Dakling

Sorry to bring this back to topic but.... 3 quick tips I was taught:

#1 Look for the exit to the curve, don't focus on whats directly in front of you.

#2 Target fixation, you ride where you look. Don't look at the pothole you want to avoid look at the clear path around it. Look at dog = hit dog (ok, not always a bad thing).

#3 As mentioned before, practice your panic stops and don't fear the front brake. On anything other than farm equipment (aka Harley Davidsons), most of your braking power in a proper panic stop, when at speed, comes from the front wheel (70+%).

Hi all again

On the subject of trust, with family or workers. I trust mine to do the right thing. I am not on site 7 days a week, have 4 separate plantations. I do not sit looking over their shoulders, I let them do there job, but I can tell you within a kilo or 2 how much rubber each plantation will produce each tap. If you tell me how many full tapping days we will have in a certain month I can tell you how many kilos of rubber we should get.

I go out on my motorbike once or twice a week and turn up and have a look at what's happening. The workers know I know how much rubber should be there and if the take is down I want to know why. We have got rid of 4 tappers in 2 years. On selling day the wife, who keeps the books and the BIL will weigh the rubber and she will say how much do you think and I am usually within 50 kilos of what's there.

If you start tapping and are on top of every thing to start, things get easier as you go. It's a learning curve, but if you know your trees it's hard for anyone to slip any rubber away.

Once in awhile I will take my hammock out to a plantation and stay the night, if that day the take is up you know something is amiss. Your tappers will get the message and they will fall into the routine. It's all about people skills and as I said in rubber 101 if you have a good tapper take care of him. When one of them comes to me because they are short of money for something, I will lend it. I know I will get my money back as I pay them. If one needs time off while his wife has a baby or something, we help out.

You earn respect and loyalty it's not a given. Jim

Brilliant post Jim

That is exactly how I hope to manage my farm once it starts producing. Be involved and know what is going on but not micro-manage and watch people work 24/7.

Good on ya.

As for the above statement about "until the rubber starts to flow", I think you shoulkd re-read Jim's comment (analogy) of the tree growing money not rubber and then you may understand that no-one cares about rubber but money now that's a different matter.

My point was, it is pretty easy to keep track of whats going on for now as the trees are not producing yet. Once they start producing things will get more interesting because the opportunities for theft will increase tenfold.

My wife is tighter with the purse strings than I am as well. We are lucky though, it looks like only half the family are untrustworthy. My wife's mom pretty much runs the show and she figures that I and the missus have helped out enough so she keeps the brood in line. If she weren't there it might be a different story. My wife and I are both ready to sell at a moments notice if things start to go sideways and the land is already worth much more than we bought it for so I am not too worried.

I may move to the farm and directly manage it once it starts producing anyhow. Just enjoying mucking about with the farm to date. If I was relying on it for retirement or something like that I would be much more concerned.

Hmm. I love my CBR in town and for mid range hops.

A big engine is bloody hot in town and no mistaking it.

All bikes have their place.

There is NO point buying a big bike if 90% of your time is short hops around a big city like Bkk.

Bit if you do longer trips or have access to good open roads, it's another story.

A price and a place for everything!

That's what I was trying to get at. Enjoy the bike for what it is, a great little all rounder. Don't get hung up on trying to mod it into a real sport bike.

whats the cheapest mods to get a bit of real speed out of these new 250r cbrs ?

according to my old drinking buddy 22 hp is a joke from a modern 250cc "sportsbike" but he comes from another generation

where things like noise ,pollution and emission tests were probably never even considered

That NSR500 that Freddie was riding was reputed to be one of the hardest race bikes to ride well, ever (next to the gamma). It and its generation of 500cc two strokes were making insane power in narrow power-bands and the frames and suspensions of the era didn't really match the power on hand. Those bikes were also factory race bikes, not super-sport modified commercially available bikes. The commercially available NSR400 was a very different bike from the F1 bike but it was still a blast. Two friends of mine got them when I got a VFR500, needless to say they were faster than me on their bikes but they had all the hassles of finicky 2 strokes while I had a nice V4 four stroke that was easy to ride and reasonably fast.

The CBR 250 is a completely different kettle of fish and was never meant to be a race bike. It is a brilliant quarter litre all-rounder but it is not a proper sport bike, otherwise it would have, a peakier power delivery, fully adjustable suspension, a more rigid frame and swingarm, bigger wheels, less comfortable ergonomics, shorter range, more expensive fuel, etc, etc, etc. If you really want a sport bike but can't afford the $ you might be better off buying an older CBR400 or VFR400 and update them. Trying to convert a CBR into something it was never meant to be would be a more difficult and costly proposition.

