wjmark

I took one of them Honda 230's for a test drive a few months ago.

The small shop had a few - around 55k bt plus they had some other similar bikes - no plates.

It was on either Phra Pokklao rd or Ratchaphakhinae rd, somewhere north of Ratchadamnoen rd on the west side, in the middle of the block somewhere.

I also rented a Yamaha Trailways 225 on Koh Tao for a week. Pretty much the same thing.

Great bikes, but a little tall for me - I want my feet flat on the ground when I stop - both feet...

Lots of torque and power - not a great high end. Comfortable and very forgiving on ruts, rocks, small animals...

Also, personally, I don't like such a fat front tire - makes the bike feel awkward and clumsy to me.

But great bikes.

The expensive shop near the airport (X-c on the map) has a Husquavarna version of this bike - looks fantastic (too tall and for sure too expensive) for me! And they also have a BMW 650 similar bike...

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I would say that 80% of the Thais on the road that I have asked about their bikes have been more than ready to sell them!

Not sure if any of these specifically import from Japan - maybe just import from Bkk...

But this is what I have found so far.

a) Burning Bikes - mostly Yamaha SR-400's, and a few Clubmans

b ) don't know if he imports - but knowledgeable, nice, and speaks english - has a Ducat there

c) expensive shop - nice bikes

d) Bike House - I think he imports - has a variety of big bikes - not expensive

e) really nice shop - nice guy - speaks english - knows his stuff - some fancy big bikes

f) a chopper place

g) nice bikes including Triumph and Ducati... expensive

Just looked at my odometer, and started womdering about others here in Chiang Mai

I have a Wave 125 and I have averaged 1000k month for the last 19 months that I have been here.

Once did the Mae Sai run two months in a row. Made it back in 3hr 20min.

Other than that it has mostly been local. Mae Rim, Mae Sai, Pie once.

Don't have no car nor truck... (nor big bike)

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You?

From their web page:

"Bombay Sandwich Spread. Neither a chutney or a pickle this is a spread made entirely of fresh coriander and mint leaves spiked with green chillies and a hint of coconut. Fresh and modern this is the pulsating taste of Bollywood!

Also makes a superb light raita mixed with a little plain yoghurt."

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I don't know how it is different from a coriander-mint chutney with some coconut in it - here is a normal recipe for one (no coconut):

http://indianfood.about.com/od/picklesandp...mintchutney.htm

and this is one without mint:

http://www.dotcomwomen.com/food/corriander...t-chutney.shtml

I saw that they have a promotion on the Tiger on Huay Kaew Road just before central have several of them out on the street looks like the same bike based on the picture above

Very funny.

For those who don't get it, those 'Boxers' are actually 800,000bt imported Yamahas...

BTW, I am waiting for a month or so, as Kawasaki is supposed to be releasing a made-in-Thailand 250cc single! That sounds about right for me...

I can get it on my server - let me know if you want it - it will be a day or so out-of-date, so don't talk to anyone or listen to the news...

Mark

Some friends and I would love to catch this game somewhere in town; anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

If you can't find it here, let me know and i will try to record it on my Canadian TV server. When is the game on?

Mark

Went to the Tiger dealership at the train station.

Not a particularly flash shop! Bunch of bikes just kinda sitting there. But the mechanics all looked clean...

(btw, they have a Honda 2-stroke sport bike for 9,000 there if anyone is interested - I think it is a NSR150. Looked dirty, but ok)

They didn't have a Boxer, but apparently the owner did bring ONE in a couple of years ago - obviously not a popular model in n these parts...

They a bunch of Jokers there (their 'Wave', kinda), which I have seen around occasionally. I've actually heard that Jokers are pretty good before (thanks SilverHawk)

As well of Jokers, there are a variety of Tiger's other models - plus golf-carts, engines, and generators.

I gotta say that the first thing that impressed me was the variety and apparent cleverness behind the Tiger range of bikes. They all seemed well built (didn't feel at all like cheesy Chinese stuff) and one of the models just jumped out at me.

They have a 135 underbar bike that isn't - it has a low top strut, and they call it Cycle Cross - a rugged, gas-shock, oil-cooler, clutch bike with a 'touch o' dirt' to it. Only a four-speed, and not a mono-shock, but a really good looking bike. And they have three versions of it - one with small fat tires that make it look like a KSR-115 on steroids.

