Some Thais' attitudes to motorcycle maintenance

[kwaussie]

Another simple saying Penny wise Pound foolish

[Ticketmaster]

It's quite simple really, if you have been here awhile and you let a Thai work on your stuff (bike, car, computer, pump, etc.), you get exactly what you deserve. Get some tools and learn how to DIY -- that is the ONLY way it will be done right every time. Period. If you MUST let some guy work on something (say a tire where they have the tool to break the bead), then you stand there, looking over the guy's shoulder the entire time to be sure it is done right. If you go relax in the lounge with a cup of coffee, you have no excuse for being "surprised" by the work later. That's just the way it is.

[roban]

^^

absolutely correct.

Sad....but if you know how it *works* here and if you are NOT TOO lazy, you are fine in most cases.

[The Usual Suspect]

Preventative maintenance does seem to be a far fetched idea to many Thais. Not only myself, but many of my expat friends have noticed that Thai people seem to think that you only need to pay attention to something if it breaks down. This goes for vehicles, machinery, tools, houses, you name it. It's not just about saving a few baht either. A lot of the p.m. would cost nothing but time. A perfect example is my neighbor who has a portable cement mixer. He uses it but never washes it out afterword. The result is a mixing tub that is getting so heavily encrusted to the point that it is causing problems with operation. I saw him out the other day grumbling and beating the shit out of the mixing tub with a hammer trying to clean it up......... T.I.T.

[The Usual Suspect]

In a similar vein I have put in some shelving in my tiny little mancave/workshop which involved drilling into the concrete walls.

I was just buying masonry drill bits from the local mom and pop store as I could not be bothered to trek over the brightside and they were cheap at 20b a pop but they only lasted 4 holes till they were <deleted>.

did 3 trips/walks to buy more over the course of an afternoon mumbling about the cheap crap that fails....4th trip/walk old matey says "No Hab"..... Iam like FARKKKKK I dont wanna have to go to Home Pro to buy some then he tells me he has some in the same size but are expensive (80b)........ anywho I grab 2 of them and the first one drilled more holes than the 3 other cheap cheap ones I earlier purchased and looks like it has never been used.....

Go figure.

There's a simple saying: buy expensive, cry only once.

That's really funny because when I used to go to the hardware store in the village, the guy would always give me the cheapest <deleted> they had. That's just the way he's used to doing business with the locals. At any rate, after a few of these frustrating experiences just like yours, I told him to show me the quality stuff first. Now he just does it as a matter of course.

[Ticketmaster]

Preventative maintenance does seem to be a far fetched idea to many Thais. Not only myself, but many of my expat friends have noticed that Thai people seem to think that you only need to pay attention to something if it breaks down. This goes for vehicles, machinery, tools, houses, you name it. It's not just about saving a few baht either. A lot of the p.m. would cost nothing but time. A perfect example is my neighbor who has a portable cement mixer. He uses it but never washes it out afterword. The result is a mixing tub that is getting so heavily encrusted to the point that it is causing problems with operation. I saw him out the other day grumbling and beating the shit out of the mixing tub with a hammer trying to clean it up......... T.I.T.

All this has a simple cultural explanation (which helps nothing). Thailand is a tropical, primarily agrarian culture. Agrarian cultures routinely do not look beyond the next season (will it rain?). This is compounded in a tropical environment because food is typically abundant and shelter of little concern. There has never been any real need to plan for the future. "Only the present is of concern, and we'll deal with things in the present as they arise rather that waste energy on speculation."

Northern and especially technology based cultures must be just the opposite to survive. We always plan ahead. You had better have adequate clothing and shelter for that bad winter -- or die. Over the course of our cultures' evolution's, we would have died out had we not stored enough acorns to survive that bad year that produced nothing. We plan ahead as it is ingrained in us that our survival depends on it (even when it doesn't).

This "problem" is not exclusive to Thailand. It is pretty much that way in every agrarian culture around the globe's equatorial belt. Much of Africa and Mexico, for example.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Ticketmaster

[dave_boo]

Hate 'them and us' type of comments in a bike forum.

You do what is right for you and let them do what is right for them. You cannot criticise a whole culture while eating theie rice or riding bikes done my their engineers.

And till when changing oil is a preventative measure or changing tubes of tires w/out any problems every year?

