat below the instrument console fairing that's good for at least two bags of groceries or for that matter all kinds of things. The PCXi doesn't have one. The Elegance has a rail behind the seat plus other hooks below the seat and in the general seat area. This means I can use bungee cords to strap all kinds of things down behind me, one example alone being a desktop computer I have to take in once in awhile for upgrades, repairs, etc. The PCXi doesn't have any of that. Also.....I have a kickstarter so if my battery fails I can always kickstart my machine to life. I understand the PCXi doesn't have one.

Also....sometimes not only will I put my girl behind me but also a friend so there's two people riding behind me and my Nouvo Elegance will handle this kind of heavy duty work for short distances. Try this on Clicks, Mios, Finos and other small bikes and you simply won't be in the same league. Then that 135 c.c. engine. Beautiful. For driving in the city, nothing comes close to the Nouvo Elegance when it comes to a combination of power, handling, comfort and all around practicality.

I have perused a rather extensive article on the web about the sources for Thailand's energy. Let's start with Thailand supplies 40 % of its energy from domestic sources and after finding natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand more and more vehicles are using this "home grown fuel" Thailand's switching to gasohol is only part of its ongoing efforts to wean itself off of Mideast oil. Truth is even our "pals" in Saudi Arabia" have been playing hopscotch with terrorists devoted to taking down the West because as long as they do, they feel the radicals will not take down the Saudi monarchy. So look at it this way, out of every dollar or pound we spend on Mideast oil, a sizeable percentage goes to fund our enemies. Personally I see nothing wrong with Thailand's wanting to send as few baht as possible to bolster such regimes.

Hey, I'm six foot tall, and even though I might look a little "outsized" for the bike, I still wouldn't turn my nose up at the Honda CB 150 R.

I'd be using my deposit on the 150, get one right away and start having a ball.

Tell the dealer to use your deposit on the VTR 250 against the VFR 1200.

Had a previous girlfriend who told me, "The only reason Thais buy manual bikes such as Waves is they cannot afford to drive the automatics." Then she sent on to point out that with all the sprockets and chains there's a lot more to go wrong with a Wave's manual transmission than with an automatic.

I don't know, perhaps I used to adjust my chain a lot more than I had to, but when I had my Honda CB 350 and later my CB 450 I was often tinkering with the chain adjustment, and yes...one must keep them oiled. Loved that first BMW I bought, the R-65 650. No chain, no lube, just drive it and forget it. Seemed like a step up on the evolutionary ladder even though the engine and drive shaft arrangement was designed way back in something like the 1920's. After I got the R-65 I think it was Harley that started to put belt drive on its big touring bikes and I thought Harley was on the right track also.

One convient thing about automatics is that the belt does not require lubrication. As other posters have pointed out, autos keep the revs high because thats where the power is. Sccoter transmissions are just not as efficient and "smart" as the latest automatic car transmissions.

Auto scooters use a bit more fuel but its not that big of a deal is it?

FWIW, I keep a spread sheet and enter every drop of fuel purchased for my CZi. To flog my bike 15,434 km required 267 liters of fuel, mostly gasohol 91. Total damage was B6,549

I have had 1 Phantom 200 and 3 waves. Chain and sprockets cost more pr km than any of my small scoot auto repairs. 990 baht every 30-50k km is just cheap.

Great......I think we are really getting somewhere now. I was told at the nearby Honda Dealership that chains need to be replaced on Honda Waves twice as often as belts need to be replaced on the auto bikes and that a Honda Wave chain was in the 500 baht neighborhood, a figure now verified by Lancelot. I've put on 13,000 kilometers on my old Nouvo MX then sold it to my neighbor who regarded it as a great deal and a troublefree bike. I now have 5000 kilmeters on my present Nouvo Elegance and other than several oil changes and washing it I have not touched it. One of my friends has over 20,000 kilometers on his Nouvo Elegance, has not touched it and was asking me when I thought he should replace the belt. My friend David who lives at a condo near mine has had his Airblade for over three years, and he's not touched it. I live here in Pattaya 11.75 months out of 12 and been here for five years now and I've never heard of anyone having a single problem with his automatic except for replacing a headlight, tires, spark plug, rear brake pad which costs 180 baht.