They only have one of these, and no test-drives - If it came clutch-less, it looks like it would be the ideal city bike (43,900).

But no Boxer-200. The woman at the counter suggested that if I wanted one, I should call Bangkok!

They are the authorized warranty centre, though. And she did seem honestly proud about the quality of their service...

So I dunno. Maybe I should go to Bangkok - try one, and if I like it, buy it and ride it back slowly (or mail it!).

One thing that comes through all the internet reports about this bike (it is available in Malaysia and Philippines, too) is that it does sound very fun to drive. Stable at 140k, lots of low end torque, surprisingly quick - the only compaint seems to be the muffler is loud at higher revs.

Fun, easy, fast, and endorsed by the Bangkok Police - sounds like I have talked myself into it!

Seriously, I can't see Bangkok police riding around on crap bikes - they usually have pretty nice machines from what I remember.

Cheers!

Sure it is an older tech bike, but from what I have been able to find out, they are well built, and are all over asia. Service in CM is a good point - haven't seen a single bike around...

So I'll bite. What should I get?

I tried the Raider 150 and found it too small. I want a bit of substance - not a huge bike, but a bit of substance. The Raider felt tinier than my Honda Wave 125 to me.

I don't want a CBR150 - sure it's high-tech, but it's a sports/track bike. I want something nimble in traffic - not something with downbars.

A Boss 175 or Phantom 200 are not my idea of nimble bikes. A Yamaha 225 Serow or Trailways are just a little too tall for me - I have short little pins and like my feet flat on the ground! Also pretty expensive for bikes that are basically illegal!!!

What's left?

I'd love a Honda twin - but where are they?!?!?!

http://www.motorcycle.in.th/article.php/Th...ai-Mystery-Bike

Sounds good, doesn't it!

Thanks for the replies - I will check the shop out tomorrow

These Italian designed bikes are supposed to be reliable, rugged and nimble. Bangkok police have hundreds of them now.

They cost around 60k.

I think I want one!

Anywhere in CM?

Thanks

Take care buying from Amorn at Carrefour and Icon Plaza. It's a great shop but I've found them to be completely inflexible even just a few minutes after having bought the wrong size batteries. The girl just pointed to the large "No Returns or Refunds" sign by the till and stonewalled me. It was only about 120 baht but I just wanted a different size, not a refund and given the small amount ended up keeping them for a rainy day. Went somewhere else for the replacements on principle.

Well........ we all know your problem - you are too nice!!!

I remember getting a refund from Amorn quite easily. I was persistant, but smiling. BUT PERSISTANT!!

Can't remember what I returned though...

However, since this experience has kind of soured me on dealing with drivers and chipsets and all that, and I was close to buying a new laptop anyway, I have decided to get a new laptop with a webcam built in. I can avoid all the driver issues. And it really means that I don't want the camera and don't really care to bring in my computer to get it working.

Not an absolute solution, I am afraid. Drivers must be installed even on a notebook with a built-in wecam.

Usually, it is easier, but there still can be driver issues - my GF's Asus is having a hard time recognizing the webcam...

good luck

I eat at Phattalung occasionally, not bad. My favorite southern Thai place at the moment is a very informal spot near Wat Pong Noi on on Soi Wat Umong (if it's still called Soi Wat Umong at that point, not sure). If you're coming from the direction of Wat Umong it's about a km before Wat Pong Noi on the right and the Thai sign reads 'Mae Cha-em'. Hottest southern Thai curries I've ever eaten in Chiang Mai, Phattalung pales by comparison! Delicious khua kring.

I'll try to find it when I am back in CM. Something spicy would be nice - it is -14C here right now!

TWO STORIES AND AN UNBELIEVABLE IMAGE.

When I was learning how to drive, my father told me two stories about swerving.

Story One - he was on a long-haul Greyhound bus (in the 1950's), and was sitting near the driver. An auto in front of the bus blew a tire, and started veering all over the road. The bus driver (according to my dad), just too his foot off the gas and grit his teeth. Didn't swerve. Didn't hammer the brakes.

