jackcorbett

Do you mean as in going through the Eisenhower tunnel in the Colorado Rockies which is nearly 11,000 feet up?

Let's see.....15 % more power and fuel economy for the fuel injected Air Blade? Got it from doing an Internet search.

What's the difference between the 250 Ninja in European form (fuel injected) versus the American version that has been cheapened for the American market? Thailand gets the European form of the beast.

Reliability of the Nouvo and Air Blade. Don't know about the Air Blade as I don't own one but my pal King David does and he says maintenance on his Air Blade has been about nil. As for my Nouvo, I have 13,000 kilometers on it. Replaced one head lamp bulb, one rear brake pad for about 200 baht, replaced one spark plug because I like having new spark plugs and put new tires on it for about forty bucks U.S.---for both tires. It's always started for me although if it sits for a week or so it takes awhile to get it going. It's got a kickstarter if the battery fails. In February it will be 3 years old. Yamaha recommends a drive belt change at 20,000 kilometers, Honda 25,000 kilometers for its Air Blade so I should be getting another year or so out of it before I should have to worry about that. No chain adjustments. No need to put lube on the chain. Honda tells me the chains on the manual transmission models I need to be replaced at least twice as often as belts need to be replaced for the automatics. One question is how much does it cost to replace the cowling if I have an accident.

So in rides Saint Thomas to the rescue to answer the big question. Now I call this American who used to rent a condo in my building for one year St. Thomas because he could be any real thinking man's patron Saint because he's entirely incorruptable. We all know that bar fining two bar girls from the same bar is not good---just ask any bar girl and she will tell you this is not proper etiquette. But Saint Thomas wound up barfining 17 girls all from the same bar and they still love him for his money. Anyway, Saint Thomas came back from the U.S. for a visit about one month ago and he called me for advice on what he should pay to rent a bike. Then I thought about how Saint Thomas likes his beer mak mak and tried to stop him from renting a bike one hour later, but I was fifteen minutes too late. He rented a Yamaha Nouvo about half a mile from my condo building and got about three hundred meters down the street when he dumped the bike. I found him on the floor of the massage place one block from the condo all covered with blood. Got a baht taxi and managed to get Saint Thomas to Pattaya Bangkok Hospital's emergency room. He wasn't seriously injured but there he was with blood all over him and there was this gorgeous female Thai doctor hovering over him. Now Saint Thomas is not a pretty sight even when he's looking his best but he was in his usual rare form delivering his lines just as he would to any bar girl to the pretty female doctor as he tried to get a date with her. Unsuccessful, as soon as the doctor left he started to ask one of the RN"s what she was doing that night. Sorry to get off subject, but in the end Saint Thomas kept the bike parked for the next week and he returned it to the rental shop and settled on having a new cowling put on for 2000 baht. Had he not had other more important plans (he had a lot of beer to drink that afternoon) he would have taken the bike in to a dealer which would have replaced the cowling for 1600 baht and other damaged parts. But time is money for Saint Thomas.

Back in the U.S. if I got so much as a single dent in a car that would cost $1000. Let's see......annual average maintenance costs and insurance, gas, depreciation for the vehicle, etc............I just hate those high maintenance automatic Air Blades and Nouvos.

Dave is absolutely correct. Let's take a one horsepower transportation method and change the power ever so slightly. In one corner is a plow horse. It can do everything around the farm. In the other corner is the finest thoroughbred ever to have trod a track. The difference is between night and day. But to compare either to a 1000 c.c. super bike producing 150 horsepower? And does this mean that I wouldn't enjoy riding the likes of a Sectretariat? And to feel the exhilaration?

To compare an Air Blade to a Nouvo or the new model Nouvo to the old is comparing apples to oranges. The Nouvo sits tall. It has larger diameter wheels than the Air Blade. It wants to drive in straight lines, yet, it is quite agile compared to larger bikes. The Air Blade has squatter tires. Appearance wise the Air Blade resembles a small motorcyle. It is a unified whole with tires in relationship to the size and weight of the bike much more in proportion to that of say an old 350 cc. Honda twin which it reminds me of on a much smaller scale. In fact, driving the two lane highways near Ao Nang Beach in Krabi when I rented the Air Blade I loved it. I was reminded of those many times driving the backroads in the Missouri Ozarks when I road my 350 Honda just for enjoyment, and I often got lost in the process. I wanted to drive that Air Blade faster and to take the turns much more aggressively but my now ex girlfiend sitting behind me wanted no part of it. I felt I could enjoy driving that Air Blade all over Thailand and it would do it easily (but not at 70 miles an hour).

In comparison the Nouvo looks gangly. But it's a bigger machine. It too drives quite well. And which is more stable at high speeds? I'll never really know because I live in Pattaya (unless I do side by side comparisons back in Krabi or someplace similar) and I don't care to drive a bike very far from here. My 113 c.c. Nouvo is more than fast enough to get me into trouble right away. If I want to go to the River Kwai, I'll go on a mini-bus. If I want to go to Bangkok it will be by taxi or bus. I like living. But back in the U.S. I've driven BMW's at 140 miles an hour and I've driven dirt bikes straight up eight foot tall nearly perpendicular embankments. If I open up my Nouvo around here just put me in the loony bin because I'll never see the idiot who comes out of nowhere going the wrong way who will make a paraplegic out of me.

