Hwy-1340 To Doi Angkhang

[muchogra]

T_Dog, I agree totally that there are so much to see outside the city. It's a pity if one just confines to the city and its viscinity only. After seeing the downhill trip videos by poorsuckers I fully understand why motorcycle riders who often explore the countryside need the geared ones instead of the automatics.

T_Dog, do you think that lone dog in downtown Angkhang will remember you the next time?

poorsucker, nice videos. Thanks.

Even in a car you need to go downhill on your gears and not using brakes (I leaned that to my cost a few years ago coming down from Doi Mae Salong on the steep road and my brakes caught fire). An automatic car is fine (that's what we've got) just use the manual override and go downhill in 1st or 2nd. Not sure how that would work on an automatic bike.

Indeed, an automatic without a manual override would risk burning the brakes. I never thought it could be some serious problem. Luckily, my new car which just arrived at the CM dealer today has a manual override. I have yet to find out how to use it and if it's got this downhill and uphill assists.

L&J, nice site with great photos taken in different places.

[huli]

Based on this post, my wife and I did the HWY 1178, 1340, 1249 loop to and from Doi Ang Khan on Friday. It was everything we hoped for as far as excitement and beauty.

However, we had a serious problem coming down HWY 1249 that had me scared shitless. This is one radical downhill and my PCX is an automatic with little if any slowing from the engine. It was just brakes to the max and my wife and I are big, 180 kilos between us. I expected it to be hairy but I thought I would just go slow.

Anyways, I thought I better stop halfway down and rest the brakes which I did. After a minute resting, the hydraulic front brakes went totally flat freaking me out that the bike was broken what was I going to do and maybe I would be dead if I hadn't stopped. After resting for 10 minutes or so the brakes gradually came alive again, another cycle gave my wife a ride, and I was able to get down the hill with no problem.

That 1248 is an insane downhill and I wouldn't recommend taking a bike with automatic transmission down it.

If anyone can shed any light on why the brakes would completely fail I would sure be interested. Was this to alert me that the bike was not safe to operate while the bike was stopped and turned off because the brake was too hot? Would the brakes have failed while I was driving if I had not stopped?

life seems so precious now.......

[rene123]

dam_n you T_Dog, now I've added ANOTHER future trip to my list of others I have to do. I'm going to have to decide on what type of motorbike to buy pretty soon. Would it be suitable for a Kawasaki D-Tracker with street tires?

Thanks for the photo story, and to others who have replied.

[mcgriffith]

Based on this post, my wife and I did the HWY 1178, 1340, 1249 loop to and from Doi Ang Khan on Friday. It was everything we hoped for as far as excitement and beauty.

However, we had a serious problem coming down HWY 1249 that had me scared shitless. This is one radical downhill and my PCX is an automatic with little if any slowing from the engine. It was just brakes to the max and my wife and I are big, 180 kilos between us. I expected it to be hairy but I thought I would just go slow.

Anyways, I thought I better stop halfway down and rest the brakes which I did. After a minute resting, the hydraulic front brakes went totally flat freaking me out that the bike was broken what was I going to do and maybe I would be dead if I hadn't stopped. After resting for 10 minutes or so the brakes gradually came alive again, another cycle gave my wife a ride, and I was able to get down the hill with no problem.

That 1248 is an insane downhill and I wouldn't recommend taking a bike with automatic transmission down it.

If anyone can shed any light on why the brakes would completely fail I would sure be interested. Was this to alert me that the bike was not safe to operate while the bike was stopped and turned off because the brake was too hot? Would the brakes have failed while I was driving if I had not stopped?

life seems so precious now.......

You boiled your brake fluid, that's all.

Next time, go up Doi Ang Khang on 1249, then go down the backside to 1178 and back to Chiang Dao.

In other words, do the loop counter clockwise if on your PCX.

I met a Finnish rider in Chiang Dao (at the Chiang Dao Nest resort) who had completed the same loop you did, on a rented Kawasaki ER-6N.

We both did Doi Ang Khang same day, in different directions.

The guy rebuilds old BMW motorcycles, and has million+ miles of touring under his belt all over the world.

Told me he thought he was going to lose it a few times on that downhill- not because of your smoked brakes/boiled brake fluid situation, but rather because the bike was very heavy with a high center of gravity. Somewhat unstable and bobbly on those very steep downhill hairpin turns to navigate with a fully loaded bike with big rider, touring luggage, etc.

On my CBR250 with reasonable tour luggage (soft Chase Harper Tail Trunk and tank bag) I have had no problem either up or down on Doi Ang Khang.

You definitely need a manual, not an automatic, for engine braking on that downhill.

[KRS1]

We hit Arunothai and see the influence of the KMT as we see signs written in Chinese. It always amazes me how quickly the culture of the land can change over a few dozen kilometers. We also hit the last section of straight road we will see for a while.

I got to this point before, but then i turned around.

Looks like i should've kept going.

How much further was it until you hit that grand view of the lower plain?