yes, I know it says buy one free one.
but clearly some people need more coffee to wake up 555
Smell, Pong!!!! OMG
Last edited:
Fallibilities / Funnies / Stuff Ups..........
- Thread starter jonadda
- Start date
but clearly some people need more coffee to wake up 555
Smell, Pong!!!! OMG
Tesla driver enters new Buttonwillow racetrack and drives counter-course into an active AFM motorcycle race while event was live broadcasted
[via Reddit rTrackdays]
[via Reddit rTrackdays]
Yesterday I was riding the forested mountains on 1334 heading towards Thoet Thai. It's a beautiful road, the rain was on/off and I was ambling along.
On a straight 30m ahead I could see an obstruction spanning both sides of the road. Slowing down I thought, ah a big stick of black bamboo.
With not a care in the world, I casually coasted right up to it, looking around at the scenery.
I put my foot down ready to kick out the side stand.
At that moment the black bamboo transformed into a 3.5m King Cobra!
It's tail taper in the vegetation to my left and covering the full road width to the right in an almost perfect straight line.
It's body was incredibly glossy and thick.
It raised its head about 1m to stare at me. Then fortunately turned in an arc away and was gone into the forest.
What a glorious beast of a snake, the King Cobra.
On a straight 30m ahead I could see an obstruction spanning both sides of the road. Slowing down I thought, ah a big stick of black bamboo.
With not a care in the world, I casually coasted right up to it, looking around at the scenery.
I put my foot down ready to kick out the side stand.
At that moment the black bamboo transformed into a 3.5m King Cobra!
It's tail taper in the vegetation to my left and covering the full road width to the right in an almost perfect straight line.
It's body was incredibly glossy and thick.
It raised its head about 1m to stare at me. Then fortunately turned in an arc away and was gone into the forest.
What a glorious beast of a snake, the King Cobra.
Last edited:
I was amazed when it lifted a substantial length of its body up to a 1m height and stared me down....it was one of those 'oh fk' moments.
Somewhere outside of Phrao near the new water reservoir today, one lane potholed dirttrack, look at the traffic signs.
Pictures courtesy of Boy. Without any comments......55555
Friday and a plan for a night of good music in Chiang Rai.
I took off from Chiang Khong at 4.15pm & was in Chiang Rai at Hungry Nest for brunch at 5.30PM, 30 minutes before 6PM closing.
At 6.10pm next stop was Noon Noi liquor for a bottle of hooch for the night.
7pm it was check in time at my hotel, shower, shave and pretty up.
7.30pm prepare to leave the hotel for my 8PM music appointment and the bike won't start.
Nothing!
Flat battery, but the voltmeter shows 12 volts.
A frustrating 15 minutes & no progress.
Never mind, sort it out tomorrow with Kong the GTR electronics whizz I've used ever since living in Chiang Khong = 7 1/2 years.
Catch a grab to the designated rendezvous pub.
Enjoy a magnificent evening & walk home at 11.30pm to work off the alcohol infusion.
Up at 8.30am the next morning & plan to swing by Kong's to arrange a bike check-up & service.
No Mr Kong, he's on an extended long weekend holiday break and will be back in another 5 days.
Oh well, let's have a brekky at Hungry Nest & think about it first.
Over breakfast I mull over a few ideas - whom do I want playing around with the electrics on my bike?
Actually no one, just the one chang, who knows what he has done to the bike.
So, the plan, take the red public bus home to Chiang Khong from CR = 100 kms / 2 .5 hrs at a snail's pace, stopping at every village on the way (it seems).
Back to the hotel & check out.
In CR I have 2 regular tuk tuk drivers that I Iike to support and use, but they are both off today, not working.
While I'm packing u at the hotel, I ask the staff to get a car to run me to the bus station.
Non available, It's obviously not my weekend!
They ring for a regular blue-yellow taxi.
The taxi arrives & the driver is a very amenable driver.
We strike up a conversation on the way to the bus station, and he asks where I'm going.
Home to Chiang Khong & explain my bike story.
Oooh it's a slow bus ride there.
Yes.
Why don't you go by taxi?
How much do you want?
1500 baht.
I can offer 1,000 if you want.
Ok, its a deal.
The taxi will be quick & not sitting in a boring bus for hours miserable & fuming about my long weekend bike fiasco.
Back to Chiang Rai next week, to be back on the road.
The highlight and enjoyment of the night.
