arnoldjr

I'm not saying that leathers will save you from a head on collision with a big rig. I'm just saying that I would prefer to wear gear when I ride. Not every crash means 200kmh into a wall. More than likely you're gonna low side or have to drop it to avoid a collision and that's when gear will save you, i.e. sliding down the road. But to each his own. I hear skin grafts are a lot of fun.

Wow, 13k in 4 months that's impressive. I wish I had more time to putt around on my TZM but lately its just been the odd trip out of town for the weekend on the Ninja. That should change next year when work calms down a bit.

Sell it and use the money you get plus the 10k and buy yourself a TZM or NSR.

Map

I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of riding everybody on here does. Touring, track days, long trips, short trips? Basically why did you buy a bike and what do you use it for. Let's see what kind of distances you ride or where you have been.

Total for me this year will be 15000km. Almost all touring, with the occasional track day. Day trips around 4-500km, weekend trips 600-1000km, pretty much just use the bike to explore places I've never been. My goal is to ride through every province in Thailand. Map shows in red all provinces visited by the end of this year. I'm sure there are more than a few of you with more places than that so let's see it.

Thought to have a quick blast out of town for the long weekend. Turned out to be a pretty good ride so I thought I'd share a few pics.

So the plan was to take off Saturday morning and catch Phetkasem Road/Hwy 4 our to 323 and then hit a few side roads once we got there.

Let me recommend to anyone taking a trip this way. Avoid Phetkasem like the plague!!!! Worst way to start a ride, deadlock traffic out to Western Outer Ring Road. After that pretty much smooth sailing and once we hit 323 couldn't have been any better. Stopped off at the hotel in Kanjanaburi to drop off our bags and grab some lunch then had a quick blast up to Nam Tok Sai Yok and back to town before eating some dinner and having a few drinks.

Had a bit of a navigational hiccup at the start of day 2 but not much of a problem, we were soon back on our way around Kanjanaburi province.

Heading out was a stop at an old cave temple that was used by the Japanese as a hospital in WW2

Another shot of the grounds of the temple

Overlooking the river in Kanajaburi

Another great view

Modern day train traveling on the infamous "Death Railway"

Beginning of Day 2 looking down the road on Hwy 3228 awesome sweeping curves nice road condition which we later picked up 3209 and on to 3492.

Heading down 3209 on the way back to 323 returning to Bangkok there we a lot of sugar cane farmers harvesting their crop this time of year.

All in all a great trip. Now looking forward to the next one in Chiang Mai.

Ride safe.

I find that most of the slow drivers slowing down traffic come out of the woodwork after 11am, before that its fine .

Some of the buses drive faster than bikes !

Usually halfway to my destination by then.

And what to do there?how many km?

It is about 150km to the town of Kanjanaburi, plus whatever side routes we decide to take. Then once in Kanjaburi, there are caves, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, dams, forests. Just about anything you would want to see in the wilderness. I will be staying the night so was planning to do a bit of hiking or maybe float in the river for a bit. And one must always remember the compulsory beers in the evening.

Another ride tomorrow, Bangkok to Kanjanaburi. Meet at Fast Corner on Narathiwat at 9am and head to Kanjanaburi.

Anybody feel like riding this weekend?

what bike will you be taking ? KM per day ? Riding style ? Places staying ?

Will be riding a Ninja 650r and going about 200-400km a day, depending on route. Riding style is moderate pace as the GF is on pillion. Staying at guesthouses/hotels.

Got my New Year trip all planned out and I heard you guys up in Chiang Mai are pretty serious about the bikes. So....I'll be doing the Mae Hong Son loop from Dec 28 - Jan 1. Gonna be staying in Chiang Mai the 28th, then Pai on 29, May Sariang 30 and Mae Sot on 31. Anyone looking to do a bit of riding, either all or part of the loop let me know. Always nice to meet new riders.

I say go for the Versys. I have a Ninja 650 and its OK for 2up touring but i test drove the Versys recently and am really considering one in the near future. Your wife/girlfriend will thank you. On the Ninja my GF can't really see forward as I am 6'5" and she 5'4" but the Versys rear seat is much higher in relation to the front than the Ninja and I assume you are wanting to enjoy the view. Also since the passenger tends to slide forward under braking on the Ninja whereas i assume not so much on the Versys, your balls with thank you after a few hours riding the twisties.

Thanks for the info guys. Any interesting points along the way that you might suggest? I was thinking to hit Doi Inthanon at least, but maybe someone can suggest some other cools places, waterfalls, temples, etc. that would be of interest along the route.

Chiang Mai it is. Planning to hit Chiang Mai end of December maybe between Christmas and New Year. Hopefully one of you Northern folk can give me a bit of advice. Here's my thought....

Day 1 - Plan to ride to CM from BKK in one day, sleep in CM then hit the loop as follows:

Day 2 - CM to Pai - Stay the Night

Day 3 - Pai to MHS for Lunch then on to Mae Sariang for the night

Day 4 - Mae Sariang back to CM and spend the night in CM

Day 5 - Back to BKK

Does this sound doable as far as distances and places to stay? Will be doing the trip on a Ninja 650 2up. Have experience with 500km+ 2up in a day so no worries about the GF complaining(at least no more than usual).

are you taking the misses with you? If so will do the same if shes not scared... i hope no flooding. which way you wanna go?

Yep the misses will be going, in fact she loves riding. She's actually the one that suggested the trip. Now i may never get to ride alone again.

For the route I'm thinking 304 to 319 and back on 315.

BigBikeBKK what route did you go and how was the water level?

Anybody know if the route to Khao Yai is flooded still? The GF wants to take a ride out there Sunday and I wasn't sure which roads were underwater or closed. If anybody knows any info or wants to join let me know.

I would recommend ebay. I got my HJC FS-15 Carbon for 8k with shipping and duty (1k baht) withing a week. I have seen them retail here for anywhere between 15-18k. Just go try one on first at a shop here to make sure you order the right size. Helmets are one thing you really wanna be sure about sizing.

Rule #1 - DON'T STOP!!

When you approach a fundraiser point get in between some cars as blockers and blast past those pigs. They will be too many other people they can get for that 100 baht whiskey money that they wont even give you a second thought.

Next stop....Chiang Mai.

Loud, inconsiderate, <deleted> that drive shitty American bikes?

Sounds like a bunch of fags to me.

Rama IX is open Saturdays, 9am - 5pm I believe.

Sukhumvit route to Pattaya may be flooded as it was a few weeks ago when we took it for a day trip. We had to turn back. I would recommend Bangna Trat to Highway 7.

Is this Kawasaki's answer to the Multistrada? It looks like it. But will it be affordable or even available in Thailand anytime soon? I doubt it. Either way, I hope we will be seeing more of these types of bikes available in the near future.

Sorry that should say Sat. November 5th. Not sure how to edit the topic.

Another ride this weekend for anyone who would like to join.

We will be riding down to Rayong to have seafood on the beach then over to Pattaya/Jomtien for some drinking and debauchery. Everyone is welcome to join.

Plan is to meet at Fast Corner on Narathiwat Road in Bangkok at 10am then head out from there. If you live along the route let me know and we can arrange to meet you somewhere else on our way out.

Right now there will be 3 ER6's provided we have no issues with flooding or unseen circumstances, but as always the more the merrier.

Previous meet-up and ride.