But I sure like the feel of a nice bike beneath me. I even enjoyed my ex girlfriend's Fino that had the same engine as my Nouvo. But the engine was just a bit different under the hood and it just didn't have the get up and go of the Nouvo. I've had 300 pound men behind me on my Nouvo and I've had a big man and my girlfiend behind me for short distances, and I shudder to think how that would have felt on a Honda Click or Yamaha Mio.

The Airblade short on power...well, my Norwegian friend thinks the old Airblade doesn't compare at higher speeds to the old Nouvo even but I've rented old model Air Blades often on Ko Larn Island and they went up that big hill quite nicely. How much power do I need around Pattaya? Well......I've not found the old model Air Blade to be lacking for my needs and with that extra 15 % power, gas mileage, and range with the new model, I'd by the seat of my pants have to rate it powerwise as splitting the difference between my 113 c.c. Yamaha Nouvo (that my Norwegian friend thought was quite adequate for going up and down the hills all the way to Rayon) and the new 135 cc. 11.2 horsepower Nouvo Elegance. Let's just say you increased the cc's and torque of the old model Nouvo in the same relationship as going from 113 c.c. to 125 cc's and I think we'd be about spot on.

To those who care to laugh at the new automatics, I look at it this way. They are the cutting edge of modern technology and the king of the crop are the Nouvos and the Air Blades. Take your pick. I'd be happy with either. But they don't drive the same. But they both drive very well.

Dave.......I take it you've tried the Nouvos as well. How would you compare the new Airblade performance wise to the Nouvos? I actually raced my 113 c.c. Nouvo against the Airblade up to 50 km per hour or so and they were a dead heat until about 45 to 50 km when my Nouvo started to pull away.

Also......Are you actually noticing any discernable increase in gas mileage in your new Air Blade over the old one you had? As I've said before, I don't care about saving a few pennies, it's the prospect of the increased range that really appeals to me and not having to stop to buy gas as often.

Hi

Dont you mean Honda Click?

try this.

http://www.motorcycle.in.th/staticpages/in...ces-in-Thailand

i think 55.000 is to much, think you can get the air blade for that price

good website, thanks for that

YOu can get the new model Yamaha Nouvo for 55,000 baht and I'm pretty sure you can also get the new model Airblade as well. Unless you are buying for a lady in my opinion the Click along with the Mio and Fino is too small for Westerners. Moreover they have a single shock in the rear. Try carting around a big Westerner behind you and just see how well you will do on these smaller machines. They are sold basically to a market that cannot afford the Nouvos or the Air Blades which are far better machines. I have had a big Norwegian on the back of my Nouvo with me plus my girlfriend. Not for a long distance but sometimes you will get into such situations and the cheapened down models simply don't have it.

I just looked at one today. And I really like it. As I've mentioned here I presently have the 113 c.c. Nouvo. I had a few beers with a Norwegian friend of mine who always rents the same Nouvo at the same shop every time he stays here and Peter thinks the Nouvo is simply the best thing going. Yesterday he and his girlfriend drove his latest rental from Pattaya to Rayon which is a little over an hour's drive. But his latest rental is an Airblade and it's his first experience with one. His favorite rental shop had already rented out the Nouvo he always gets. Peter said to me that he had no problem riding two up to Rayon at 90 kilometers per hour and it goes right up the hills at 90 kilometers per hour but the Airblade just didn't cut it. Of course he meant the old model Airblade.

The way I have it figured is the new model most certainly will with its fuel injection and 15 % more power from the same 110 cc. engine. Also...what I like about the new Air Blade it is supposed to get 15 % better fuel economy. Not that this makes much difference in the pocket, but what it means is this. Say you get 80 miles on the small tank of gas with the old Air Blade. Now with the 15 % increase in fuel economy you get 12 more miles to the gallon or 92 miles miles down the road instead of just 80. That difference can be crucial in a lot of situations. Also if I normally fill up around Pattaya every five days this now means I fill up every six days. That too is signicant as finding gas stations to fill up is not my favorite passtime.

But Yamaha is not going to sit still. The paint schemes and styling of the New Nouvo Elegance is as others pointed out pretty ugly compared to the old model Nouvos and the Airblades, both the more recent old model Airblades and the new model. So we can expect Yamaha to correct this deficiency so that its Nouvo Elegances will no longer be whipped with ugly stick. Also.....expect fuel injection in the next six months to one year at the latest so the Yamaha Nouvos will also have fuel injection good for 15 % more power and fuel economy. Now...the old Nouvo had 8.9 horsepower. The new water cooled 135 cc. models have about 11 horsepower. If it has a comparable fuel injection setup that the new Airblade has a 15 % increase in power is 12.65 horsepower, good for a 42 % increase in power over what my Nouvo has or the one Peter was driving to Rayon had. When Yamaha puts fuel injection into that 135 c.c. model it's going to have a real goer.

