dictater

Is there any update on border crossing in Mae Sot? Is there still Myanmar 'visa'on arrival. The border that was open briefly in Kanchanaburi changed and now a proper visa from Bkk is needed just to cross and come back. I am doing a 90 day on a multi entry B, so the tourist visa thing is not an issue, just wondering if Mae Sot has stayed the same or changed?

Meanwhile any Thai person can open a massage shop, hang out their shingle and start adjusting peoples backs. I know of numerous people who have suffered long time injury from Thai masseurs who have no license, no certificate and no problem operating legally.

So tired of reading these loss of face excuses, If that was a Thai friend of mine he would have gone ballistic and started a fight with all of them, yes I have seen it, these guys weren't just hanging out, they were starting trouble.

The only true locals in any of those areas are the Karen, and the government effectively got rid of them by refusing them

citizenship a long time ago. There is no visible protection of the park areas once you get away from the main attractions, and illegal logging, planting and building is rampant. The River Kwai valley has been developed so quickly in the last ten years there will be little of it left in ten more. It will just be another Pak Chong with condos for the rich built into every hill and overpriced resorts no one will go to.

Thai policemen hitting detainees is per rigor. Just like teachers hitting students in the government schools its totally expected and accepted by most of society. I've seen people hit on the side of the road here during traffic stops. Then again I was beaten by the NYPD when I was teenager with night sticks. Its what cops do all over the world, its the reason most cops become cops. The only dumb he did was record to show the world what a tough guy he is.

There is no excuse for this of course. There is also no reason for this. But when pointing fingers at the people in the south and saying why are you inciting violence and calling for separation lets not forget the Thai governments treatment of that area, and the over all opinion of 'Thai' people concerning the population of those three provinces, and of course any foreigners. As far as what could push Thai people to murder? By observation murder is about two sour smiles from disappointment and anger.

Sounds like I should be looking at about 5-6 for the pair then, Im not in BKK but would order, going to have a look around the net, anyone know a good site to order tires. I dont think my guys trying to screw me since I've been using him a long time but he might be getting screwed and or looking at some other top end pirellis. I know his Thai customers get the very top end but lets face it folks were talking about a CBR 250 here.

Im looking at the same thing for my 250, My IRC are shot though I got a lot of K's out of them and just got a price for Pirelli's from my local guy (not honda service center) which was 8k for both. That's a little over twice the price as the stock tires, does any one know if that sounds right?

They should have deported him because he was working without a permit

Which planet are you from? Would love to know which country considers begging a "job"... do you get social security with that "job"? what diploma's are needed?

almost like saying you need a work permit to breathe... you are converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, so technically you are working :/

He's earning money in Thailand, therefore its a job. If you don't have a work permit you are not allowed to earn money here, end of story, even if that money is coming from another country.

Ponchi's post is the true attitude of most Thai people I know, including friends and girlfriend. Whenever I have had a discussion with Thai friends about anything controversial that happens involving Thailand the answer is knee jerk nationalism and this comes from people educated at the best universities in the country. Where are those TV commentators who apologize for the ignorant, racist, nationalist Thai laws and conduct in the face of a story like this. And its not a new story and its not isolated to fishing boats; its the same for immigrants who come to work on building sites, rice and or rubber plantations not to mention domestic help. Lets not make any mistake about what Thai's think about the rest of the world. Mr. Ponchi has demonstrated it nicely here.

I have done regular maintenance on the bike, it needs some of those things done now and I will get it all done in BKK, when I say performance Im talking about the way it sounds passing through revs up to about 7k and the way the pressure sounds when it starts, it doesn't back fire but its not a clean start up, there a little hesitation, almost a cough, which is fairly new. I know exactly where it came from new, the same shop that told me I needed a new crank shaft when I needed to replace the CCT, so im not going back there again, not even for an oil change. I just think its amazing that Honda doesn't force their franchise owners to train at least their head mechanics to fix/ service the bikes they sell. I was told once by one of the head mechanics here that he has to go to BKK every year to get retrained on all new bikes but that's obviously not true for the 'big bikes'.

For KRS1, I already replaced the CCT, I started that other thread a couple months ago. When I say it starting to show I mean performance wise. So Sumet is the one and only shop in Thailand that can adjust the valves on these bikes which are being sold all over the country - incredible. There are going to be a lot of scrapped CBR 250's in the next couple of years.

Is there ever any good news coming from either Phuket or Pattaya? Everyday its murders and people "falling from balconies" and lady boys chopping up middle easterns and feeding them to trained cockatoos. Where is the fun in these places? I have live in here for ten years and Phuket and pattaya are the only two places I haven't been and its mostly cause I read this forum and think why would I go there and get robbed and stabbed and assaulted by dim witted motorcycle gangs packs of viscous foreign hooligans. There must be something good about these places but what?

