Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
#1
05-17-2007 | 11:05 AM
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Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
Well I just spent 40 minutes writing a post updating you all on my Thailand KLX mods and experiences with cam, carb, 300 jug, engine build,etc and lost it due to the Thai intenret service crashing.
So while I go have a beer and cool off I will post a trip report I put on another southeast asian motorcycling site.
I will rewrite the KLX specific stuff again for you all later.
Here's the first trip ride I wnet on:
[color=#191970][size=2]Hmmmm after reading the post on GT riders about avoiding riding the motorbikes over Songkran the Muppet brigade had a dilemma. I had just landed back to Thailand and was itching to ride and Luke had been off bikes for a few weeks after trading in his nancy GSXR 1000 for a manly Honda 125 Sonic that tossed him on the ground and covered him in abrasions on his knees and forearms quicker than a 17 year old Catholic school girl at her first fraternity party. So we were both a bit like sailors pulling into Pattaya on a two week furlough, itching to have a go.
Avoiding the sage advice of the GT Rider community we muppets put our heads firmly in the sand and buggered off for a couple of days, in search of twisty tarmac and writhing mountain girls, willing to suffer the watery consequences of traveling this time of year.
Sunrise over Doi Sutthep
Route: 107 to Chiang Dao- 1178 to Mae Ja then left on the fantastic 1322 to Chong, then right on a dirt road to Muang Noa and onto Doi Ang Khang and into Fang for the night. Next day 107 from Fang down to Si Dong Yen then east on 1346 is a bit twisty into the 1150 and Phrao then home on the 1001 into Chiang Mai.
Bikes: Luke on his XR 280 with street tires and me on a KLX 300 with Motard rims and tires. Name of the game this trip was super motard terrain.
Length: 512 KM
Riding time: 9 hours 18 minutes
The 107 seems to have regressed since I was last over a few months ago. Sections that were previously paved are now back to packed dirt. While dirty is a great description for your Gal it not so pleasant on a crowded thoroughfare. Especially since my front tire on the KLX is a racing slick (no tread) meant for racing on pavement circuits and not slick dirt roads. A bit of a plod up the 107 and 1178 but at least the scenery was improving.
Luke going through withdrawls plodding along the 107 with no decent turns in sight.
However once we got onto the 1322 the Gods smiled on us. This road is simply the most fun you can have on light bikes. The road is fairly recent and in fantastic condition. Not a lot of traffic up and down the road so relatively little in the way of gravel, diesel, etc. This road has more twist and turns than a bargirl telling you where she was last night. It makes the MHS loop look like a freeway plod. Now it would not be my first choice of roads on a barge like a touring Beemer however if you like flicking your bike from left to right for over 65 KM’s this is the bees knees. Luke and I played Rossi and Hayden all along it, stuffing each other into and out of corners, laughing and hollering the whole way. The best way to feel 20 years younger is to ride this road on a motard bike, forget the gal in hot pants on Loi Kroh. Even caning our bikes for all they were worth our average speed along this section was only 54 kph, its that tight.
A fantastic road for light bikes.
Luke enjoying his street tired XR
Twas not all roses however, Luke got a wake up call he’d like to forget. Going into a left hander a tree had fallen into the oncoming lane blocking it. This caused oncoming traffic to swerve into our lane to avoid the tree mid corner. Loads of fun for people like us caning up the road. So as Luke sets up for the corner a truck appears not just two wheels, but fully in his lane. He yanks the bike inside to miss the truck only to hear the roar of the GT rider board yell a warning too late. See in the back of the pickup were songkran revelers armed with a 55 gallon drum of water and a host of bucket throwers. They were on their game as they caught Luke dead center with a bucket. The poor bugger was hard on the brakes, yanking the bike, threading it between the truck and the side of the road only to be hit with water as he squeaked by the truck. It was sensory overload so we stopped to count our blessings. It was only the third vehicle we’d seen in probably 15 km’s but it was a doozey.
The tree that caused Luke to age a few years.
The road continued on with nothing but turns and tire sidewall scrubbing fun for us all the way to Chong. This is what motorbiking is about, we both had grins like the cat that ate the canary. Towards Chong we started to pass through a few villages that were joyed to have the opportunity to douse the farangs on their motorbikes for Songkran. Great vibe passing through the mountain tribe villages in their local dress celebrating. A lot more subtle than the chaos in Chiang Mai.
Luke saving wear on his front tire. Note the scenery in the background. Fantastic views.