In fact that will be the machine many Americans should get for driving around in their cities, and even getting on a few expressways out to the suburbs. I'm not talking about interstate driving now, I"m talking about getting all around the city and even into the burbs where cruising at 55 to 65 should do it.

Thanks Beardog. I need to look into this further.

Here's a thought. I bought a moisture, fertilizer, ph tester from this outfit in the U.S. using my credit card and had it shipped to someone who would soon be visiting me here in Pattaya. moisture and Ph testers

I cannot verify the accuracy of these testers but I have been using them to check trees and plants around our condo swimming pool and based on the results have been applying some lime to those plants that seem in need.

Over a year ago, all condo owners in my building had to pay a meter deposit of just over 7000 baht to the electric company through our condo office. One of my fellow co-owners told me we were all entitled to a partial refund of 5000 baht due to the fact that we had service through our present meters for a certain time period---say six months to one year. In fact he told me that every condo owner at the Nova Mirage condo development just down the street had gotten 5000 baht of his deposit back. My fellow condo owner friend and I got the necessary paper work from our office that showed our meter numbers, amount of deposit and so on and we went to the electric company together. There we were informed that there would be no meter deposit refund coming unless we terminated our service, which makes sense, but still, there is the story that the Nova Mirage condo owners got back 5000 baht of their 7000 baht meter deposits.

I like the looks of that Honda 250 F. Granted, I've read a lot of great stuff about the Ninja 250 R. And its styling makes me want to go out and buy one right now whether I need it or not. But my Yamaha Nouvo allows me to ride two up easily and comfortably. It allows me to put all kinds of grocery bags under the seat and suspended from that hook between my legs. It also allows a comfortable upright driving position. But if I lived somewhere with very different driving conditions than Pattaya, I'd be taking a good hard look at getting that Ninja 250 R.

From what I've gleaned off the internet the Honda 250 F has 21 horsepower, which is 4 more than a Phantom. So if the fuel injected Ninja is putting out 33, it's not even in the same class as the Ninja. For one thing we are talking about 80 miles an hour tops versus say 100 or so.

But that 250 F looks more like that all around motorcycle I was harping on a few months back. First, note that it has an upright riding position. Note also that it has a fairly long seat that seems much more suitable for two up riding than either the Ninja or the CBR 150. I'd say that more than 80 % of the time I've got my girlfriend riding behind me. So when I showed her a picture of that outstandingly well styled Ninja her first comment was, "Where do I sit? The gas tank?"

But reading back on a few web sites about the 250 F I've read that some people have encountered some reliability problems. One poster reported chain and sprocket types of problems while a couple of others mentioned "clock problems" which I took to be instrument problems pertaining to perhaps the speedometer and tach, possibly gas gauge. Also, the 250 F to my knowledge has not yet come out on the Thai market. And perhaps it never will. But if it did, I'd infinitely prefer it to a Phantom. For one thing I really do not like the cruiser style at all which to me is like laying back in an easy chair and being expected to have good control of the handlebars, brakes, gear shift etc. The Cruiser laid back style of driving for me simply does not lend itself to that feeling of being one with the bike and on top of it and one's driving. I also don't like all that excess chrome that needs to be polished so often. So for me, that 250 F looks the way a motorcycle should look.

You're talking to the wrong guy. Richard is the man making the claims. He says a Ninja 250 will smoke a CBR150. Is that supposed to be surprising?

If you'll drop it I'll drop it.

You have told me I would need to lean over to drive the bike. Thanks. I won't need to buy one.

I drive a motorcycle but it's not a 150.

Now try & answer my question. Does the whole bike shake at idle like twins of the past?

Modern technology indicates that counterbalancing shafts are possible in 2008. Of course you would need one.

I am not looking to get into any pissing contests. Just looking for information.

I am confused here. Do we mean one needs to lean over to drive the "Ninja 250" or the "CBR 150" or both bikes?

Now, as far as power to weight ratios of these two bikes, I think the CBR is around 253 pounds while the Ninja is around 337 pounds (specifications as given in Wikipedia). As far as horsepower most figures I've seen for the CBR are that it has around 17 horsepower same as for the Phantom. The Ninja produces between say 25 and 36 depending on whose figures you are reading and if the fuel injected European version really has all those extra ponies over the carburated version the American market gets. Okay, I weigh 170 pounds. Put me on a CBR 150 and the total weight of rider plus machine is 423 pounds. Put me on a 337 pound Ninja and the combined weight is 507 pounds. Assuming 17 horsepower for the CBR and 25 for the American spec Ninja and the CBR has a power to weight ratio of 24.88 pounds per horsepower versus 20.28 for the Ninja. Using these figures the Ninja has 22.68 percent less weight per horsepower than the CBR. However, the Thai market will get the fuel injected European version and if this version actually has 36 horsepower we are talking about just 14 pounds per horsepower. This would mean a 77 % performance edge for the Ninja over the CBR. At 36 horsepower this means no contest.

