Chiang Mai Dirt Day Trips

[johnnysneds]

Gents,

Just thought I would post our plans up for May. There will be two of us (three for a week) for the duration of May dirt riding around Chiang Mai's fantastic trails. It would be great if some of you could join in. Were all at different levels of experience so don't worry about be able to keep up, it'll be a team effort.
There is no specific plans, its just take each day as it comes and sketch a rough plan out the night before over some beers with the SD card maps. We did this a few months ago and had a fantastic time. See some of the videos below:



Also here's some of the trails completed:

One of the trails was awesome and were more than likely going to do this again.It involves a wee bit of man handling the bikes at Buddha Footprint, but its worth it. Some of the best scenery Ive seen in Chiang Mai at this point.
Also if there are any of you doing trips during May we would love to join in if it isn't a problem, were pretty easy going guys and up for anything.
Any amazing experiences dirt biking in Chiang Mai, why not share them with us and join in.
Last time we usually ended up back at the X-Center or The Bikers Corner for some food and drinks, great way to end the day and chat about the days experiences.

 

[Franksmith]

ahhh cant wait mate, I talked tio Justin again, he will be back on mid May, i told him to get cracking and so on.

 

[alrikki]

I'd like to join you sometime, I know the area fairly well
PM me or freerideAThotmaildotCOdotUK

 

[johnnysneds]

alrikki;267233 wrote: I'd like to join you sometime, I know the area fairly well
PM me or freerideAThotmaildotCOdotUK

Brilliant Alrikki, will be great to have you along. Email sent...

 

[mikehohman]

I'd like to join, i am a friend of Justin's, maybe when he's back i can fly up from Bangkok (where I live) you join you guys for a long weekend or 2. Looks like fun, cool videos....

Mike

 

[johnnysneds]

mikehohman;267245 wrote: I'd like to join, i am a friend of Justin's, maybe when he's back i can fly up from Bangkok (where I live) you join you guys for a long weekend or 2. Looks like fun, cool videos....

Mike

Hey Mike,

Your more than welcome will be great to have you with us. Im not 100% but I think Justin will be back mid May as per Frank's post.

 

[Franksmith]

Hey Mike and Alrikki, really good if you's come for a ride with us. we just follow the GPS, so sometimes we end up just about anywhere. hahahah.

 

[mikehohman]

Sounds fun to me. Let me know when your plans firm up. I am stuck with a J.O.B. in Bangkok, so can only make weekends, but can probably get a Monday or Friday as well... Cool.

 

[ron]

hi Johnny ,

nice meeting you SSR guys at Lekhouse Chiangrai this morning , have you planned any cnx dirt yet ? I would like to join , time for a change , explored enough dirt around Chiangrai on my old Baja , cheers ,

Ron

 

[johnnysneds]

ron;267797 wrote: hi Johnny ,

nice meeting you SSR guys at Lekhouse Chiangrai this morning , have you planned any cnx dirt yet ? I would like to join , time for a change , explored enough dirt around Chiangrai on my old Baja , cheers ,

Ron

Hey Ron,

We'll be starting trail riding in and around Chiang Mai as of Monday for the next two weeks at least, your welcome to join anytime. I'll send you a PM with my cell phone if you need to get in contact.

Thanks
Johnny

 

[johnnysneds]

Here's the first video, more to follow......


After the road tour was over it was time to put her back to dirt mode.
The rear end of the bike was dismantled again to get at the Carb. James Dean Jetting kit was fitted. This includes an o-ring which is fitted to the accelerator pump to give instantaneous throttle response off idle. I also removed the grey wire from the ECU to give a more aggressive ignition mapping. Now the changes were noticeable straight away after the engine was started. No choke is required to start her now and the engine response at the slightest blip is awesome, wow what a difference. Also removed the rest of the end baffle assembly to give more flow and the sound a bit of a boost, I think ive got it just right and no need for an aftermarket exhaust, not really into loud exhausts anyway. Took her for a spin around the Samoeng Loop and it was like getting on a completely different bike. I also removed two links from the chain due to stretch over the previous hard days riding. Now the slightly shorter wheel base coupled with the derestrictions and this bike becomes a handful on the road and takes some time to get use to it. The ride got ruined by rain so couldn't explore the performance to it full.

Next came the Rekluse clutch. Now myself and a friend thought it would be a good idea to have a go at this with the use of a bottle of Jack Daniels!!! All went well with the installation. There's different conditions you can set it up for. I went for the low RPM engagement to stop it free wheeling near idle and 24 balls instead of 27 to give it a smooth engagement. Now the bottle of JD was well on its way at this point and all seemed to be well so we called it a night. Next morning I went for a test ride. Started the engine, all seems good. Into gear without the clutch, no problems. Now accelerating away it took around 4K rpm before the thing started to move. I thought thats too smooth an engagement! On I went anyway. Gear changing is sweet up and down, similar to a quick shifter only a bit rougher and you have to roll off the throttle slightly. I arrived at the place where I had to make a u-turn at a fair speed, banging down the gears. Once into second the bike started free wheeling and I over shot the u-turn. Got back to the house and wasn't at all impressed with the clutch. Scratching my head I couldn't understand what all the fuss was over it. Eventually I had a read of the manual, the previous evening my friend was in charge of the manual and I did the donkey work, seemed to work good :crazy: Alas the last page, how to adjust the clutch lever free play!!!. Now the lever feel when fitted with a Rekluse is non existent, it should be sloppy. My mate adjusted the clutch as if it were a normal clutch, this meant there was clutch disengagement without doing anything!!! The way to do it is get it in neutral and rev the engine to 4,500 rpm. There now will be clutch feel and you now can adjust the free play to 10mm. Oh it would have been so much clearer without the bottle of Jack Daniels!!! The bike pulls away firmly now, in ANY gear. No free wheeling when decelerating and the only word I can describe it with is FANTASTIC.

