GizmoBKK

I do not know how long it will take to get to Chiangmai, or what route I should take. But, I do know that the guys on the sportbikes will have very sore wrists at the end of the ride.

well, my racing instructor told me those who get sore wrists don't know how to ride. you're supposed to get sore back and legs

Wish I could help you, Dan, but instead I can only add another question:

How long does that trip take?

I'm planning to take the BKK-Chiangmai trip with some friends, too, and we are already having an argument: one says it can be done easily within one day, another one thinks that's mad and we should include one overnight stay.

We all have big bikes (1000 cc up), but we also want to enjoy the ride and not just race.

So, comments? Thanks!

just found this overview:

http://www.chiangmaibikeweek.com/index.php...le&Id=62497

... 'Sucks. I hate those cops. They always seem to be on a power trip or something to and really rude and agressive. It seems like they pull me over for no valid reason, ...

no valid reason, huh? wondering what your US cops would do if they caught you riding without license.

safe ride

my personal recommendation for BKK is world bike zone

http://www.worldbikezone.com/

quite small shop, but very helpful staffs. they have maybe 10-15 2nd hand big bikes available at reasonable prices.

also have a good impression about the Ducati shop on Thonglor, and the Triumph dealer on RCA, but never bought a bike there.

i know that red baron has a good reputation, but when i was there and had a guy telling me "no accident" when i was examining the many not professionally fixed scratches on a bike, i felt it was time to leave this place and get my bike at WBZ.

Nice R1, one of 10 most popular sport bike brands on planet. This particular model was voted one of top 3 1000cc bikes of all times.

I assume no. 1 of the 3

My girlfriend says we are all just litlle boys, wanting to show off with their toys... Ok, here I join the club:

Hi Jamie,

None of the good shops I know are in the center of BKK. And I am not aware of any licensed Kawasaki dealer.

However, my personal recommendation is world bike zone; a small shop, but owner and staffs a re very helpful. They might not have much on stock, but I am sure they can order almost anything for you.

http://www.worldbikezone.com/

Many people like the Red Baron, but my experience is that staff there is not that good

http://www.redbaronbkk.com/

Biggest selection for anything related to dirt bikes is the Dirt Shop

http://www.dirtshopthailand.com/

Enjoy your shopping tour.

What about the HTC Touch Pro? Available in Bangkok? If so, what is the lowest price so far? Is it cheaper in KL?

Justin,

Man, I know love is blind, and the last thing you want to hear is a comment like mine, but let me tell you very bluntly: you are most probably very lucky that she refuses you as her boyfriend.

I may seem to be generalizing, but experience taught me that the so called "gems" in this business simply do not exist,

I don't know you, but apparently you don't know much about Thailand. I say this without arrogance, just would like you to be careful and most important not to lose your proper judgment and common sense because of a charming smile:

- I might not know Thailand very well either, but a "gentlemen's club" (or whatever), where so called ladies are paid to "entertain" their male (!) customers and where you CANNOT buy them out for sex – that my friend, I do not think it exists in the Land of Smiles....

- You say there is nobody paying for her. Sorry, how the h*ll would you find out about that? It is not uncommon that Thai girls "in need" are sponsored by a couple of men at the same time. Of course non of them is aware of any of the others.

- You say you are a senior manager. Thus, I assume you have a certain education and a minimum of intelligence that brought you into this position. Do you have the SLIGHTEST idea how different the two of you (probably) are in terms of social background, education, experience in life, values, and expectations in life? Or in short: would you ever date a "g club girl" in your country...?

Dude, once more, I don't know you, but there is a reason why someone said ANOTHER "my go go girl is different thread". Trust me, your story is very, very common, and even though I don't know you, you for sure don't deserve to run into your misery and ruin your life.

Take good care of yourself and best of luck.

Now here is my latest experience with Thai Airways:

In the past, whenever I wanted to go for mileage redemption, I felt I was too late and that the limited number of seats available for redemption were already gone (though "normal" seats to pay for were still available en mass).

