Uk Insurance For A 200Cc Honda Phantom For The Mae Hon Son Loop

[passpato]

My wife and I will be going to Chaing Mia in January. We plan to ride the Mae Hon Son loop on a hired 200cc Honda Phantom. The problem is that I can't find travel insurance for anything larger than a 125cc. I think a Honda wave would be too uncomfortable for the 600 kilometer ride. Does anyone know of some basic cover or If we can get Insurance at a reasonable price ?

For insurance purposes .I have a bike licence and an idp. I am 51 and my wife is a British/ Thai national of the same age.

[passpato]

To answer this myself Top Dog travel insurance has no cc limit for medical cover on motorcycles. Its available through moneysupermarket.com and cost £33 for my wife and I. The medical cover is £10,000,000 but accident liability (not medical cover) is suspended on a motorcycle.

The holiday cover is quite good too.Very pleased.

[Lickey]

Good Luck with that Passpato, no doubht you have looked at Thai MC touring ect? where you would be fully covered,

In Europe i would go to WSB witha touring company, the good thing was hotels ect were all booked ahead, the bad stuff was many riders would be on small bikes, 250hondas Kawasakis,and the tour OP would stop every 100miles or so to visit a local market for food ect, me, i just wanted to get to the hotel and relax, [70mph on a ZZR1100} drove me nuts, so i would say to the guide, where is Hotel tonight, then i would bugger off alone, its possible you could do that here with a tour company, but be careful, if you go off the designated routes and crash, there could be all sorts of crap going on cos you werent with the group ect, oh yes, a 125i wave probly pulls as good as a Phantom,,,,

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I live in Chiang Mai and love riding the Mae Hong Song loop. Several ways to do it

I am sure you can find a Honda Phantom for rent in Chiang Mai. Not sure if it would be my choice with all the hills and twist and turns. I have dont it 2 up several times on a Honda Wave as well as my Ninja. Lots and lots of shifting. In some areas 4 or 5 times every minute for hours on end. You may want to thing about a Automatic like the PCX 150 unless you love to shift.

Hardly any traffice on this route after Pai. Not much of a fan for Pai either.

Lots of hotels in MHS at all price levels. good food too.. There is a fun side trip from there to Burma boarder crossing several streams.

In all it is a fun time. Not so worried about the insurance thing. Medical here is cheep and all bikes have basic coverage. Be smart, be safe. tke your time and have fun. If you want someone or a few to ride along with send me a note. Always looking for an excuse to go again

[passpato]

I live in Chiang Mai and love riding the Mae Hong Song loop. Several ways to do it

I am sure you can find a Honda Phantom for rent in Chiang Mai. Not sure if it would be my choice with all the hills and twist and turns. I have dont it 2 up several times on a Honda Wave as well as my Ninja. Lots and lots of shifting. In some areas 4 or 5 times every minute for hours on end. You may want to thing about a Automatic like the PCX 150 unless you love to shift.

Hardly any traffice on this route after Pai. Not much of a fan for Pai either.

Lots of hotels in MHS at all price levels. good food too.. There is a fun side trip from there to Burma boarder crossing several streams.

In all it is a fun time. Not so worried about the insurance thing. Medical here is cheep and all bikes have basic coverage. Be smart, be safe. tke your time and have fun. If you want someone or a few to ride along with send me a note. Always looking for an excuse to go again

Thats very nice of you but we are two couples now and I don't want to invite complete strangers incase we don't get on.

I know medical is cheap in Thailand but not when its out of your hands. If a farrang has an accident its Helicopter to private hospital. You can easily rack up thousands. I usually get travel insurance anyway incase we miss the flight or something and £33 is a fair price for peace of mind. .

I put this same question on the Lonely Planet Forum and somebody got back to me to say his father broke a bone and it cost £10,000 luckily he had Top Dog insurance.

I did find a quote for £76 for travel insurance with personal liabillity on a bike but as you say there is some cover with the bike and Im ok with that.

Thanks for the reply.

[passpato]

About the choice of bike.

I am avoiding scooters because every time I have rented one I get a puncture. I prefer bigger wheels and always get atleast a honda Wave. I am also heavey and find autos lack power 2 up on hills ,where as the manuals don't have the power drain of an auto clutch. We dont want to go fast and the chopper riding position and cheap rent of the Phantom looks good.

Maybe a few more cc's would be good as we will have to carry some clothes with us,

By the way does anyone know someone we can trust with our luggage (nothing valuable)

[Fishenough]

Did you contact AA Insurance? They can give you exactly what you need for travel insurance and your motorcycle displacement requirements.

Good choice with the Phantom, even consider bringing a small tire plugin kit (tubeless on the Phantom) and one of those small bicycle pumps not much bigger than a big cigar. Be sure to stop at Cave Lodge for a night, say hi to John (one of the spots around the MHS loop I miss).

Have a great trip -

that has taken 12 days around the MHS plus ridden all in one day (a couple of times on rented Honda Dreams) many times on different bikes - take your time on the loop.

[passpato]

Can anyone give us any advise on things to see on the Loop please? noted Cave Lodge and the Burma border track.

[loserlazer]

I have been through this route with a wave 125 and it was quite OK. It is one of the best routes in Thailand to do and lots of places to see and stay.

Just be careful with 180 degree twisties and sudden rains especially while you were going down from a slope as the road is a lot slippery.

If you are planning this route on January, keep in mind that, it will be very cold for Thai standards especially once the sun sets down so bring something that keep you tow warm.

Have a nice ride.

[moe666]

Lets see here donot want to ride with a stranger but will leave your luggage with them. Leave it at your hotel in Chiang mai most have a storage bin, usually have to make a return engagement. Good luck on your trip.

[Fishenough]

Can anyone give us any advise on things to see on the Loop please? noted Cave Lodge and the Burma border track.

Be sure to visit Cave Lodge.com, one my fav places to hang for a weekend; plenty of different types of caves and areas to explore around. If your interested in visiting LoiTai Leng, the Shan rebel camp on the northern Thai, Burmese border, you need to contact the Shan officals in charge of visits (which are quite welcome) to arrange such. Best bet would be to contact Riders corner (RideAsia dot net) for contact info. Good place to read up on ride reports to learn what sites you'd prefer to see.

LoserLazer brought up a good point, staying in Pai the beginning of the year we saw temperatures of 8c overnight. Speaking of cold nights, there is plenty to see, and great hikes, in the Doi Inthanon national park. My fav towns on the loop are Mae Sarieng and Mae Chaem, though Pai is a great spot for nights out with fellow travelers. If your looking for outta of the way spots, Wat Chan (Ban Chan), north of Samoeng and connected to Pai (if your comfortable riding on well traveled dirt roads), is one of the non touristy villages you can find on the MHS loop.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Fishenough