Fortunately, the car managed to get control and get out of the way. The driver told my dad afterwards that he would have run that car right off the road if he had to - must not, cannot swerve...

Story Two - Mum and Dad were driving across country, and saw a flipped car in a field to the side of the highway. they stopped and found a young mother holding her dead child. She had swerved to avoid a rabbit...

I have never forgotten those stories, and the few times that I have found myself in that kind of emergency driving situation, it comes back to me quickly. Good training would be nice for professional drivers.

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And while on the subject of driving in Thailand, I am sure that many of us feel we have 'seen it all'. Well, I saw one for the memory books.

I was driving south down Canal rd. between Huay Keow and Suthep rd. In that huge parking lot on the left, I saw it -- a woman pinned to a concrete support by a pick-up truck.

She was sitting on a concrete support for one of the lamp towers, and somehow - in this completely empty (and very large) parking lot, a pick-up truck had backed up (reversed) right up to her and pinned her legs against the concrete lamp support.

I immediately swung around to see if I could help (not being a great first-aider, I would have called a hospital or something), but there were already a couple of people there helping her, and one had already called an ambulance. While the woman was clearly in pain and shock, there was no apparent blood or anything on her legs. This meant that the pick-up had hit her so slowly as to not break skin.

And this was in the mid-afternoon - good light, etc.

Somehow, in an empty large parking lot, this truck had reversed slowly towards her and pinned her legs, without her seeing it coming. What the driver was trying to do is hard to fathom, and to not see a truck coming at your legs slowly is incomprehensible to me.

If it wasn't so sad (my guess is that she had multiple nasty fractures to both legs), it would be comical.

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So in general - expect the unexpected. If you are driving and you expect people to come flying out of a side soi, and then slam on their brakes, then... no surprise! If you expect that motorbike to take three lanes without shoulder-checking, then... no surprise. If you expect that big SUV to swerve 3 meters into your lane (when only half a meter would have done), then... no surprise.

Driving is different here, but at least many of the problems are predictable (even if the actions seem nuts to us - they are often predictable). Be safe everyone.

okok - maybe not FULL of nice people - but still plenty of them...

and some scary ones.

Gold real-Honda rims - Dunlop tires - and yes it's red.

Leave it alone - it's special.

It does Mae Sai in 3hrs 20min. Not surprising it's so fast - it's a 125!

Thanks everybody - saved me outrageous taxi fares!

I am in Hong Kong now (here they have FREE wifi at the airport!), and my GF has just told me that the bike was fine this morning when she got back to CM...

ThaiVisa.com is really a nice resource (and full of nice people too!)

Cheers, Mark

Can I park my precious little Honda Wave at CM Airport for one night?

Thanks, Mark

Bad Donnyboy. Bad!

Actually, they seem to use a mixture of cabbage with only a little potato.

(Don't see many soi cabbages in Tachilek either!)

YES - MOTI! That was the name.

Unfortunately, only ate their once. But I never forget...

I spent a year in Osaka, and one of the Italian/fusion dishes I remember was a pasta tossed with cream and salmon caviar (Ikura). Sorry to mention this on the Indian thread - but it was so good that I had to tell someone!

Back OT - I did go to the Sheraton buffet about a year ago - expensive and very fancy. Not great, but some interesting attempts at 'haute/buffet cuisine'.

The reason I mention this is that at the time there was a full Indian section on the buffet - big Indian spread - fancy fancy fancy. Nice, pleasant, ok, etc., but something not quite there - just like someone's comments on the Chedi's Indian cuisine.

The Sheraton is now something else and I don't know what they have there these days.

In Canada I make my own dosas in a big electric grinder I mailed home from India.

In CM I make my dosas from a mix that I brought back from Canada!

One more for you...

Pla Phao Pak Sod is the restaurant's name

The name means Grilled Fish and Fresh Vegetables!

They have 3-4 types of fish, cooked at least 10 different ways:

Gang Som - spicy soup - different from Tom Yam - chillies, turmeric, onion, lemon grass, lime, garlic all pounded into a paste

Yam - spicy fish salad

2 types of Tom Yam - spicy clear soup, or spicy coconut soup

Salt-coated whole fish - not too salty!

