We Just Wanna Ride

Sukie

0
Jul 1, 2008
33
1
0
Trip Report: The Yellowcome MC Talui Isan

“ I just Wanna ride man! “

Bikers: The Yellowcome MC Personality Type
Sukie Triumph Tiger Hyper & A lot of energy
Yut Triumph Street Triple Hyper & A lot of energy
Jod Honda X41300 Hyper & A lot of energy
Tia Honda CBR1000RR Hyper & A lot, A lot, A lot of energy

Sukie, Tia, Yut, Jod - The start of our 2500 Km journey around Isan
pic_85_gallery_1.jpg


Date
August 9-12 2008

Route
Bangkok-Pethchabun-Loei- Chiang Khan – Nong Khai- Nakhon Phanom - Mukdahan – Ubon – Korat - Bangkok

Total Distant
Around 2500 km

Story / Trip

I have known Tia and Yut for a while now, Tia works with Honda while Yut with Triumph. We got closer when I started having Dreamchaser parties at my house to watch DC every Monday night. These two guys are always talking about track days (racing), which is fun; but I always wanted to go touring with them and the Mother Day weekend (Aug 9-12) was a perfect opportunity for us. Jod is always free anyway so he also joined us.

The only reason for doing this trip was – we wanted to ride. We originally plan to go to Loei and be back by Monday. However, once into the trip we decided to extend the route, riding along the Mekong River all the way from Chiang Khan to Mukdahan and then back to Bangkok, arriving Tuesday instead.

DAY 1
We left Bangkok Saturday morning at 6 am. The ride to Petchabun is kind of boring mostly just a straight line. Yut rode a naked Street Triple and I felt sorry for him, the wind was blasting on his body the entire way up. At Lom Sak we turned left on HW 12 up the mountain for about 20 km to Coffee Hill - where we took a break, had some coffee and enjoyed the spectacular view.

Rather than take the normal HW 213 to Loei we decided to go through Nam Nao NP instead. We headed back East on HW 12 through Nam Nao and then turn left on back-road 2216 that brought us out on HW 213 around Dan Sai. To me, Loei is among the most beautiful province in Thailand and the twisties on the road are fantastic – all of us were having fun on our bikes after the boring straight-line on HW 21 up from Bangkok .

Our final destination for the day was Chiang Khan, where we arrived around 7:30 pm. It rained most of the time that day and after riding for about 13 hours we were wet and tired. We checked into Sam Guesthouse (390 baht/night) took a shower and headed for dinner. Chiang Khan is a tiny little town on the Mekong River and we weren’t expecting much – a quick dinner and early to bed most likely. However, at the restaurant we ran into Poo Pongsit Kampee and he invited us to see him play at the local fair. So after dinner we went to the concert where we also saw Na Khang Caravan and Ajarn Phanit. One of us met some girls, exchanged phone numbers, but they never called!

DAY 2
The next day we did some riding around Loei. For those of you who enjoy touring and have never been to Loei, I highly recommend it - in my opinion one of the best place for riding in Thailand. HW 211 from Chiang Khan to Nong Khai is in my Top 10 best route to ride in Thailand. Back road 2108 to Pak Chom was also stunning. Being we’re in the mountains the whether was nice, as long as it doesn’t rain.

That night we had dinner with a Loei MC (mostly on KSR), who would join us tomorrow riding out of town.

pic_85_gallery_25.jpg

Party with Loei Riders

After dinner, as we were leaving somebody was yelling at me, “Sukie, Sukie” – I turn around and it was Pee Pom Asanee Chotikul in his van. He told me he loved Dreamchaser and that I should continue doing it. He also told me to promote Loei a lot, since Pee Pom is from Loei. I have been out of the music industry for 3 years now and never thought I would meet 4 Thai music legends in Loei – Poo Pongsit, Pom Asanee, Khang Caravan & Ajarn Phanit (played the Thai flute in the famous Carabao song “ Made in Thailand “) – absolutely amazing and bizarre!

After dinner we went with the KSR MC to Robot, a local favorite Pub in Loei. I had never seen so many Coyote dancers in my life – they even took turn singing with the house band – never seen this in Bangkok! In conclusion, Loei had a lot more action than we expected – the Guys were all happy . As The Terminator will say “We’ll be back.”

pic_85_gallery_30.jpg

Yellowcome MC post with Loei Riders

DAY 3
Next day we left on a very long ride from Loei to Mukdahan, deciding to ride along the Mekong River the entire way. Jod up front, Tia in 2nd, Yut 3rd and me last. The 3 riders in front of me are more experience rider than myself and I enjoy following them and watching what they do on their bike – it’s a great way to pick up new techniques and skills. One of them is always showing-off on his bike but I wont tell who!

pic_85_gallery_21.jpg

On HW 211 along Mekong River to Nong Khai

We stop in Nong Khai for lunch at the very chill-out Mat Mee guesthouse and then rode onward to Mukdahan. From Nong Khai to Mukdahan it rained the entire way and we were riding way too fast given the rain condition, someone is to blame for this, but then again I wont tell who. By the time we arrived in Nakhon Phanom we were all wet and cold and so we took a break at Amazon Coffee at PTT gas station where one of the guys kept showing off his designer underwear (D&G or Armani, can’t remember which), again I wont tell who!

