Roads Around Issan

[Koh Tao Man]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice and would be grateful for any help.

I'll be travelling around Issan on a Virago 750 style chopper motorbike and i was wondering if anybody could give me a few pointers on road conditions, good place to stay and avaibilty of petrol stations etc....

I fancy riding from Loei following the 201 & 211 to Nong Khai and then Nong Khai to Nakhon Pathom using 211 and then Nakhon Pathom to Khon Kaen using 22, 21 and 209, are these road be suitable for the motorbike i have and are petrol stations avaiable on these roads, my motorbike only has a range of around 200 km, would it be a good idea for me to carry spare fuel?

Any advise or help would be much appricated.

Thanks in advance

Koh Tao Man

[Gary A]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice and would be grateful for any help.

I'll be travelling around Issan on a Virago 750 style chopper motorbike and i was wondering if anybody could give me a few pointers on road conditions, good place to stay and avaibilty of petrol stations etc....

I fancy riding from Loei following the 201 & 211 to Nong Khai and then Nong Khai to Nakhon Pathom using 211 and then Nakhon Pathom to Khon Kaen using 22, 21 and 209, are these road be suitable for the motorbike i have and are petrol stations avaiable on these roads, my motorbike only has a range of around 200 km, would it be a good idea for me to carry spare fuel?

Any advise or help would be much appricated.

Thanks in advance

Koh Tao Man

The roads are pretty decent, just watch for the occasional pot hole. Gas stations are normally not that far apart but an extra liter or two of fuel doesn't take up that much space.

[Cuban]

....or buy fuel from a road side food stall - sold in old whiskey bottles for about 40 Baht a litre (?).

[Koh Tao Man]

Thanks Gary and Cuban,

I noticed you live in Loei privince Gary, i'm told it gets pretty cold up there, down to freezing, is that only early morning amd eveving, i'll be there early December?

Koh Tao Man

[hansnl]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a bit of advice and would be grateful for any help.

I'll be travelling around Issan on a Virago 750 style chopper motorbike and i was wondering if anybody could give me a few pointers on road conditions, good place to stay and avaibilty of petrol stations etc....

I fancy riding from Loei following the 201 & 211 to Nong Khai and then Nong Khai to Nakhon Pathom using 211 and then Nakhon Pathom to Khon Kaen using 22, 21 and 209, are these road be suitable for the motorbike i have and are petrol stations avaiable on these roads, my motorbike only has a range of around 200 km, would it be a good idea for me to carry spare fuel?

Any advise or help would be much appricated.

Thanks in advance

Koh Tao Man

The roads are pretty decent, just watch for the occasional pot hole. Gas stations are normally not that far apart but an extra liter or two of fuel doesn't take up that much space.

Maybe a small addition.

Take care on most of the raods not to drive to near the shoulder of the roads.

Due to the rain lately, and sometimes the flooding of entire parts of the road, the shoulders can be slippery indeed.

[Gary A]

Thanks Gary and Cuban,

I noticed you live in Loei privince Gary, i'm told it gets pretty cold up there, down to freezing, is that only early morning amd eveving, i'll be there early December?

Koh Tao Man

I haven't seen any frost in four years but it does get quite chilly. When I get out of bed in the morning and can see my breath, That's cold as far as I am concerned. Early December is not too bad. By noon it is usually warm and sunny. It rarely rains in December so the weather is really pretty nice. Late December and January are the coldest times.

[phibunmike]

Hi,

Your travel plans are north of me, so I can not offer specific advice; however, I would say that generally, on 2- and 3- digit road numbers, you will get petrol and the surfaces are ok. Avoid the small petrol stations as the fuel might not be good quality. You should find large petrol stations at least every 50km.

As Gary mentioned, watch out for potholes, especially in the left (slow) lane.

Also avoid night riding, as you will encounter many vehicles with no lights or inadequate lights, and the potholes are hard to see.

Enjoy your trip.

Cheers,

Mike

[Lite Beer]

Yes. The roads are pretty good around here . Khon Kaen

[tubber]

Have traveled most of the roads you mentioned in the past couple of weeks and they are all OK. I wouldn't worry about carrying extra fuel there is gas stations all over the place. I also only have a 200km range which drops considerably if I flog the bike. It does get very cold about 5 or 6 years ago there was a picture of a little girl on the front page of the Bangkok post looking through a sheet of ice in Sakon Nakhon. I dig out my leather jacket for the cold season.

[Koh Tao Man]

Hiu Guys,

Thanks to everyone who offered help and advise...

I'm certainly feeling more reassured and im looing forward to my road trip around Issan..... Guess i best service the bike!!!

Again.... thank you

Robin

[MarcoH]

Hiu Guys,

Thanks to everyone who offered help and advise...

I'm certainly feeling more reassured and im looing forward to my road trip around Issan..... Guess i best service the bike!!!

Again.... thank you

Robin

Robin

I touring around thai with my LT and been riding all kind of roads, recently came down from Nong Khai with 4dig really back packers roads and no problem at all, just take it slow,and never ride during nite,or really early morning(bf5am) as bens and all road painting are really slippery, i slipped few times.