But even at 25 horsepower, 22.68 % increased power to weight for the Ninja is still very noticeable. For instance the first bike I had was a Honda CBR 350 and it was rated at 36 horsepower. Then thinking bigger was better I traded up for the 450 CBR which was rated at 45 horsepower. That's only a 25 % difference but there really was a huge difference when it came to driving both bikes as the 450 seemed much more powerful and was about 10 miles per hour faster on top end. What comes next into play next are how smooth are the two bikes when it comes to engine vibration at the speeds one normally drives, and how upright is the riding position when we compare one to the other, and lastly how comfortable is the seating position when we judge one against the other

Very nice review, Corey.

Here's my take on improved fuel economy, in this case, something like 15 % of an improvement in the new fuel injection system claimed by Honda for its new model Click. First off, in the pocket it's not going to make much difference to me, you or most others on this board. To a Thai making low wages, yes, but not to us. As for power, I'm not sure the Click and later the Air Blade will actually get 15 % more power. And the 135 c.c. Nouvo simply has a fair amount more grunt than my 113 c.c. model and it doesn't have to work so hard to access the power.

I am reminded of being in the Krabi area, staying at Ao Nang beach. One day my gf and I rented a Honda Click and a day or two after we rented the Air Blade which had just entered the Thailand market. Once we got out of Ao Nang, we found the scenery to be excellent and the roads to be very good with very little traffic. I did not like the Click at all, drove it only several hundred yards, then I stopped and told my gf, "Here you drive it". It was just too twitchy for me driving two up. We were looking for a specific area where we had been told the scenery was very spectacular, and I had a Nikon professonal camera with me to get what I hoped would be pictures worth framing on my wall. I'm not sure how far out of town we got but I'd say it must have been at least 25 miles. Not knowing where we were going exactly, we just drove around. Out there we didn't see many if any gas stations. When we got back to Ao Nang my gas gauge was showing only one eight of a tank.

The Airblade was a different story. While I despised driving the Click I just didn't want to get off the Airblade. Once again the traffic was extremely light and the scenery was gorgeous. After doing whatever driving we did that day when we got back the fuel gauge still showed three quarters full (Had to be something wrong with that fuel gauge).

Looking back at my driving in this area, if I lived there, I'd probably be looking at something like a CBR 150 since it would be loads of fun driving where there is little traffic on good curvy roads. And I'd have lots of range in that much larger tank on the CBR. (but I'd take a close look at the coming Ninja 250 R) But here in Pattaya I feel the Nouvo and the Airblade are the two kings of the hill.

Say I owned the new Airblade that will surely be introduced with fuel injection when it comes out. If the current one gets say 120 kilometers to the tank a 15 % increase in fuel economy would increase that to 138 kilmeters. I would have felt a lot more comfortable driving out in those Krabi area boonies with 18 more kilometers left to go in my tank when my tank back then showed it was near empty. Also, I really don't like going to gas stations all that much to refill my Nouvo all that much here in Pattaya. Going 15 % less often to me is a plus. Lastly, as I have already mentioned, when I am out of the country for a week or so and I get back to my condo here in my Pattaya when I first jump on my Nouvo it takes me awhile to get it started as its been sitting around for awhile without being driven. I think fuel injection would help a lot here.

So I'd gladly pay more to have fuel injection if it gives me 15 % more range, and my reasoning has nothing to do with cost factors such as having to pay a little more for a bike or wanting to save a little in operating costs. I feel very strongly that automatics are the way to go here in Pattaya with its extreme stop and go driving conditions. Furthermore, it seems I'm always picking up groceries and other things or putting magazines or file folders in my luggage compartment on my Nouvo. Putting things under the seat is convenient and this does not effect the handling of the bike adversely (a front mounted basket will). And I have all those hooks all over my Nouvo so I can easily strap things down with bungee cords plus there's that hook in front of me where I can put two or three more bags of groceries. Getting saddlebags or a luggage compartment to put behind the seat costs extra, I don't like the construction of most I've seen, and using them would simply be a lot less convenient. But I sure wouldn't mind having to shift if I lived somewhere like the Krabi area where I sure could use a much longer cruising range. If i liked the driving position of the Ninja I'd probably buy one even if it did cost me 139,000 baht. Provided that is that I got good service wherever I was living. I do wonder how comfortable my gf would feel on the back of that Ninja though. I'm sure one could get good service there for a CBR so that would probably be my second choice. I like the comfort of a Phantom, especially for two people but I detest that easy chair feeling one gets driving cruiser style bikes. For me they are definitely not the thing to keep me feeling I'm on top of my driving and I don't like a lot of chrome that needs to be constantly cleaned.

