I want to ride from samui to bkk does anyone know if there are specific maps that show motorbike routes, avoiding the express ways or where ever you cant ride a bike. If it makes any difference i will be riding a 400cc bike.

Or if anyone knows if there is a sat nav that is designed for bikes, or maybe sat navs do that anyway.

I have never had a sat nav so i dont know

AFAIK there are no specific maps for motorcycling but you cannot ride on a tollway, use an underpass or tunnel or a flyover (unless there is no alternative).

You should also use the frontage roads when available especially in big cities keeping left where possible whilst keeping 200 baht convenient (just in case).

The size of the bike makes no difference.

Personally I use a Garmin Nuvi 255W which I bought in New Zealand and Rottweiler GPS maps which I find are very good and cost me about 3,000 baht.

There is a place called Gadgetrend in BKK and they are on the internet who can supply you with the GPS stuff that you need and the motorcycle mounts they got for me were made by RAM.

I would suggest that if you are buying a new GPS then get one with Bluetooth and it will talk with your mobile while driving and you won't have to miss turns etc while wearing your helmet.

There is a GPS for motorcycles but it comes in around 20k + baht.

I hope that it works for you but plan on stopping on the way every 4 to 600 km for the night as you will need it.

When you finish your trip can you please send me your way points as I may try the trip myself. I t will take me longer however as I live about 400 km north of BKK and I only have a 200cc Honda Phantom.

Happy biking

I am not sure what your situation is or how much riding experience you have. My first thought is to recommend that you not ride at all to BKK. Samui to BKK is a rather miserable stretch of road - high traffic, concrete jungle, few interesting views, and not bike friendly/fun. This stretch is perhaps the worst riding in Thailand I have done. If you are looking just for a good ride, go to Phuket. Otherwise you will most likely slab it via the main road that parallels the coast... nothing special...

If you want a GPS just because you are concerned about getting lost - no worries - no GPS needed. Cheap paper map will be sufficient. Very simple route and very hard to get lost.

There are some good stretches and some interesting places to see. We spent about a week between the ferry crossing and Hua Hin. Ao Khanom was pretty neat, but dead when we were there. I heard further south it gets really nice. Need to do that part some day.

Bang Saphan and the surrounding area is awesome. Lots of small villages, some really neat resorts, and some great beaches. We stayed for several days at one in Baan Kruit...fantastic beach.

I agree that from Cha Am north, it sucks. We did this 2 years ago and the construction north of Cha Am was horrible.

But you are right, the route to Phuket is great. Especially on a bike. It would be fantastic. I think the stretch from Krabi to Phuket town would be nice.