PHAYAO ENDURO TRACK PICTURES

Jun 21, 2006
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after spending a torturous week in chiang mai spend gossiping at mad dogs and leering at spotlight whilst the heavy rains pounded down upon us. patience in the muppets camp was running low, tempers were rising and moodswings were commonplace, not good for morale. even the beauty and charm of " chicken" at mad dog could not bring us round.

we decided something had to be done and quickly crossed off riding around chiang mai due to clay-ey conditions, this left us with the sandy-er texture of the earth around phayao to go and ride. so a truck was rented and off we went.

riders:
honda honky- CRF450R

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bignsmall- YZ250F a.k.a the "wild wheelyer from the west"

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route- to follow the enduro tracks that i had raced in a few months earlier.

distance- not much around 150km total in 2 days.

time spent riding - about 4 hours

time spent dithering, eating, gossiping, recovering - at least quadruple the riding time.

fun factor high ,serious factor pretty low. we dont take ourselves to seriously over at camp muppet, we leave the competition for the massage parlours and fighting over the last bit of pad prik gaeng moo.

we got away early from phayao city after brekkie next to the hotel. kao tom not reccommended as bignsmall found out

no.1

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no.2

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oh dear the poor fella.
van was parked here

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breakfast, lunch and dinner was purcahsed from 7-eleven that morning in tribute the slasher!

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we took of following the arrows, each of keen to try our new toys, justin had a new automatic " fanny " clutch fitted to his bike along with a rear brake lever mounted where the clutch had been. it seems like a joke but it actually worked in that it allows justin to ride faster for longer as he is less affected by arm pump as he isnt fanning the clutch all the time on his under-powered yamaha.
we still stopped after about 5mins of riding though to take stock, it was my first ride on the 450 off-road and i was a little knackered to say the least!

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justin enjoying his new " fanny clutch"

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the phayao tracks rock and we really enjoy the way there is a mix of wide open stuff, single track, mud, sand, it is a pretty good mix and when combined with pretty decent scenery its no wonder they call phayao muang haeng rot wii-baak. the city of off-roading. great stuff from the T.A.T!
enjoy.

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a different section

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here i let justin ride a proper bike

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it proved to much for him

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taking a break

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some of the tighter sections of the trail are really overgrown, along with the recent rains making 2 foot deep puddles staying upright was a real challenge, 50% of our team managed to do so

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these are the signs we follow

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we managed to complete the tracks and returned to our truck immensely satisfied with having a fully dry day on banging trails.

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great stuff we both agreed it beat the hell out of wilting away in cnx. these tracks are not at all difficult, we have the gps tracks. anyone who wants a few nights away form the missus and on the trails it makes a great break away. jeff???

our gear for 2 days away. are the muppets actually shopping addicted, pampered up emotionally unstable women masquerading as dirt-riders are here you ask........

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we retired into phayao that evening on a frantic search for some decent grub, for all my time in thailand i still havent found a dish of food that i actually like or fills my up. KFC fitted the bill nicely for our dinner and so we waltzed into the local tesco lotus for grub.
check out the massage parlour on the road opposite next to some thai country pub, the old birds gave great massages at 100 naht an hour, just dont forget to bring your snickers bars. oh dear.

the evening ended up with some walks down the phayao main strip and a fair amount of time recovering in front of 7 -eleven. dude you owe me a pepsi.

muppets retired early in preparation for more of the same tommorow.

we decided to ride the same tracks again as the other alternative of riding around trying to find tracks isnt very appealing as we spent most of late last year doing the same thing, success rate isnt high and with us both gagging to ride we kept it safe and rode trails we already knew existed.

some farmer guy had come a little unstuckin this muddy section, i tryed to ride past him as i was timing my ride but the little git managed to block the trail enough so i couldnt get by. i reluctantly dismounted and agreed to help him out of his predicament.

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we got him out in the end, he was well and truly stuck! hats off to him although if you look at his line coming down that hill what was doing in the left hand side when clearly the right hand lane was the lane he needed to be in.

the rains had held off all day again and it must have encouraged some of the local fauna out, this "little" fella was seen at the side of the trail. anyone know the species????

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seeing wildlife like this is awesome and could fast be becoming a guarantee of the muppets after our "monkey" spotting along the muang khong trail. we our building up quite a collection.

some more gorgeous singletrack sections of the trail...

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riding was the name of the day and we didnt stop for many photographs but when the trail snaked around this lake i had to take a few snaps

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justin was very quick through this section and i listened intently as he explained just how he did it.

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we stopped at another awesome sandy corner and took some videos, im not sure if theyll work lets try.....

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great 2 days on what are great trails. its the sandy areas that provide great riding in conditions like this and the next stop will be phrae which seems to be of the same consistency.
hope you enjoyed the report
honda honky.
 

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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G'day Luke,
I hardly recognise the Phayao track from the event, mind you I did spend more time getting lost and trying to start the WR than I did riding.

Good reports and photo's from both youse guys.