Very boring!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Other than Tiger...how many bikes on the road were actually engineered in the Kingdom. Even Tiger imported their engine.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[sensei]

I got 3 flats the first month i got my mountain bike, im rolling with patches now too...starts to get expensive after a while, and if you know its going to happen again....well.

Out of curiosity did the patch fail ? or was it a new puncture ? As long as you wait for the glue to dry before applying the patch...patches dont usually fail.

If a new hole always appears in a different place after several patches, the inner tube might not be a good quality one. A better tube doesn't only give peace of mind but road safety as well.

[biplanebluey]

riding in the dark without turning on the lights in the hope of saving some gasoline shows ignorance and stupidity

hes not saving gas he is saving his BATTERY------- Don't you know anything !!!!!

[KRS1]

riding in the dark without turning on the lights in the hope of saving some gasoline shows ignorance and stupidity

hes not saving gas he is saving his BATTERY------- Don't you know anything !!!!!

no no no, he's saving his lightbulb.

[pokerkid]

riding in the dark without turning on the lights in the hope of saving some gasoline shows ignorance and stupidity

hes not saving gas he is saving his BATTERY------- Don't you know anything !!!!!

no no no, he's saving his lightbulb.

actually I would not be surprised at all if that was the case

[yingyo]

most English teachers I know havent washed their bikes in about a year, and when I ask when they last changed their oil, look amazed like its some form of black magic....and dont even suggest checking the tire pressure, their brains may explode.

Come on dude, that's no way to talk about LL.

[English_M_in_Bkk]

they will fix your flat the same way they always do if not asked for something else, patching an innertube on wave is ok imo i would not do it on a Hayabusa though unless for urgent temp repair. Patching innertubes saves enviroment too if anyone cares.

About your landladys internet that is simply how many women behave towards technical things all over the world. i put things like that in big bag of acceptans inside my head.

Inner tubes on a Hayabusha - crikey!!!!

[LivinginKata]

This is the Bike Forum. The last 4 off topic posts removed.

[Gsxrnz]

they will fix your flat the same way they always do if not asked for something else, patching an innertube on wave is ok imo i would not do it on a Hayabusa though unless for urgent temp repair. Patching innertubes saves enviroment too if anyone cares.

About your landladys internet that is simply how many women behave towards technical things all over the world. i put things like that in big bag of acceptans inside my head.

Inner tubes on a Hayabusha - crikey!!!!

Yeah - that had me worried too. Even a plugged hole on the tubeless tyre of a performance bike is dangerous if you're pushing the envelope. Sticking a tube inside one would be lethal - do they even make tubes big enough for a 180/190?

OP - why did you push the bike? I just transfer the weight front or rear and ride the sucker. 30 minutes pushing the bike versus wrecking the tyre, and I'd rather wreck the tyre. Mind you, I've ridden a Click and a PCX for up to 4 klms flat and never wrecked a tyre yet.

[Indrid Cold]

they will fix your flat the same way they always do if not asked for something else, patching an innertube on wave is ok imo i would not do it on a Hayabusa though unless for urgent temp repair. Patching innertubes saves enviroment too if anyone cares.

About your landladys internet that is simply how many women behave towards technical things all over the world. i put things like that in big bag of acceptans inside my head.

Inner tubes on a Hayabusha - crikey!!!!

Yeah - that had me worried too. Even a plugged hole on the tubeless tyre of a performance bike is dangerous if you're pushing the envelope. Sticking a tube inside one would be lethal - do they even make tubes big enough for a 180/190?

OP - why did you push the bike? I just transfer the weight front or rear and ride the sucker. 30 minutes pushing the bike versus wrecking the tyre, and I'd rather wreck the tyre. Mind you, I've ridden a Click and a PCX for up to 4 klms flat and never wrecked a tyre yet.

off course they make tubes for that speed. i put tubes on all my bikes. having tubles on some bikes i would have to glue the tyre to rim for it to stay put and that will make it pizzer when its time for me to unmount. please explain why it would be lethal an innertube could extend lifetime expectancy dramaticly when hitting hard impact. just dont mount tubes in tubeless tyres and dont use the thicker tubes for motocross as they tend to heat up while maitaining high speed.

