Bangkok To Phuket

[smartecosse]

Well flew up to BKK on Wed to collect the bike Thurs morning and ride it back to Phuket that day.

Only point I was worried about was getting out of BKK itself. Rather than get lost I ended up paying 250 baht for a motorcycle taxi to take me to the edge of the city. They really do drive then like they stole them

The trip down itself was great. Haveing been stuck with scooters and the car here for the last few years it was nice to get some decent mileage on a sports bike even if it is only a 400.

Never having had an NC30 before I was looking forward to seeing of the handling & fun factor was as good as it was meant to be, it was The whine of the engine was fantastic the only real problem being that for some really weird reason its never been derestricted so I was stuck to 100 mph maximum

Comfort was not actually that bad, having never done more than 300 miles or so on a 400 always having used bigger bikes for the longer trips I was apprehensive but to be honest the pegs and bars were fine and the "numb ass" syndrome only really set in after about 800 kilometers or so. It still had a standard screen on though and my neck is very sore after being buffeted all the way down, made me realise how effective the double bubbles are so will need to get one of those ordered asap.

Clutch was a complete beast with fingers of steel needed to operate it but the gear box was sweet as both up and down with the clutch only actually being needed when stopping at the occasional traffic lights. The rev limiter seemed to kick in at just over 14k rather than the 14.5 that I was expecting, not sure why. (so if anyone else has a 94 NC30 pls let me know what yours is at)

The road itself was great for a bike. the initial roads just after leaving BKK were not that suited to thrashing it as there were whole canyons rather than potholes in the road but they soon got better and it was a really great run. Went down to Chumpon onto Suratani and the accross to Krabi before coming back up round Phang Nga and then and then down onto Phuket.

Issue with the speedo not working for most of the trip down as the cable went but its just under a 1000 kilometers or so (I think). Departed Bangkok at 10am and including fuel stops and lunch was at home in Phuket by 8 pm got to Krabi with perfect timing to see an amazing sunset behind the limestone hills.

No idea what the fuel economy was like as it sort of evovled into a thrash it for an hour, pull over, fill up, thrash it for an hour, pull over, fill up cycle but don't think it was that bad. Overall very impressed with the wee honda. Now I wont have any trouble getting up the hills on Phuket

[Captain Chaos]

Sounds good ...

... you said comfort was OK ... may I ask how tall / heavy you are? I've always had a hankering to try a 400 but was never sure if I could physically get on one! Had a ZX-6R in the UK and then a Hornet 600 (basically a CBR without a fairing) but not sure if 400's are physically similar dimensions ...

Anyway, ride safe, but have fun

[smartecosse]

have had quite a few zx6's myself and the 400 is not as comfortable. I am 6' and 100 kilos and found that 400 was Ok for the first few hundred kilometers. To be honest its was only the last couple of hundred that were sore.

The trouble is that the general road awareness over here of other road users is non existant and i am pretty sure that a 600 or above would be a good way to shorten my life. The 400 on the other hand is still fast enough for great fun and anything up to 500 or 600 kilometers would still be classed as comfortable

[thaigerd]

Thanks for your report, I was waiting for it.

Good you made a safe trip back home, congratulations!!!

Many years ago I did the same, but it took me half a day to fid the way out of BKK

Reading your report it makes me "hungry" again to have a bike.

Gerd

[smartecosse]

Many years ago I did the same, but it took me half a day to fid the way out of BKK

Gerd

one of my friends had said that he got lost and took almost six hours to get clear so reckoned that a motorcycle taxi for a few hundred baht would be worth it.

they were amazed that I was gonna do it in one hit rather than over a couple of days though

[deckx]

I got an RVF myself, pretty much the same bike, I've always been a big fan of 400's, its a shame they don't still make them.

The restriction is done in the rev limiter which can be removed. Not sure how but if you want to check out this website www.400greybike.co.uk they have loads of tips and stuff.

enjoy

dec

[JimsKnight]

I did a BKK to Hua Hin a few years back. I set off at 0400 hrs from Sukumwit and just ended up following the Chao Phraya river until I found a bridge to cross

Once across it was plain sailing all the way.

In a few years time I'll hopefully be looking at up-scaling to a 250 - 400 cc bike.

Edited November 2, 2007 by JimsKnight

[chavy]

Well done mate & hats off to you for doing it all in the one day. I think I would've split it over two but, hey, each to their own. What was the traffic conditions like on the way down?

Ive got a bit of a trip today from Kabinburi - Chainat which is about 250 k. I've a CB 750 but is in the shop right now so my mechanic is lending me one of his bikes ?? Which? I've yet to find out.

[smartecosse]

traffic was light the whole way down and once at surratani almost non existant on the road accross to Krabi. Really only got caught in traffic on the final 80 off k's to Phuket. It really was a great run down just a shame that it was on a 400 but then again on a 6 or above I might have had a side trip to the hospital...........

deckx

its just a 1.5k ohm resistor that I need to solder into the loom but to be honest its not gonna be that much of an issue now that i am back on Phuket with it as there isn't really anywhere to give it a good thrashing safely anyway.

Just need to get someone to post the leathers etc over from Scotland and i'll be happy