Me realizing why I never had children
We devised a trick to confuse the local water throwers by slowing down then wheelying pass the throwers. The kids loved it and it allowed us to pass though unsoaked the majority of the time. Trouble is our clutch plates would not be able to handle all the throwers we would pass on the trip so we had to take our fair share of dousing.
Enjoying the Songkran festivities.
The beginning of the dirt road. Can some tell me what these grass structures are? Are they hollow inside? Storage?
We turned off the 1322 onto dirt to get to Doi Ahn Khan at Piang Luang (N19 38.642 E98 38.296) . The front racing slick I had mounted on the KLX was a joy on the twisting tarmac but was now to show the other side of her personality and become a royal pain in the *** showing little love or compassion for my well being on the dirt road. The normal street tire I had on the rear gripped relatively well. The front lived up to its “slick” name and slithered around the roads like an oiled lady in a lesbian bar show. In a straight line the bars would only shake and shimmy so it was bearable. Turns and downhills however had me sweating like a hooker in a Catholic confession as the tire refused to hold at all. Bottom line those treads on street tires are good for something, Try not to go off road riding with a road racing slick. The dirt road is mostly smooth and hardpack with a few sections of bulldust. Any decent rider on most any bike should be able to handle the dirt section in the dry. If you are tentative and on a heavy street bike a couple bull dust holes will have you sweating.
The front slick out of its element.
The dirt road went on for about 15km’s then back to pavement for a couple more KM’s of dirt before leading out into more twisty pavement. The scenery on the road getting to Doi Ahn Khan the back way is the most stunning I have been on in Thailand. Running along the ridgeline with steep (for Thailand) mountain vistas the views are simply amazing. The slash and burn farming sadly kept a haze across the vistas but once it clears it should be absolutely stunning. The<
So while I go have a beer and cool off I will post a trip report I put on another southeast asian motorcycling site.
I will rewrite the KLX specific stuff again for you all later.
Here's the first trip ride I wnet on:
[color=#191970][size=2]Hmmmm after reading the post on GT riders about avoiding riding the motorbikes over Songkran the Muppet brigade had a dilemma. I had just landed back to Thailand and was itching to ride and Luke had been off bikes for a few weeks after trading in his nancy GSXR 1000 for a manly Honda 125 Sonic that tossed him on the ground and covered him in abrasions on his knees and forearms quicker than a 17 year old Catholic school girl at her first fraternity party. So we were both a bit like sailors pulling into Pattaya on a two week furlough, itching to have a go.
Avoiding the sage advice of the GT Rider community we muppets put our heads firmly in the sand and buggered off for a couple of days, in search of twisty tarmac and writhing mountain girls, willing to suffer the watery consequences of traveling this time of year.
Sunrise over Doi Sutthep
Route: 107 to Chiang Dao- 1178 to Mae Ja then left on the fantastic 1322 to Chong, then right on a dirt road to Muang Noa and onto Doi Ang Khang and into Fang for the night. Next day 107 from Fang down to Si Dong Yen then east on 1346 is a bit twisty into the 1150 and Phrao then home on the 1001 into Chiang Mai.
Bikes: Luke on his XR 280 with street tires and me on a KLX 300 with Motard rims and tires. Name of the game this trip was super motard terrain.
Length: 512 KM
Riding time: 9 hours 18 minutes
The 107 seems to have regressed since I was last over a few months ago. Sections that were previously paved are now back to packed dirt. While dirty is a great description for your Gal it not so pleasant on a crowded thoroughfare. Especially since my front tire on the KLX is a racing slick (no tread) meant for racing on pavement circuits and not slick dirt roads. A bit of a plod up the 107 and 1178 but at least the scenery was improving.
Luke going through withdrawls plodding along the 107 with no decent turns in sight.
However once we got onto the 1322 the Gods smiled on us. This road is simply the most fun you can have on light bikes. The road is fairly recent and in fantastic condition. Not a lot of traffic up and down the road so relatively little in the way of gravel, diesel, etc. This road has more twist and turns than a bargirl telling you where she was last night. It makes the MHS loop look like a freeway plod. Now it would not be my first choice of roads on a barge like a touring Beemer however if you like flicking your bike from left to right for over 65 KM’s this is the bees knees. Luke and I played Rossi and Hayden all along it, stuffing each other into and out of corners, laughing and hollering the whole way. The best way to feel 20 years younger is to ride this road on a motard bike, forget the gal in hot pants on Loi Kroh. Even caning our bikes for all they were worth our average speed along this section was only 54 kph, its that tight.
A fantastic road for light bikes.