Hopefully catch up with you and Justin in a few weeks, not ridden for 3 months. Darren
 
Mar 15, 2003
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www.daveearly.com
Another good report guys. Looks like some fun riding IN THE DRY :D

the rains had held off all day again and it must have encouraged some of the local fauna out, this "little" fella was seen at the side of the trail. anyone know the species????
From what I can find it looks like it is an "Malaysian Forest Scorpion". Similar to an "Asian Forest Scorpion" but has Greenish/Blue coloration and is more aggressive. Sting similar to a hornet but usually pinches rather than stings. From Google searches it seems they are quite popular as pets and have quite a cult following as such. Nice find. Better than finding it in your boot :shock:
 
Jun 21, 2006
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silverhawk- great research, yes a damn site better than finding in me boot! it was a big bastard too, length wise it was as long as my hand.

dazza- the pics are mostly from S2 and S3, the bush and plant growth have grown so fast that, as you said it is hardly recognisable. incredible in 2 months. the corn fields we raced through that were barren are now 2 metres high. amazing.
but pray tell. when is the feared KTM300EXC 2-banger due in?? im finding it hard sleeping at night wondering whether that orange torpedo will out drag my 450R. i think a euro-japan showdown is needed. give us a shout when your back in, we have some sick trails waiting for ya.

marky-im sure you'd show us all up on a xr100! thats why we try and get away from town without you!
 

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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New scooter should be here at the end of the month, but this being Thailand, lets say Xmas.
Euro-Jap showdown sounds like fun but problem for me will be once we get to the first corner I'll be eating your dust - and KTM's don't like dust!

Looking forward to it now though, as truth be told, at my skill level I find the WR450 a bit of a handful in the tight CM terrain.

How did you get on with the 450 compared to the 250 on the track, reckon you could ride that track faster on the 450?

Keep the reports and pictures coming, it keeps me entertained at work.
 
Jun 21, 2006
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dazza, im dying to know the same thing.
i think its completey down to the trail specifics and fitness. tighter stuff singletrack 250 works, anywhere with at least 30% wider stuff i reckon the 450 would be off quicker than bignsmalls pants in the chicken ranch. however if you had the strength and fitness to hold on to the 450 then i reckon it would waste the 250's over pretty much everywhere.

however clay terrain with some of god's piss and id be lining up a swap deal on one of the supercup bikes though! next enduro's due 13/14 septmeber in the chiang mai area if you back by the way.
 
Oct 12, 2005
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Bang up report Luke.

Reckon India is not holding the Honkeys attention as well as a KFC Zinger burger judging by his postings on the board as of late. I mean after all how can the Taj Mahal, and the beauty of the Ladehk province compete with the Christmas lights of the Karaoke bars of Thailand.

Just pulling my nose out of data researching down in Pattaya on Soi 6. Some interesting trails to be found down here as well, tight and a little slippery. Would love to add to the frey of piccies to the report, sadly they are buried deep within the confines of my camera and not yet loaded to Smugmug. Add to the fact that the camera battery is as dead as Luke after two bottles of Thailands finest grain Whiskey and it'll have to wait until I'm back home in a few days.

I do happen to have this pick of Luke paying the 450 dues. Seems there is a tarriff to pay if you're too eager on the throttle of close to 60 HP. His bum bore the brunt of the tarriff looking more worse for wear than his boyfriends bum atfer a night of rough housing. Great watching Luke getting dragged bum first down the trail still holding onto the bars like a soi dog attempting to dislodge some feces.
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Dazza - We were both wondering what is faster the 250 or 450. fantastic fun watching Lukes fruitless efforts of controlling the wheel spin on that beast. On these sandy tracks its not as large an issue. However on the clay like texture around Chiang Mai I reckon "fun" would be the last adjective you'be be using.

We've another report to post in the tighter conditions of Phrae. There the 450 was visibly a lot more work. On the Enduro tracks for Phayao which were wider, the 450 cons could overshadowed. I must admit it great fun to be in 3rd and 4th gear and just crack the throttle to loft it over mud puddles. I rode a CRF450X and that thing was a lardy underpowered turd compared to the CRF450r.

The trails in Phayao were not overly technical, they wer moslty fast and flowing with a great sandy terxture making it an attractive option when the weather is foul and you're looking for some fun.

Silverhawk - thanks for the research. Easily one of the most impressive scorpions visually I have seen. I was thinking of attaching the things claws to HH's fuel line to slow the 450 down a bit.
 

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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A Tariff to be paid indeed - I can only imagine how much trouble the 450R could get you into if you were a bit blase with the throtttle. The lardass WR was more than a match for me. Mind you as Luke said a fit rider would be able to handle it...........

Anyway, enough of this 4 stroke crap, its back to real motorbikes for Daz now. Just remember to bring me some premix!

KTM should be in CM on 11th - just need to run her in. Mind you being a 2T, a quick bing, bing, bing and thats her run in!

Enduro on 13/14 - Where will that be? Is it the same format as Phayao, 2 mins riding on Saturday, then race on Sunday?
 
Jun 21, 2006
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dazza, rumour has it that it will be held in the doi tao area, however i personally reckon they will hold it at the bua tong waterfall site 46km north of chiang mai on the road to phrao. as soon i get back to thailand i will phone the guy and get an update to post here.

Would love to add to the frey of piccies to the report, sadly they are buried deep within the confines of my camera and not yet loaded to Smugmug.
strange then how this one photo made it onto the board?? and my trousers seem to have changed colour and material. dont be fooled gt-riders it seems he's gone a bit loopy down in soi 6!