These people here who talk about the unreliability of automatics simply don't know what they are talking about. Perhaps a couple of them have had a problem or knew someone who did but I'd say most of them are talking out of their backsides.

Was this your first belt replacement? What was its total cost?

first belt on this Nouvo MX at 990 baht.

another older Nouvo needed new belt at 32k km at 990 baht. It was overloaded with 150 kg rider pluss GF.

both original parts at yammy shop

still havent replaced any Elegance 135cc belt, and despite having more power I believe this belt may last longer since its auto is larger/longer belt/cooler belt.

Let's put this in perspective. A German fellow condo owner here is now on his 2nd Phantom. He tells me they are good for around 20,000 kilometers or so and then they start to have problems. He's recently replaced the chain and sprockets for over 5000 baht and now looking for his third bike here since coming to Pattaya. Over a month ago I showed him pictures of the Honda vtr 250 that will reputedly be introduced to the Thai market and he said.."That could be my next bike." But nothing on it. Nada. He tells me he MUST buy a new bike soon. He expects more problems with his current Phantom.

so true

my exGF kids have one of my Nouvos. Its the only one in the village. 3-4 kids ride 50km a day to and from school at 40-50 baht/day. Thats 10 baht more than the manuals. I guess they are glad I still sponsor their fuel bill to go to school.

Took it to Suratani to replace autobelt at 55k km, since Yamaha in the village didnt know how to do.

Was this your first belt replacement? What was its total cost?

My yamaha Tmax 500 auto did not use more fuel than my Kawasaki NinjaR 650 6 speed manual. I belive the small auto scoots use more fuel than manual simply because they are underpowered.

While Wave 125 injection manual manages 40-50 km/l a BMW 520d auto actually manages 19km/l. Thats a 1800kg 5 seater car doing 0-100 km/h in 8 seconds.

small bikes are really not fuelefficient at all looking at weight, performance and loadcarrying capacity

The typical driver taking his Honda Wave through Pattaya and many other places besides is going to upshift to a higher gear so he's going to be loafiing say in third or fourth gear. It's going to feel like he's already in overdrive. He's cruising at low rpms and when he's going at low rpms he's going to get terrific gas mileage. But unless he downshifts a gear or two he's got very little power on tap at such low rpms'. These bikes (for those who don't know this already) get their power at high rpms. However, if he's driving an automatic such as a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance which decides for him what gear he should be in (it's a variable transmission) he's going to be driving at signficantly higher rpms. The advantage of this is all you have to do is to twist the throttle and the response will be practically instantaneous. This is because you are already driving at higher rpms and producing more horsepower than your HOnda Wave driving counterpart. There is absolutely no contest between the drive ability of a Honda Wave for instance, at least in city driving and a Nouvo Elegance which in real world driving is going to pull away from the Wave driver with ease. The price for such drive ability is fuel economy however.

When I visited my gf's family up in Korat I noticed that practically the entire village had Honda Wave 100's. These were 100's, not 125's. These people are poor so they will want the most economical thing around. Believe me if they could afford the extra fuel costs for a Nouvo Elegance and the initial purchase price they'd practically all be driving the Nouvo. I remember one taxi driver I used to hire who had a Honda Wave 100. That thing was VERY SLOW compared to my "inefficient gas hogging Nouvo and I do mean VERY SLOW. The difference was about like comparing a family car to a Formula One. And one more thing.........driving a Honda Wave with a basket right over the front tire is driving a very inferior handling machine compared to automatics such as Nouvos, Air Blades, PCxi's, etc. Most Thais who drive Waves have to do this to keep their costs down. Most of you on this board don't have.