I ad Virago b4a and i know that you might want to store bottle or tow gasoline on you back if you are going to take rural roads.

Also if you are active rider take a look on gt-riders web page, there is huge ammount of information of any part of thailand roads and happening's.

Safe riding.

[mac.wheeler]

Nothing wrong with the roads.

Plenty wrong with the drivers.

My main piece of advice for motorcyclists on these rural roads is to be very careful of oncoming traffic.

Oncoming drivers see a single headlight coming towards them, figure it's another scooter doing about 50kmph an hour and pull out to overtake on your side of the road. For those of us fast closing on the oncoming vehicle at 120kmph this usually means we have to slow down and quite often pull over into the curb.

In the short 8km run out to the village I usually have to pull up 3-4 times every time I make the journey!

Buses are the worst, nothing could ever tempt me on to a bus in Isaan, nothing at all.

[soundman]

When you are reading your map...

Roads with a single digit designator are national highways, obviously the arteries of the country.

Roads with a two digit designator, main inter provicial highways.

Roads with a three digit designator, can be either two or four laned/divided roads, rather prone to coming across long stretches of road works where they will completely close one side of the road and squash all traffic onto a narrow shoulder for the duration of the road works. Many trucks like to use these routes as they are often more direct for some routes and there is a smaller chance of highway police road blocks. Maintenance on these roads can be a little tardy as it is not often controlled by the national highway department. Watch out for random pot holes.

Roads with a four digit designator, country back roads, some are OK, many are bad and in thourough need of re-surfacing because of sub-standard construction practices and limited budgets of the provicial highway departments. Be very careful on these roads. That said, you may find some of your more scenic riding along these types of roads.

Cheers and have an enjoyable trip,

Soundman.

[Koh Tao Man]

Thanks Marco, Mac Wheeler and Soundman for your good advise.

[Koh Tao Man]

Not sure what happened there.... hadn't finished writing before it posted!!!

I have ridden around Thailand a fair bit but never that far up North, I am a accustomed to Thai driving standards that keep me on full alert at all times!!

I won’t be riding too early in the morning and for sure not at night

I'm not a fast rider and im happy just to meander around taking in the scenery and stopping frequently whenever it takes my fancy and taking lots of photos, which is the great thing about riding a motorcycle

I will carry spare fuel, Spark plugs, filters, lights bulbs, inner tubes and a few tools but as this bike is quite old and I might need to coax it round a bit, I thought about getting it serviced half way round, does anybody know of a good mechanic around Udon Thani or Khon Kaen who could do a good service, i.e. drop the oil, change filters and check valves?

Have a great day

Robin

[jaideeguy]

And watch out for dogs, cows, noodle carts, tractors, chickens, and suicidal idiots........I did a similar trip and hit a suicidal dog in nong kai 8 yrs ago....ended up in a hospital, met my wife and the rest is history.

Have a good trip and be safe.......it takes 150% of your focus, as I'm sure you know already.

[MarcoH]

Thanks Marco, Mac Wheeler and Soundman for your good advise.

Matey

just finished dark driving and yes it's very very hard, but as long you are fully aware of your surrounding's and in FAMILIAR road with out lady alcohol in your blood should be ok, BUT as soon you go non familiar roads,,,take your time and adjust your speed accordingly.

And ALWAYS i mean ALWAYS keep your sensors up when you ride at dark, even in familiar roads,,,there has been too many good man lost in that way.

btw, we are heading to CMX on 30.11 and for Chiang Mai bike week 5-7.12,,if you are intrested

[Koh Tao Man]

Marco....Thanks for the advice on night riding but thats something i dont plan to do on my trip.... hopefully parked up at the latest by 4pm...

This Chiang Mai bike week sounds good, i would have to leave here earlier than planned but it could be arranged.

I'm planning to ride up from Chumphon to Kanachanburi then to Tak so i guess another 300km to Chiang Mai isnt to bad.

Are you guys from Udon riding up in a group and whats your plans... maybe we could hook up on route?

Robin

[MarcoH]

Marco....Thanks for the advice on night riding but thats something i dont plan to do on my trip.... hopefully parked up at the latest by 4pm...

This Chiang Mai bike week sounds good, i would have to leave here earlier than planned but it could be arranged.

I'm planning to ride up from Chumphon to Kanachanburi then to Tak so i guess another 300km to Chiang Mai isnt to bad.

Are you guys from Udon riding up in a group and whats your plans... maybe we could hook up on route?

Robin

Robin

there is some guys from Udon who are going there as well, but i have no idea about they plans, we are leaving on 30th Nov and do some slow riding via Tak and MHS loop to CM.

this plan what guys are planned and you are welcome to join in any time.

Sun 30th. Nov for a night stay over in Petchabun.

Mon 01st. Dec = Petchabun to Mae Sot via Tak.

Tue 02nd. Dec = Mae Sot to Mae Sariang staying 2 nights for a side trip to Doi Inthanon.

Thu 04th. Dec = Mae Sariang to Mae Hong Son.

Fri 5th. Dec = Mae Hong Son to CNX staying 2 nights.

We will then return via Mae Sai, Golden Triangle, Chiang Khong, Nan (2 nights), Loei and breaking up for home.