Road Report: MHS - Chiang Mai. R108.

Jan 12, 2003
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Road Report: MHS - Chiang Mai. R108.
« on: Oct 15th, 2002, 10:15am » Quote Modify Remove

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OCTOBER 14

A quick ride home after a few days on the loop with nights in Pai & Mae Hong Son.
The weather was absolutely glorious and the ride was real interesting with varied road conditions and no rear brake (time for new pads.)

MHS - KHUN YUAM
Is generally ok, with evidence of 4 or 5 landslides that have been over the road in places, but are now cleared.

KHUN YUAM - MAE LA NOI
The road surface is not as good as MHS - Khun Yuam, with the asphalt a bit patchy & bumpy in places. Off hand there were less than 6 small landslides by the road.

MAE LA NOI - MAE SARIENG
Has only been open 3 days and the bad bit where the serious damage & the road closed is 16 kms north of Mae Sarieng. It looks a like stream went right through the road taking it all out. It must have been quite impressive at the time, with a massive volume of water to wipe it out. Anyway the road is open now, and the actual dodgy bit was / is not more than 200 metres. Altogether I think there were 4 -5 spots with what have been significant landslides over the road, but the main one, where the road was washed out is the furtherest north, 16 kms from Mae Sarieng.

MAE SARIENG - HOT
Is not too bad. But the road surface is inconsistent with quite a few real bumpy bits, then some extremely good racetrack surface, just to bewilder you. You never quite know what's around the next corner.

I had a nice moment, just a few kms west of Kong Loi; coming from MS there's a sign placed on the road warning you of a sharp bend, however there's no real bend, just a sweeping curve, but with a 25 cms drop in the road! I guess they mean a sharp drop. With no rear brake I had the front locked up trying to slow down before I hit it. The land below has given way; & the road has just dropped, with almost no change in the colour of the road surface to warn you!
In the first 10 kms west of Hot there are several short 200-500 metres sections where the road is being rebuilt. These are in the low-lying areas alongside the Mae Chaem river where it nearly always floods.

HOT TO CHOMTHONG
is still ok - nice smooth hilly to undulating winding.

CHOMTHONG TO SANPATHONG
The 4 -lane is pretty much complete. Although riding in the dark I did find one missing 150 section of 4-lane, just a sharp 15 cms drop onto the gravel with no warning. Luckily the lane alongside me was empty at the time & I was able to swerve over to miss the hole & not drop the bike. For the record the missing bit of road is the right hand lane, heading east, towards the Sanpathong end.

SANPATHONG - HANG DONG
Road widening is in progress to turn it into 4-lane. But it aint messy at the moment.

HANG DONG - CHIANG MAI
Is the good ol 4-lane, clunkity-clunk concrete.

For the record Non-stop travel times were
Ex Mae Hong Son 2.23 pm
Khun Yuam 3.25 pm
Mae La Noi 4.16 pm
Mae Sarieng 4.36 pm
Hot 5.49 pm
Chiang Mai 7.00 pm on the dot.
Not a bad time - 4 hrs 30 mins - considering no rear brake and the state of the road in places.
Get out and tackle the MHS loop soon as soon as ya can, the weather's perfect right now & the roads aren't that bad at all.
« Last Edit: Nov 18th, 2002, 11:48pm by Davidfl » 208.147.1.2

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Davidfl
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jan 12, 2003
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Re: Road Report. MHS - Chiang Mai. Route 108.
« Reply #1 on: Oct 16th, 2002, 12:41am » Quote Modify Remove

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Thanks David for such an extensive report on road condition........ This is so useful to the bikers planning trip north....

Rom
 
Jan 12, 2003
258
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Re: Road Report. MHS - Chiang Mai. Route 108.
« Reply #2 on: Oct 16th, 2002, 7:28am » Quote Modify Remove

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Hot tip from a friend in Mae Sarieng. Khun Daeng has just opened her restaurant again after being closed for a few years. If you're in Mae Sarieng looking for a bite to eat & need good fast cheap & tasty food, try Mr Pan, just next to the Mitaree Ghouse (Resort) in the main street. She opened today, so this tip's real hot. Believe me Daeng's a great cook & my best times riding with the boys to MS 10 years ago were eating & drinking at her place.
« Last Edit: Oct 16th, 2002, 2:38pm by Admin » 208.147.1.1

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Davidfl
 
Jan 12, 2003
258
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Re: Road Report. MHS - Chiang Mai. R108.
« Reply #3 on: Oct 16th, 2002, 11:39am » Quote Modify Remove

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Hi David

When heading from Hot to MS, is there any notice that the road will suddenly be 10 inches higher around the next bend?

BobS
 
Jan 12, 2003
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Re: Road Report. MHS - Chiang Mai. R108.
« Reply #4 on: Oct 16th, 2002, 2:34pm » Quote Modify Remove

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Bob
1. Depends on which bend you are talking about.
2. On "my particular bend" I was too busy trying to keep the bike upright to notice any warning signs coming the other way. And yes the suspension on the Africa Twin bottomed out nicely!
208.147.1.1

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Davidfl