Malaysian bikes

[Abg Acid]

Hi all,
A few of us will be doing northern thailand tour this december. We will be traveling on malaysian made bikes. However, this particular model is originaly a kawasaki underbone 125 cc known as ZX130 in indonesia, though strip of its name and sell as Modenas in Malaysia. Literally its the same bike.

We are wondering if parts for this particular kawasaki ZX130 is easily availble in Thailand.

Thanks in advance

Abg Acid

[Franz]

Hi Abg Acid, enclosed KAWASAKI - Sales Thailand official website, here you can see models currently on sale, for all these you get spares, or you check per email directly with them which parts do fit on your model according to older Thai made bikes. http://www.kawasaki.co.th/

[Abg Acid]

wow, Franz -, that was a fast reply. Tq. But unfortunately it is in Thai language. Cant really aprehend. Anyway, glad to see pic of the same model as mine here, meaning there will be parts availble I presume. This will make our ride more confident. Thanks again.

http://www.kawasaki.co.th/ka/specifications_zx130.html

[Franz]

you're welcome, plenty of these bikes here on the road already, can get it fixed in every town & most bigger villages. happy driving !!

[Abg Acid]

Thank you Franz. Sure,we are really looking forward to this ride. Will depart from KL riding thru Danok early december. Upon Hat Yai, we will transport the bikes on a train to Bangkok, and hence from bangkok we will ride up north towards Chieng Mai. WE intendt to take it easy on the mopeds, therefore will need a night somehere between Bangkok and Cheing Mai. Havent really decided which route to take yet. Any suggestion or advice on the route and town to stay overnight?. part of our needs are Muslim food. We have 10 days to spend altogehter. Tq

abg acid

Thank you

[Franz]

Hi abg acid, first of all, be aware that you cannot access overhead roads and tollways in Thailand. Motorbikes are not allowed on these, neither 125 ccm nor 1000 ccm. Once you left Bangkok you have only few choices, the diretissima would be route No. 1, Ayutthaya-Nakhon Sawan-Kamphaeng Phet-Tak-Thoen-Lampang-Chiang Mai, from Tak on its hills and quite scenic. Outside of Bangkok you can take the highway as there's no tolls to pay and therfor accessible for motorbikes, road is quite busy until Nakhon Sawan, loads of trucks, buses and pick-ups. In Nakhon Sawan there's a junction where you could take road No.11: Pichit-Phitsanulok-Uttaradit-Den Chai-Lampang-Chiang Mai, or go onto Route 11 already after Singhburi.
Phitsanulok and Sukhothai are historical towns and worth a visit. On the other hand side near Tak there's a lot to see, like Bhumiphol Dam, Mae Sot on the border to Myanmar; Tak itself is a nice, small and clean town. Anyway, there's not much of chjoices where to drive but anyway the more you move North, the more interesting it gets.
Good road maps are available in any BORDERS or Kinokiniya bookstores, I recommend NELLES roadmaps as they are very accurate, you also need one for Bangkok.
Vegetarian or Muslim food is no problem, if you can't communicate in Thai, just point to the food displayed at the shops and you will get what you want, sure thing is you order 'khao phat pak" which means fried rice with vegetables.
Quite a ride on smaller bikes, sorry you don't have the time to drive Hat Yai-Bangkok, because that's much fun as there's hardly any traffic down south and the landscape is dense with forests....Franz

[Abg Acid]

Yo Franz, thanks alot for the sugestion, Loads of info here. Probably road no 1 is a better choice, pasing tak and lampang on the western side of Thailand. Is it less heavy with traffic compare to road 11? And I believe Tak is midway between bangkok and chieng Mai. Can you recomend us, a good place to stay here overnight or other nearest town.We are traveling on a budget ride, probably guest hse would be fime.

At bangkok from the railway station, we will hire a motocycle taxi to take us out of the city. Is this a good plan? would the mtorcycle taxi entertain us in this manner, and how much the cost app?

From cheing Mi, we will tour the famous 1000 corners through Mae Sareang, Mae Hong Song , Pai and up North to stay overnight at Mae Sai or Cheng Rai. Would this ride be comfortable to complete in 2 days?

On the final days of our ride, we will ship our bikes back by train from Chieng Mai-Bangkok-hat Yai.

Hope you may shed some light.Thanks in advance.


abg acid

Ps. The reason we dont drive through the southern part of thailand into bangkok, is that we have only 10 days to spend, and we have done this southern thailand a couple of times before on bikes too. If you happen to ride into Malaysia, feel free to contact me at
http://malaysianbikers.com.my/forum/index.php we have an English section there.