When I had my BMW 100 KS I subscribed to a BMW owners' Magazine. Once in awhile BMW owners would write to the editor about how Harleys had improved dramatically in the past couple of years and that they were even better than BMW's. A lot of Harley owners own old bikes that were built years before "such improvements were being made in the production process."And I think it's due to all those "old classics" that are still on the road that Harley still suffers some degree of a bad reputation for oil leaks and parts falling off. Fact is Harley was on the verge of bankrupcy twenty years ago. Now it's the bike to have in the U.S. Harley came into new ownership and it's prospects skyrocketed. Although image and great marketing played a big factor at turning Harley around I don't think it got to where it is now by building a sloppy product. As for power, I think the largest Harley v twins produce all of around 60 horsepower don't they, when you stack that up against a much lighter BMW sportbike producing around 175 horsepower or its Japanese equivalents that's pretty anemic. But who needs all that horsepower anyway. And there's something to be said about a machine that has good torque characteristics.

Now, don't get me wrong, a Harley is not my cup of tea. For one thing I'm not partial to all that chrome and I can think of better things to do with my spare time than to have to spend it polishing it. Another thing, I don't like the cruiser style of riding position and find it to be much more suitable for people with much fatter asses than mine. I like small vehicles that are light and handle well (which is why I liked the Krabi CBR 150 R rental so much) and a Harley is simply too heavy to be in the same contest for agility. But let's give the devil its due. In the face of unstoppable competition from the Japanese Harley emerged from out of the ashes on top and if it had a bad machine it would never have achieved that.

^Thanks jack, as long as it goes 80km/h slow, thats fast enough for me.

Interestingly, all these little autos Ive ever seen sling shot away from the lights and are quite punchy up to 60 odd.

I certainly have no intent of entering in any races

Agreed. When I was driving my Nouvo Elegance yesterday (this time solo) I was thinking, "THis thing goes like a bat out of hel_l. Even got on Sukamit where I'd have to speed up to get way over to the right lane staring in the far left lane so that I could make a turn. I'm guessing Yamaha has it all figured out that the average driver is not going even 90 kilometers per hour let alone 120 and they've all got it down to a science, figuring the average driver is doing 90 percent of his driving between 10 and 60 kilometers per hour. So Yamaha has deigned both the engine and the gearing to deliver maximum performance in that range. Now if you are driving a manual tranmission bike in this speed range you are going to be in a high gear which is great for fuel economy but you are going to have to drop down a couple of gears to get your rpms up. WIth the Elegance you just blip the throttle and bam, you are there. The same is true for other automatics. Truth is there's plenty of useful power on tap all the time with thtat 135 c.c. engine (of the Elegance) and a lot of torque--more than enough to make me not ask for any more when I consider, "What kind of conditions am I driving in (nearly all the time) and how well does the Yamaha Nouvo handle these driving condtions with the power and gearing it has. It really is about letter perfect at doing what it is designed to do.

So the consensus is: Both Nuovo Elegance and PCX get about 40km/l in day to day driving? Pretty good mileage for the Nuovo...

The rental place at Aol Nang Beach (there were many rental shops) told me the Honda CBR 150 R and the Nouvo Elegance both got around 40 km per liter. This is not city driving as most roads are two lane. I'd get around 32 to 33 in Pattaya driivng most of the time two up and all city. And in my spreadsheet I extrapolated several scenarios the first of which factored in highway mileage and that would produce around 40 km to the liter so I'm thinking the Krabi rental shop was about spot on.

Interestingly enough, I saw about one Air Blade for rent at Ao Nang Beach and not one PCxi. There were a number of Clicks however, and there were Honda Shadows and bigger bikes. I found the absence of Air Blades and PCxi's a bit odd, especially the Air Blades being about non existent.

The differences between the two automatics on gas mileage can't be great.

same milage. PCX higher weight and wider tyres is compensated by injection and some other gas saving features

Agreed. For what it is worth after returning the Honda CBR 150 R to the rental place at Ao Nang beach in Krabi I told one of the guys in the rental shop about how I owned a Nouvo Elegance in Pattaya and was keeping track of my mileage. I told him what I was getting, then emphasized almost all my driving was two up and heavy city driving. I then asked him what the CBR was getting IN THE KRABI AREA. He told me around 40 kilometers to the liter. I then asked him what his Yamaha Nouvo 135 c.c. Elegances are getting. He said 40 kilometers to the liter which is of course the same. If he had an Air Blade or a PCxi to rent I imagine he would have told me 40 kilometers to the liter. Now I"m not about to suggest that my Nouvo will get better mileage here in Pattaya than a CBR. What the man was telling me there's not that much difference driving in the countryside near Krabi. Which reminds me of a few bikes I used to own. I once had a Honda 185 c.c. XL on off road bike. I once got 75 miles an hour out of it but I'm sure there was some speedometer error. Usually it was good for around 70 miles an hour on the speedometer. I figured it was getting around 80 miles per gallon or so. But if I drove the same bike say at a steady 30 miles an hour it would have done better. Eventually I traded it off for a Honda 500 XL off road but I didn't keep it for very long because it was not nearly as suitable for the real world kind of riding I was doing around the farm. I finally ended up getting another Honda 185 c.c. XL.

