jackcorbett

I don't see this new model rushing out the door. So far after 2 weeks in the shops I've only seen one on the road. Apparently the alloy version is still weeks away.

I am really looking forward to a test drive report.

For those who are interested, one of my pals and I just took two Thai girls to Ko Larn Island yesterday. We rented two Honda Air Blades for 250 baht each for the day from a place I used to rent Nouvos from. I am a fan of both machines, having bought a Nouvo two years ago, then after renting an Air Blade in Krabi I felt it might be a notch better. Anyway, for what it's worth, my buddy, Ross, who's finally moved here is about to buy his first bike here in Pattaya. He's rented Nouvos extensively but he's also rented an Air Blade and he prefers the smoother ride and statelier handling of the Nouvo over the quicker steering Air Blade.

On the island driving the Air Blade was quite nice. But one thing both Ross and I have noticed about the Air Blades and that is, it is much more difficult to drive them no hands than it is driving the Nouvos. So after a few hours driving all over Ko Larn Island with my date on the back, and now that I'm back on my Nouvo again, I've been paying close attention to that and in the past day I've been often taking my hands off the bars. Even went no hands around a slow sleeper driving to Jomtien today. When it comes to handling the Nouvo is a very finely tuned instrument while driving in the kinds of conditions it was designed to excell at.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've also recently driven the Suzuki, Hayate. It seemed identical to the Nouvo in terms of tire size, style, length of wheel base and so on and although it drove very well, it seemed just a little bit off in comparison to the Nouvo. So although I think Yamaha has some pretty worthy competition with the Air Blade being a particularly compelling competitor (with its better brakes, smoother sounding engine (it's liquid cooled)) I find that when it comes to the handling Yamaha's really got it down.

Just came back from perusing the new Nouvo, our local dealer also had on the floor the new 135 Spark and the new Yammy RR1 135 cc Which at 10k less than the Nouvo is a much better buy IMHO.

first i apologize if sometimes I cant reply soon.

Anyway iIdont understand: all the people wants save money and get fast Nouvo with nice color.

If u dont care for the new body shape why not to buy used one?? Nouvo one year old with 3-8000 km about 30-35000 baht.

After with 5.000 baht u can improve the power more the new one 135 cc and with 3.500 baht u can paint (in specialized shop) the body as u want (I did by myself and with stickers I spent 400 Baht!!)

Result: 42-45.000 and u can have fast Nouvo of your favourite color and can save more than 15.000 Baht!! (cost of new one is not less than 58-60K). So why not??

and drive slowly!!

Correction.......You pay 42-45,000 baht and you get a soaped up Nouvo of questionable reliability. Or you can pay 53,000 baht for a new one with complete warranty. If you go back to one of my posts at one dealer the price is 53,000 baht for a new one with wire spoked wheels and 55,000 baht plus some change for the upgraded wheels. Now consider this, perhaps the drive belt mechanism for the old model is not quite up to it for handling the additional torque of the 135 cc. engine (belt too small, pulleys undersized, etc). Not only that but perhaps the old bike's previous owner did not change the oil, drove it flat out all the time, etc. To me this is a no brainer. I'd never want to save 8,000 to 10,000 baht on a bike for the promise of better performance at the risk of much shorter longevity. 8,000 to 10,000 baht is peanuts for most of us here.

Getting more and more used to it now and I do have to say that it is superb for in town riding, from one minimart to another, but when I do go home I have a highway for about 3 km and that really is not fun... Strangly measuring up to my mate's nouvo (we swapped bikes) and we did the same speed but he with a faster acceleration on the airblade...

Like the bike, but to slow...

I am a little confused here. Are you saying the Nouvo accelerates faster than the Air Blade, and are you suggesting the Nouvo is a faster and better bike than the Air Blade on the 3 km highway segment you mention?

Just came back from perusing the new Nouvo, our local dealer also had on the floor the new 135 Spark and the new Yammy RR1 135 cc Which at 10k less than the Nouvo is a much better buy IMHO.

I like the Spark too. Probably offers a lot of performance in its niche, but it does not have the under the seat storage of the Nouvo. Making that up by putting a basket in the front simply does not cut it. Remember, Mazda Miatas are among the finest street worthy sports cars in the world and one of the major reasons for this is they have PERFECT 50-50 weight distribution front and rear. Not 50.5 versus 49.5 but 50-50. Under the seat storage is the way to go. Putting extra weight right on top of the front tire isn't.

I personally do not like the color schemes of the new Nouvo model and far prefer my black and silver old 115 c.c. model. However. I think this will soon change. When Honda first came out with its Air Blade I found the colors to be pretty blase. Now with the new red color Honda's got a gorgeous machine. But I fully expect Yamaha to make some changes to dress the new Nouvo up. I've seen the way Yamaha has dressed up its Mio models going so far as to have tire valves colored to match the main color of the bike. The Fino is a beautiful machine to behold. But with this new model Yamaha even has ugly Red back springs that clash horrendously with its new black and silver model. I think Yamaha rushed these first models into production and we will be seeing much prettier paint schemes in the future.

Get your baht out because the new 135 cc. Yamaha Nouvos are available--now, just as others have suggested here. I looked at one today at the same dealership I got my 115 cc. model Nouvo 2 years ago. This shop is Watchara Marine at Central Pattaya Road and Sukamvit on the North side of Central Pattaya Road.