[daewoo]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Abg Acid</i>
At bangkok from the railway station, we will hire a motocycle taxi to take us out of the city. Is this a good plan? would the mtorcycle taxi entertain us in this manner, and how much the cost app?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

AA,

Salamat Datang,

You will be hard pressed to get a motorbike taxi to lead you.

The motorbike taxi's are mainly for short journeys within a few blocks of their 'stand'. Mostly they are farmers from the East who come to BKK to make extra money, so they aren't even BKK locals.

When we have paid them to race across BKK with us on the back for daredevil fun, it has been very expensive because we were asking them to travel much further than they normally would. i.e. 150THB from Silom to Wat Pho, (plus a 500THB bonus for first place and 250THB for second. (I could not have been more scared [:0] )

Some of the other guys here are BKK locals, or on BKK forums and maybe be able to organise someone to lead you out.

Sorry for the bad news, but that is my impression. Maybe a Taxi on the meter, shouldn't be more than 300 Baht for about 40 minutes.

Cheers,
Daewoo

[Abg Acid]

Dewoo,

you really impress me with the welcome in Bahasa Malaysia.

Too bad, the idea of getting a motorcycle taxi leading us out of Bnagkok is not a good idea at all.We really need this service as we dont want to get lost for hours in the city. Bangkok is really a large city, much larger than kuala Lumpur. Strong possibilityof getting lost, I presume.

Is there by any chance local BKK bikers willing to help us out? If its not possible, then the mention of metered taxi has given us light. We will try our luck.

Thank you again Daewoo.

regards
A A

ps how far is Silom to Wat Pho? 150b is really alright fur us. We have budgeted app 300b for the guide mtor taxi as there are 6 of us, each traveling on mopeds.

[daewoo]

Salamat Pagi AA,

I did learn a little Bahasa when I worked in Malaysia on the Rawang-Ipoh Double Track and Electrification Project. Unfortunately I have forgoten most of it now, about all that I can remember is 'Awak numpuk cantik malam ini' (not saying that to you of course [:D]).

I think that it won't be the cost that you will have a problem with, it will be finding someone willing to do it. The mototaxi guys probably won't know where to go, because they literally spend most of their time within 1 or two blocks of their stand.

A taxi may be willing to do it, although communicating your idea without Thai may be very difficult.

For about 15-20 minutes on a bike we were paying upto 150 Baht, but that was because we were asking them to race through traffic and the guys I was with didn't care.

Moto-taxis are generally more expensive than Taxi's, but it is rare for someone to ask them to travel more than about 100 Baht.

I think asking a Taxi is probably your best bet, although they, like buses, are more likely to be used to the elevated freeways where bikes aren't allowed.

I would suggest you have a look at Bangkok Riders http://geocities.com/bkkriders/ I am sure you will be able to get some help over there.

I hope that you will hang around in here as well, and write up a trip report when you are finished.

Cheers,
Daewoo

[daewoo]

AA,

Try;

http://geocities.com/bkkriders/routes/exitnorth.html

Cheers,
Daewoo

[Abg Acid]

Daewoo,
Thanks for replying. The link you gave on Bangkok Exit Route adds more info, but on the hand mmakes me worry more as to the rules and regulations for motorcycless here are not what I thought off.

Anyway, will logg into the bkk riders website soon.

And sure, I will hang around here, even when this trip is done , posting some reports of what biking on a moped is all about.


Another worry here, hope you or others can help.
From Tak we have an option of riding to Mae Sot along road 105 and into Mae Sareang , distance of app 300 km., instead of going straight to Chieng Mai for the night. We have heard of unfriendly and tense atmosphere along these border with Myanmar. Tell us if its really safe to ride from mae sot to Mae Sareang, and the risk or dangers there may be.

thank you again

abg acid

[Franz]

Bangkok: main task for you would be to get to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, this is the main exit northwards from Bangkok, you cannot take the second floor tollway so stay on the ground, no restrictions here but lots of traffic & lights, pass the old airport Don Mueang and carry on another 10 kms until you see signs for Nakhon Sawan & Ayutthaya, don't take the one to Saraburi as there's too many trucks.

