Breakdown Between Pai And Mhs

[Kf6vci]

Hi All:

the rented CB 400 was going strong when I returned from MHS to Pai. About 50 km before Pai, the engine would not rev freely and felt strangled. I would not respond to a twist of the wrist. After shifting down, then it would rev up again, with a delay of several seconds. After revving a bit, the CB 400 would run almost normally for maybe 500 m and then it would feel choked once again. 10 km of that and it then quit on me. At the steepest hill, where else?

The battery was fully charged and the engine would start right away until now. Now, it made a click and nothing happened. No juice?

No mobile phone signal (TRUE seems inferior to AIS). So I walked to the top of the mountain. It was dusk and night fell. I didn't want to leave the bike alone, fearing theft. So I sat there for hours. Some Thai Army trucks with soldiers and room for a bike came by. But I did not dare flag them down and ask if they would take me and the bike down the hill for 500 Baht?

The bike wouldn't start, so I rolled down with the clutch pulled and let the clutch come in 2nd. It started and I could then ride to Pai.

It beats me what caused this. Fuel line issues? Dirt in the fuel or a clogged fuel filter? Altitude? Carbs setting? Some intermittent electrical thing? (I had this on the Mont Blanc pass, on a Yamaha RD 350 YPVS).

What to do when you break down? Is there a nationwide breakdown service? Do you flag down a pickup truck and hope some stranger will take you with the bike for a payment? (In Moscow, private cars work as taxis). And what to do when there is no phone service and the bike rental shop turned their cell phone off?

Hope someone will have an idea as to what was causing the symtoms and that there is a cure as it is no fun to be stuck somewhere at night.

Ride on,

Chris

Hope someone recognizes the mountain where I broke down

[nikster]

My advice is to not rent old, dodgy CB400s. There are so many of those bikes in Thailand, and from my experience their condition is usually anywhere between bad and "writeoff". If you don't want the adventure of breaking down in some unknown location, rent a new ER-6n or Ninja...

Makes for good stories though

[BigBikeBKK]

+1 to what Nickster said.

Why did you rent an old CB400 when there are so many near new bikes readily available for rent in Chiang Mai?!

When you rent (or buy) an old beater you can expect to have mechanical problems. Seems you've had a lot of bad luck with your old bikes, both rented and owned.

I have to wonder why do you keep making the same mistake over and over again?

Som nam na...

[Thaifan2]

You should have asked the Army guys .Thais are great for helping out in such a situation .

Once i broke down in a remote spot in Phuket island .A old Thai man with a bike and sidecar asked me if i need help .He put my bike in his side car and took me and the bike to a repair shiop he knew .

[smedly]

no matter what you say sounds like a battery/charging issue