The new engine is liquid cooled and it's 135 cc. The colors are different now and the seat is more like the Air Blades instead of the imitation leather look, naugehide or whatever of the old model so it's a cheaper looking seat although it no doubt holds up just as good. The new model is called the Elegance. I most definitely did not like the red springs used for the rear shocks on the black and silver model. The other colored bikes use a chromium colored set of springs so they look much better. With the exception of a more secure ignition lock, similar to what the Air Blade and Fino have and part of its instrumentation being digitized and minor cosmetic changes the bike is essentially the same as the old model. That is it's using the same sized tires, has the same capacity fuel tank (4.8 liters), and appears to have an identical sized under the seat storage bin. Brakes appear to be the same as before.

Cost at this dealership is around 53,000 baht for the wire wheeled models and 55,000 baht for the cast spoked wheels. So it's the same original pricing as my bike two years ago and it seems handling, roadworthiness, etc is identical. Think 135 cc's, nearly 18 % more displacement so it's probably going to put around that much more power to the ground.

Over the past week I have driven my Honda Phantom from Bangkok to Surin to Ubon Ratchathani to Nong Khai where it sits now getting the oil changed while I relax in Vientiene. What a superb machine, smooth and plenty powerful enough for Issarn roads. I have it pretty well loaded down too. Never a lick of trouble with that darn machine, always starts at just the push of a button. Parts are plentiful, service is quick and inexpensive.

There are a few things you can do to make it cruise better, but stock is fine. The real trick with this bike is that it stops RIGHT NOW because it is so light and has excellent brakes. That has kept me alive more than once with Thai driving. A few times I would have been planted into the side of pickup had I one of the heavy bigger cc machines. For the life of me, and I have owned hundreds of bikes, I dont really see what a bigger heavier bike gets you in Thailand. The roads and traffic are not condusive to sport machines of any caliber.

I will admit, when I drive the Harleys around I get a lot of gawking but that can be a bad thing as well. All in all, I find the Honda Phantom to be an all around perfect bike for Thailand.

Just two cents worth.

Apparently you find the Phantom has enough power to handle realistic driving conditions throughout most of Thailand. How's the vibration on the Phantom at the speeds you normally go?

Because the Nouvo is like a magic carpet! You get on, press a button and are effortlessly transported to any destination as stress free as it gets. No need to worry about gears, grounding out footpegs or using your feet to brake. In addition, you have a hook for your bag of Coke, wee front pockets and a huge space for 6 large beers under the seat. Three of even four adults will fit on one and there's only one keyhole, even to open the seat space up.

Tell me or show me a CBR, Spark, Raider or Tiger with all that!

You forgot to mention you don't get your feet wet when going through water as the Nouvo has a floorboard instead of footpegs nor did you mention the convenient two small compartments in its small fairing that are great for sunglasses, sun tan lotion, gloves, hat, etc. Your point about ample storage is very true. Yesterday I bought 1800 baht of groceries. One bag went under the seat, and then I hung the three remaining bags from that hook you mentioned. Last week I bought a three filter water filtration system and I just used a couple of bungee cord and strapped the box on the seat behind me. There are two points back there for the express purpose of using bungee cords, rope, etc for this purpose.

It's apparent you're an American....why you attacking our bikes! But seriously, Harley's had a corner on the 'cruiser' market since, what, 19-teens? Whole different segment than what the rice burners are in, although HD has had some success (in the past) at racing. Furthermore, looking soley at HP instead of torque can be quite misleading. Look at farm tractors for instance (since everyone complains that HD transmissions shift like one). If you were to look only at the HP you'd assume that the tractor couldn't do the job intended for it. However, a quick look at the torque, which is what counts, tells a different story. Also, you can't fault the manufacturer for the idiocy of its customers. Otherwise we'd have to call all Honda cars Fast & The Furious wannabes.

I personally have nothing against the Boss/Phantom. They're bigger bikes than what I would want, and definitely not my style. If they were more like a Sportser (sp?), I might think about it, but I never understood the chopper bike. Oh well.

Have a fair amount of experience with farm tractors so I know exactly where you are coming from when it comes to torque. But a tractor's purpose is to work, and such work includes pulling heavy loads where a motorcyle is a transportation device. I'm not knocking Harleys, and I'd no doubt prefer one to a Japanese machine as long as the model I selected didn't have too much chrome on it, but I'd probably prefer a BMW to both. Either marque has in my opinion far more character than the Japanese makes. But the Harleys sure are slow compared to the competition's models. And that's the same bad rap the Phantoms are getting. Question is, how much speed do you need or really want? If I were living in the U.S. the Harley would offer me all the performance I could want while providing that gobs of Torque you are talking about. But, and this is my point, here in Pattaya the Phantom offers all the performance that is really needed. In fact having much more is tantamount to executing one's death wish.

I can agree to disagree and you make many great points, but wussiest to me gives visions of peashooters etc. And for a bike to want to look like a big bike but get beaten by a 110cc automatic is wussy... Kinda like a 4-doo non vtec civic automatic with racing seats 2ft aluminum wing and 8" muffler...

But you are right, drive what you enjoy, the bike I enjoy is only 100cc, within two weeks 125cc.