Ive been doing some hard trail riding for the past week or so and the Rekluse Clutch makes riding soooo easy as does the steering damper. There is NO comparison between this and my KLX. Where the KLX will just do whatever is required of it the WR does it the same only a lot faster and with far less effort. What a machine!!

The last day was the hardest ive ever done off-road. Every corner we went round there were trees lying across the track blocking the way. The tracks were very slippy and throttle control had to be precise or you were off. That hard packed or loose red clay stuff is a nightmare. Man handling the bikes over obstacles for what seemed like an eternity really took it out of us and we were glad to see tarmac at the end of it.
Im uploading some video at the moment and will post it as soon as it finishes.

 

[ron]

thanks for joining 1 day ,

yes , it is often best not to know what lies ahead ,

it was a good 1 day ride and a lot of hard work , pushing and pulling the bikes trough the jungle , very good teamwork also

also impressed with Gerhard as his first time of road , an experience to remember for sure

the original dunlop rear tyre on my rental bike didn ' t help much , but bike was ok ,

i see Frank also changed his tyres after the first wet ride ,

and my apologies to miss Yui for bringing back the KLX a bit dirty

cheers ,

Ron

 

[johnnysneds]

Hey Ron,

Was great to have you along. The following day was even tougher and really tested the will power. One of those days where the Camelbak was running dry too quickly. We got out in time though and eventually reached The Riders Corner where we quickly replenished fluids with Jack Daniels!!!!!!
Yes changed Tyres on Franks KTM and the rear of the KLX. They have a nice looking tyre in the shop next to RC called Motoz. The tyre can be reversed for either wet or dry conditions. The guys said they made a big difference the following day.

 

[johnnysneds]

Part 2...

 

[johnnysneds]

Part 3..

 

[johnnysneds]

And finally Part 4...

 

[HTWoodson]

Sneds man, you really ought to invest in a small chainsaw that you can backpack with you. Seems like it would come in handy.

 

[johnnysneds]

Mate that was nothing compared to what I did today. Left for some dirt 9 this morning and never got back til well after 10 this evening. Fainted 3 times, once while riding the bike up a steep slippy hill and I took the full force of the bike on top of me, out cold for a minute with the throttle wide open. One of the hardest days in my life bar none!!! Tonight I seen god!

 

[schackster]

Hehe Johnny , welcome to Dirty riders Chiang Mai - not for the feint hearted.
Johnny contacted me and asked if he could join in on yesterdays ride. Started with breaky at Eurodiner and then pushed off at 9 am for what was intended to be an easy half day ride . 4 riders in all.
As the morning ride progressed they kept going a bit further and further and further . I received a call around 3 pm to say that they were a bit lost which is not uncommon and thought nothing more of it as they always manage to find their way out. Received an SOS call again at 6pm to say now they really lost , stuck with one bike dead and a few of them not doing so good due to fatigue and no water or refreshments. What to do ? Time to call in the cavalry. Allan Pratt from Thai Bike Tours Uk was already aware of the situation and we arranged to meet up to go and try to find them. Allan who has just recovered from a broken leg was geared up and waiting for me on his KLX . I brought the 4x4 and off we went. We knew they were somewhere in the vicinity of the Mae Wha Elephant park ( not sure if Ive spelt correctly ) and fortunately Allan has ridden many of the trails in that area before. The only problem was that the trails not so easy to find in the dark. By this time we could not contact them - no signal. The road became worse and worse turning into a narrow windy mushy bog. And yes, it started raining quite heavily.2 hours into it and we were really getting worried by now thinking the worst but miracles do happen - up ahead in the pitch black there were some feint headlights. We found them at last. 4 drowned rats. First time ever my Mrs was actually happy to see me !
Apparently some villagers had helped them get their bikes out of a slippery steep gully . Extremely fatigued but all in one piece we lead them back to civilisation . Back to where they started some 13 hours earlier - Eurodiner for a few well earned beers. Im sure they all slept good last night. Well is black & blue this morning. Full credit to Allan for managing to find them..

Heres a few of their pics ( sorry but they are not in the correct order, got a bit jumbled when posting ) :

Attached files

 

[schackster]

Johnny , you should change the title of this thread to " Chiang Mai Dirt Day and Night trips "

 

[Rod Page]

Gazza,
GREAT report.....at least call me for the beers next time!

 

[johnnysneds]

Haha that is so comical going through those photos, but believe me nothing to laugh about at the time. Glad we all made it out safe and sound, next time remind me to have a rescue helicopter on standby with Alan flying it!
Just came back from an awesome days riding with Alan which got my confidence back. Had to get out straight away after yesterday, dirt riding hair of the dog I think you could call it.

A big thanks to Alan and yourself for the well needed assistance and offcourse the Thai villagers who managed to get my bike out the jungle, I was well prepared to leave it there along with myself haha!!!

 

[DavidFL]

WOW! Congratulations of another great adventure - right at home too.
Glad you all made it out ok with no injuries. Well done Allan & Gary Schackster for coming to the rescue.