[UncleJ]

On my last tire repair, the mechanic left off the radiator cover and 4 bolts, 1 muffler bolt missing and the swingarm was missing 1 bolt and the remaining swingarm bolt was hand tightened and had backed almost all the way out.

I was 3 threads away from crashing and probably ruining the drivetrain.

Yes. 6 bolts missing and a vital swingarm bolt hanging on by 3 threads after a simple tire repair!

Took it back and the numbskull mechanic bunged up some of the threads using miscellaneous bolts he found laying around.

Edited October 27, 2013 by UncleJ

[yingyo]

Should have just taken it to the chimp enclosure in Dusit Zoo.

They'd have done it better.

[wantan]

On my last tire repair, the mechanic left off the radiator cover and 4 bolts, 1 muffler bolt missing and the swingarm was missing 1 bolt and the remaining swingarm bolt was hand tightened and had backed almost all the way out.

I was 3 threads away from crashing and probably ruining the drivetrain.

Yes. 6 bolts missing and a vital swingarm bolt hanging on by 3 threads after a simple tire repair!

Took it back and the numbskull mechanic bunged up some of the threads using miscellaneous bolts he found laying around.

Was this an authorized workshop or a somchai shop? But whatever, this is the reason why i am doing everything on my own now. Its time to leave quickly if you see the mechanic laying the bolts on the ground instead of using a cup to collect them.

[ll2]

On my last tire repair, the mechanic left off the radiator cover and 4 bolts, 1 muffler bolt missing and the swingarm was missing 1 bolt and the remaining swingarm bolt was hand tightened and had backed almost all the way out.

I was 3 threads away from crashing and probably ruining the drivetrain.

 

Yes. 6 bolts missing and a vital swingarm bolt hanging on by 3 threads after a simple tire repair!

 

Took it back and the numbskull mechanic bunged up some of the threads using miscellaneous bolts he found laying around.

 

 

 

 

But why did not you check your bike while they are working on it or aftee tiu receive it?

It is a major rule after every repair for me.

It was same back home and it is same in thailand.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[UncleJ]

Somchai indicated he was insulted after I grabbed the wrench and checked every bolt the second visit.

I had to explain to him he almost got me killed.... Like talking to a fence-post. Duh.

I took it to another shop to fix the damaged threads on a couple of the bolts.

[KRS1]

Love the way they pump tyres up 'till they're rock hard, then they wonder why they have no grip. I even carry a gauge with me and check tourists tyres for them. never found one under 40psi. My Thai gf stills thinks the little guy in the wooden shack must be right (he's Thai and they're never wrong) and the label on the frame is wrong.

you have to overinflate tires to get the beads to lock in place, problem is they leave it that way.

[Turkleton]

you have to overinflate tires to get the beads to lock in place, problem is they leave it that way.

Nothing wrong with that.

The average somchai knows, that the crappy tubes loose 10-15 PSI/week, so after 1-2 weeks you are fine.

So why care about tire pressure, tss?

[KRS1]

I got 3 flats the first month i got my mountain bike, im rolling with patches now too...starts to get expensive after a while, and if you know its going to happen again....well.

Out of curiosity did the patch fail ? or was it a new puncture ? As long as you wait for the glue to dry before applying the patch...patches dont usually fail.

If a new hole always appears in a different place after several patches, the inner tube might not be a good quality one. A better tube doesn't only give peace of mind but road safety as well.

Ive changed routes and havent had another flat yet (now that ive said that i'll probably get one), all 3 flats were from very curious looking pieces of metal...oddly enough there are no tire repair shops on my new route.

first was a pin like piece, you can tell it was cut with wire cutters because it bends by the cut.

second was a metal splinter, you could tell that was man made too.

third was some weird looking thing, i think this was the only legit one.

Ive changed tubes since the first flat, the ones in there were for 2.00-2.5, when i needed 1.25 -1.75...one of the tubes are currently patched. The first oversized tubes were Thai (both punctured), the new correct tubes (one with patch) are Chinese Panaracer, i have about 2 weeks on the patch and so far so good and fixed it on the side of the road with my ghetto repair kit - two bent 6" metal rulers, cut up pieces from old tube, concrete ground to scuff the puncture spot and leftover 3M synthetic rubber adhesive from fixing my shoes