I'm still keeping in mind what my German friend said, but when I drove the Phantom it did seem to accelerate faster than my Nouvo, and it did feel definitely more powerful. I believe he meant the two bikes are roughly equivalent in top end but I'd bet the Phantom's good for another five miles an hour over the Nouvo in top speed. The Nouvo has 8.9 horsepower but weights 230 pounds. The Phantom's got about 17 horsepower but weighs 305. Say one puts a 200 pound drive on each and the combined weight of driver plus is 430 pounds for the Nouvo and 505 pounds for the Phantom. So the power to weight ratio of the Phantom is .0337 to .0207 for the Nouvo. That translates out to a 67 % improvement in favor of the Phantom which is rather substantial. Something's got to give here so I'd say the Phantom's not going to get beat by 110 cc machines in acceleration even though its top end speed is only marginally better, which was the German's point.

Now as to the Phantom being a wanna bee Harley, one might also make the point that Harleys are wanna bee something's or the other. For all their size and big power images, Harley's typically only generate around 50 to 60 horsepower, yet they are purposely made to sound LOUD and POWERFUL. Even one of the 800 c.c. BMW's generates 85 horspower. BMW's top of the line models are around 150 horsepower. Top performing Japanese bikes produce even more. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Harleys, but when it comes to performance they are a joke compared to what else is out there. Yet they are marketed to appeal to a man's He Man instincts. So, if one can argue that Phantoms are not the real deal, then one might argue also that Harley's are not the real deal either. Both are about image and what thoughts go through one's head while driving them, not about what's actually happening when the rubber hits the pavement. So one might say, "I love my Harley because it feels good under the seat of my pants" (while driving American roads for example). But one might equally say, "dam_n. this Phantom just feels good and it sounds good driving it in Thailand.

Again, I might really like a Harley, but consider how loud they sound especially so when accelerating through places like Pattaya. Considering how loud they are and how little real world performance they provide compared to other big bikes, One might even go so far as to say that Harleys are "Much to do about Nothing." But then again, even though it offers tremendous performance, one might also comment about a Yamaha R-1 that is used primarily in Pattaya that this too is "Much fo to about Nothing"

Easy to say anything JRD...

But I vote for Phantoms and Boss' 175-200cc and a wanna be cruiser??? The chain is louder than the engine/exhaust!

I can't buy that. My dad always told me, and when he was younger he owned Harleys, "If you want to really have fun buy a 175 cc. bike." Anyway, he had heard that from someone who was really into bikes. A Phantom as we all know here, is a look a like Harley with a much smaller engine, but it looks cool and it only weighs 305 pounds although it appears bigger and heavier than that.

A German guy who owns a condo upstairs from me has one and when I asked him if it was faster than Nouvos and the like, he just laughed and said it wasn't, but he's on his second Phantom and he likes it. He says it all depends on what you want. The Phantom is a real motorcycle whereas the Nouvo is a different kettle of fish. But the Phantom has much bigger tires for one thing so it's going to be much better on bad sections of road and on speed bumps. More stable at higher speeds even if it's really no faster or not much faster than a Nouvo. Being a much bigger machine for a really big guy who's putting a girl behind him it's going to be better than Nouvo's and similar machines. And from what I've read it has a fairly large fuel tank (the motorbikes like the Nouvo don't) and it gets a whopping 65 miles per gallon or so. So it's going to have a much longer cruising range, and that's going to be particularly important out in the country. And if one likes Harleys, it really does look a lot like a Harley and at 85,000 baht it's a huge amount cheaper, particularly here in Thailand. And you can get parts for it anywhere and get it serviced anywhere.

I like the German guy's attitude. Drive what you want and enjoy. He likes the Phantom. I feel the Nouvo is the best all around choice here in Pattaya but the Phantom has tempted me many times. Oh, and by the way, this German is not wimpy. He probably drives a fast BMW in Germany. But like many Germans he's practical so for him the Phantom is a practical machine, and that no, it's not as fast as he might like it to be, but it's a pretty good machine for around here.

Fast, reliable, cheap. Choose any TWO.

Actually Jack, did you ever check out the Mazdaspeed Miata with the FACTORY turbo? I never did drive one, but was always curious at how that thing would go. I mean the Miata is so light, and I LOVE turbos, especially when they are factory. When you get into aftermarket FI, you will get some 'reliability issues'.

I considered buying the Mazdaspeed Miata when it first came out as it would have possibly been very similar to my supercharged Miata EXCEPT it was standard issue. Later on various add ons were available from firms such as Jackson Racing that supposedly would prevent the Sebring superchargers from causing Miata engines from burning lean. But after three engine burn outs I was no longer interested. But now even the standard Miatas are producing 170 horsepower compared to my 1992's original 116. This is without supercharging or turbocharging. I'd say that was about what my 1992 was most likely producing with the supercharger and other extra market equipment. Considering the light weight of the Miata that should produce some pretty exciting performance. Not like a Corvette or top model Porshes that do zero to sixty in 5 seconds or less but still....around 6.5 seconds-7 seconds. And with near perfect handling with a dead on 50-50 weight distribution, great reliability and low price.

