My Scorpion trails were just about done after about 14000kms and I had heard from a friend that Kawasaki in Chiang Mai had a set on the floor. So knowing I have an upcoming ride due in about a week or so I decided to pay my good friend Mr. ATM a visit and get my backside down to Kawasaki first thing this morning. I was in part worried that if I delayed it even for a few days somebody else would snap them up and then I’d be left waiting weeks or months for another set. When I arrived I was disappointed that Nop wasn’t there. He speaks good English and I’ve always found him pretty good with the pricing. Bad luck for me because he was in Bangkok. I did speak with another lady there whose name escapes me but she also speaks pretty good English and tries her best to help. At first I was quoted their list price which I thought was a bit too much as I already knew what friends had paid for the same tires not too long ago. In the end after a few calls they knocked a couple of hundred baht off the price. Not much I could do about it because I needed the tires. I agreed and then found out that there was no earthly way that they could fit the tires today or even tomorrow. The place was overflowing with bikes, there could have been at least 100 bikes waiting for some type of work to be done on them. Good for Kawasaki but not good for me. The thought of opening a small hot dog stand there did enter my mind, he he. Anyway reluctantly I had no choice but to book the bike in for Monday morning. I went back to Eurodiner and then had this horrible thought: what if they don’t save the tires for me. Then I had a brainwave. I remembered a few posts about cockpit tires being able to fit and balance tires. So I went back to Kawasaki to purchase the tires and then go to Cockpit for fitting. I found out also at that point that the price that I was quoted did not include fitting and balancing or even new valves for that matter. So with the two new tires around my waist looking like the Michelin man I made way over to Cockpit. It was the first time I’ve ever been there and immediately they started work on my bike. Almost at the same time an Australian guy called Scottie turned up also with two Pirellis draped over his GS1200. I must say it was a pleasure to sit and talk with him. The whole job was done in no more than 30 minutes. There seemed to be at least 4-5 guys working on the 2 bikes at once. I was curious to see what type of equipment they had and I must say it was impressive to say the least. They had what appeared to be a very high tech tire removal/fitting machine and next to it an equally fancy looking computerized balancing machine. I took a few snap shots whilst I was there and have attached them below. To my surprise I also found that they are able to order any popular brand motorcycle tire which I wasn’t aware of. The final wash turned out that if I had ordered the tires thru them that the overall price including labour, balancing and new valves would have worked out about 1000+ bht cheaper than what it did end up costing me. For sure whenever I need tires again for my other bikes I will go to them first. All I can say is “good job Cockpit”, you’ve won me over..
It seems very difficult to post the pics in their true order , sorry
It seems very difficult to post the pics in their true order , sorry