What I would have liked to have seen was for Yamaha to have somehow engineered in a larger fuel tank for its new 135 c.c. Elegance to give it more range. Nothing drastic. Even 2 more liters capacity would make a big difference. And speaking for the Nouvos, there is one more advantage I might have barely mentioned in a past post, but I do think it's significant at times. It has a lot more ground clearance than the Airblade due largely to its larger diameter wheels. Example in point, there is a cluster of bars near me. At times to enter this cluster in order not to park on the street one drives across boards that are placed on the curb but these boards are not always in place so one must drive straight over the curb. The Nouvo manages this with ease whereas the Airblade grounds out while going over the curb, so for semi off road type conditions advantage goes big time to the Nouvo.

Yes, the Airblade with fuel injection is coming. I was told Honda is waiting for existing Airblade inventory to sell before introducing the Airblade w/FI (if I understood the dealer correctly). But just to keep it interesting I'm told Yamaha will add fuel injection to the Nouvo 135. Yamaha already has the Spark 135 with fuel injection and a dealer confirmed that the Nouvo will be getting it but wasn't sure when. They did say it will be a lot more expensive. I think FI adds about 5,000 baht to the Spark - an amount which would push the Nouvo w/mags to over 60,000 baht!

As I've said, I like the Airblade very much and find the red/black color combination to be most attractive. That new fuel injection system seems to me to be the berries. The Airblade's enough bike for Pattaya. But I've driven the new 135 c.c. Elegance and it's definitely got noticeably more power than my 113 c.c. Nouvo. The liquid cooling also makes it quieter, not that the 113 c.c. model is all that objectionable. Still, we are talking 8.9 horsepower for the old model versus 11.2 for the new model, good for a 26 % increase in power. And mine does a fine job the way it is.

The Air Blade getting the fuel injection the lesser models has is a given. Yamaha matching Honda here is also a foregone conclusion particularly in light of the Yamaha Spark already having it. But I'd think Honda needs to do even more to stay competitive with Yamaha which always seems to be one or two steps ahead when it comes to the automatics.

Several days ago, I stopped in at the local Honda dealership here on Soi 18 Pattaya Naklua Road and I noticed that the CBR 150 on display was no longer there. Also.....the shop had changed its inventory and there were now only one or two Airblades. But there were a larger number of Clicks than before. One of the women working there pointed out to me, "New model. Fuel injection. Economy". Sure enough the bike she pointed out to me had fuel injection across its side. Moreover, the bike looked a lot better than previous Clicks I'd seen before. So I went home and looked up "Honda Click fuel injection" on Google and this is what I foundnew fuel injection system What had prompted her to point this out to me is I had been telling her I expected Honda to soon come up with a new Airblade model "because it had to" due to Yamaha's introduction of its new 135 cc. Nouvo model.

Since the Airblade is the flagship of the Honda automatics I have to assume this new fuel injection technology will soon be introduced in the Airblade which will make things quite interesting in the Yamaha Nouvo, Honda Air Blade rivalty. In my opinion here in Pattaya either the Honda Airblade or the Yamaha Nouvo is all the bike one needs. Everytime I go over to Ko Larn Island on the ferry I immediately rent an Airblade and I love it. But as I have mentioned here, I have now owned a 113 c.c. Yamaha Nouvo for over 2.5 years and I think it's terrific. One of my buddies recently bought the new 135 c.c. Nouvo models and I'm sure it will walk all over the Air Blade when it comes to power, but again, this is not really needed. Not here. And like a couple of the others here I do not like the current color schemes of the new Nouvos.

But it's still king of the hill. That being said, this new Honda technology makes things even more interesting because in the real world of everyday driving here (in Pattaya) factors other than speed and power are more important in my opinion such as cargo handling capacity, ease of use, handling ability, serviceability and reliability, braking, and so on. I'm sure all of us agree having more range in one's fuel tank is also important. A slightly larger fuel tank helps here, but if the new Airblade that I expect to be soon available offers something like 15 % or better fuel economy one automatically will get another 15-20 kilometers more range per tankful and this translates into fewer fillups among other things. Also, when I leave Thailand for a week or so my Nouvo is a bit hard to start when I first come back. I would think a fuel injection system would help in this type of situation.

Any thoughts on all of this?

I figure this. Honda's engineers are a lot smarter than I am. So I wouldn't even think of modifying the engine of a CBR 150 or for that matter an Airblade, Yamaha Nouvo, etc.

I once had a 1992 Mazda Miata with a 1600 cc. engine developing 116 horsepower. So, thinking I needed more performance, I had a Sebring supercharger put on it, over sized wheels and tires to take advantage of the huge increase in horsepower, a header, performance after market exhaust and air intake believed to add still an extra 5 horsepower. When I got done with all that the little 1600 c.c. Mazda engine performed like a V-8. I'd say acceleration went from about 9.3 seconds zero to sixty to around 6.5 to 7 seconds. Top speed went from 118 miles an hour to 139 miles an hour and at this point a rev limiter cut in at around 7200 rpms. THe little car was still accelerating when all of a sudden that rev limiter starved the engine for fuel. And to top it all off, fuel economy didn't suffer one iota and torque had increased so significantly that I now could loaf driving around town in 5th gear at around 30 miles an hour. Man, I had the bomb now. I was so smart. I had even outdone Mazda.