Sorry, but I cannot comment on the 250 engine in a 150 CBR. As for the large thumper you mentioned, I once had a Honda 500 XL on and off road bike that weighed around 290 pounds. It was not bad on the highway but in the woods it was too much. Handling not good for that and too much torque and too much weight. And around the farm I finally went out and bought a 2nd 185 Honda XL (I had traded my previous 185 XL for the 500 XL) but at that time I also had a 650 BMW twin for the street and later a BMW K-100 RS. In the dirt the 185 XL was much better than the 500 XL, it started better and it could still do around 70 miles an hour on the street.

Supposedly the last generation of 250 from Australia is a drop on fit. I'd mostly be worried about the added stresses to the CBR-150R's bottom end.....

I blew the transmission of a 1992 Mazda Miata at 140,000 miles. Transmissions don't normally go out on a Mazda Miata. Here's how I managed it.

First off I put an after market exhaust on it...good for 5 more horsepower. Then I put a header on the little car...good for even more horsepower. Then I added a Sebring supercharger and that alone increased my horsepower by at least 40 %. Then to get more cool air into the engine I put an air scoop on. Let's see, oversized wheels and larger tires. Now that was the berries. I felt a huge increase in torque at all rpm levels and the power came on instantaneous unlike the case would have been had ai turbocharged it. The car behaved as if I had put a V-8 in it. I could get 139 miles an hour out of it before the rev limiter cut in. I think it would have done 150 without the rev limiter. My zero to sixty miles an hour times dropped from about 9.1 seconds to around 6.5 seconds. Let's see. I blew my first engine while trying to get more miles per hour out of the car. I can't remember exactly but probably 6000 rpms was good for about 118 miles an hour and that's about what the stock engine on a 1992 Miata was good for having just enough power to drive 2200 pounds at 6000 rpms in fifth gear for 118 miles per hour. But now with the vast increase in power that little engine could push the same 2200 pounds through all that air resistance in fifth gear way way past its previous limitations. The Rev limiter would cut in at about 7200 rpms which equated to 139 miles an hour. Thinking about it after the blow out I reasoned that the car was holding at over 7000 rpms for periods of time exceeding 30 seconds...an altogether different situation to shifting quickly at 7000 rpms to a higher gear and dropping the rpms when all I wanted to do was to accelerate quickly. So then I decided not to drive at speeds over 120 miles an hour. But then I blew engine number 2. The reason was the engine was burning lean now on account of the supercharger. After that I blew engine number three and that's when I took the supercharger off. Suddenly the car once again became typically Mazda Miata reliable. And I drove it all over the U.S. and about the only thing that ever happened to it after that is I wore out a fan belt causing the engine to overheat a little so I just spent the night in a hotel somewhere out West and the next day I had a shop replace the belt and I was on my way.

My long term solution after the transmission went out (that's because I essentially dropped a V-8 into a car that was engineered for only four cylinders which must have been like hitting the transmission with huge sledgehammers) was to buy a brand new special edition 2002 Mazda Miata with a 6 speed transmission that would drop the engine's rpms at cruising speeds. The car was only good for zero to sixty times of around 7.9 seconds but when I'd take it out West for long cruises and where the speed limits were 75 miles and hour but not enforced very much, I'd simply set the cruise control for about 85 to 90 miles an hour and I'd really be able to get down the road in a hurry eating up hundreds of miles at a clip. I think the car would have easily lasted 200,000 miles or more with hardly a problem.

So what does this have to do with souping up bikes? I think a lot. But each to his own. One more thing.....the new Miatas now have a lot more horsepower than my 2002 model had, and I'll bet they have much beefier transmissons too. Oh, and one more thing.......out on a lot of those roads I was driving on in the Western states there weren't any Thai motorcyle taxi drivers full of too much testocerone. In fact, there wasn't too much of anything out on a lot of those roads so the greatest danger was falling asleep at the wheel.

Just an "informal poll". Just curious what people's opinions are on the wussiest motorcycle in the Kingdom is.

My vote is for the Yamaha Fino! Uses same mechanicals as the Mio with the retro-body work. It also seems to be the motorcycle of choice for Katoeys, ladyboys, or boys who like other boys. (But nothing wrong with that).

I would also say that I do think it looks cool, and I wouldn't mind buying one, and riding it. However, even under those circumstances, I would have to say to myself, "Self, that is a really wussy bike, you got there."

Any other contenders out there? I sensing votes for the honda wave.

Actually I think the Fino is a very cool little machine and a brilliant piece of marketing from Yamaha with its rounded Italian inspired body style. I like curaceous automobiles and have always felt that "anyone" can build an econobox. Rectangular lines just doesn't get it for me (cars like the rabbit and so many others built today). By no means is the Fino a road bike, and it's smaller tires (14 inch diameter and skinnier) make it less roadworthy than its larger brother, the Yamaha Nouvo. It also doesn't have several important features that its larger sibling does not offer (but at 10,'000 more baht), such as automatic choke, substantial under the seat storage area, and a punchier engine (both have 115 cc. engines but I believe Yamaha has specially tweaked the Nouvo's to give it more power). It is fun to drive and for a lot of people is all they really need, especially in an urban environment such as Pattaya.