I suppose what I'm saying is there's probably not a lot of difference between most of these bikes around 125 c.c's when it comes to fuel economy or top speed assuming they are being driven in the same manner (a Honda Wave going say a steady 15 miles an hour next to a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance at the same speed is not being driven in the same manner because the Nouvo is in the powerband a lot more because of its gearing). On the other hand there's a lot of difference between the PCXi and the Yamaha 135 Elegance when it comes to features and quite possibly handling. And because of gearing and other factors different bikes will behave differently while accelerating.

And don't forget.......it took Honda how long to realize Yamaha had a winner with its fully automatic Nouvos and Mios? Then it came out with a smaller bike as its reply thinking the name Honda was magic.

Just got back from the show myself, the Honda stand was by far the weakest of the Jap brands. The other 3 made an effort but the Honda stand was crap. Seems like they're happy selling Waves and Clicks, I wouldn't expect much more from them in the next 12 months based on that showing.

I don't know if the Nouvo Elegance is faster or not but I've been thinking about horsepower versus torque lately. Had my Elegance on Sukamvit and had to speed up a lot to get way over to the right. Driving two up. This thing just has a lot of usable power. I am reminded of a certain tractor built in the 1960's. It was called the International 856 and it came out with 100 horsepower stock but most of us put turbochargers on them so we'd be running 125 to 130 horsepower. My neighbor, an old salt used to brag on the 856 as having "the engine" (John Deere had "the transmission"). He'd say you could pull two wagons fully loaded with corn from a dead stop along the road in high gear. And you could. He and his son later bought a much bigger tractor with 165 horsepower stock and 486 cubic inches whereas the 856 had only 407. But it was an absolute dog pulling wagons. No one ever understood that old tractor engine and what made it perform so well. That's the feeling I get from my Nouvo Elegance whether justified or not. It seems a lot faster than it probably really is.

What is it about farang men? Can't they tell if they are being taken adventage off or not? Just the fact that she throw her job away after having a farang boyfriend and letting the boyfriend take care of her and her family. Doesn't that say something about her intentions? And she's not even your wife or the mother of your child, she is just a girlfriend. In my book you don't give money to your girlfriend you only do that to your wife.

Kathy...Are you 1. Falang, 2. Thai or 3. Other? Let me recommend a book for you to read (for that matter for everyone here). "Thailand Men's Paradise?" by Annika and Annabella Ardin. This book goes over a lot of old ground that many of us here know all too well. What sets it apart from the rest is it's written by two WOMEN, the Ardin's being two Finnish women who are mother and daughter. They burrow far beneath the prejudices and one sided viewpoints of most Western women who are for the most part 100 % clueless about Thailand, Thai society or Thai women in particular.

As to how much is a fair amount to give a Thai gf, first off if she's not living with you full time, I'd give it a pass. If she is 10,000 baht is a good starting point or for that matter average. What you will wind up actually paying is a great deal more than that. For one thing, a Thai woman eats often so it's going to cost you at least 100 baht a day for her food. That's 3000 baht right there. Then what are you going to do if she gets hospitalized? My neighbor who spends about 8 months here in Pattaya and 4 months in the U.K. is going to just put his live in in the hospital and I'm sure he has no idea of where to take her. I'm a firm believer in first rate medical care so I've put my live in Thai girlfriend on my BUPA policy so if she gets seriously ill or has an accident she can go to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. Spread that cost over each month and you are looking at another 2,000 baht per month or so. And what about the beer or Bacardi breezers the girl is going to drink? And how about vacations? I like to travel and I've already taken my gf to North Vietnam and to the Krabi area. And what about those little gifts you will be getting her? Clothing? I'd say if you are giving her 10,000 baht she's going to wind up costing you at least 30,000 baht total if you are really looking out for her.