Now I wanted to be smart and book my flight to Germany 3 months in advance. My intention was to buy an economy ticket and get an up-grade to business class on mileage. Guess what: now seats for redemption are not released, YET! They say I could buy the economy ticket and wait and see if up-grades will be available; no guarantees though.

This is ridiculous!

I thought frequent travelers are considered A customers and treated accordingly. Apparently not.

Consequently I have chosen now LTU/Air Berlin for my trip. No up-grade, but 10,000 Baht cheaper. Thai Air can have my Royal Orchid Card back.

The need to share personal experiences, prejudice, and polemics is well noted.

However, if you go back to the origin of this thread you will see that I didn’t ask for a collection of opinions. Rules and regulations come up due to certain reasons. Once the circumstances change, the regulations might be changed, too.

All I would like to know is the official procedure to initiate a change of traffic regulations in Thailand, and I expected to find educated and experienced people in this forum who are able and willing to share their knowledge.

There are a lot of mature Thai and Farang big bike drivers out there who should have the same rights as anybody else living (and driving) in this country (agree that expressway use e.g. > 400 cc only makes sense).

It would be a pity if what works well in so many other countries could not be implemented here.

Thailand traffic rules restricting roads for motorbikes (right lanes, fly-overs, and most of all expressways) might have been useful upon their introduction when the majority of bikes were small and slow.

Nowadays, with more modern bikes and quite a number of big bikes around, the suitability of such rules are at least questionable.

I know that the Thai government has much more important issues to deal with right now, but out of pure selfishness, I am wondering what would be the official way to initiate a change and get exceptions at least for big bikes. Does anybody know? I can assure you of my signature for a petition, so who is with me?

I am serious about this topic, so just keep unqualified comments for yourself. Thanks.

... Now I am debating whether I really should get it/need a larger cc bike.

look at it from a psychological perspective: you are already asking to completely different questions: whether you should GET it or whether you NEED it

I really don't think I need a larger cc bike...

No, you definitely don't NEED it...

...I'm thinking a larger sized motorcycle may be more of a pain to manuever between cars, and I do not know if I really will need the extra power. But then again, it is always nice to have more power. Anyways, opinions anyone? Thanks.

I think you know the answer already - or do you still want me to tell you that you WANT it?

Yes, it's simply nice to have the power you don't need. And chances are high that you will regret it if you don't buy it, since you say it's in a good condition and at a reasonable price. 400 cc is no issue manouvring through the cars; I have 998 cc and can catch up with all the scooters, and once I'm in pole at the traffic light...

Check however the cooling: the big bikes are not made for bangkok traffic, and i know some people getting their feet, legs, or more valuable parts of the body cooked.

Why don't you just give it a try; if you don't like it, you can sure sell it again.

Safe ride dude.

mgjackson69, thanks, wonderful post!

GIZMO where did you hire the super 4 in chiang mai?? want to do a doi inthanon run....

If I recall correctly, the place was called Tony's suberbikes. Didn't keep the phone number, but you should be able to google it or find it in a.m. link.

Doi Inthanon is wonderful for biking, but you might want to consider to get a bike with a some more torque than the CB 400...

Have a safe ride.

Service with Thai has always been good on board (not better than with most other airlaines though). But my serious concern is:

1) Price

According to my company’s regulations, we have to choose the cheapest airline. Thai Air has become so expensive that I haven’t used it for business purposes for about three years! Other star alliance airlines (e.g. Austrian) or LTU/Air Berlin are significantly cheaper with flights to Germany for instance. And service of Austrian is excellent and their seats very comfortable.

2) Mileage Redemption

Doing traveling on miles is always complicated. Usually I observe still many seats are available on a flight, but the budget for redemption seats already used up. Within the last 4 years I have done one flight on mileage redemption only.

Any other general advice on bike riding in Bangkok?

Wear a helmet, keep your eyes open, and train your sixth sense!