Honda's Airblade is a wonderful machine and I'd take one over the Fino even though it doesn't appear all that much larger, but we've gotta give Yamaha credit. How long did it take Honda to catch onto the fact that Yamaha's automatics were the cat's meow for a lot of people---two years to bring out competitive models? And now it looks like Yamaha's coming out in February with a 135 cc. revamped Nouvo that it's going to pit against the 110 cc. Airblade. Looks to me that in this market Yamaha's way ahead of Honda which is always having to play catchup. Some people might claim that Mazda's Miata sportscar is a wimpy sportscar that's only fit for women, but I've had two of them, and they are absolutely terrific machines, equal to a Porsche in handling and far more reliable than anything out of Porsche, BMW, Audi, or Mercedes. And it costs just a fraction of what those other marques cost, so I'll take the "wimpy" Miata anyday which I believe is the finest all around sportscar on the planet. As for the Fino, it is truly in my opinion a feast for the eyes and really not a bad machine at all.

Now you want wimpy........how about all those motorscooters that have been sold in the U.S. for the past 50 years and that are still being sold in large numbers with their little 10 inch diameter death wheels.

Yep, couldn't agree more. In fact, I was going to start a topic about this very subject; i.e. "Bikers who are just too sensible/shit-scared to ride out here and is it just me?" kind of thing. I rode bikes in the UK for many years and ok, there are always idiots around, but at least most are singing from the same songsheet. Here, well, it's a completely different kettle of fish, isn't it? I mean, not only do the humans drive with absolutely no brain, the animals are also doing their best to put you in the hospital. I must kill two or three dogs a year; not because I enjoy it but because the daft buggers seem intent on going to doggy-heaven ASAP. At least in a car you just sort of go "Shit!" or "Whoahh!" or some other expletive and then have a look for any impact damage the next time you wash the car. On a bike? Well, I don't need to paint a picture. I would really love to get back on a bike but I don't know if my nerves can stand it. There are bold bikers and there are old bikers but not many old, bold bikers.

You saw my post about my attempts at risk avoidance. I've skydived more than one mile of free fall. Supercharged my old Miata so it would do 140 miles an hour instead of just 118. My last big bike in the U.S. was a BMW K-100 RS which I had up to 131 miles an hour on a second rate road before backing her down when I ran out of room. Ridden dirt bikes on the farm straight up and down nearly perpendicular drainage ditches. Jumped off a 15 foot cliff in Jacksonhole, Wyoming doing a ski run called Corbett's Couloir. (and I didn't learn to ski until I was 30), and my Dad kept trying to squeeze more more mile an hour out of his Toyota Lexus when he was 80, finally managing 151 miles an hour out of it. So I am not exactly a chicken shit kind of guy, but driving my motorbike in Pattaya scares the crap out of me.

Good instincts.

I expect every car to pull out without looking because 75% of the time they do.

I also T-boned a black Mercedes one fine day and I had my wife riding with me. She and the bike went over the car; I slammed into the driver door and then went partially under the car and had my leg driven over. However in this case, the car was a runaway, nobody set the brake and it rolled across the highway where there was no intersection. I had no time to react.

We both ended up being OK, fairly miraculous really. And the owner of the car paid for my hospital trip and repairs to my bike too.

In the past two to three weeks two people I know very well had motorbike accidents and in both cases the driver of the other vehicle ran. The first is an Aussie whose guesthouse here in Pattaya I stayed at for a total of 11 months. In fact I was talking to him and some other guys in front of his guesthouse when he invited me to go to Jomtien that evening with him to shoot some pool. I declined and then I lectured him about driving motorbikes at night, driving that far a distance, and that I would be hitting the bars that night but I would be walking most of the way even though I have a nice Nouvo motorbike. That night while returning home he was sideswiped by a car. He spent one week to ten days in the hospital and today I just tried to call him but he's back in the hospital again with complications the extent of which I am unsure of because I just got this info from his Thai girlfriend whose English is less than perfect.

Within one week of Pete's accident I called a social meeting down at our condo's swimming pool (I am one of a three person commitee representing the condo owners here). A German guy who lives up on the 7th floor who hardly ever misses these social meetings came to this latest social meeting with his arm in a sling. I asked him what happened and he told me that he was driving his Honda Phantom past Big C on 2nd Road when a motorbike taxi driver suddenly swerved over three lanes of traffic and hit his motorbike. He went down--the motorbike taxi driver didn't and just kept going. But my German friend is lucky. He only got a dislocated shoulder out of the accident.

So here's what I do when I go out drinking at night. I'll drive my motorbike about one mile down the back streets here in Naklua where the traffic is relatively light to a bar that is within 50 meters of Naklua Road where I cross the street to hop on a baht taxi. So if I want to go down to Walking Street, Soi 3, Soi 6, Sois 7 and 8 and so forth I'll just pay the 10 baht and get down there that way. If I stay out very late there's hardly any traffic whatsoever on the back streets to my condo when I pick my bike up. And both last night and two nights before I never bothered with getting on a baht taxi. I just walked the entire distance to and from the bar where I had left my bike. So I knocked off a few of the calories I was putting on with my beer drinking while getting to survey a lot of streets, look over a lot of women, and take in several new bars.