Then I blew the first engine at 139 miles an hour. A new engine cost me more than $2000. So I decided to never take the car above 115 miles an hour. That brought my rpms down from over 7200 to around 6000. I had figured Mazda might have designed this car to hit 7200 to 7500 rpms at peak acceleration for several seconds but not for sustained periods of time. The non supercharged engine simply did not have the power to pull over 6000 rpms in fifth gear. The supercharged engine might have pulled 8000 and God knows how fast that car would have been without that rev limiter on it. Anyway, I blew the 2nd engine and was once again out over 2000 dollars. So now on my third engine, it finally wound up blowing also. At the dealership....(they really loved me at it's service department as the boys got to try all kinds of interesting things out on my car) the last diagnosis was that the engine was burning lean due to the supercharger changing the air fuel mixture.

I wound up taking the supercharger off and after that the car was reliable again That is until at 150,000 miles the transmission gave out. Now, the Mazda Miata sportscar has a record of being the most reliable car in the entire Mazda lineup. Miata's very rarely blow a transmission. i figure mine did only because I took a four cylinder engine off and mounted a V-8 instead and that little transmission had never been designed to handle the huge increase in torque of a V-8. (the supercharger did not give me 4 extra cylinders, only the performance).

So, not wanting to buy a new transmission for a 150,000 mile car I sold my Miata and bought a new one, a gorgeous special edition 2002 model with 144 horsepower and a six speed overdrive transmission. Not as fast as the old model with supercharger in place at a zero to sixty time of probably 7.9 seconds it still dramatically outperformed the 9.3 stock times of the old car. I never opened this car up and I think with that six speed overdrive gear this car would have lasted practically forever. It did everything well even delivering 1000 mile cross country miles in a single day at 33 miles per gallon.

Having never driven either the CBR 150 or the Ninja 250, I would think either bike does a splendid job at what it's designed to do, as is. If you think you want more power than the CBR, then the Ninja's the thing. I've probably read at least five reviews on the Ninja 250 R and the consensus of opinion is that the Ninja is really outstanding easily offering the best performance out of all the 250's, that it outhandles larger displacement bikes, is more fun to ride, offers between 50 and 60 miles per gallon, offers great fuel range, will hit something like 100 miles an hour, accelerates briskly enough to handle the traffic on any highway provided one is willing to downshift pretty often, is a terrific looker, and that it is pretty inexpensive. But one of the reviews mentions several small weaknesses. One of them is a certain hiccuping in the carburated American version in certain situations such as driving behind a cavalcade of cars at say around 30 miles an hour when suddenly a hole opens up in that line and one needs to get on the gas, now. There is a momentary problem and hesitation with the fuel delivery in such situations. That review mentions that the European fuel injected version of the 250 R would not have this problem. I personally feel there would be no horsepower gain or very little with the more expensive European fuel injected version (which will be offered in Thailand) over the carburated offering sold in the states.

Commenting on your rundown with the lazy salesman, recently I went to the Harley shop in Pattaya. My sister has a friend who has a Harley and this man collects Harley t shirts from all over the world so I went there hoping to find one for him. There were several employees in the shop and not one bothered to as much as look at me, speak to me, or get off his lazy derriere. The shop never had a t shirt so I left. For all those employees knew I might have bought a very expensive Harley. Needless to say, I'll never go in that place again. This is just one incident out of many examples that simply leaves many Westerners incredulous. This is not the West and my even saying this doesn’t even get to the tip of the iceberg of what is often referred to as Thai logic. (on the other hand we Americans voted for George Busch twice). I can mention employees of this condo who defy the very Westerners whose jobs are in the palms of their hands and yet these employees think they run the show here and keep trying to prove their point whatever that point is. Then again, we have people working for us here who are absolutely first rate and would be top notch in any country.

I have the three filter setup you just described although it's a slightly cheaper brand, not a Mazuma. But here is the problem. The flow of drinking water output slows to a trickle over a period of time. Sometimes over just a week or two and from then on it becomes slower and slower. The culprit is I think the ceramic filter. Backwashing does not help the situation. I try to adhere to the instructions on the unit as close to as possible. That is I run the prescribed brine solution into the resin filter ever month or so and by the time I"m doing this the system is flowing to a trickle. At this time I pull the ceramic filter out too and wash it. I use a toothbrush with no detergents and brush one way per the instructions. This seems to do the trick...but only for a couple of weeks. The ceramic filter has by this time turned from white to a dull yellow color. I bought the unit last January and I tried replacing the ceramic filter about one month ago. Replacing the filter gave me a longer period of time before the water output started to decrease significantly. Any ideas?

Keep a new SctochBrite pad for using on the ceramic filter. Easy to clean with that. Another alternative is the 3mm plastic type (same shape but square bottom and made of special plastic). This type does not seem to restrict water flow as much as the ceramic type. In either case best to change every six-twelve months if very dirty water.