Have a safe ride man.

There is currently a kind of razzia going on and they focus for instance on Sukhumvit. From what I've heard they are trying a crackdown on the illegal bikes.

According to my own experience, cops will usually only stop you if you have violated traffic rules, so some of these rules (like not riding on the outer lane) you learn the hard way.

With regard to a farangs, they focus on the unexperienced ones. If I know I have done wrong, I will pay my 500 baht at the police station. I normally don't bribe the cops, because the whole corruption sh*t starts here – and we all know where it ends.

If I feel however they are trying to rip me off, I start making things complicated: asking to talk to the higher ranking officers (the 2 crossed swords is the lowest rank), insisting on having them writing down their name and number, and usually they would let me go...

I can't add to the recommendations I'm afraid....but

You say you arrive in Bangkok at midnight, by that I take it your flight arrives at Suvarnaphoom at midnight. By the time you have cleared immigration, got into Bangkok proper, found your hotel, checked in, and got out again it's going to be 2am at the earliest.

So can the previous posters confirm, are all the bars recommended still going strong at 2am or later?

sweetchariot made a point here. official closing hours are 2 a.m. the latest, and the places with a good reputation (Vertigo, Scirocco) will follow regulations.

for "after hours" places, ask your receptionist or PM me; you might also ask a taxi driver but chances of a rip off are high. and, however, even if Bangkok is considered a rather safe place, I wouldn't walk around the streets or even take a taxi alone as a woman in the middle of the night in areas you are not familiar with.

Carpe noctem!

Who is your "dealer"?

dotcom, i've just sent you PM to answer that

Of course i do not know if it's "real overheating" or the sensor "believes it's over-heating". but my legs also got really hot... anyway, i will see if the dealer can check that. thanks!

strangely there is only one fan (and considering the size of the whole radiator, the fan looks rather tiny. which leads me to the question: can i install a second fan???)

as mentioned, the fan will start exactly at 104 deg C (at least that's what the indicator tells), but i couldn't identify if the shut off is at a defined temperature, too. and I cannot figure out if there is a certain temperature when i can re-start.

Thanks for this valuable hint; I will have my dealer check on that!

The other thing I observed is that the cooling fan will always start at 104 deg C exactly, but then at something like > 110 deg it already cuts off. So I was wondering - if it is an inherent R1 problem and not any other damage - if

1) a stronger fan might help or

2) the control temperature could be manipulated in a way that the fan starts already at e.g. 100 deg C

I just bought a second hand Yamaha YZF R1 year 2004 with 13,000 km. Wonderful thing BUT: all the time in Bangkok's stop and go traffic, the engine shuts off apparently due to overheating. I am not talking about any warning lights or anything like that; I simply cannot restart the bike until it has cooled down which takes between 5 to 15 minutes. (And you may imagine how annoying it is to sit on one of the fastest bikes of the world, watching all these scooters pass by...)

There is a Yamaha shop on Ratchada, and 90 % of their bikes in the showroom are R1, so I do hope to find some other R1 riders around in Bangkok. Did you face the same problem? If so, what is the solution? And please don't tell me that Bangkok is simply too hot; in Japan or Europe, you also have 30 deg + in summer...

The international driving license is valid for one year. After that, you need the local Thai license.

HOW you get it HIGHLY depends on the local authorities. From my own bad experience I can only recommend to check carefully in advance what you need to bring, because definitely you will need a bunch of papers, typically a health certificate, sometimes a confirmation letter from your embassy. Normally you will have to do an "eyes test" and a kind of reaction test (very easy).

Best is to bring your valid (!) internatinal license. Sometimes a European one with a translation might do.

My international was expired, I had the European one , but no translation. So, besides the eye check I had to pass a theoretical exam (similar to the European) and a practical one (ridiculous! start, 5 meters slalom, stop, turn right. now i know why there are so many road accidents with bikes in Thailand!) The procedure took me the whole day.

Good luck and safe riding!