Mae Hong Son: I would take the road via Mae Taeng and Pai as Mae Sariang is not that scenic. All roads are far away from Myanmar so no troubles here, just drive during daytime; anyway these roads are scenic during the day......In Mae Hong Son, try Mae Hong Son Guesthouse run by Porn, she's helpful and nice, guesthouse & bungalows are a little bit outside town. Just ask Tuk-Tuk or motorbike taxis for direction.

North: whatever road you choose, it's less traffic up north, so no troubles at all, just be careful when you go Tak-Lampang, not many petrol stations there.

happy driving !!

[Franz]

Dear Abg Acid, more info:
TAK is a good distance and place to stay overnight, I just do not know a guesthouse I can recommend as I always book hotels. Just go there and ask police, taxis or petrolstations.

BKK: Anyway you will need some kind of guide to bring you to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, here it should not cost more than THB 300,- from the railway station, I presume you disembark at Hualamphong main railway station. Once you are on the Vibhavadi Rangsit, just go straight all the time.

CNX-MHS-CNX via Pai, on your smaller motorbikes it will be quite tiring, I would stay the first night in MHS, and on the way back one night in Pai.

CNX-Chiang Rai-Mae Sai-Chiang Saen-Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai (CNX), count at least 2 days, its not that tough a mountain ride but quite a distance to cover, a lot of guesthouses to stay in especially in Chiang Rai.

Do yourself a favour and get the latest edition of LONELY PLANET's guide of Thailand.

happy riding

[Abg Acid]

Franz, thank you. I presume once we get to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road and upon reaching the Don Muang Air port we should be able to guide ourself out. One of our group participant can recall this Don Muang Air port route.We will get some guide to ths road from the railway station as you mentioned, at least to the airport. And will also study the map given by daewoo as well ( count as 4 underpasses)
http://geocities.com/bkkriders/routes/exitnorthmap1.png

definitely will look for the Lonely planet guide book of thailand here in Malaysia. And thanks for the advice of availbility of petrol at tak - Lampang, as these moped have limited range of 130 km. We will carry an additional 2 liters underneath the seat for a good extra 70 km.

CNX-Chiang Rai-Mae Sai-<i><b>Chiang Saen</b></i>-Chiang Rai-Chiang Mai (CNX), count at least 2 days - mentioned, seems a good idea too.

Thanks again, all.

regards
abg acid

[burnjr]

abg acid ,
u can get ur bike in Nakorn phatomis easy rathr then bangkok...up to ur choice..hv nice riding bro..mbc bolih

[Rudi]

Hi ABG Acid,

If you guys reach Chiangrai let me know. I can take show you nice places as: Mae Sai, Chiang Khong, Chian Saen and Phayao with the beautiful lake. From Phayao to Chiangmai is about 170 km.

Cheers,
Rudi
Mae Sai riders

[Abg Acid]

Hi Rudi,
Thanks for the offering. We would love to see Chiang Kong, and chian Saej and phayao . Mae Sai is in our initial plan. Do give me your hand phone number at my e address thru the Profile. we will use thailand prepaid simcard immediately when we get to Hat Yai.

warm regards
abg acid

[Abg Acid]

Hi all, its been more then 2 months since I last post at this thread. Yup, we are all ready and geared up to do this trip.

To Rudy,
I will certainly try contact you when we get close to chieng rai. will get a thai prepaid sim card at Hat Yai, so to make contacts easier (and cheaper) I Stiil have your number.

we will be in thailand from 8 - 22 nd Disemebr if all goes well

abg acid

[Joko]

Abg Acid, sorry i missed out on yr postings here...yup, Daewoo can speak bahasa, thai and maybe a few more languages We had a pretty good time during the Loy Kratong BBQ.

Ok, many of the GT riders can help you lot with useful tips. Until we catch up next week, do note that if you bought a DTAC prepaid Simcard for say Baht199, u can top it up with baht50 to convert the numbers to that with a 12months validity (versus normal 1 or 3 months validity). Check it out at Hatyai phone shop when u get there...

See u next week.

joko

p/s Daewoo, Abg Acid and I used to be riding buddies years ago

[Bush Pilot]

Nakhon Pathom is a nice way to by-pass the heavy traffic near Bangkok.
Take hwy321 to Suphan Buri then hwy 340 to Chai Nat. Very nice road with very little traffic!

[Abg Acid]

Hello again guys,
The trip as made, it was asuccesfull one and as I had promised earlier for a report, I think it would be more appropriate if I started a new thread, as Trip report.

http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorc ... html#17186

thank you
abg acid