I took off from Chiang Khong at 4.15pm & was in Chiang Rai at Hungry Nest for brunch at 5.30PM, 30 minutes before 6PM closing.
At 6.10pm next stop was Noon Noi liquor for a bottle of hooch for the night.
7pm it was check in time at my hotel, shower, shave and pretty up.
7.30pm prepare to leave the hotel for my 8PM music appointment and the bike won't start.
Nothing!
Flat battery, but the voltmeter shows 12 volts.
A frustrating 15 minutes & no progress.
Never mind, sort it out tomorrow with Kong the GTR electronics whizz I've used ever since living in Chiang Khong = 7 1/2 years.
Catch a grab to the designated rendezvous pub.
Enjoy a magnificent evening & walk home at 11.30pm to work off the alcohol infusion.
Up at 8.30am the next morning & plan to swing by Kong's to arrange a bike check-up & service.
No Mr Kong, he's on an extended long weekend holiday break and will be back in another 5 days.
Oh well, let's have a brekky at Hungry Nest & think about it first.
Over breakfast I mull over a few ideas - whom do I want playing around with the electrics on my bike?
Actually no one, just the one chang, who knows what he has done to the bike.
So, the plan, take the red public bus home to Chiang Khong from CR = 100 kms / 2 .5 hrs at a snail's pace, stopping at every village on the way (it seems).
Back to the hotel & check out.
In CR I have 2 regular tuk tuk drivers that I Iike to support and use, but they are both off today, not working.
While I'm packing u at the hotel, I ask the staff to get a car to run me to the bus station.
Non available, It's obviously not my weekend!
They ring for a regular blue-yellow taxi.
The taxi arrives & the driver is a very amenable driver.
We strike up a conversation on the way to the bus station, and he asks where I'm going.
Home to Chiang Khong & explain my bike story.
Oooh it's a slow bus ride there.
Yes.
Why don't you go by taxi?
How much do you want?
1500 baht.
I can offer 1,000 if you want.
Ok, its a deal.
The taxi will be quick & not sitting in a boring bus for hours miserable & fuming about my long weekend bike fiasco.
Back to Chiang Rai next week, to be back on the road.
The highlight and enjoyment of the night.
Bummer, but safer for partying.... How old is the battery? I got 4 years out my previous battery even though Honda says they should be replaced (about 2K baht) every 2 years for reliability.
The chart is for modern battery chemistry, assuming the battery was fully charged and then left to sit for awhile.
The chart is for modern battery chemistry, assuming the battery was fully charged and then left to sit for awhile.
Last edited:
Battery is a year old.
It could be a dodgy fuse, faulty kill switch, or any other multiple possibilities.
Weird to just go like that, especially after a fast 100 kms ride.
With electrical stuff I only like 1 mechanic to play around with it, as my bike has multiple spotlights, musical horns & quite a bit of modified wiring.
When my CB500X (my second one) was almost new, I stopped at the top of a hill on a back road to Rayong to take a picture. The bike wouldn't start. I turned the ignition on and off, turned the kill switch on and off, put the sidestand up and down, but the bike in neutral and in gear and back. But the starter was dead. All the other electrics worked and of course the battery was fully charged. The only other time I had this problem was a BMW, and the starter had failed.
I turned the bike around, rolled down the hill in second gear, and dropped the clutch, The bike started. I was 200 km from the nearest BigWing, in Hua Hin.
I rode non-stop and got to BigWing just before it closed, with a nearly empty tank and a nearly bursting bladder. The mechanic said, "Common problem. We've had a lot of rain lately." He blew air into the switch housing, and the bike started! Then he opened up both housings and dried them out completely. I had a can of WD-40 in the top box the whole time, and a good blast would have provided a temporary fix! But I never suspected water. There had been extremely heavy afternoon rains, and the bike had been soaked a couple of days before. The problem has not recurred. (I never use a pressure-washer, hand-wash only.)
I turned the bike around, rolled down the hill in second gear, and dropped the clutch, The bike started. I was 200 km from the nearest BigWing, in Hua Hin.
I rode non-stop and got to BigWing just before it closed, with a nearly empty tank and a nearly bursting bladder. The mechanic said, "Common problem. We've had a lot of rain lately." He blew air into the switch housing, and the bike started! Then he opened up both housings and dried them out completely. I had a can of WD-40 in the top box the whole time, and a good blast would have provided a temporary fix! But I never suspected water. There had been extremely heavy afternoon rains, and the bike had been soaked a couple of days before. The problem has not recurred. (I never use a pressure-washer, hand-wash only.)