And incidentally Kathy....if my gf had a full time job she wouldn't be able to travel with me. But believe me, if she should ever start complaining about what I give her, I'd immediately say to her..."Well then go back to work then." But I will say one thing, if I were paying any live in girlfriend 20,000 baht a month, I don't care if she's Thai or American or whatever. I will expect her to be replacing my C.P.A. I have over in the U.S., and doing my tax returns and auditing my books

I haven't called the U.S. for five years since moving to Thailand, making all my "phone calls" on Skype. http://www.skype.com/intl/en/prices/callra...-united-kingdom Computer to computer calls are all free. If I call a landline it's about 2 cents a minute but if I used it more I could get a monthly rate for even lower cost "phone calls." All one needs is a computer and a microphone to plug into the computer (I like the combination headset microphones I get at tuc com) although I had a laptop before this one with an internal microphone that worked extremely well. Almost all the time the audio quality of Skype is far superior to that of a cell phone and I'd rate it equal to a landline. Skype also has video capability if one has need of that. I could sit here in my Pattaya condo chatting with a friend of mine in the U.S. and see him full screen on my laptop with great clarity. All movements were smooth and natural (unlike what I had seen before with Yahoo Messenger for example). Skype is a very serious tool that I use to call my bank, my C.P.A. and those I do business with.

Secretary in a nice condo complex is getting 14,000 baht a month for working six days a week and she's highly qualified in Accounting. Head of Maintenance is getting 12,000 baht and he has to get up at 5 a.m. The cleaning gals make about 6000 baht so they are making less than a third what your gf gets from you and I'm sure they work three times as hard too. I'd kick her to the curb---fast.

Here's an idea. Figure out how many times you get sex with her per month. Say you do it once every 2nd night. That's 15 times a month. Okay.....say it's 300 baht for a room at Soi Six and 500 for the girl. Tell her your Soi Six cost would be 800 baht per time. 800 baht times 15 is 12000. But you don't have to feed the Soi Six girls, you don't have to pay their hospital costs or recognise their birthdays. Tell your gf that so reduce her salary from you to 12,000 baht (or whatever the computation works out for you) and tell her she's getting free food and board that the soi Six girls are not getting. She will leave, of course, but you will be much better off playing the field on Soi Six.

I need a brass spigot for my bathroom sink for both hot and cold water and a drain plug. I've been to Homepro at Carre Four thinking I could at least order them out of Bangkok but no such luck. Then there's the large kitchen and bathroom place on Sukamvit between Pattaya Klang and Pattaya Nua on the East side of Sukamvit. They must have nearly 100 bath tubs and jaccuzzis there and something like a hundred different kinds of fixtures for bathroom sinks but only one in brass and it's way too small plus it's for cold water only.

I got a can of rustoleum paint and painted the drain plug and the spigot and it looks terrific with the brass mirror I recently installed but I'm pretty sure that paint is going to hold up only for a very short time. Anyone have any ideas for a more permanent solution?

For me that would depend entirely upon the style of the bike. If it's the same or roughly the same as the present CBR 150 R, great. If it's going to have a more traditional upright riding position, great. But if it would have the Cruiser style ala Harley or Phantom, no way. What was that Yamaha V twin someone put up here--a 250 V star? I'd take a 150 anyday over something like that.

Still trying to figure out how to put all kinds of groceries and larger things on a CBR 150 R or something similar. My Sony Mini stereo just went down and out and will have to take the amplifier, DVD, cassette, main unit to the Sony dealership on Sukamvit for warranty repair. I can have gf lay it on the Nouvo Elegance's seat between us or I can leave her at home and strap it down across the seat behind me with bungee cords in five minutes the same way I do with a desktop computer.

Wouldn't that make it a CBR175 then?

Better still with the 250 V twin horned in between ur legs. Wouldnt be many of us didnt upgrade then!!