This kind of harkens back to my original post but im still looking for the correct information concerning getting the valves/ tappets adjusted on my CBR 250. As I've written earlier I live in Kanchanaburi and dont trust the shops here to do really anything, but I'm pretty sure my CBR has never had the tappets/ valves adjusted and its starting to show. I thought I could just take it to the big wing center in BKK but was told recently that they wont service a 250 they havent sold, I've written them a few times with no response. Does any one know if for instance Pechaburi or even Hua Hin has a real functioning Honda service center thats capable of doing this? Where has anyone else had it done? Am I going to have to get in there myself with hammer and tong and make an even worse mess of it?

I already tossed out the old one, before I did though I retracted the plunger/ piston and let it wind back out a couple of times and really couldnt see any problem with it, It may be worth your while to pull it out, retract the plunger, spray it with some kind of sonex or WD, wipe it back down and re-install to see if it was just sticky. Just make sure you keep the plunger retracted as you bolt it back down. I had already bough the new one and so just installed it. Let us know.

that's correct #4, I have read about people rigging the OEM ones to work but it seems like it me be worth getting an ape CCT if there is one, then again one every 20-30k is no big deal.

The cct is part #4 in that picture, its an exterior part, 11,8,9 are all part of the cct. Salapo do you mean that you've been through 4 CCT's ? Any one try an APE CCT on this bike?

Hey Im the OP for this thread and replaced my CCT already. I dont have the part number but your local honda dealer will have a manual with both English and Thai (or at least mine did) so you can locate the part on the diagram and just point it out to him. The cost was 680 baht and I would imagine they would install for free since it only takes five minutes and involves two bolts. You don't need to change the oil or anything else, Just makes sure the little plastic tab that keeps the plunger or piston on the CCT retracted stays in place until installed, then you pull that out which puts the correct amount of pressure on the chain and the final bolt goes into the threads that cover that retraction screw. Dont worry if that doesnt make sense right now, it will when you see the CCT.

On the old one? yes, I wound the spring back let it expand, seems fine, no noise, no hesitation but there was something wrong with it, cause the chain was in there rattling.

Okay, just to put a cap on this thread. Got the CCT as I wrote earlier took KRS1's advice about not having to bother with the cam positions and just changed it out. 5 minutes later started the bike and no more engine noise. Two things though I don't see any problem with the original CCT, pressure from the spring seems fine, its not seized so I don't know what the problem with it is. The replacement CCT seems a bit cheaper, its lighter and just a wee bit smaller, just wondering how long this one will last. Thanks to everyone who chipped in, and of course now I and all of you know Honda shops in Kan are good for oil and tire changes (maybe).

Yup, as I wrote went to all three 'big' Honda shops in town got three different answers, with the same over all 'it runs so what's the problem' attitude.

To follow up on this topic I finally got the CCT from Honda (680b) but didn't trust them to install, I know its a simple job but I have no faith in the shop at all, this is where they told me I needed a new crank shaft after all. I thought I would just do it myself since its seems like no problem. One question to anyone out there who may have done this already, I figure the bike needs to be manually set at TDC before replacing CCT, is it necessary to check that the cams be on the mark as well? I doubt the engine has ever been open on this bike and would rather leave it that way until I take it to one of the real shops in Bangkok and have a full check and service. It may seem like I'm being overly cynical but I have had too many bikes damaged by mechanics in this town not to be.

Follow up question; After reading some other forums it seems that the cam chain tensioner is a likely prospect, after replacing this does the engine need to be re-timed? My guess this bike has never had the valves checked- reshimed, or the tappats adjusted, would be great to get it done in one go. Anyone have first hand experience dealing with a good shop in either Bangkok or Nakhon Pattom?

Sounds like a good start, now if only I can convince the mechanics that there is indeed a problem maybe we can get to working on a solution. Thanks for all the input.

The sound is a knocking, seems more bottom end then top, right hand side of the engine when siting on the bike, varies when revving the still cold engine and dissipates after maybe 15 minutes or so, hard to tell when riding. After the engine is warm its still detectable just not blatant, but when cold it sounds serious. As of yet the performance of the bike doesn't seem to have been affected. Ive read about people having their tappats and shims adjusted at regular intervals during the first couple thousand K's and Im sure it hasn't happened with this bike, but the noise seems too low to be coming from the valves. As per usual Kanchanaburi shows its self as the black hole of motorcycle mechanics. Oh yeah, all four shops are Honda dealerships.