Luke enjoying his street tired XR
Twas not all roses however, Luke got a wake up call he’d like to forget. Going into a left hander a tree had fallen into the oncoming lane blocking it. This caused oncoming traffic to swerve into our lane to avoid the tree mid corner. Loads of fun for people like us caning up the road. So as Luke sets up for the corner a truck appears not just two wheels, but fully in his lane. He yanks the bike inside to miss the truck only to hear the roar of the GT rider board yell a warning too late. See in the back of the pickup were songkran revelers armed with a 55 gallon drum of water and a host of bucket throwers. They were on their game as they caught Luke dead center with a bucket. The poor bugger was hard on the brakes, yanking the bike, threading it between the truck and the side of the road only to be hit with water as he squeaked by the truck. It was sensory overload so we stopped to count our blessings. It was only the third vehicle we’d seen in probably 15 km’s but it was a doozey.
The tree that caused Luke to age a few years.
The road continued on with nothing but turns and tire sidewall scrubbing fun for us all the way to Chong. This is what motorbiking is about, we both had grins like the cat that ate the canary. Towards Chong we started to pass through a few villages that were joyed to have the opportunity to douse the farangs on their motorbikes for Songkran. Great vibe passing through the mountain tribe villages in their local dress celebrating. A lot more subtle than the chaos in Chiang Mai.
Luke saving wear on his front tire. Note the scenery in the background. Fantastic views.
Me realizing why I never had children
We devised a trick to confuse the local water throwers by slowing down then wheelying pass the throwers. The kids loved it and it allowed us to pass though unsoaked the majority of the time. Trouble is our clutch plates would not be able to handle all the throwers we would pass on the trip so we had to take our fair share of dousing.
Enjoying the Songkran festivities.
The beginning of the dirt road. Can some tell me what these grass structures are? Are they hollow inside? Storage?
We turned off the 1322 onto dirt to get to Doi Ahn Khan at Piang Luang (N19 38.642 E98 38.296) . The front racing slick I had mounted on the KLX was a joy on the twisting tarmac but was now to show the other side of her personality and become a royal pain in the *** showing little love or compassion for my well being on the dirt road. The normal street tire I had on the rear gripped relatively well. The front lived up to its “slick” name and slithered around the roads like an oiled lady in a lesbian bar show. In a straight line the bars would only shake and shimmy so it was bearable. Turns and downhills however had me sweating like a hooker in a Catholic confession as the tire refused to hold at all. Bottom line those treads on street tires are good for something, Try not to go off road riding with a road racing slick. The dirt road is mostly smooth and hardpack with a few sections of bulldust. Any decent rider on most any bike should be able to handle the dirt section in the dry. If you are tentative and on a heavy street bike a couple bull dust holes will have you sweating.
The front slick out of its element.The dirt road went on for about 15km’s then back to pavement for a couple more KM’s of dirt before leading out into more twisty pavement. The scenery on the road getting to Doi Ahn Khan the back way is the most stunning I have been on in Thailand. Running along the ridgeline with steep (for Thailand) mountain vistas the views are simply amazing. The slash and burn farming sadly kept a haze across the vistas but once it clears it should be absolutely stunning. The<
#2
05-17-2007 | 11:12 AM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
A couple more pics:
riding on ahead of justin in the dirt section i had identified this slippery little downhill section as a potential whoopsy from justin with his slick on the front, the dust was inches thick and the road was badly rutted underneath, i felt sure i would see blood splilt, in preparation for this i parked my bike in the bushes and took position with the camera. seconds passed and then minutes, i then heard the burble of justin klx, my heart raced at the thought of the photo i was about to get... however it wasnt to be as captain fantastic sailed down the hill with the bow of his klx kicking up an almighty wave of dust before it, it was a spectacular moment much like a cruise liner parting the ocean before it.
as justin has already mentioned the views in this area are stunning and a large majority of the time we were riding along the tops of ridgelines
riding on ahead of justin in the dirt section i had identified this slippery little downhill section as a potential whoopsy from justin with his slick on the front, the dust was inches thick and the road was badly rutted underneath, i felt sure i would see blood splilt, in preparation for this i parked my bike in the bushes and took position with the camera. seconds passed and then minutes, i then heard the burble of justin klx, my heart raced at the thought of the photo i was about to get... however it wasnt to be as captain fantastic sailed down the hill with the bow of his klx kicking up an almighty wave of dust before it, it was a spectacular moment much like a cruise liner parting the ocean before it.
as justin has already mentioned the views in this area are stunning and a large majority of the time we were riding along the tops of ridgelines
[8D]
#6
05-17-2007 | 02:31 PM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
My wife is Thai and we have a house in the city Khon Kaen, Thailand (pop. ~150,000) in the northeast. We spend about a month there every year.