Yes....I drive a motorbike but always my primary consideration is self preservation. Even during the daytime I try to limit my risk. Example....if I want to go to South Pattaya to get an errand or two done I'll drive relatively early in the morning when the traffic is much lighter than it will be later on. Whenever I can I'll try and avoid making right turns for example where I need to cross several lanes of traffic to make my turn. For instance, say I need to make a right turn onto Naklua Road and I'm driving South. I'll make a left turn instead and work my way to the farthest lane to the right as I head North. I'll then carefully observe the flow of traffic that's heading South in the two lanes that are now on my right and I'll pick my opening and basically pull a U turn in some form or another. Sometimes I'll simply turn into a sidestreet. Other times I'll just pull to the curve on the opposite side of Naklua Road and reverse my direction from there. My theory is that my brain cannot begin to assimilate what all the traffic is doing on four lanes at once. Therefore I avoid the right turn (unless there's a traffic light there). Instead I manage it by driving in such a manner that I only have to focus on two lanes of traffic at a time. And I don't drive the way a lot of Thais do along with many Westerners which is to simply pull out into the street blocking traffic before making the right turn or driving down the street the wrong way in order to merge with the traffic that's flowing in the correct direction.

I would buy it strait away if this is true.

Well, it looks to me that you should start putting away a few baht. As I have mentioned here many times, I have a Nouvo which most of you know has a 115 cc. engine to the Honda Airblade's 110. So seeing the post about a new model Nouvo being offered in February I stopped in at the local Honda dealer's where I often get my Nouvo serviced here in Naklua. I asked if the new Nouvo with the Spark 135 cc. engine was going to be offered in February and one of the women working there made a phone call to check this one out for me. Her answer after talking to someone on the other end was a most definite yes. There will be a new Nouvo and yes, it will be 135 cc's., and it is going to be available in February.

I then talked to my good Norwegian pal who lives upstairs from me in my condo building. He spends around 6 months of the year in Pattaya (Naklua) and six months of the year with the Norwegian Coast guard. So he rents a Nouvo. His take on the new Nouvo was, "When I move here fulltime, of course, I am going to buy a new Nouvo and if that's what the new one is going to be that's what I am going to buy. But the old one is more than fast enough (for the Pattaya area). We drive 20 miles to 30 miles an hour most of the time, and much of the time even slower than that."

Well, let's see. Around three weeks ago a very good Aussie friend of mine was driving back from Jomtien on his motorbike when he was sideswipped by a car. It was a hit and run but he wound up in the hospital for 7 to 10 days and he's still not that mobile. And within one week of his accident a German who drives a Phantom who lives on the 7th floor of my condo building had a motorbike taxi driver veer across three lanes of traffic to knock his bike down. But he's only got a dislocated shoulder. Another hit and run however as the taxi driver kept going. So there we have it, two friends get nailed by hit and run drivers within one week of each other. Believe me, I'm really into risk avoidance. That's the number one priority while out on my bike.

So will I trade up for the new Nouvo? I just might, even though I really don't need the extra power.

I believe the Yamaha Spark (which is a scooter) produces a bit more horsepower and it's only 135 cc's. Also, lately my nephew's been here in Pattaya and the two of us have been riding my Nouvo double. Together we slightly exceed the maximum load capacity of that so called Chinese sport bike. Surprisingly the Nouvo is doing quite nicely with our combined weight. Also, if one is to believe most of the figures I've seen on the Nouvo it is around 20 miles an hour faster than that "Chinese Sport bike" and it's just 115 cc's.

Just one mile from where I used to live in the U.S., there's a large Illinois State Police Station. Next door to it is an extensive service center dedicated to maintaining all the vehicles used by the police and this included a service manager. May I suggest that with respect to the Bangkok police they can easily do the same and if it has a service department that is even remotely comparable to what the Illinois police has such a service center can devote itself to completely rebuilding Platinum motorcyles if necessary.

CBR150E "overkill" in Thai traffic, urban or rural.

Thailand is ready for a 250 sportbike like the Honda CBX250.

Oh, don't get me wrong. If the right 250 came out I'd probably get one anyway. And yes, speeding down 2nd Road for all it's worth is overkill (I'd probably wind up overkilled and roadkill all in one) on either the 250 or the 150. Yes, I'd want the 250 if it had the right style and a good upright riding position. But would I need it? No. But if I lived in the U.S. again, I'd be looking at 650's. I haven't approached my Nouvo's limitations in Pattaya, but back in the U.S. I took my BMW up to 211 km on a two land bumpy until that overpass loomed up in front of me and I chickened out and backed off the throttle. I feel comfortable riding a bike here in Pattaya but part of me is scared shitless and for very good reasons.

I've reallly been trying to talk myself out of continuing to drive the same ole same ole bike I've had for nearly two years now. I drove a Phantom one night and I have to say I liked it. The one I drove belonged to Leo who owns the Leo Bar at Naklua Road and Soi 18 in Naklua. His Thai girlfriend who helps him manage the bar knew I wanted to give it a test spin so one night she started to egg me on. Well, at night, things seemed to move along pretty fast for me on that little 200 cc machine, which I wasn't used to and I felt it was pretty cool even if it is a wanna bee Harley. But what the hel_l, it looks good and it felt good.