I went out and bought the Scotchbrite pad. It's too sided and I used the rougher much more abrasive side to clean an old ceramic filter just to test it. It sure got the filter much whiter and cleaner in much quicker time than using foam pads or toothbrushes. Also went to Big C to buy a new ceramic filter. Thai young man working "only use hand to clean." But from what I've seen that doesn't even begin to change the color of a now used and yellowish filter to the white color it started out being.

I have another question as well. My neighbor has a two filter system connected to his tap. He has no problems with it, but, both containers have charcoal in them. No ceramic or resin or anything else. He will run the valve in one direction one week, then switch it to reverse the flow of water the following week and so on. Now....I've heard that Pattaya water is chlorinated. Also that it is already soft. I would reason that the resin that one charges each month with fresh brine is not necessary then....that is one does not need a "mini water softener" in Pattaya. How about the chorine? How much of the bacteria and other crap does the level of chlorine in Pattaya's water supply get rid of if any? If it kills the bacteria does this mean that my neighbor's two filter system is sufficient (the charcoal gets rid of the chlorine and larger contaminants)? I note that this type of two filter system is hardly being sold anywhere. He bought it at an out of the way place in Naklua that sells water pumps and other things and this place is not your typical retail outlet such as Big C, Carre Four, Lotus, etc.

I have the three filter setup you just described although it's a slightly cheaper brand, not a Mazuma. But here is the problem. The flow of drinking water output slows to a trickle over a period of time. Sometimes over just a week or two and from then on it becomes slower and slower. The culprit is I think the ceramic filter. Backwashing does not help the situation. I try to adhere to the instructions on the unit as close to as possible. That is I run the prescribed brine solution into the resin filter ever month or so and by the time I"m doing this the system is flowing to a trickle. At this time I pull the ceramic filter out too and wash it. I use a toothbrush with no detergents and brush one way per the instructions. This seems to do the trick...but only for a couple of weeks. The ceramic filter has by this time turned from white to a dull yellow color. I bought the unit last January and I tried replacing the ceramic filter about one month ago. Replacing the filter gave me a longer period of time before the water output started to decrease significantly. Any ideas?

Here's something to think about. THe bike in this picture is the Honda Click. I rented one yesterday and again today at Koh Samet where nearly all the roads are dirt roads and often deeply rutted. The day before I rented an Air Blade on Koh Larn Island. Riding two up was no problem getting up the hills on Koh Larn.

Now, this Honda Click is slightly modified. The Airblade has fatter tires than the Nouvo which has fatter tires than the Honda Waves. For instance the 16 inch diameter tire of the Nouvo has a width of 80 mm. The rear tire of the Air Blade is 90 mm. This Click has both front and rear tires that are 90 mm so it's got tire size even on the Air Blade. And they are dirt bike tires---that is deeply cleated. Well.....this Click was as sure footed in the dirt as a mountain goat and I could practically idle up steep hills. Or I could rev it up and go quicky up the hills. Downhills no matter how rough, full of sand, pebbles, ruts or even with small boulders were a breeze. And the brakes were great. One gets far more control with an automatic in such situations than one would believe.

Okay....Here's the bike. And here's a section of one of those deeply rutted steep hills. Now, who said these automatics lacked power and the ability to get up hills? Oh, I'd imagine a manual might do better and a pure dirt bike even better yet, but trust me, these autos are not that shabby and not nearly as slow as some would like to make them out to be. And ahem.....Who said the manuals give such great control compared to the automatics, for braking and the like? Well.......I didn't have any problems controlling this street bike on these steep downhills. Incidentally, that Click had great brakes, far better than the ones I used to have on my dirt bikes down at the farm. (Incidentally out of all the cars and trucks I've owned over the past forty years only one, my last pickup truck, had an automatic so I'm not exactly prejudiced towards automatics).

Some thoughts here. I own a Nouvo and like it very much). A fully automatic Airblade has tires that are two sizes larger than the typical Honda Wave (except the wheel diameter is 14 inches compared to 16 to 17 for the Wave). Now considering that the rubber on the pavement is what keeps you on earth (in more than one way) would you prefer skinny tires or big fat tires? The airblade aside from being a step through looks like a small motorcyle. Now, what is safer? A bike with balloon bicyle tires or one with tires two sizes larger? I think this is a no brainer. Also....Recently came back from Vietnam. Saw a Honda Wave there with the same sized tires as the Nouvo...that is fatter than the Honda Waves do here. Why? Was this a stock model for the Vietnam market or simply an owner who's using his noodle?

I have owned one. From November 2004 until May 2006, and rented dozens before that as early as 1999. After that I became an automatic fan.

So they've added a hook...wow.

Under the seat? What can you fit there?

The front basket is useless for carrying anything...especially at night when it obscures your light.

A full face helmet !!

Its not as big as a nuovo.. But its probably comparable to a airblade ??

Bikes out on loan at the moment but its a regular 125 wave i.. Maybe 3 years old ?? The one that had the silver embossed wave 125i faux metal stick ons on the flank.

