Garry

Agreed, if folks want to wear whatever they please. Their choice, their skin, their life. They say pain is wonderful teacher, so I hope they never have to get taught the hard way.

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The bigger the end can, the easier it muffles the engine noise and the less chance of it robbing any significant horsepower from the engine,

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I've always used new crush washer if one is available otherwise I just turn it around and re-use.

I know of one bright spark who thought it was just a matter of tightening the plug a bit tighter.....which stretches the thread so next time the plug was out so was a lot of alloy from the thread!

Was the days before helicoils became popular, so it was an expensive fix.

I don't know how many people I come across with that thinking. On another note I converted my drain plug to a new style that uses an O ring. So far so good. Though I have kept the old drain plug and several new crush washers as back up. I also have new Orings as well.

Those stands look like a make called ABBA we have in England. Fantastic and much more stable than a paddock stand. Nice Ducati . Im slightly worried about the Hello Kitty situation.

I don't get your joke? Please explain to the dimwit (me)

I'm referring more to people who do their own maintenence- I've just heard a few disappointing stories from the various service centers in LOS?

I have a 20L bottle that I dump my old oil into- evey four changes I bring it to a local car service center and pay a few baht to have them take it off my hands.

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The manual of course says to use a new one, but an OEM crush gasket isn't always available- my price of 25 cents is delivered to an address in the US and brought over for me- it's not about the money, but rather the access to the part.

How are you liking your Bursig stand mate?

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Now I'm going to look for a fast road with sweepers rather than hairpins, which is more of the 14R's element- any suggestions, Mania?

For sure the road going from Chiangmai to Chiangrai would be a blast on the 14R

I would say go as far as Mae Suai & turn back at either the Hot Geyser or a little further is

a PTT complex with Amazon coffee/Black Canyon/7-11 etc

But that is a great ride for your bike & you will love the higher speeds & great sweepers

This pic is the geyser spot & the PTT spot further on about 5k?

Wish I could also show you a back way for the 1st section out of Chiangmai...lemme see if I can suss it out on a map

for you

Other wise just head out of CM towards Chiangrai & you will be on the main section

I'm quite sure you will be able to do it under 2hours + what ever time you stop at coffee etc.

A little over 50k each way if I remember right

22.jpg

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General comment. Most modern autos have an overspeed feature, regardless of gear selection. Get to know your vehicle. A good start is read the factory manual first. I have a MU7 which has an automatic gradient feature (my words) and the transmission will shift down by itself at lower speeds on an steep decent

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^ You can try getting small parts for your bike on your trip to Europe, that what I did for my Dragstar when I go to Canada.

I travel to Europe every year, but the bike was only made for the domestic market and rarer in the UK than Thailand, the Dragstar is a very common bike, incidentally one I quite like. Nice long wheelbase, shaft drive and nice engine, two of my friends have them and nothing goes wrong, it seems.

Mine is a 1983 Honda NV400 Custom, rectangular headlamp model made between 1983 and 1985, if anyone has one and could take a photo of the baffle I would appreciate that.

I had a (bought new) 2002 Yamaha XVS1100A DragStar in the Middle East. Absolutely faultless road bike. Ran like a Swiss Watch

.

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Cheers, don't think I'll be using it too much.

No one does. Except those with their Cap on Backwards .

Or those who have had many years of operating motor vehicles but very little actual experience driving.

You know, the people that cannot understand brake fade when travelling downhill for extended periods while riding the brakes, and go in to shock when they are rapidly approaching the back end a truck with nothing left in the brake pedal, wishing they had understood the basics of engine braking.

The + - allows you to go to manual override of the gearbox computer and use the engine as you see fit. Depending on motor revs/road speed the shift you desire may be denied to protect the engine, but with common sense it can be a very useful feature.

For example if there is a risk of becoming bogged, some auto overrides allow for a third gear start reducing the likelihood of wheel spin.

Another use can be when towing a heavy load and the gearbox continuously changes up down a gear, the manual override can be used to select and stay in a certain gear.

It is simply another tool for the driver to use if so desired.

Edit to add:

If you want "normal"auto just select D

If you want "manual" slect D then push the gear shift to the left, then up and down as you like. Have a play with it, you will soon work it out and can't do any damage.

The Fortuner manual I have read, even mentions to use the transmission via manual selection using engine breaking to assist normal braking,

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A bike back firing / popping under acceleration is a telltale of a lean condition. Popping under deceleration is not really a major issue unless it is quite severe.

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I think it's great that the police caught them. How many people have been severely injured or killed by this kind of robbery. That foreign lady in Bangkok comes to mind..tragic.

The ER-6N's seat height is about the same as the CB400 and SR400 (and a lot higher than the Steed's...)

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The Thailand DLA would make a fortune if they fitted red light cameras plus it would at times help record accidents.

RIP.

Really drives home the point that we all need to be safe out there. Here is someone on a high-viz bike who was still not noticed.

RIP to the rider... I can't count the number of times that some random driver / rider has pulled out in front of me without even looking to see if someone is approaching...

I adopt the attitude that every driver on the road in Thailand is trying to kill me... So far, so good, knock wood...

That is exactly what you have to do. You assume ANYTHING can and will happen. I will sometimes have a sixth sense about how a car is behaving in front of me. Even though there is no turn signal I will slow down until I'm sure of what they are doing. The same goes with cars parked on the street if I notice even the tinniest movement in the car I will give myself more room to maneuver..

Five and a half years here and so far, so good.

One Thailand is good for and that is developing your riding / road craft skills and situational awareness.

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hope it makes their lives a little easier, but to be honest what are the real benifits of being a thai citizen...a very different set of standards and benifits that are associated with First world Country citizenship

No visa issues for starters

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Nope, you can have 2WD, or on demand 4WD or constant 4WD.......Pay the dosh and get what you want....

