Munchausen

Day 2: I couldn't give a flying crap about the break-in guidelines now actually, I'm having so much fun on this bike...in fact, I defy anyone to adhere to 4000 rpm for longer than 2 minutes, the bike simply begs to be whipped to the max rpm.

So I picked up my Ninja yesterday.

The service in the shop was good, they all speak reasonable English, however no English user manual, no full service manual, no helmets, no registration plates yet, but no surprises there really. To give them their credit, they did everything they could to help and they sourced me a brand new helmet. Expect between a 1-1.5 hr processing time.

I rode straight back down to Pattaya on the bike completely ignoring the 4000 rpm break-in limit and for my sins the heavens opened going past Khao Kiow.

If you ride low the bike will get up to 165km/ph no problem and it feels very stable. Pulling away from traffic lights its nice to be able to dust the rest of the rabble.

The Thai spec has a temp guage rather than a fuel guage and an auto choke.

I did over 200km on it yesterday, all I can say is the bike is super fun to ride, it has more than enough power for any situation and its very forgiving. Me so happy!

If you see a green ninja around Pattaya in the next few days, that's me, give me a hoot.

See you on the roads fellas.

Munchausen

@cresstt If Tiger is using a Honda clone engine, can you maybe specify which Honda engine they cloned?

boxer is using the famous single cylinder sohc honda engines which is used on the CG(125), XR(185,200) and CRF (150,230) since the 70s with different stroke and bore, hence the displacements varieties. Currently most of these engines are manufactured in CHina by either Lifan or Zongshen. On my Boxer, there are a lot of ZS markings on the innards of the engine. So I believe TIger is using Honda-clones engine manufactured by Zongshen.

A lot of these honda-clone engines are making a comeback and used on dirt bikes. There are some being used on street bikes like the Zongshen GS200. Check out www.chinariders.net, a us based website with chinese dirt bikes majority equipped with these honda-clones.

Try to do a search using the keyword "zongshen" on ebay and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Interesting, everyone knows China has had a reputation for producing lower quality, copied lower priced goods but I believe that quality gap has closed significantly and now Chinese manufacturers are trying to shake that stigma. If China is 01 then the machines are already taking over.

In reponse to HangDongRider...

It's Songkran, you can't rush the Thai's over this period, in case you're not familiar, it's basically where the whole country grinds to a halt while people travel to their home towns to spend time with their friends and family, and throw water around of course. I know Khun Piti and his staff are all on holiday, I suggest you try contacting after the festivities and I'm sure they will be more than helpful.

Also spoke to the main guys at Honda and Yamaha. Don’t expect any surprises so they say, Yamaha will not be releasing a 150cc anytime soon as the market for it in Thailand is small, less than 1 percent, they didn’t even know about it, had to show them on their website, also Honda who will be sticking an ‘i’ on all their new models told me, and this is the Honda designer speaking here, ‘no real changes to the CBR150 other than slight fending and decals’. But hey what do they know right? I get the same feeling talking to these guys as when asking a Thai directions, the accuracy of the answer and the infection of confidence are never equal.

OK, spoke to the president (Khun Piti Manomaiphibul) of Tiger motorcycles and his secretary (Khun Panadda Lekavuniviset, [email protected], mobile: 0819075814) at the BITEC motorshow earlier last week. Both have been most helpful and informative answering my questions thus far.

Incidentally they have launched a new or modified bike the Tiger Boxer 250 RS which is rather interesting for a company apparently going out of business (if you listen to all the rumours floating about the cyber knitting circles). Costs Bt 69,000 and it looks great by the way though I have yet to test drive it.

The main factory address is 199 Moo 8, Buddharaksa Rd, Tambon Taibanmai, Amphur Muangsamutprakarn, Samutprakarn, 10280, Thailand, tel: 023880868, fax: 023872842 . I suggest the doubting Thomas’s get the answers to their questions direct from the horse’s mouth.

Post up if you contact them as I also want to hear what they have to say. Cheers guys.

I've been reading with interest the threads about the Honda CBR 150cc. Although it seems everyone is happy with theirs I was wondering what alternatives are out there in the 150cc - 200cc bracket. I know the Phantom 200cc is an option which is around the 86 - 87,000 BHT mark & Richard-BKK speaks highly of the Boxer Tiger bike 57,000BHT. I have tried to find out about the Boxer without much success but am unsure about where to buy plus how to go on with spares / repairs (I live out of BKK). I also think Richard is right when talking about the Kawa Boss & waiting until they up-grade to 200cc, I'm sure this will happen.

Can anyone recommend an alternative along with price ?

Thanks

C.

This is the first bike I learned to ride on in Indonesia and is why I took the time to find out details. The Tiger Boxer 200SE can be bought in China Town, Bangkok, Bt 57,900 for the standard model, Bt 63,000 for the upgraded model (change to bigger disc brakes, more aluminium parts etc). You will notice that all the Bangkok police are sporting Boxer's so if you have police connections then you might be able to strike a better deal because they obviously buy in bulk. To find the place you must ask around in China Town, hop on the back of a motorbike taxi and they will take you there, it's a little corner shop (026927927 was the number on the back of their brochure) and they build them to order from kits.

IMO there is no comparison in terms of build and quality compared to the Honda CBR150R, though it's not a bad bike.

Waiting for Honda's new 2008 model myself, have it on good authority that Honda is releasing 6 new bikes in 2008, some small some big, all of which will have injection systems. The last CBR 150 was released in June 2007 according to the shop users manual so it's about due. Wait till after the coming Bangkok motorshow is the word.