All around the border - trip report.

[DualSportBiker]

Not going to make it all the way around - customer job on Saturday means I must be back by Thursday, here are some pics while I write it up

[DualSportBiker]

Pics

[Shurup]

Looks like a good trip, even though you had to cut it short.

How was your front suspension performing? Happy with the results?

[taninthai]

picture n.o. 8 looks like the 105 .....great road

Edited February 15, 2015 by taninthai

[DualSportBiker]

Sure is

[DualSportBiker]

Pretty fantastic. Rear wheel skips a bit, but I've been pushing... Rear tire has been skittish too. Bumps are easier.

It was a blast on gravel. I made the ferry in an hour from the checkpoint on Sawan hill. No scares, good traction.

Looks like a good trip, even though you had to cut it short.

How was your front suspension performing? Happy with the results?

[DualSportBiker]

More pics

[ll2]

cool man!

please post the gmap of the rote you made bro.

it sounds a lot of fun. love to those long trips but my work does not allow me:(

[Shurup]

cool man!

please post the gmap of the rote you made bro.

it sounds a lot of fun. love to those long trips but my work does not allow me:(

Take a vacation.

[ll2]

cool man!

please post the gmap of the rote you made bro.

it sounds a lot of fun. love to those long trips but my work does not allow me:(

Take a vacation.

thanks for the advice!

[DualSportBiker]

OK, so here's a brief trip report, given as currently it is on pause...

Thursday - Day 1.

Having prepped the bike for days, it was rather disappointing to have my 3 year old battery die at the first fuel stop on Kanchanapisek, just 11 km from home! I knew the battery was not in great shape and chose not to replace it 3 days prior to leaving. Lesson learnt. Six hours to get a replacement meant I left 'for real' at 17:40, allowing me just enough time to sprint to Kanchanaburi town.

Friday - Day 2.

Moving by 8:00 for breakfast at the market downtown, I hit the main 323 by 8:30. It was too cold to ride hard; I needed extra layers to keep me warm. Pit stop and pics taken at the pass - significantly more developed than my first visit in 1991 in a Series II 88' Land Rover.

Lunch in Sangklaburi before riding over to the wooden bridge. Panorama view from lunch:

On the way to the bridge a minivan jumped out from behind a truck it was following too closely. I was perhaps 40 meters short doing 80. I just managed to pull to the left, avoiding an old pedestrian in the process. My mirror missed him by an inch! I turned around, chased him down and gestured for him to stop. Keeping my calm and refraining from colourful vocabulary, I explained just how wrong he was. He accepted my POV and we left it at that...

I managed to lose the goggle strap mount for my Contour camera in the minutes after - I was a bit shaken up after the brush with the van. Anyhow, the upshot is I only have a few mins of vdo...

I turned off to Huay Mae Kamin at 14.646258, 98.705963 and rode 55 km of mainly unpaved road to the ferry. The second and third pics posted above are at Nuen Sawan ranger station, and some point about half way through. Could have done with my helmet cam at the place - three pick-ups ploughing towards me, the wind carrying the dust away to the right, all front-lit by low sunlight resonating red with the jungle as the background... oh well.

I made the reservoir 50 minutes after the ranger station to find the ferry on the east bank, and not willing to come get me. I offered to pay a pick-up's price of 300 and so ended up on the east bank myself at nearly 19:00 in pitch black with my GPS showing three places to stay within a couple of clicks. All were closed! I found a shop open who recommended me to ride towards Kanchanaburi which I did. I entered the long extension where the second ferry cuts across and decided I was not willing to play with any elephants, so turned around again. I spent the night at a ranger station at 14.605168, 99.170315 Sleeping on the floor was suboptimal, but it was reassuring to hang out with them; they fed me, offered me their blankets and matting to sleep on. Can't fault the hospitality, and we had an entertaining evening. Apparently two died last year trying to ride that section of road between midnight and 06:00...

Saturday - Day 3.

I could not get passed 60 km/h until 9:30 as it was 9ºC when I woke at 7:00! Only when I'd cross the pass over to the Suphan side did it feel any warmer. Anyhow I followed Dave Boo's route and kept as west as possible to Mae Wong then hit the Mae Sot road from the 1108 and passed through Mae Sot early afternoon. I grabbed a coffee north of Mae Sot and rode to 3 clicks north of Tha Song Yang and stayed in Thasongyang Hill Resort which has large and comfortable rooms all made of teak.

Checking in

Bike and pagoda pic

and view from Pagoda

Sunday - Day 4.

Nothing special to report here - the road is fantastic, the views are special, the temperature was 9º again - a real pleasure to ride mid-morning when warmer. I rode straight through to Mae Hong Son by 15:00 and called it a day. Had an excellent massage and a good meal and was snoring by 22:00 I got to the Salaween river early enough to catch mist on the water and great light...

Salaween river

Curve-central

Evening light on the main temple of MHS

Monday - Day 5.