Just to add. I work in the middle east and we have two export version Thailand Fortuners on site. 4.0L VVTi V6 petrol, 5 speed auto, AWD. Plenty of power and torque, speed limited to 190kph (I had to try it out). One has 177,000 kms on the clock and both still run like Swiss watches. I wish I could have one in Thailand.

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I had some time to get some photos for you. For sure due to its engine capacity it would be expensive in Thailand, but these are great vehicles. I would definitely own one in Thailand if I could.

Toyota Motor Thailand ID plate Engine 1GR-FE 3956 cc 01.jpg

Toyota Motor Thailand ID plate Engine 1GR-FE 3956 cc 02.jpg

Toyota Motor Thailand ID plate Engine 1GR-FE 3956 cc 03.jpg

I meant to add that it has a coil spring rear end as well

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Nope, you can have 2WD, or on demand 4WD or constant 4WD.......Pay the dosh and get what you want....

Just to add. I work in the middle east and we have two export version Thailand Fortuners on site. 4.0L VVTi V6 petrol, 5 speed auto, AWD. Plenty of power and torque, speed limited to 190kph (I had to try it out). One has 177,000 kms on the clock and both still run like Swiss watches. I wish I could have one in Thailand.

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I had some time to get some photos for you. For sure due to its engine capacity it would be expensive in Thailand, but these are great vehicles. I would definitely own one in Thailand if I could.

a menacing-looking matte black

All the guys with little todgers will be snapping them up!

How do you know? have you got one?

Don't feed the trolls mate

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I try to avoid riding at nightime in Thailand. Not worth the risk

Do I assume that most, if not all, Fortuners are 2WD and thus RWD ?

Nope, you can have 2WD, or on demand 4WD or constant 4WD.......Pay the dosh and get what you want....

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I don't think by the looks of the design that capacity can be changed, but what could be Changed if the swash plate is actually that and is variable, would be the compression ratio giving variable horsepower & torque. That could be quite useful for variable riding modes. From a hotrod guys perspective it also means that some kind of supercharging could be added. Really interesting possibilities.

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I can appreciate people being too entrenched to give e-bikes a serious thought, but they will replace combustion bikes and that process will start soon. Most bike trips are short, and although they might be scooters, what is learned over the first years e-scooters are rolled out will apply to bigger bikes.

Charging times and capacities are both dropping at significant rates - one company in Singapore is committed to a e-car battery that will charge in 3 minutes, and their prototype is ahead of performance targets so far... New chemistries are going to change power to weight ratios, and hitting 150 mile-range will very quickly be a non-issue.

RBS - what's with the need for a gearbox? Are you focused on engine braking? because if yes, these new e-bikes like the Lightening have pretty decent regenerative braking performance and slow up well when you roll off the power. I'll look for some vids I found on YouTube two weeks back when I get on a real computer and off this iPad... The rider, a track trainer, was very impressed with the performance and feel.

One final note - 20 seconds faster over a 10-minute run is a significant win 3% if my maths is right. Where's the toy in that?

Hitting the 150 mile range at a sedate pace and hitting it at or near peak power output are two very different things. Sure, gas mileage decreases when a bike is run hard, but these electric motors drain extremely quickly at that pace, and when it means several hours for a full charge, it's a concern. Three minutes sounds great- it is a long time off, though, and we're currently nowhere near it.

As far as the gearbox goes, I like the feeling of control and it makes me more a part of the process- if that's gone, I'd miss it as my input would have become less necessary, and I'd be more passenger than pilot. It's not about 'need'- it's about 'want'.

I'm not against E-bikes at all, but I see drawbacks to them as well as benefits.

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We use the 2010 Kawasaki ER6N. Bikes have had some small mods, rearsets, handlebars, levers, crash protection. Good to go fast and/or slow and great fun to ride. And before any more tossers come in with comments about "real sports bikes" or "not enough power" or "don't like the front end" or "for that money it's gotta be an R1" just save it. I've heard it all before and I'm not interested.

Bike rentals from beach road can be hit and miss [mostly miss]. Not for the inexperienced. Biggest single problem is not really bent frames or quality of spares but quality of tyres. They normally save money by putting Harley type cruiser tyres on the front which have an inner tube, harden up in the sun and basically offer almost no grip in the dry and zero in the wet. I've also seen sidewall repairs done with black window latex. I still get 2-3 phone calls a year from someone who has crashed at the track on one of these and is looking for a way to get the bike repaired without the rental company finding out. Very difficult BTW. That said, some people have rented 4-5 different bikes from some places and had no issues at all either with deposits or maintenance.

i believe, twin cylinder torquey engine of kawa er series are great for tight and short tracks in Thailand.

Kawa er series are good choices for track days here and also to rent.

OP, never rent a bike from a beach road shop and go to a track day. If they find out or if you crash, hard days sure awaits!

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The new track at BuriLam is fantastic, now rated in the top 10 in the world for cars (inc F1) and MotGP will be held there next year +

Hopefully they will be doing track days for bikes soon. They already do for cars.

Maybe www.highsidetours.com can shed some light on this?

Please.

yes I do know how to spell Buri Ram

+ you can watch the foote

When did Buriram international circuit get rated in the top 10 race circuits in the world and by whom?

it's only been open 6 months and as far as I'm aware has had NO international events to date!

But I notice it's changed it's name already Chang international circuit!

Buriram Circuit haw been accredited with Certificate FIA Grade 1. That means that they can hold events up to Formula 1. They just completed the first SuperGT race which was a total success, as they were under the microscope by the International community. WSBK 2015 has a proposed calendar which also includes a round in March 2015.

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