You and your Thai Wife of 20 years.

[LucasCu]

Hi everyone, new here.

I'm not sure if any of you guys are Top Gear fans, but I've always wanted to copy the road trip the guys did through Vietnam. I've been thinking about it for a long time now and came to the decision to do a Thai Road trip instead. I've been in Thailand 2 months and have been renting motorbikes for nearly the whole time.

I've been to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kanchanburi, Phuket, Krabi, Ko Samui...etc...etc.

I decided on Thailand because I'm from the UK and Thailand as everyone will know drive on the left, as Vietnam doesn't. The trip will start in Bangkok and me and my brother will drive all the way down to the Malaysian Border.

Ok so now the questions:

I need to get a motorbike for it. I'm on a tight budget due to traveling, so something under 35,000 baht would be perfect, I'm not looking for a superbike or anything special, a bike that's old but tough would be perfect. I was wondering where the best place to look is? (I will be in Bangkok).

EDIT: Also worth mentioning is that my brother is a motorsport engineer so he 'should' be able to fix any little problems.

What do I need to do about bike insurance? I'm on a tourist 60 day Visa.

Has anyone done this trip before, bike or car?

Any information on this topic would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

Lucas

Edited November 30, 2009 by LucasCu

[soundman]

Moved to Bike forum.

[LivinLOS]

Your budget doesnt extend to bike buying unless you mean a little Thai scooter.. Theres also complexity about buying and registering..

Lots of people tour Thailand, whats your general plans ?

Are you aware of the GT-Rider site ??

[katabeachbum]

35 k baht you can rent a new Kawazaki 650 for a month. Bangkok- Malay border is highway all the way. Rather boring road actually

[LucasCu]

Hey, thanks for the replies.

Well I'm looking for a fun trip down to Malaysia, but if it's just dual carriageway, it doesn't sound that fun.

Maybe I would be better off renting a nice touring bike and head up to the Chinese border instead? more intresting roads?

The general plan was to purchase a bike and ride down to the Malaysian border, maybe head over to Ko Phangan on the way back to Bangkok to see some friends then sell the bike back in Bangkok.

many thanks

[LivinLOS]

The north is exceptional ride country.. If ridings what your after go north..

You can rent bikes in CM, theres a biker scene up there, loads of guide info, loops, day and multi day rides based from there..

Organise an ER6N or ER6F Ninja with insurance (make sure you have trevel insurance that covers bikes) and you will have a blast.

[MikeyIdea]

Most reliable bike the world has ever seen: Honda Dream - I bought a new one in 1994 and it has done 140,000 km by now. I changed clutch at 80,000 km and asked the mechanic if I shouldn't change piston or do something with the engine at the same time and he just looked at me and said - Why? Strange farang thinking you need to change piston after only 80,000 km on a Honda Dream...

I finally changed piston, valves and rockers at 135,000 km. I paid 32,000 bath in 94, have heard that it is something like 39,000 bath now. There are plenty to find second hand everywhere in Bangkok. I would change gearing before taking it to Malaysia, one tooth more on the front is perfect. You will get a flat tire or two, plan for it

It will easily go to Malaysia and back and the best thing with it is that you can find spare parts and people who knows how to fix it everywhere. I would never dare to drive to Malay on a Kawa 650, you'd have to ship it to a larger city to have it fixed if it breaks down. You may have to do that only to fix a flat tire actually.

There are probably hundreds of westerners who has done the trip before. Never done it on a bike but I did it in a pickup in 1996 I think it was. Roads are great now a days, no problems at all.

I remember another funny story: coming in to the petrol station just before Satuk on my old Honda (pass Buriram a bit, some 500 km from Bangkok), feeling rather proud of myself. I chatted with the guy filling up petrol, a couple of years back, he and a friend of his had driven down to Phuket from Satuk... That's 500 + 930 km…

[BigBikeBKK]

I would never dare to drive to Malay on a Kawa 650, you'd have to ship it to a larger city to have it fixed if it breaks down.

The Kawasaki 650's in Thailand are all less than a year old and very tough dependable bikes. Certainly a lot more reliable than a used Wave of unknown pedigree...

[LivinLOS]

Ha ha ha.. Yeah the 'best' touring vehicle is not a proper 650 motorbike but a 125cc scooter.

Sure its possible.. But really..

[MikeyIdea]

It's not a 125 cc bike I write about, it's 100 cc.

I never wrote about 'best', that's your word. I just state most reliable

[BSJ]

My brain still thinks this is a Honda Dream....but in reality due to long delays in getting spares it was more of a nightmare at times! But that was the 60's for ya!