Just save up and buy a used 10yr old CBR/GSXR/YZF/ZX etc.

I just figure that no matter what I do I will still get "cheated" somewhat. Provided I still make reasonable returns I am not to worried about it, if they start to take the piss that's when we will sell. Thus far the everything appears to be above board but until the rubber starts to flow its difficult to know how the fam damily will behave.

Hey,

Want to Know which helmets is the best?

http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/

Enjoy !

Sylvain

Nice link, I like the comment on the sight at the end of the ratings explanation where they recommend that proper fit is the most important element of helmet selection.

I am not too happy that my HJC IS-16 was rated poorly on side impacts, I guess I better crash head-on rather than try avoid the hit and pull a high-sider.

One other note on helmets is that they should be replaced every few years even if you don't crash in them. Hopefully, everyone knows to bin them once you do crash with it (provided it takes a hit that is).

I am no expert but I would say the FIL is quite bright with this investment. After all his other options are buying rental properties (he may already have some of these too), investing in the SET (risky to put too much money in a small exchange) or just putting the cash in a 2-3 percent long term interest investment. I am not sure if it is true or not but I have heard it is difficult for Thais to invest offshore and the mutual funds that mirror offshore are relatively new and have high MERs. All in all I think a good investment considering his options. And as far as I am concerned that is one hell of a nice gift that I would not be looking in the mouth.

The land I bought was much less expensive but it had no trees and is of dubious title (not even a sor por kor, yikes!). I am sure I would have paid about 4 or 5 times more if it was chanote. I think actively managing the farm for a while and then handing it off to a manager is a great idea. If you are actively involved you will have a better idea on what your production expectations should be. After you hire a manager, I would suggest paying him relatively well but let him know you have (reasonable) expectations around yield and that if they aren't met you will soon be looking for his replacement. Then if he finds ways to up yield while he is stealing from you, at least you will receive your target revenue. I would target based on kilo's rather than Baht though as the price will be out of his control. Make sure he keeps daily records and records all sales, kilo's and Baht.

In any event roll with it and have fun. After all it was a gift, even if you don't make the $30,000/year, you are still well ahead of where you were before receiving the farm.

Don't get too stressed on the top end helmets, Shoe, Arai, etc. Many of them cost a fortune because of the exotic materials required to pass the Snell test. The Snell test has an element where a helmet has to take a second blow on the same spot and pass an accelerometer test. This generally is not what is going to happen to you in a crash and some think that the extra rigidity required to pass this test can actually be a negative as it results in higher acceleration in the initial impact. Just make sure that the exterior shell is a proper material that will resist penetration and that the cushioning inside is sufficient to absorb one big hit. After that fit, vision, comfort and a removable liner are likely the most important features. Get a good helmet but don't think that a 30,000 baht arai is necessarily any safer than an 8,000 baht HJC. If you are unsure if a helmet is "too cheap" do some internet research. If the outside shell is a hard candy coating with a hello kitty sticker, you might wanna move on.

When I first started riding there was no such thing as a sony walkman let alone an iPod so I rode for years without tunes. Now I ride with tunes all the time that I don't have a pillion. If I have a pillion I like to be able to hear them scream. I think it is a bit dangerous to ride with tunes blaring but when I ride I am very conscious of the fact I can't hear with the ear buds in, so I have my head on a swivel. Motorcycle mirrors generally suck but I do use them.

I also try to keep a pace faster than most traffic so I am overtaken rarely but you still gotta check. It could just happen to be the day that little Somchai is out taking his dad's Porsche out for a spin and is overtaking you at 250 km/hr when you pull out into the passing lane thinking you are the fastest mo-fo out there. You always gotta check.

When I get at all fatigued the music gets turned off and I use ear plugs. I find standard in ear foam plugs great for damping wind noise and engine noise but they don't seem to impact my overall hearing. If anything they seem to heighten my hearing of higher pitch things like tires on concrete, horns, etc.

Granted I might be a bit of a "special" case I have hearing loss in the mid range from childhood so the earplugs might just normal me out.

This is old but still impressive, guy doing timed laps around Paris on open roads. Pretty foolish and dangerous for other drivers too but guy does have mad skills, big balls and little sense.