Then day before yesterday my girlfriend and I did some errands on my Nouvo. I weigh around 76 kilos and she weighs just 43 and it's pretty snappy with both of us on it. We drove to Big C and Carre Four and an office supply store and to Index looking for a small filing cabinet, buying a few things along the way all of which fit easily underneath the seat in the storage area. Along Sukamvit Road we had a lot of power we didn't use. But while we were eating at the Spaghetti Factory I looked at several rental bikes because my nephew is visiting me on Christmas and he's about my size. I figured we could drive to Nong Nooch Gardens and then to Sattahip and the Nouvo was a bit light for both of us to be on it for very long so I looked at several bikes running from 400 cc's to 750. The 400 cc. Steed would do nicely. But for that matter I think a Phantom would do well also. But while sitting in that restaurant along Beach Road I watched the traffic driving by. Even 30 miles an hour here would be excessive I was feeling.

I wound up driving about half the time and my girlfriend drove the other half of the time and eventually I got two plastic boxes for my filing folders at Index. I carried them while my girlfriend drove back to the condo. We had driven two up on 2nd road, 3rd road, Sukamvit and Beach Road and not once were we running the Nouvo anymore than half capacity. We also passed a Honda CBR 150 that had this platform sidecar arrangement attached to it. It was a little restaurant on wheels. Not bad for a little one cylinder engine.

I'll probably end up renting a Phantom or Steed for a couple of days simply because either one will carry the weight of my nephew and me better than my Nouvo. After that we will make do with walking, the baht buses, and the Nouvo for short hops. All considered, for me that Nouvo is hard to beat. The 135 cc. Spark looked intriguing and has more horsepower than the Nouvo but it lacks that critical under the seat storage the Nouvo has so one is likely to put a basket over its front wheel. Get a real motorbike and you are probably going to put saddlebags on it or a rear storage tank over the back wheel. The best handling sports cars have a perfect 50-50 weight distribution front and rear so when you go putting a basket on the front end of any bike the handling is going to be adversely affected. So really, for getting round in this place for someone my size it's hard to really imagine something better than a Nouvo (or perhaps an Airblade) although for the next month while my nephew is here something like a Phantom or something even larger might handle our combined weight better.

As for something like a CBR 150, it's a cool looking little bike and I would think it can be tremendous fun driving it around. and it might be just the ticket for driiving upcountry.

But I'm sixty now and I'm six foot tall. Both my girlfriend and a couple of my pals think I'd look a little silly and oversized riding one. And while sitting on one I do have to lean over a bit so I know that for driving in town it's not going to be as comfortable as the upright riding position of my Nouvo. And its sportiness even at just 150 cc's is going to be a bit overkill for most Pattaya riding conditions.

For the next month I might be wishing I owned a Phantom. I read that they get more than sixty miles to the gallon and they have a big fuel tank so there's going to be less stopping for fuel than driving these motorbikes that hold between 1 gallon and 1.2 gallons of fuel or so. But they are wider and therefore harder to park and they will be more difficult to get through the narrowest gaps in traffic compared to the slim lightweight scooters. But I do like that centralized storage on a Nouvo where most of the stuff you buy is going to sit right under your ass and the rest of it will fit on that little hook right in front of you having from plastic bags. This makes for perfect weight distribution and no need for after market plastic storage tanks that clutter up the lines of a bike and might have problems with their latches. Not to mention their costing extra. My last car in the U.S. was a Mazda Miata. Mazda prided itself in making sports cars with that perfect 50-50 weight distribution front and rear....not 49-51 % but 50-50. So one might get used to having a basket hanging over one's front tire but it's not going to be the best solution.

dam_n.....I still haven't been able to talk myself out of my Nouvo and I'm sure as hel_l trying.

Yeah, the Spark's an intriguing bike. Plus, you don't see many of them around which is a point in its favour, in my book. It could be argued that they're thin on the ground for a good reason but I just think it's the Thai "me too" mentality at work here. If it had a manual clutch, I think I'd be sorely tempted. But the missus wouldn't want a bike with no basket on the front: HORROR!

Anyway, I reckon I'll look-out for a nearly-new CBR150 for myself and she can pedal the Wave around to her heart's content.

Yep..Me too attitude as in other Thais think the Honda is better so it must be. But when you compare the two bikes, the Yamaha wins hands down performance wise. More rubber on the ground, a larger more powerful engine, disk brakes front and rear, liquid cookling. It is also significantly higher priced. Also Waves come at bare basement prices so they are more affordable than Yamaha Sparks. You pay almost as much for a Spark as you do for a fully automatic Nouvo and around 8000 baht more than you will for an automatic Fino or Mio. So I'd say it's a premium product at a premium price.

Wow...there hasn't been a lot happening on this thread. I guess all the CBR riders are busy reboring their engines up to 180cc or poking holes in their airfilters.

I'm thinking about upgrading my exhaust...I just don't think I'm disturbing the neighbours enough with the stock exhaust. Does anyone have any reccomendations? Also, what do people think the likelihood is of having police problems with an obviously modified exhaust system?

Chris----Hey, you only go around once in life so if you are dead set on making a big splash in your neighborhood, go all the way. My advice is not to poke holes in your air filter or bore you engine out or get an after market exhaust. Buy a Harley. There's a guy who lives in the condo about 400 meters from mine and when he comes down the street in his Harley, you know he's on the prowl. That thing is so long and big it reminds me of those long hooded cars Al Capone use to ride in with all that armored plating. There's nothing like that deep throaty roar to wake up the neighborhood and let everyone know the man is out and about. And I think he's even got enough power to get down to Soi Six in a reasonable amount of time. Come to think of it I think he's got a straight pipe on it and he's got all the cops on retainer.

