BKK to Phuket in a day

Nov 5, 2007
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Well flew up to BKK on Wed to collect the bike Thurs morning and ride it back to Phuket that day.

Only point I was worried about was getting out of BKK itself. Rather than get lost I ended up paying 250 baht for a motorcycle taxi to take me to the edge of the city. They really do drive then like they stole them :)

The trip down itself was great. Having been stuck with scooters and the car here for the last few years it was nice to get some decent mileage on a sports bike even if it is only a 400.

Never having had an NC30 before I was looking forward to seeing of the handling & fun factor was as good as it was meant to be, it was :D The whine of the engine was fantastic the only real problem being that for some really weird reason its never been derestricted so I was stuck to 100 mph maximum :(

Comfort was not actually that bad, having never done more than 300 miles or so on a 400 always having used bigger bikes for the longer trips I was apprehensive but to be honest the pegs and bars were fine and the "numb ass" syndrome only really set in after about 800 kilometers or so. It still had a standard screen on though and my neck is very sore after being buffeted all the way down, made me realise how effective the double bubbles are so will need to get one of those ordered asap.

Clutch was a complete beast with fingers of steel needed to operate it but the gear box was sweet as both up and down with the clutch only actually being needed when stopping at the occasional traffic lights. The rev limiter seemed to kick in at just over 14k rather than the 14.5 that I was expecting, not sure why. (so if anyone else has a 94 NC30 pls let me know what yours is at)

The road itself was great for a bike. the initial roads just after leaving BKK were not that suited to thrashing it as there were whole canyons rather than potholes in the road but they soon got better and it was a really great run. Went down to Chumpon onto Suratani and the accross to Krabi before coming back up round Phang Nga and then and then down onto Phuket.

Issue with the speedo not working for most of the trip down as the cable went but its just under a 1000 kilometers or so (I think). Departed Bangkok at 10am and including fuel stops and lunch was at home in Phuket by 8 pm got to Krabi with perfect timing to see an amazing sunset behind the limestone hills.

No idea what the fuel economy was like as it sort of evovled into a thrash it for an hour, pull over, fill up, thrash it for an hour, pull over, fill up cycle :) but don't think it was that bad. Overall very impressed with the wee honda. Now I wont have any trouble getting up the hills on Phuket :D
 
Oct 17, 2006
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next time I suggest you go via Rangon, great scenery, little traffic, good road.
Make a stop in Kho Sok National Park, take a boat trip ( No caves at this time of the year!!) The area is older than the Amazone.
 

DavidFL

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Thanks for taking the time to contribute a trip report. Anything is always better than nothing. I hope you continue to enjoy the board & contribute reports.
Keep it up.