High speed cirquit of Paris

One note is that the guy has since died, my guess is that it was in a crash but I don't know for sure.

I would try wide open until she starts punching you in the kidneys. At that point back off 15 km/hr. If she bitches too much, leave her at the restaurant and she can thumb her way home.

Ok the above was a joke, my advice is speed is not as scary as being jerky and having rapid changes to speed or your line. Try not to accelerate or brake too quickly and slowly add speed, she will be more comfortable that way and won't really notice the pace. Set up a signal where she can let you know if she is getting nervous.

I love the 650 BROS, or "Hawk" as it was called in North America. Very nice bike but a bit long in the tooth these days. Very reliable in their day but god only knows how many KM are actually on the bike at this point. Back in the day I used to see guys passing sport bikes on anything twisty with the BROS. Lightweight, narrow body, excellent suspension (for its day). Most importantly, a nice V-twin naked bike that looks, sounds and behaves different from your ubiquitous inline 4 full faired bikes. If you think you can get a plate on it, I would go for it.

ABS is like a good helmet. You don't need it... until you do!

+1

+2... But I'd add that good tyres are equally important to the equation!

I would argue good tires are MORE important. ABS can only use the traction available. Nothing is more important than good sticky tires.

We used to have an annual event in Alberta

Hi Kwonitoy, I am in Alberta now. Nice time of year to be here. Hope to be gone before Nov.

Where are you at in the WildRose Province?

I'm originally from Camrose.

Being gone from Canada is definetly smart around Oct/Nov before you're A## deep in snow.

I am in Cowtown,

Camrose is beautiful country. Other than the persistent banjo music that is

We used to have an annual event in Alberta

Hi Kwonitoy, I am in Alberta now. Nice time of year to be here. Hope to be gone before Nov.

I would love to meet up with you guys but I wont be back in Thailand until Nov-Dec time-frame.

Based on IA's general direction of " I am about 40 kms south of Sisaket Muang, off the 220" from the other thread I figure his place is quite close to the wife's family village though they are about 30 south of Muang Si Saket off the 221.

When I get back to Thailand, I won't be moving to Issan full time but I will likely be back and forth regularly and I find I get bored pretty quickly when I do so if its ok, I would love to pop by for a visit and see your farms.

I think I read somewhere on the DBS site that some of the local slip ons would gain maybe 1-2 hp and the full sytems he usually makes aim for a 5-6hp gain.

I would be very skeptical about those claims. Those kind of gains would be achievable on an a liter bike but I can't believe you would ever see them on a 250. 1-2 hp is approx a 3-7% power gain, 5-6 would be a 20-25% power gain. Unless they have the exhaust funneled to work like a jet propulsion system your never gonna see that. I would think you would be more likely to see a 0-2% gain from a slip on and a 1-5% gain from a full system. Re-programing the EFI system with a "power commander" or similar tool would likely get you closer to the upper ends of those ranges and simply resetting the ECU (or not bothering), would keep you at the lower end of the ranges.

I don't know if the engine can accept a big bore or a stroke kit but that is what I would wait for if I was gonna try make more power. Otherwise I would just go with the slip-on for the weight and appearance gains, not big on loud exhaust myself. Granted my old VFR800FI (pre-Vtech) had a beautiful over-fueled burbling exhaust note when you would cut the throttle for a low speed corner. Made it kinda sound like a mini over muscle car with a hot cam.

Has anyone heard of any bore kits available for a CBR 250 yet?

My understanding of the general difference between a slip on and a full system(let's assume it's made by the same manufacturer) is that while the slip on might look good, sound good and be lighter than stock it won't achieve anywhere near the same performance increase as changing the whole pipe. From memory most of the European slip ons available show dynos of the full system and I know from reading the comments on the DBS website that he hasn't put a new slip on for the cbr 250 up for sale as it didn't increase horsepower at all.

My 2 cents......

I absolutely agree with your point about minimal power gains from a slip on, this is certianly true in most cases. I would also suggest that the gains from a full system are usually over stated as well. Often the real gains you see when bike dyno's are compared to stock have little to do with the new exhaust system itself even with a full system. Many bikes are rejetted (old school - carbs) or re-mapped (newschool - EFI) to change the fuel delivery at the same time that the new pipe is installed. You NEVER see anyone remap the FI system with a stock pipe and dyno the bike, and then put on the new exhaust system and then re-dyno it. I think this is because no one wants to show that the majority of the power gains are due to the remapping and not the new pipe. Stock bikes now have to meet very strict emision standards and that means the fuel injection system is not mapped for full power from the factory. Note remapping is not the same as a simple ECU reset because when the ECU resets it will try to go back to the same fuel/air ratios as before just updated for any changes to the airflow.