Pla Tod Sa Mun Pri - Deep fried whole fish with herbs

Steamed whole fish with lime - Pla Neung Manao

and some others! My GF is telling me these, as she knows them well, and I can't remember!!

It is on Canal Road, south of Suthep rd. about 5 minutes south on the left (east) side (she says 5 - I say 3! She says 'not 3, for sure')

It is just past a u-turn - maybe the first u-turn after Suthep rd (but that would make it less than 5 minutes - oh my GF just hit me because I never listen to her...)

And it also just past a gas station and a bar called 'Song Sa Leung' (all on the left)

- no english signs for the bar or the restaurant - too bad.

It is a really big restaurant - open walls. And it is right on the highway - not set back at all. You will see lots of motorbikes parked along the front. (Car park beside the restaurant)

They have a small English menu, but the restaurant has many other dishes on the Thai menu - sigh.

Cheap, and very big fish dishes. And a regular Thai selection of other dishes

And also try Pak Beung Tod - crispy-fried spinach-like vegetable - my GF's favourite!

If you can't find it, just ask. Anybody in the area should know (if you can get them to understand your Thai)

Very popular with university students

Hello Crow Boy

I hope you mean it is easy to toast pre-made somosas at home when you say "they are very easy to make at home"

While my own attempts always taste ok, I can not make nice looking somosas - sigh.

Just like my dim sum - delicious (I think) but just a little too ugly! Har Gow that look like lumpy pillows, and Gyoza that look like -- sorry, I don't know what they look like, but they at least taste like Gyoza

All this talk about Indian food made me hungry again last night. So I went for an Indian dinner (lunch was not enough).

Went to Bombay - and was very impressed.

Four of us - Somosas (nice, crispy, not greasy, basically potato). Papad - fried. Dhal - very good. Chicken Masala - good - too much potato and the chicken was a little dry. Bombay Aloo (potato) - nice and juicy. Sag paneer (spinach with cheese) - great, really great - the spinach was not loaded with cream like many others, and the palak was fried separately giving it a deep flavour and slightly crispy texture. Chipati - fine.

Four of us ate for 400 baht (only one lassi), and while full, none of us felt stuffed - a too common feeling after many Indian meals.

Two of the diners said it compared favourable to Royal (the new one), so that will be on my list when I get back in the New Years...

Hi,

I have tried the Japanese buffet at Central Doungtawan Hotel, and it is pretty good - but the sushi range is limited.

Hate to say it, but Nang Nuan is probably your best bet. And since sashimi is also on the buffet, they don't play that horrible game of giving you paper-thin slices of fish overloaded with great gobs of rice...

I like the teriyaki beef there too...

Bon appetit,

Mark

Favourite vendor? Not really. I think that there are only two or three carts, and they are probably the same family!

I now have a long-term visa, so I haven't been to Burma in a long time now. (The vendors are in Burma, of course. Not Mae Sai itself). The street carts were in the regular tourist market, just in from the border, and down the steps to the right...

A buddy went a few months ago and stumbled upon an actual restaurant where he bought me my somosas. They were more expensive than the street vendors (2 baht, not 1 baht), but they were bigger than the street ones - just as delicious!

My understanding is that most Indian food in Burma is done by Muslims - people with a high regard for quality of food and cleanliness, etc. The point being that they are all probably great!

btw individual somosas on the street carts were 3-5 baht each, but they will happily sell you 100 for 100 baht (maybe I paid 120 the last time)

Also, these carts have a few other 'fritters' - pakora/bujia, corn fritters, chilli-pepper fritters, etc., etc. Try them all, and then buy big bags full! Also, I suggest going to see them first and getting them to cook them at once. Get them to lay them out and let them cool - come back later to get them. Then you are not carrying around big steaming bags, and they should transport better. Don't forget to get bags of their spicy dipping sauce!!!!!

And let me know when the Somosa Party is!!!

good luck - but you won't need it!

Mark

p.s. If you spend the night in Burma, there is a great stuffed-roti (paratha? bathura? I can't remember exactly) stand that is open late. It is just at the end of the border street - about 100 meters in from the crossing - in a little square on the right. I ate two!!!!