Good area for motorbike practice in central Chiang Mai?

[NancyL]

Good to see so many interested in improving their low speed motorcycle handling skills with bigger bikes.  It's a little troubling that it's becoming as easy to rent one here as it is a little motorscooter and people with little-to-no experience rent them and get into trouble.

 

On Sunday afternoon a friend of mine was on her way to play bridge at my condo and was stopped at an intersection when a tourist on a big bike turned in front of her, misjudged the distance and laid down the bike nearly on the hood of her car.  Well, it seems the bike went down on the road, but the tourist went down on the hood of the car.  She dearly loves her little red Yaris and pampers it well, so was amazed that there wasn't a scratch on it.  The tourist didn't fare as well, having obviously injured his knee as he went hobbling off pushing his bike and apologizing profusely.  Meanwhile, we had to delay our bridge game while she inspected her car and got herself back together again from the experience.  Her bridge game was definitely off that afternoon.  That idiot shouldn't have been allowed to rent a bike like that.

[jimih]

52 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Good to see so many interested in improving their low speed motorcycle handling skills with bigger bikes.  It's a little troubling that it's becoming as easy to rent one here as it is a little motorscooter and people with little-to-no experience rent them and get into trouble.

 

On Sunday afternoon a friend of mine was on her way to play bridge at my condo and was stopped at an intersection when a tourist on a big bike turned in front of her, misjudged the distance and laid down the bike nearly on the hood of her car.  Well, it seems the bike went down on the road, but the tourist went down on the hood of the car.  She dearly loves her little red Yaris and pampers it well, so was amazed that there wasn't a scratch on it.  The tourist didn't fare as well, having obviously injured his knee as he went hobbling off pushing his bike and apologizing profusely.  Meanwhile, we had to delay our bridge game while she inspected her car and got herself back together again from the experience.  Her bridge game was definitely off that afternoon.  That idiot shouldn't have been allowed to rent a bike like that.

 

I agree with you in general. It's troubling how easy it is to rent a big bike here, and how little some people think about security before renting a powerful big bike. Myself I have gradually increased the power of my rental bikes, as my skills have improved. And the only times I have been driving 500+ CC bikes have been together with instructors.

Although, when looking at this more pragmatically, what real danger *to other people* does these persons pose? I'm pretty sure that if we remove all deaths and injuries of the motorbike drivers themselves, the remaining statistics are probably quite low, and most of those are probably economical damages (like scratches, bumps and broken windows) which most likely would cause the motorbike driver more problems than the affected party.

I'm not saying it would be a bad idea to have stronger enforcement of the law. But maybe the effect would not be as strong as one would hope. For me, personally, I am much more scared of getting hit by a drunken truck driver or someone using a smartphone while driving, than I am scared about getting hit by a inexperienced big bike driver. A stronger enforcement of *those* laws I think would get a much better return (in terms of fewer innocent victims).

[jimih]

On ‎2018‎-‎01‎-‎29 at 1:52 PM, lordblackader said:

There's a massive paved space directly behind The Hip Condo 2 in Nongpakrang (near Big C Extra) - No sure if it was supposed to be a car park but there's rarely anyone ever it in, and when there is it's only down the west end. Would be an ideal space to practice. 

 

Map here.

 

I was able to go there today, and while the space is of adequate size (I wouldn't call it massive though, I think I would reserve that word for airfield size spaces ), the overall condition of the place, with cracked asphalt, pot holes, weed sticking out here and there, and sand, gravel and debris here and there, I wouldn't feel comfortable setting up a track there. The only spots where the asphalt looked OK was also the spots where there were cars parked. So thanks for the suggestion, but I think I need to keep looking at other options.

 

P.S. I have just switched accounts to this one, from the account "jimi", in case you or someone else wonders who I am, and why I suddenly jump into this discussion. D.S.

Edited February 6, 2018 by jimih

[jimi]

43 minutes ago, jimih said:

P.S. I have just switched accounts to this one, from the account "jimi", in case you or someone else wonders who I am, and why I suddenly jump into this discussion. D.S.

 

hmm, I decided to switch the other way. I like the shorter display name of this account... 