The gains on re-piping a stock 250cc single should be pretty minimal since there is only the one header so there are no gains to be made on smothing the flow where multiple headers would meet. The only other real area where you might make gains would be if there were sharp bends or sudden changes in diameter and honda is unlikely to have designed a system with those elements in it. My guess is that the stock system has the same or a higher diameter than the exhast ourt outlet on the cylinder head anyhow so upping diameter wont have that much impact and can actually cause problems if it is not matched properly to the exhaust outlet port on the head. You can actually reduce low end torque if you have too little back pressure. Granted the very expensive top of the line full systems will have some benifits because of their advanced design and manufactoring processes that result in very smooth airflows but your typical low end systems wont do so.

I think I might try find more gains on the inlet side of the engine. Either that or wait to see what kind of big bore kits become available or a racing cam with more agressive valve opening angles, or bump the compression. Granted those types of mods will often reduce engine life, require octane additives and make the bike less "streetable".

I really like the CBR 250 and I think it is an excellent little all-rounder but it is not a "real" sportbike. I am planning on getting a CBR250 in a few months and when I doubt I will bother with trying to make any additional power out of the engine (unless a really good big bore kit becomes available). The only mod I might make on power is to change sprockets to gear it lower (which really does nothing to the engine power anyhow).

Personally if I figure if you want to accessorize your bike for your own pleasure go for it and have fun. On the other hand, if you want to make real power, you need a different engine configuration (not a single) and more displacement. If you want true sportbike perofrmance it will be more bang for your buck to just buy a 600cc supersport bike like the CBR600RR or if you don't have the money for that, buy a used VFR400 or CBR400.

Mods I'd like to do on CBR 250 in order....

1) Tires (no brainer)

2) Cosmetic (tank protector, change the silver plastic bits to black stock look too plasticy, maybe a new windscreen, paint the plastic tailpipe guard black)

3) Comfort/convenience/practicle (grips, removable rack/box, seat, rearsets, framesliders, lights, mirrors, bar ends, tank bag, floor stand)

4) Sprockets and chain (as a fat bastard I need all the low end grunt I can get)

5) Slip-on (not obnoxiously loud)

6) Cleanable/reuseable high flow air filter (perhaps mod the airbox too)

thats my list but to each their own.

Sorry got carried away, post is stupid long....

I like rabbit meat and mentioned to my wife that maybe we could raise a few rabbits. She was horrified at the thought of eating rabbits. She says Thai people regard rabbits as cute pets and would never consider eating them.

Perhaps not all Thai people. My wife thinks rabbits make good eatin'. My guess is that while you wouldn't likely get much of a premium over pork or chicken on a baht/kilo basis, you could definitely sell the meat. Not sure if it would be worth the bother though. For some reason I have it in my head that rabbits are hard to keep in quantity, they get stressed, diseased and fight and die. I would say go for it for a small scale fill your own pot approach. Rabbit meat is a bit fatty but definitely delicious in stews and meat pies. Yum.

Hi all

I figured I would bump this quality thread by asking a stupid question.

I have read through the forums numerous times and I am still having trouble getting it straight in my head how the actual pricing for rubber works. For simplicities sake I will confine my question to cup lump rubber.

I was just looking at the pricing at the Thai Rubber Association website and they are quoting ~125 baht/kg for lump rubber. http://www.thainr.com/en/?detail=pr-local

I am curious to understand how that relates to the price that a producer actualy receives. For instance is that 125 baht reduced for moisture content or is cup rubber consistent enough that the water content is already factored in. Is that a retail price that is discounted by the factories that buy it as a way to increase their margins?

At the end of the day, if you have a reasonably good quality tree producing the equivalent of 1kg of dry rubber/month during its productive months would you recieve approximately 125 baht per tree in gross sales (gross as in prior to splitting profits with cutters, transportation, fertilizer or any other other operating expenses)?

For example if 1000 trees produced 1000 kg of lump rubber in one month your gross rubber value would be 1000kg x 125 baht/kg = 125,000 baht. ( I had thought to make about 1/2 that much from 1000 trees).