I just test drove Suzuki's answer to Yamaha's Nouvo and Honda's Airblade today A good friend bought one for around 47000 baht out the door so the price was 5000 baht or so less than these other two bikes.

It's supposedly 125 cc's whereas the Airblade is a 110 and the Nouvo is 115. While I was riding the Suzuki my friend was test spinning my Nouvo. The two bikes appear nearly identical although my personal feelings are the Nouvo is a bit sharper stylewise. Under the seat storage for whatevers is identical to the Nouvo's being that it is deeper than the Air Blades. I think the tire size is identical to the Nouvo's....that is the width of the front and rear tires are identical and also the diameter. Wheelbase is a dead ringer for the Nouvo's. That is longer than the Air Blades. Pickup might be a bit better or a bit worse but as far as I could tell it was the same. As I have mentioned earlier the Air Blade is a shorter stubbier bike and it has fatter tires. In fact in relation to the size of this compact bike its tires are like a "real motorcyle's" and very much unlike the tall relatively spindly tires of the Honda Waves.

While I am at it though I'll try and kill several birds with the same stone. I have had some squeal in the front brake of my Nouvo. But I've been getting my bike serviced at a Honda shop nearby. Service is excellent in many ways but they did not thoroughly check out my brake situation so I finally took my Nouvo back to where I originally got it and my gf's Fino. We had a mechanic who spoke very little English and my gf said so and said I should favor the other shop for this reason as the people there would better understand what I wanted done. But before all was said and done she wanted me to tip the non English speaking Yamaha mechanic "because he really went over my bike." I mean he had the brake fluid out and he had the transmisson lube out and he filled up the tires while he was at it. Well, you can pretty much tell a good mechanic when you watch him work and this guy was thorough and quick. So based on this mechanic to those who have inquired about where they can get their bikes thoroughly checked out here's how you find it. You go East on Central Pattaya Road well past Carre Four until you come within thirty meters of so of Sukamvit Road. There is a 45 degree short sidestreet to the left (North) and if you take it to the end you will be turning left on Sukamvit Road. You can turn left also by just coming straight up to Sukamvit Road and make a ninety degree left turn there. Anyway......you are on that little jog to the left and this will be the Yamaha shop that sells only Yamahas.

Next point...while there I checked out the 135 cc. manual bike that Yamaha used to call the Spark and that it sells in other markets as the Sniper. It sells for around 48,000 baht just a smidgeon below what it is selling the Nouvo for. So it's substantially more high priced than the Wave. However...it has disc brakes front and rear. It is liquid cooled, and its 17 inch diameter tires are wider than the Honda Wave's...in fact they are the same width as the Nouvo's. The one I looked at was nicely colored. I believe it would run rings around a Wave when it comes to performance and has bigger tires so if I had to have a manual scooter style bike I'd take it over the Wave without thinking twice about it.

HOwever...there is no room underneath the seat for storage so the Nouvo, Air Blade and Suzuki's automatic are far superior in this respect. Also the shop owner told my gf and me that the Nouvo's drive belt should last around 20,000 kilometers and would cost about 300 baht to replace, maybe a bit more he said. I got the feeling that although he liked the performance aspects of the Yamaha 135 manual he prefered the new automatics for their low maintenance and ease of driving. From what I've read the Nouvo has about 8.9 horsepower and the 135 manual "Spark" and new named Spark have about 11.5 horsepower so that's a substantial horsepower increase. So I think their performance is going to be pretty spritely considering the Nouvo's, Air Blades and Suzuki Hayate's are all pretty lively in Pattaya driving conditions.

For coming out with its Nouvo, Fino, and Mio's before anyone else came out with anything competitive I'll have to give Yamaha the nod for being the most up to date manufacturer for this market. The 135 manual compared to the Honda Waves is a much more appealing machine in my judgement. But the Air Blade with its fat tires and some other features as well is a very compelling little piece of machinery. One would feel far safer on it than he would driving a Wave.

A lot of these bikes mentioned only do about 120 km or a little more tops. Example, many Phantom owners tell me they are not any fast top end than a Nouvo and from what I read a Nouvo will go about 120 km full throttle. Now, the last guy told me the Phantom will out accelerate a Nouvo in town and my one test drive tells me it probably will. As far as the CBR 150, I don't know and I 'm sure 6th gear might help out here. But looking back into my history of owning bikes in the U.S. the smallest bike I would have wanted for cruising 120 km and over would have been my Honda 350 CB which had 36 horsepower and weighed around 350 pounds, a little more than a Phantom. Reading bike reviews the closest to a Phantom for the U.S. market is HOnda's 250 Rebel which actually has 234 cc's and has about the same horsepower and weight as the Phantom, and it will not quite do 80 miles an hour from what I've read so I wouldn't want it for cruising long periods of time at 70 miles an hour or 120 kph.

On the other hand on most of Thailand's backroads is it necessary to be able to cruise all day at 120? I once talked to a guy who has a friend who drives a bike all over Thailand. The bike is an off the rack little motorbike, such as a 125 Honda Wave or whatever The guy owns a bike rental shop and I've been assured these little bikes will do it...they just won't cruise at 120. I think even with my little 43 kilo girlfriend on the back I could cruise up to Chiang Mai or wherever on a Honda Airblade...provided I averaged only 50 per hour or so.