Confirmation that I have on-site work to do on Saturday 21 in Amata Nakorn meant the trip was going to change. I found the route to Piang Luang that starts along the airstrip in Pai in preparation for riding it someday soon, and then rode to Ban Wat Chan instead. I was aranged to meet a guide I had hired three years back at 19.072692, 98.303706, but he was running late, so I headed to Samoeng on the 1349. Between 30 to 50 km is unpaved, but they are busy grading and laying the tarmac. What an excellent road - loved every minute of it.

Back to Wat Chan - road is visible left of my mirror...

Lots like this curveway to heaven, but unpaved

I crossed paths with Prathip the guide along the route - had just enough time for a chat before he had to chase his customers down and I had to think about riding in the dark again... Arrived in Chiang Mai at sunset, checked in to a place to stay, and headed out to meet Papa Al for a beer. He has ridden around 5,000 km to reach CM the way he did - pretty wild ride by all accounts. Leave it to him to write it up.

Edit:

On a hairpin bend not too far from Samoeng I got on the gas too early and lost the rear wheel. I had my inside foot of the peg and was over the bike, so rolling off the power and forcing the bars forward was easier than had I been inside the bike. I hit full-lock before I knew what was going on! I am still surprised I got out of it OK. I put it down to luck and low speed...

Tuesday - Day 6.

I took the bike to Barcelona because there was too much oil leaking for comfort. They confirmed a dead seal was the cause and so I've left my bike with them, will complete my client job on Saturday, then fly back up and collect my fixed ride to complete the mission!

Until then, normalcy dictates!

Cheers.

Edited February 18, 2015 by DualSportBiker

[ll2]

OK, so here's a brief trip report, given as currently it is on pause...

Thursday - Day 1.

Having prepped the bike for days, it was rather disappointing to have my 3 year old battery die at the first fuel stop on Kanchanapisek, just 11 km from home! I knew the battery was not in great shape and chose not to replace it 3 days prior to leaving. Lesson learnt. Six hours to get a replacement meant I left 'for real' at 17:40, allowing me just enough time to sprint to Kanchanaburi town.

Friday - Day 2.

Moving by 8:00 for breakfast at the market downtown, I hit the main 323 by 8:30. It was too cold to ride hard; I needed extra layers to keep me warm. Pit stop and pics taken at the pass - significantly more developed than my first visit in 1991 in a Series II 88' Land Rover.

IMG_0325.JPG

Lunch in Sangklaburi before riding over to the wooden bridge. Panorama view from lunch:

IMG_0327.JPG

On the way to the bridge a minivan jumped out from behind a truck it was following too closely. I was perhaps 40 meters short doing 80. I just managed to pull to the left, avoiding an old pedestrian in the process. My mirror missed him by an inch! I turned around, chased him down and gestured for him to stop. Keeping my calm and refraining from colourful vocabulary, I explained just how wrong he was. He accepted my POV and we left it at that...

I managed to lose the goggle strap mount for my Contour camera in the minutes after - I was a bit shaken up after the brush with the van. Anyhow, the upshot is I only have a few mins of vdo...

I turned off to Huay Mae Kamin at 14.646258, 98.705963 and rode 55 km of mainly unpaved road to the ferry. The second and third pics posted above are at Nuen Sawan ranger station, and some point about half way through. Could have done with my helmet cam at the place - three pick-ups ploughing towards me, the wind carrying the dust away to the right, all front-lit by low sunlight resonating red with the jungle as the background... oh well.

I made the reservoir 50 minutes after the ranger station to find the ferry on the east bank, and not willing to come get me. I offered to pay a pick-up's price of 300 and so ended up on the east bank myself at nearly 19:00 in pitch black with my GPS showing three places to stay within a couple of clicks. All were closed! I found a shop open who recommended me to ride towards Kanchanaburi which I did. I entered the long extension where the second ferry cuts across and decided I was not willing to play with any elephants, so turned around again. I spent the night at a ranger station at 14.605168, 99.170315 Sleeping on the floor was suboptimal, but it was reassuring to hang out with them; they fed me, offered me their blankets and matting to sleep on. Can't fault the hospitality, and we had an entertaining evening. Apparently two died last year trying to ride that section of road between midnight and 06:00...

Saturday - Day 3.

I could not get passed 60 km/h until 9:30 as it was 9ºC when I woke at 7:00! Only when I'd cross the pass over to the Suphan side did it feel any warmer. Anyhow I followed Dave Boo's route and kept as west as possible to Mae Wong then hit the Mae Sot road from the 1108 and passed through Mae Sot early afternoon. I grabbed a coffee north of Mae Sot and rode to 3 clicks north of Tha Song Yang and stayed in Thasongyang Hill Resort which has large and comfortable rooms all made of teak.

Checking in

IMG_0400.jpg

Bike and pagoda pic

IMG_0458.jpg

and view from Pagoda

IMG_0457.jpg

Sunday - Day 4.

Nothing special to report here - the road is fantastic, the views are special, the temperature was 9º again - a real pleasure to ride mid-morning when warmer. I rode straight through to Mae Hong Son by 15:00 and called it a day. Had an excellent massage and a good meal and was snoring by 22:00 I got to the Salaween river early enough to catch mist on the water and great light...