It was another 120 km to Mukdahan and we wanted to continue - it turned out to be one of the most stupid things I’ve done on a bike. It was completely dark on the country rode, it was raining hard and my glasses fogged up due to the rain; overall, I was almost a blind man. All I could do was follow the taillight of the 3 bikes in front of me and trust that they were choosing the correct line.

pic_85_gallery_32.jpg

From Nong Khai to Mukdahan rain none stop

One of my Rules of Riding: you have to be able to trust the bikers you are riding with, otherwise, don’t ride with them.

We arrived in Mukdahan around 8:30 pm, another long day of riding – took a quick shower and had a nice dinner at the cozy “ Wine Wild Why? ” restaurant on the Mekong. During dinner I was thinking riding with Tia, Yut and Jod is like riding with 3 kids. The one thing I like about bikers is they never seem to grow up. Don’t get me wrong, they all work and have a job, but once riding they all act like kids, including myself. The four Musketeers!

DAY 4
Next day another 600 km from Mukdahan to Bangkok, half of it in the rain again. We only stuck to the back roads (HW 212, 202, 207) and it was great fun – a lot of long sweeping curves. It was Mother’s Day and I had to meet mom for dinner, so to make time, we got back on main HW 2 & 1 which leads straight into BKK.

pic_85_gallery_34.jpg

Rain again before entering Bangkok

Conclusion
Everyone was happy and I felt good – I was afraid the track-day guys might be bored touring but I can tell after 4 days everyone had a great time. There’s another long weekend coming up in September and this time we want to do 3000- 4000 km to the deep Andaman and back. Dreamchaser was 10,000 km total but that was 45 days – so you can imagine doing 2500 km in 4 days. We all wanted to continue but had to be back at work on Wednesday.

Why do what we do? Only one reason – We just wanted to ride and have fun! To me there is nothing better in life than riding from dawn till dusk, sharing a beer with your friends over dinner (Tia & Jod don’t drink), and riding from dawn till dusk again the next day and the next day and the next day.

Oh, if you were wondering why we call ourselves the “ Yellowcome MC “ look at the photos, only one guy is responsible for this name!

“ Oh Pra Jaow Jod Mun Yod Mak…! “

“Live to Ride / Ride to Live”

Boys and their Toys-
pic_85_gallery_19.jpg


Best and Ride Safe,
Sukie

ps - for pics you can go to www.dreamchaserthai.com, in Gallery section, Topic "Yellowcome Talui Isan"
 

Franz

0
Jun 28, 2007
1,658
3
0
Sukie and the other 3 bikers, my respects, what an iron-butt ride, 4 days and 2500 kms, that's a 625 kms each day without rest, amazing !!!! Must have taken another day or two to relax your backs 'n' butts............cheers, Franz
 

Rhodie

0
Mar 5, 2006
842
5
18
Great ride report Suki.
Good to see you getting Yut back on the road.
Even better to see you as a catalyst for getting many other Thai bikers riding, even in the rainy season.
Cudos
Rhodie
 

Franz

0
Jun 28, 2007
1,658
3
0
Sukie, "Yellowcome", that must be Jod, written all over his Jacket & pants right ? Cheers, Franz
 

DavidFL

0
Staff member
Subscribed
Jan 16, 2003
14,428
5,260
113
70
Chiang Khong
www.thegtrider.com
Sukie
Aha, I love it - just out there riding for the sake of riding & having a food time. Great stuff.
It's a pleasure to have you guys on the forum, contributing Road & Trip Reports. Please keep 'em coming - no matter what you ride.
 

Sukie

0
Jul 1, 2008
33
1
0
Yes Franze

Jod seem to have one outfit for every occasion.

Hoping to do 4000 km in 3 days next month with the guys again going down south

Sukie
 
Jul 6, 2004
355
2
0
Great trip report and photos Sukie,
I reckon you guys should get out to Australia, you are certainly doing the training for long road trips! Keep it up, very entertaining writing and it gives an old bugger like me some ideas on trips thru Thailand.
Cheers
Tom