It's a tossup between the Airblade and the Nouvo. Airblade is a nice tidy package and all one needs for Pattaya. And I agree, that red paint job looks terrific. Brakes probably a little better on the Airblade but the Nouvo has a longer wheelbase going for it, and longer wheelbase usually equates to better ride. It has larger storage under the seat. As I mentioned I own the 113 cc. Nouvo and I like it, but a few days ago a friend and I rented two Airblades on Ko Larn Island. (which is about the 10th time I've now driven the Airblade). Now that's a pretty steep hill but we had no problems getting up it with our girlfriends on the back. And trust me, both the Nouvo and the Airblade will easily outhandle the Waves when you put anything of substance in that front mounted basket on the waves versus putting the same amount of weight under the seats of either the Nouvo or the Airblade since the weight is evenly distributed). So yeah, I love the Airblade. However......I really don't think Yamaha is going to wait much longer before improving the paint schemes on their new Nouvo Elegance models (which presently suffer compared to some of the much more cosmetically pleasing Airblades), and that 135 c.c. engine, well need it or not, it's a lot better performer than the 110 cc. engine on the Airblade. Both are great machines represeenting the state of the art.

More information on the 'new model'. How reliable is this source? I am not sure.

It seems that it is just a revamped Air Blade.

The difference is the paint job which will be called Phoenix Edition to retain its designation as King of Cool. Everything else remains the same.

I just went to the nearest Honda dealer to get the oil changed in my Yamaha Nouvo. Previously I had asked to see if the new Nouvo was about to come out, the new Nouvo being 135 c.c.'s. The girl at the desk made a phone call, then assured me the rumors were true. The new Nouvo would be out very shortly. Well.....today I asked about the new bigger Airblade and the same woman told me as far as she knew no such animal was coming out.

Honda has to do something. That was in the cards as soon as the new Nouvo Elegance came out. Sure, the Airblade is a nifty tidy attractive package and it's perfectly fine as is for Pattaya driving conditions.

But, the new Nouvo is a significant step up. It's got 135 cc's, substantially larger than the Air Blades 110 cc. It is less noisy than the 115 cc. Nouvo I have. It is liquid cooled like the Airblade. It's simply a better machine in most respects and it's noticeably more powerful. Like I've said here before, I've driven the Air Blades a number of times and I own the 115 c.c. Nouvo. I've driven the Suzuki Hayake and I've driven the Mio, the Fino (my ex girlfriend had one) and I've driven my buddy's 135 c.c. Nouvo and I find it to be the best all arounder of the bunch. But my 115 cc. model is fast enough for around here and so is the Airblade.

Honda has to come up with a new model Airblade to continue competing against Yamaha because right now as good as it is, it is seriously outgunned.

Any dealer worth his salt will know as here in Pattaya at least the 135 cc. Nouvo Elegance has been out at least for 2 months if not 3. We are talking see, feel touch, and drive. If the dealer doesn't know, by all means go somewhere else because he's got his head in the sand. Either that or he's only got holdover old model Nouvos he's anxious to get rid of and he's lying to you.

Correction....The new Nouvo at 135 cc's is decidedly more powerful than the Suzuki and Honda offerings. I'd rate the old model 115 cc. Nouvo at about the same performance as the Suzuki's 125 cc. model after driving both side by side.

Suzuki Thailand (SPSuzuki) is thinking of importing the Sixteen into Thailand. On the http://www.spsuzuki.com website you can select which Suzuki you want SPSuzuki to import into Thailand.

The first impression can be found here Suzuki Sixteen 150

I was shown a new model Suzuki HAYATE 125 yesterday in dealer opposite TukCom, corner of Soi Beakow and Tai, Pattaya.

Its 125cc SOHC, fully auto, fuel injected,discs front and rear,1935 wheelbase.

It looked good.Cheap too at 46k or 49k for fancy wheels.

Is this the Suzuki Sixteen 125/150 you are referring to?

I wonder how it drives. Has anyone driven one yet?

Nope. I know nothing other than what I've read here about the Suzuki 16. But I do have the old model 115 cc. Nouvo and a fellow condo owner here recently bought the Suzuki 125 Hayake (am I spelling this correctly). Wheel base, basic design, tire size, etc are all the same as the Yamaha Nouvo 115. But after driving the Suzuki I could see no power difference whatsoever whereas I most definitely could see the difference between the Nouvo 115 and the new Nouvo 135. In fact the 115 Nouvo and the Suzuki Hayake are dead ringers for each other. I do find my particular Nouvo to feel a tad better in the handling department as it had just the slightest refinement in feel. But then again, my 115 c.c. Nouvo feels just a little better handling wise than its replacement the 135 cc. model. Mine is so superbly balanced I can drive it no hands (not a recommended practice) and watched a friend of mine do it on Ko Larn Island with a rented Nouvo. I have found the new 135 cc. Nouvo to be much more difficult to drive no hands and the same to be true with the Air Blade. But from what I see here about the Suzuki 16 it's a truly revolutionary machine that offers the same horsepower of the Honda Phantom which is 200 CC's (around 17 horsepower) and the lighter and more sporty CBR 150.