Jack, I go 125 kph on an elevated freeway in the fast lane. And 115 kph on an open 2-lane road. I could not exceed 90 kph on the Phantom.

A German fellow condo owner put a fair number of miles on a Phantom. He told me my Yamaha 115 c.c. MX (I had then) was as fast as his Phantom and choosing between the two was a matter of personal preference. He bought a new Phantom last year as he seems to be having problems with them after about 25,000 kilometers. If I took what he says as gospel with its approximately 25 % greater power over my old Nouvo MX, my Yamaha Nouvo Elegance would outperform his Phantom. However based on figures I've seen the power to weight ratios of all the respective bikes would not support this conclusion. The Phantom weighs a little over 300 pounds dry although it looks a lot heavier. My Nouvo Elegance is around 230 pounds dry, and the CBR would be somewhere around 250-260 pounds. Horsepower for the 115 c.c. Nouvo MX is 8.9, for the Nouvo Elegance it's about 11.2 and for both the Phantom and the CBR 150 it's about 17, again from what I can find from such sources as Wikipedia. EVen the Honda Rebel sold in the U.S. as Honda 250 twin but which only has about 230 cc's reputedly has only about 17 horsepower--no improvement over the smaller 200 c.c. single cylinder Phantom.

Obviously the strongest bike here is the 150 CBR but I'd think the Phantom and the Rebel should each do about 70 miles an hour or a tad more which is 120 kilometers per hour with the 150 CBR doing a bit more but with far superior handling and all around performance. Why only 90 kilometers per hour out of the Phantom for you?

I cruise at 125 kph safely.

I have no doubt the bike will handle that from the standpoint of overall handling and stability. My point was there's a lot of traffic even where I was going near Ao Nang Beach in the high season (although I didn't get too far out on the more remote roads) and there's just too many unexpected sudden developments occuring such as a food kart suddenly entering the roadway, a Thai driver suddenly pulling out in front of you from a dead stop at the curb without looking, someone deciding to drive against the flow of traffic, or a drunken Westerner suddenly starting to lurch across the street. With all of this going on I think driving much past 50 miles an hour on a bike makes it nearly impossible for the mind to comprehend such sudden developments, for the body to react to them by giving the correct inputs to his motorbike. To make my point, if I had my old BMW K 100 RS back and was driving it here in Thailand that bike will do zero to 100 miles an hour in 7 seconds. Sixty probably arrives in 3 seconds. That bike was very stable at 100 miles an hour and driving at 80 seemed almost as if one were standing still. Say I took it out on 2nd Road here in Pattaya and goosed it just for a couple of seconds. Say 2nd road was clear. In 2 seconds I'd be up to 50 miles an hour but during that 2 seconds a lot can happen and on 2nd road probably will. At high speeds the bike's a great handler and it will stop extremely quickly, but this is just too much bike for Thailand, especially in the city. And I'd probably get myself killed in very short order goosing the throttle just for a couple of seconds in such places as 2nd Road, Beach Road or even Third Road. Moreover, while driving the bike slowly in traffic it feels just too heavy. And in a lot of situations the 504 pounds dry weight of this machine is a lot to wrestle around when you try to get into really tight parking places. I really did like the CBR 150 which had a very light feel to it as far as dawdling around in slow traffic and its riding position was far better than I expected. I noticed a slight tingle in the grips from vibration but I was having so much fun driving the bike that after awhile I stopped noticing it.

If I lived somewhere other than Pattaya where I'd have more driving on two lane country roads, I would have been looking at something like the Ninja 250 R or the Kawasaki ERn 650. Well.....at least for now I'm not going to be trading my Nouvo Elegance in for a CBR as I still think it's more suitable for the very heavy traffic conditions here in Pattaya and I need its carrying capacity for such tasks as bringing home 11 bags of groceries or stapping a desktop computer behind me on its long seat. But after driving the 150 I can't see spending the money for the Ninja or its larger brother when the CBR can be had for just 60,000 baht considering it's got all the power I need. And back in Krabi looking at much larger bikes such as the Steed alongside of the CBR. I was thinking..."No way I'd enjoy driving that bike nearly as much."