These numbers seem to good to be true to me so I am sure I have gone wrong somewhere. I know prices fluctuate and are pretty high these days but I am more curios to see if my thinking is wrong on the calculations rather than getting too concerned on future price trends.

We are selling tomorrow. 3000 to 4000 trees, 1700 kilos or there about of RSS. I will take home over $4,000 US in my pocket for the month. Or should I say I will get 30,000 Baht for beer money and the wife will get the rest. Jim

Jim

Sounds like your well sorted.

I would be happy with the 30,000 baht a month. I only have 2,000 trees, won't be actively managing our farm and we won't be making RSS so my guess is I won't make anywhere near the money you are making but even $1,000 per month is great for me. Keeps the wifes family employed and keeps me in beer. I have another 10 rai that we (wifes family), are doing casava on for now but I may shift it to rubber in the future as well. I am only doing the casava to bridge until the trees begin producing and at that point will want to do something different, likely rubber or palm oil. Not sure if there is enough rain for palm oil but others in the area are doing it and the water table seems quite shallow on our land, irrigation should be easy if required.

At the end of the day I just love the idea of having a farm, its a cheap way of keeping the inlaws employed and the supplimental income stream will be nice.

Thanks for all the information you have posted to date, it has been good to have a source of information to test the inlaws ideas against. Luckily one of the inlaws actually worked in the south of Thailand on a large rubber plantation for about 10 years, his comments line up very well with what you have posted.

Ray, Sorry for the thread jacking. Now lets hear it from the sugar producers out there.......

About 30 km from here an Aussie guy has 25 rai of 11 year old trees. The trees have never been taken care of, though he paid for the work and fertilizer etc none of the money went into the trees.

Hi Jim

Any specifics on what this guy did wrong? Was it as simple as people stole the money for fertilizer and the trees were never fertilized or was it more a lack of knowledge issue (ie. they didn't limb the trees as they were growing)? I just planted a bit over 2000 RRIM600 trees on around 25 rai in Si Saket and am trying to make sure I don't do anything too stupid. Other than keeping the grass around the trees down, limbing the trees and fertilizing I can't think of much else that needs to be done to ensure the trees prosper and yield rubber when mature.

I don't plan on the rubber being anything other than a supplimental income source so I don't need to have the highest yeiling, best managed farm in Thailand or anything but I do like to do things the "proper" way. After paying for the trees, having them planted and fertilized and caring for them for 7 years I would be gutted if the trees were so poor that they weren't even worth cutting.

PS> I love the blog, it's interesting to see how many folks end up in rural Thailand via different routes.

So, after fitting the top box last weekend the GF and I went for a run in the country to see how it changed the bikes dynamics. I've discovered the hard to engage when hot first gear is still hard to engage. The tingles through the handlebars make my right hand completely numb after 40 or so Km's. And the rattles at idle are still rattling at the same rate!

I have had problems in the past with some bikes not wanting to be downshifted into first (specifically a CBR 954 though it was not the only example, just the worst). I would have to kick the lever pretty good and then they "clunked" into gear in a pretty violent way. I always figured that it was a problem with syncing because the gearing in first was so low and having to go past neutral in the shift. Two things that greatly reduced this for me were: a) never downshift to first unless coming to full stop or close to it, and b ) when I had to go to first, pop it into neutral then let out the clutch for a second then try shift back into first using the clutch again of course (kind of like double shifting a truck). Not sure if this will work for you but give it a try. Shifting in and out of first is always a bit tougher than the other gears. It is the only shift that I use the clutch on when up-shifting.

Hello to the Thai Rubber Farmers Secret Society, it doesnt really bother me whether you rubber farmers post a start to produce with fert regimes or not, im not into rubber, im just thinking of newbies who might be,

The site i posted was the result of a google search "thai rubber farming" so thats what a newbie will see, in reality, its far from the truth,

Not sure what your looking for but if you figure folks have some obligation to post a "Rubber Farming for Idiots" guide then I think your misguided. I think there is lots of info here if you are willing to look. Is it well organized? Maybe not, but you can find most of what you need to know.

Trying to write a definitive guide on web boards like this simply opens you up to flame responses and ridicule. Not only that but most folks just post what they are doing and what seems to work for them, most aren't trying multiple approaches in controlled settings anyhow so they can't definitively say what is best. Sometimes, I would like to see the farm forum split into more specific sub forums when I am looking to view old subject specific posts but on the other hand some of the sub forums would receive so little traffic they would soon likely die. Leaving it as is with the existing search function is good enough for me.