And indeed, I had washed the bike before I left home.
However, in Chiang Rai it was after the 3rd stop in town that it failed & would not stop.
The 2 journeys between all the stops were only 1 - 1.5 kms. Weird & too much to worry about at the time, as I thought Kong would be there & sort it out the next morning. But....
Continuing with my 2026 new year luck.
An Entertaining Story (for Some)
For the past few weeks, my Nmax scooter has been steadily losing power. This was well and truly confirmed on a recent ride with my son Jason, when we rode over Paradise Road to Chiang Saen. From there I turned back to Chiang Khong, while Jason continued on to Chiang Mai via Tha Ton, R1089 and R107.
The Nmax used to top out at 115 km/h. On this ride it was flat-out knackered at 95 km/h, and uphill it could barely manage 45–60 km/h. Meanwhile, Jason disappeared into the distance on the mighty Aerox, still pulling hard.
Clearly, something wasn’t right.
It was time to head to Chiang Rai and get the Nmax serviced.
I don’t service bikes in Chiang Khong anymore — parts availability is the problem. The local changs contact Sinthanee Chiang Rai, who then order parts from Bangkok. A week later, maybe, your parts arrive… all while your bike sits there in pieces and unusable.
In Chiang Rai I have two options:
Mr Kong at GTR (my favourite), or Sinthanee Yamaha.
I choose Mr Kong every time. I can jump the service queue, and Kong is often able to source parts independently. Sinthanee, on the other hand, keeps minimal stock and expects you to wait several days for parts from Bangkok — after you’ve already waited several days just to reach the front of the queue.
For me, Kong is the way to go.
The Ride Over
It’s a leisurely 100 km ride, and with a dodgy back there’s no rush anyway.
I chose the old road — R1174 via Phaya Mengrai. No hills, nice and flat, and perfect for a slow meander. The faster route via R1020 & R1421 was out of the question — I simply couldn’t maintain speed.
I set off with a maximum speed of 75 km/h, but every 20 km the power dropped to 40–50 km/h. I’d stop, have a drink, let the bike cool down, then set off again — briefly back up to 70 km/h.
After another 15–20 km, the power would fade again. Time for another break.
Repeat this process again and again and again…
The distance from Chiang Khong to Chiang Rai city is 100 km.
Total travel time: 4 hours.
Coffee Stop in the Middle of Nowhere
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere on R1174, I stopped at a little wooden Mickey Mouse coffee shop by the roadside.
As I pulled up, I noticed a not-unattractive woman sitting out front, so I called out in Thai:
“Is the coffee shop open?”
She shouted to another woman hidden at the back, who then appeared.
“You want coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
All of this was in Thai.
She came into the shop and asked:
“Do you speak Thai?”
I replied, “No,” and ordered a cappuccino in Thai anyway. 55 baht.
She brought the cappuccino and then asked:
“Are you alone? You travel by yourself? And you speak Thai?”
I replied:
I’m single
I’ve lived here a long time and like travelling alone
I then asked about them.
“We’re both single — 50 and 36.”
Both were attractive and still in good shape.
The older sister, the shop owner, said she had been single all her life, no kids, and didn’t want a husband.
“Oh — are you lesbian?”
“No, I’m not lesbian.”
She continued:
“My younger sister is 36 and single too. She’s looking for a boyfriend.”
The younger sister piped up:
“I don’t need much money either — 20 baht a day for food is enough!”
At this point, I immediately paid for all four coffees we had consumed and placed a 100-baht tip in front of the younger sister — for the next five days.
She nearly wet herself laughing.
I then upped the offer:
“How about 100 baht a day — let’s go to Chiang Rai for a few nights?”
Sadly… she declined.
But I shall return.
The banter alone was worth the stop.
An Entertaining Story (for Some)
For the past few weeks, my Nmax scooter has been steadily losing power. This was well and truly confirmed on a recent ride with my son Jason, when we rode over Paradise Road to Chiang Saen. From there I turned back to Chiang Khong, while Jason continued on to Chiang Mai via Tha Ton, R1089 and R107.
The Nmax used to top out at 115 km/h. On this ride it was flat-out knackered at 95 km/h, and uphill it could barely manage 45–60 km/h. Meanwhile, Jason disappeared into the distance on the mighty Aerox, still pulling hard.
Clearly, something wasn’t right.