Salaween river

IMG_0438.JPG

Curve-central

IMG_0451.JPG

Evening light on the main temple of MHS

IMG_0471.JPG

Monday - Day 5.

Confirmation that I have on-site work to do on Saturday 21 in Amata Nakorn meant the trip was going to change. I found the route to Piang Luang that starts along the airstrip in Pai in preparation for riding it someday soon, and then rode to Ban Wat Chan instead. I was aranged to meet a guide I had hired three years back at 19.072692, 98.303706, but he was running late, so I headed to Samoeng on the 1349. Between 30 to 50 km is unpaved, but they are busy grading and laying the tarmac. What an excellent road - loved every minute of it.

Back to Wat Chan - road is visible left of my mirror...

IMG_0553.JPG

Lots like this curveway to heaven, but unpaved

IMG_0548.jpg

I crossed paths with Prathip the guide along the route - had just enough time for a chat before he had to chase his customers down and I had to think about riding in the dark again... Arrived in Chiang Mai at sunset, checked in to a place to stay, and headed out to meet Papa Al for a beer. He has ridden around 5,000 km to reach CM the way he did - pretty wild ride by all accounts. Leave it to him to write it up.

Edit:

On a hairpin bend not too far from Samoeng I got on the gas too early and lost the rear wheel. I had my inside foot of the peg and was over the bike, so rolling off the power and forcing the bars forward was easier than had I been inside the bike. I hit full-lock before I knew what was going on! I am still surprised I got out of it OK. I put it down to luck and low speed...

Tuesday - Day 6.

I took the bike to Barcelona because there was too much oil leaking for comfort. They confirmed a dead seal was the cause and so I've left my bike with them, will complete my client job on Saturday, then fly back up and collect my fixed ride to complete the mission!

Until then, normalcy dictates!

Cheers.

cool man. looks like a great ride.

maybe i quit from my job and go around the world!

Edited February 18, 2015 by ll2

[DualSportBiker]

Here ya go!

https://goo.gl/maps/jhalV

http://goo.gl/maps/NajZu

https://goo.gl/maps/mdiQe

The rest was just errors and visiting buddies...

Cheers.

cool man!

please post the gmap of the rote you made bro.

it sounds a lot of fun. love to those long trips but my work does not allow me:(

[Gweiloman]

Here ya go!

https://goo.gl/maps/jhalV

http://goo.gl/maps/NajZu

https://goo.gl/maps/mdiQe

The rest was just errors and visiting buddies...

Cheers.

cool man!

please post the gmap of the rote you made bro.

it sounds a lot of fun. love to those long trips but my work does not allow me:(

It looks like you did the exact reverse of what taninthai and I did, including the barge crossing of Sinakharin dam!

I bet you enjoyed that 20 kms or so of off road heading down to the pier

Enjoying the RR.

[DualSportBiker]

^

I was going over my GPS data for that section from Nuen Sawan to the pier - about 35 k.m. topping out at 65 km/h in places - hard to tonk it with panniers on, but still good fun. On the Way Chan section I hit 147 at one stage - pretty sure it was a paved section...

I stood for all the unpaved sections - boy did my feet ache after that. I got my training from Si Pavey a couple of years back and have not ridden off-road or on unpaved roads since. My body position slowly corrected itself, but initially I struggled with uphill sections unable to lean far enough forward to not need to use my arms to hold me on. Fixed that by pivoting from the waist... by the time I had dealt with the HMK pier run, the unpaved sections on the 105, and got to Wat Chan, my confidence was pretty high and I was riding pretty well on the dust and gravel. Well prepared for the road to Piang Luang next week...

Cheers.

[Gweiloman]

^

I was going over my GPS data for that section from Nuen Sawan to the pier - about 35 k.m. topping out at 65 km/h in places - hard to tonk it with panniers on, but still good fun. On the Way Chan section I hit 147 at one stage - pretty sure it was a paved section...

I stood for all the unpaved sections - boy did my feet ache after that. I got my training from Si Pavey a couple of years back and have not ridden off-road or on unpaved roads since. My body position slowly corrected itself, but initially I struggled with uphill sections unable to lean far enough forward to not need to use my arms to hold me on. Fixed that by pivoting from the waist... by the time I had dealt with the HMK pier run, the unpaved sections on the 105, and got to Wat Chan, my confidence was pretty high and I was riding pretty well on the dust and gravel. Well prepared for the road to Piang Luang next week...

Cheers.

I struggled a bit as well even standing up. I was two up with panniers and top box and even with my pillion standing as well, the total weight of the whole package meant that it was very hard to steer the bike by merely weighting the pegs. I had to put in a lot of input with my arms as well and that was real tiring.

[DualSportBiker]

Looks like I will get back to Chiang Mai and continue the trip on Saturday. Barcelona shipped parts yesterday - some seals and such. Should be installed by tomorrow at the latest. It will be good to be back on the road again. Have to back-track to Pai to ride north to Piang Luang before hugging the border pretty much all the rest of the way...