Songkran is the Thai New Year which occurs in April every year. Traditionally is was the time of year for cleansing. In particular, the temples are cleaned and most people have small Buddha figures in their homeswhich the take outside and clean. There's also a tradition of giving respect to elders by pouring scented water on thier hands.
Out of this grew the water festival.In Khon Kaen, this lasts for three days, intesifying during the evening. The streets are gridlocked with small pickups carrying barrels of water and people with buckets. There's load music and dancing in the streets and plenty of drinking. Don't go outside if you don't want to get drenched.
Here's a link to some photos of this years festivities in Khon Kaen: http://www.asiatraveltips.com/Pictur...kran2007.shtmlwhich I was there for this year.
As a side note, the Kawasaki dealer in town has a large picture window and pedestal to display their "show bike". I was delighted when I drove past and saw a KLX250S being displayed. (Most motorbikes in Thailand are 110cc two strokes).
Songkran is the Thai New Year which occurs in April every year. Traditionally is was the time of year for cleansing. In particular, the temples are cleaned and most people have small Buddha figures in their homeswhich the take outside and clean. There's also a tradition of giving respect to elders by pouring scented water on thier hands.
Out of this grew the water festival.In Khon Kaen, this lasts for three days, intesifying during the evening. The streets are gridlocked with small pickups carrying barrels of water and people with buckets. There's load music and dancing in the streets and plenty of drinking. Don't go outside if you don't want to get drenched.
Here's a link to some photos of this years festivities in Khon Kaen: http://www.asiatraveltips.com/Pictur...kran2007.shtmlwhich I was there for this year.
As a side note, the Kawasaki dealer in town has a large picture window and pedestal to display their "show bike". I was delighted when I drove past and saw a KLX250S being displayed. (Most motorbikes in Thailand are 110cc two strokes).
#7
05-17-2007 | 04:23 PM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
Mooredan has covered Sonkran adeptly. Its one o0f the biggest holidays in the country and loads of fun. I'm in Chiang Mai which is Thailands second largest city and the festival goes on for 2 weeks. All day water splashing is fine for a few days but two weeks gets a little long so i chose to head to the rural hills for a different perspective on Songkran.
Every little village you ride through resulted in an absolute bath as your were doused constantly. A trick we learned was to slow down and wheelie past the celebrators. They loved it and it gave us a break from yet another soaking.
The report is geared to Thailand regulars so some of it may be confusing.
Tremor38 - the front fender is an Acerbis copy, about $4.50 here.
Every little village you ride through resulted in an absolute bath as your were doused constantly. A trick we learned was to slow down and wheelie past the celebrators. They loved it and it gave us a break from yet another soaking.
The report is geared to Thailand regulars so some of it may be confusing.
Tremor38 - the front fender is an Acerbis copy, about $4.50 here.
#8
05-17-2007 | 04:31 PM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
Great report and photos, Justin! That's crazy they douse you - must be like a sport for the kids there, kind've hilarious from their perspective if you think about it. 
You bike looks great!
You bike looks great!
#9
05-19-2007 | 12:09 AM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
Wow that is some excellent scenery. I think it is a toss up between you and all our northwest riders who has the best riding grounds. Bears and big cats in one place, and poisonous snakes, and god knows what other wildlife in the other. :-)
#10
05-20-2007 | 10:01 AM
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RE: Checking in from Thailand with a KLX
Hey guys as I mentioned in the first post. I have some feedback and info to give on my KLX 250/w/300 jug, pumper carb, cams, etc to repost when i get a chance. I just had torebuilt the motor w/new bearings after blowing a head gasket. I took it out for its first dirt bike ride and drowned it out in a surprise hole during1 of 20river crossing. Towed it out of the jungle through mud and rivers (not easy). it took 6 oil changes to get rid of the water out of the cases[&:].
I'll post some more when I get a chance, off to watch the moto G\P and see if Rossi can reel in Stoner at all.
No brakes you are right. The kids obviously take water throwing to a new level with robust enthusiasm and ice blocks to chill the water. Many people are killed over Songkran festivities due to booze, water throwing +motorbike combinations. Definitely keeps you on your toes.
I'll post some more when I get a chance, off to watch the moto G\P and see if Rossi can reel in Stoner at all.
No brakes you are right. The kids obviously take water throwing to a new level with robust enthusiasm and ice blocks to chill the water. Many people are killed over Songkran festivities due to booze, water throwing +motorbike combinations. Definitely keeps you on your toes.