Honda sold round 1000 CBR 150 in Thailand in January this year...Thats no small number

Cant see too many companies deciding to forgo that turnover

Im age 67 and now done over 70,000km on a CBR150

Ive also ridden Phantoms and give me the CBR anyday. better in all departments.

On a trip can get 300km from a tank full. I usually refill about 200km (200 baht) to keep a sure reserve.

I cruise at 7000 to 7500RPM sometimes up to 8500. Have done 500km non stop except to fill with fuel but not get off the bike.

Whatever Honda replaces this bike with, will have to be damned good!!

Couldn't do a thing with that post of mine above at the resort back in Ao Nang.

I agree with you. The CBR 150 is one fine machine for Thailand. I can see a guy buying whatever he likes for the sound of a larger engine, style, etc but realistically for the kind of conditions here in this country what works in the U.S.A. is not the thing to have here. When I rented the CBR 150 in Krabi yesterday I noticed my Thai girlfriend was really uptight whenever I'd give the bike its head, even in small doses. After 20 minutes I dumped her back at our hotel and went off alone. I got up to around 90 km per hour once but that was even a bit much for driving in in the danger zone. Years ago in the U.S. I once took my BMW 100 Krs up to 220 kilometers per hour or so. I'd cruise at 80 to 100 miles an hour but that was on U.S. four lanes where the average driver one encounters is not a complete idiot. When I got back to my hotel aftre a couple of hours I found out my girlfriend was terrified because she had been in a bad accident a few years ago due to a hit and run car driver smashing her bike. Her girlfriend was nearly killed and my girlfriend was unconsciouis for more than an hour and it took three or four months for her to recover from her injuries. A year and a half ago the owner of the guesthouse I stayed at for 11 months was hit by a hit and run car driver and hospitalized for two weeks. In the same two week period a fellow condo owner was hit by hit and run motorbike taxi driver and was hospitlized with a severe shoulder injury. Within the same two week period his best friend was hospitalized when his motorbike crashed. ABout one year ago a pedestrian was hospitalized by a hit and run motorbike driver at Soi 18 1/2 in Naklua and about two months ago at the same location Soi 18 1/2 another pedestrian was killed by a hit and run pickup driver.

Bottom line is this. There is no sense of responsibility here in Thailand from many if not most drivers and the police and politicians do nothing to see that there is. So driving at the cruising speeds the larger bikes are capable of amounts to a death wish. My thoughts are the CBR 150 is capable of getting all around Thailand at the kinds of speeds it is reasonably sane to drive at. It feels very solid, handles very well and it has large enough tires to be very stable at the speeds it's capable of. Has six gears so it has long legs. It is very narrow so it's right in there with Waves, Nouvos and the like at threading through traffic that will leave much larger bikes behind. I also found that it's very light and well balanced so I can easily pick up its front end and move the bike around to get it in and out of the smallest parking spots. It's going to be very capable of going cross country due to its relatively large fuel tank and excellent fuel economy. So it's a very practical machine for being an all around performer in this country, and it costs what? All of 60,000 baht or so?

Something like thirty years ago I remember my Dad telling me that the owner of a motorcyle shop told him that the most fun he ever had on a motorbike was driving a 175 c.c. machine. After putting a few kilometers on the Honda 150 I have to agree. My 1000 c.c. BMW was too much for city driving and it never felt right until one was going at least 80 miles an hour on it. I'd much prefer the 150 CBR for driving around Thailand. So I can't see HOnda wanting to tamper much with a great thing. As for that 250 c.c. Yamaha that might be coming out, it's a low slung cruiser, and if it comes out it just doesn't have the riding position that will make a man feel part of his machine and on top of his driving.