It was time to head to Chiang Rai and get the Nmax serviced.
I don’t service bikes in Chiang Khong anymore — parts availability is the problem. The local changs contact Sinthanee Chiang Rai, who then order parts from Bangkok. A week later, maybe, your parts arrive… all while your bike sits there in pieces and unusable.
In Chiang Rai I have two options:
Mr Kong at GTR (my favourite), or Sinthanee Yamaha.
I choose Mr Kong every time. I can jump the service queue, and Kong is often able to source parts independently. Sinthanee, on the other hand, keeps minimal stock and expects you to wait several days for parts from Bangkok — after you’ve already waited several days just to reach the front of the queue.
For me, Kong is the way to go.
The Ride Over
It’s a leisurely 100 km ride, and with a dodgy back there’s no rush anyway.
I chose the old road — R1174 via Phaya Mengrai. No hills, nice and flat, and perfect for a slow meander. The faster route via R1020 & R1421 was out of the question — I simply couldn’t maintain speed.
I set off with a maximum speed of 75 km/h, but every 20 km the power dropped to 40–50 km/h. I’d stop, have a drink, let the bike cool down, then set off again — briefly back up to 70 km/h.
After another 15–20 km, the power would fade again. Time for another break.
Repeat this process again and again and again…
The distance from Chiang Khong to Chiang Rai city is 100 km.
Total travel time: 4 hours.
Coffee Stop in the Middle of Nowhere
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere on R1174, I stopped at a little wooden Mickey Mouse coffee shop by the roadside.
As I pulled up, I noticed a not-unattractive woman sitting out front, so I called out in Thai:
“Is the coffee shop open?”
She shouted to another woman hidden at the back, who then appeared.
“You want coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
All of this was in Thai.
She came into the shop and asked:
“Do you speak Thai?”
I replied, “No,” and ordered a cappuccino in Thai anyway. 55 baht.
She brought the cappuccino and then asked:
“Are you alone? You travel by yourself? And you speak Thai?”
I replied:
I’m single
I’ve lived here a long time and like travelling alone
I then asked about them.
“We’re both single — 50 and 36.”
Both were attractive and still in good shape.
The older sister, the shop owner, said she had been single all her life, no kids, and didn’t want a husband.
“Oh — are you lesbian?”
“No, I’m not lesbian.”
She continued:
“My younger sister is 36 and single too. She’s looking for a boyfriend.”
The younger sister piped up:
“I don’t need much money either — 20 baht a day for food is enough!”
At this point, I immediately paid for all four coffees we had consumed and placed a 100-baht tip in front of the younger sister — for the next five days.
She nearly wet herself laughing.
I then upped the offer:
“How about 100 baht a day — let’s go to Chiang Rai for a few nights?”
Sadly… she declined.
But I shall return.
The banter alone was worth the stop.
To continue the story & the"fix."
I arrived in Ching Rai somewhat dehydrated & flustered at 6.30pm.
An evening of food & drinks with a delightful taxi driver followed to relieve the stress of the day.
The next morning I was at Kong's to weigh up the options - Sinthanee or Kong.
At Sinthanee the bike would go in the queue but at Kong's he said he do me a favour, straight away, & hopefully get it fixed in a day or two at the lates, parts depending.
After discussing the symptoms we settled on the fuel pump and the coil. The coil was cheap & he could get a copy fuel pump.
Nothing ventured nothing gained, I went along with the quick fix, especially after a compression test on the fuel pump came up low.
"Everything else" was given the once over & checked.
I left Kong to his work in peace and carried on as normal, albeit sans a motorbike.
At 8.30 pm on round two of the taxi dinner I get a call from Kong the bike is ok you can pick it up now if you want.
Nah I'd rather not be disturbed now, tomorrow morning if ok.
Tomorrow morning the mighty Nmax is ready to go.
With a sweet smile on my face, I heed off out of Chiang Rai city in the traffic and power down 1063 towards home via the Chiang Saen bypass.
Less than 20 kms later, oops, we have the same problem. WTF. Loss of power. Damn problem not solved. Grrh.
A quick U-turn and dawdle back to CR city at 50kph & the Yamaha dealer this time.
Let them have a crack at it with their diagnostic equipment & order some parts from Bkk.
Double bummer. And that's were we still are 5 days later. Time for a check up in the next few days.
The only positive so far is that I had enjoyable social taxi lift home, introducing the driver to Paradise Road.
Stay tuned...