[NancyL]

My parents bought my younger brother a Honda 350 cc as a 16 year birthday present.  I was the older sister and somewhat resentful that no similar vehicle had been offered to me  My father took me out to he front lawn with the motorbike, laid it on its side and said "if you can pick it up, then we'll teach how to drive it"  He was always careful to say "drive it" not "ride it" because that was something we ladies did and actually there are some skills to be learned in how to be a passenger.   Predictably, I couldn't pick up the bike from the lawn but I learned later my brother wasn't capable of picking up the bike from the lawn either..

 

He was a puny scrawny 16 year old who had no business on bike that big.  His 18 year old sister was probably better qualified, but less interested in learning to ride it. I see a lot of scrawny, puny kids around Chiang Mai trying to handle bikes that are too big for them.

[flare]

No offense, but your father should have shown you and your brother how to pick up the bike (there's a technique to it that doesn't require much strength or size).  That's something I learned on day one.

[NancyL]

3 hours ago, flare said:

No offense, but your father should have shown you and your brother how to pick up the bike (there's a technique to it that doesn't require much strength or size).  That's something I learned on day one.

Yes, you're right.  I learned this type of technique years later when Hubby and I came into the greenhouse/nursery business and first spent a year working with the previous owner of our property.  He was a big believer in having middle-aged women as employees and had figured out labor-saving techniques that utilized the lower  body strength of women.  The grandfatherly former owner didn't teach me how to pick up a motorcycle, but rather how to get a loaded nursery cart up a ramp into a truck, how to get a 60 pound bale of potting mix onto a work bench, how to hold down a sheet of plastic in recovering a greenhouse.  It's all in the legs, thighs and butt.  This is where a woman has strength in excess of a man.

 

My father was just being a dick and didn't want me to ask to learn how to ride a motorcycle.  The man who sold us his greenhouse/nursery business, however, wanted me to learn everything about how to run it.  He'd already taught three of his children and they'd gone on to be giants in the industry, but none of them were interested in taking over his little property -- their small family farm.  He was a natural-born teacher.

[NancyL]

21 hours ago, jimih said:

 

I agree with you in general. It's troubling how easy it is to rent a big bike here, and how little some people think about security before renting a powerful big bike. Myself I have gradually increased the power of my rental bikes, as my skills have improved. And the only times I have been driving 500+ CC bikes have been together with instructors.

Although, when looking at this more pragmatically, what real danger *to other people* does these persons pose? I'm pretty sure that if we remove all deaths and injuries of the motorbike drivers themselves, the remaining statistics are probably quite low, and most of those are probably economical damages (like scratches, bumps and broken windows) which most likely would cause the motorbike driver more problems than the affected party.

I'm not saying it would be a bad idea to have stronger enforcement of the law. But maybe the effect would not be as strong as one would hope. For me, personally, I am much more scared of getting hit by a drunken truck driver or someone using a smartphone while driving, than I am scared about getting hit by a inexperienced big bike driver. A stronger enforcement of *those* laws I think would get a much better return (in terms of fewer innocent victims).

Oh, I agree there are other areas of driving safety in more need of enforcement here,  but I'm just happy to see someone interested in learning how to drive a big bike properly.  This is a good thread and hopefully other hotshots who are thinking about "moving up" to bigger bikes will take the time to enhance their skills before they tarnish the hoods of the cars of old ladies on their way to play bridge.

[jimi]

On 2018-01-30 at 12:44 PM, leonardjones625 said:

you might be able to find somewhere quiet in Chiang Mai Land that's empty or the end of that street with orchid and the tower.

 

In terms of that area

 

Is this the Chiang Mai Land you talk about? I checked it out today, and I couldn't find any big parking lot or similar place there. And not sure what the "orchid and the tower" is about.

 

Instead I ended up on a small road up to the Doi Suthep, coming from the Sutep road. I had a vague memory of having riding a motorbike there before, many years ago, and I found the spot today. The street is much more narrow that I would have hoped. It's basically no room for a u turn even if you pull the handle bar all the way. But it's OK for a straight slalom track. It's a dead end road (or just about, it is a circle, but blocked off in one end).

 

But even out there in the woods there are people coming and going. Not many, but during my ~ one hour stay there I saw one thai "hiker" (dressed just for a casual walk), one forest ranger, and a group of farang scooter riders (they had to turn around, because of the dead end). I guess it's impossible to find an area in the city where I could be totally alone