Presently at Ao Nang Beach in Krabi. I've made no secret of my being a fan of the automatics, particularly of the top of the line models from Honda and Yamaha, formerfly the Air Blade from Honda and the PCXi that recently replaced it and of the Yamaha 135 c.c. Elegance which I own and like very much. I find this bike to be ideal for in and around Pattaya where I live. But Krabi is different. Here there is not nearly the traffic or the rude behavior on the road. One is likely to drive longer distances, there's a lot of sharp curves and large hills. So I rented a nice blue Honda 150 CBR with only 2500 kilometers on it and find it to be ideal for these driving conditions. It's got a relatively large fuel tank and I've read it gets great fuel economy. So that's comforting because out here I could easily get lost in the sticks. Handles great. Of most importance to me is the riding position is much more comfortable than I thought. Not a drawback at all and I"m now 62. This is probably an ideal bike for driving all over Thailand. Back in the U.S. I'd be on the interstates and just set the cruise control at 80 or whatever. But those conditions do not exist here and driving at 60 to 80 kilometers is much more realistic. I like this bike a lot more than the Honda Phantom as it is much lighter and sportier with better handling. Bottom line is I don't know why Honda would want to be in a hurry to change it.

!! 

Honda sold round 1000 CBR 150 in Thailand in January this year...Thats no small number

Cant see too many companies deciding to forgo that turnover

Im age 67 and now done over 70,000km on a CBR150

Ive also ridden Phantoms and give me the CBR anyday. better in all departments.

On a trip can get 300km from a tank full. I usually refill about 200km (200 baht) to keep a sure reserve.

I cruise at 7000 to 7500RPM sometimes up to 8500. Have done 500km non stop except to fill with fuel but not get off the bike.

Whatever Honda replaces this bike with, will have to be damned good!!

Presently at Ao Nang Beach in Krabi. I've made no secret of my being a fan of the automatics, particularly of the top of the line models from Honda and Yamaha, formerfly the Air Blade from Honda and the PCXi that recently replaced it and of the Yamaha 135 c.c. Elegance which I own and like very much. I find this bike to be ideal for in and around Pattaya where I live. But Krabi is different. Here there is not nearly the traffic or the rude behavior on the road. One is likely to drive longer distances, there's a lot of sharp curves and large hills. So I rented a nice blue Honda 150 CBR with only 2500 kilometers on it and find it to be ideal for these driving conditions. It's got a relatively large fuel tank and I've read it gets great fuel economy. So that's comforting because out here I could easily get lost in the sticks. Handles great. Of most importance to me is the riding position is much more comfortable than I thought. Not a drawback at all and I"m now 62. This is probably an ideal bike for driving all over Thailand. Back in the U.S. I'd be on the interstates and just set the cruise control at 80 or whatever. But those conditions do not exist here and driving at 60 to 80 kilometers is much more realistic. I like this bike a lot more than the Honda Phantom as it is much lighter and sportier with better handling. Bottom line is I don't know why Honda would want to be in a hurry to change it.

In my post I'm refering to such outrageous violations as driving the wrong way down a one way street, deliberating running red lights and so on. I'd say we have two extremes here. There's Thailand where anything goes on the road and then there's countries such as the U.S. And although people will make up all the excuses they want the U.S. where I come from is a police state and getting worse all the time. Two nights ago I talked to a young man who's farming many of our farms for us. He's told me that in 2009 alone he's gotten tickets at $50.00 each for 17 non moving violations. And all from the Illinois State police. Typically for not wearing a seat belt. Possibly not having his driver's license on him and so on. One must keep in mind that Jason is oftentimes getting off a tractor. He's running ragged getting hardly any sleep and his mind is constantly racing on how he can keep moving because he's sometimes not getting any sleep for three days straight. And he's getting all these tickets on the country roads that are maintained by the county..not the state of Illinois. So the state police is going out a hunting, preying on its tax paying citizens in areas I personally consider to be outside its jurisdiction. Jason's also told me they are trying hard to lower the DWI limit to .05 % alchohol. That can be as little as a single bottle of beer. And since I need to go to the U.S. for a week or two in July and plan on taking a few personal items from Illinois to my nephew's new house in Arizona I've been wanting to take my Thai girlfriend with me. She would be in a rental car crossing the Colorado Rockies and then down into some very scenic areas in Utah and finally into Arizona. This would be an outstanding opportunity for her to see some of the best scenery in the U.S. including the Grand Canyon. But I'm finding out her chances of getting a tourist visa will be very slim and I"d have to cough up $131.00 just for her interview iwth the AMerican Embassy in Bangkok. We've had noproblems getting visas for Vietnam and everyone knows Vietnam is in Commieland. The U.S. is NOT a free country