A Ride Budget?

[Gary D]

Hello All,

Am planning for a 3/4 month solo ride starting in KL from November this year. Going to air freight the bike from Brisbane Aus to KL and do some of the Malaysian roads before heading up to Chiang Mai. Have been following the great Slash trip reports and hopefully catchup for some rides.
Trying to do up some kind of budget for the trip and have come up with around $70 AUD per day that would include meals, fuel and accomodation. My intention would be to stay on the road as much as possible, similar to Slash.
I would appreciate any local feedback.

regards

Gary

 

[KenYam]

G'day Gary

Aust$50 a day is possible for accomodation, food, fuel and a few beers - does not include repairs, incidentials and friendly locals.
Good luck and post on GTR when your in Chiang Mai area.

Cheers Ken F

 

[DavidFL]

I was just thinking about this the other day after returning from Nan & 4 nights 5 days away - how expensive it is getting!
On longer distance rides I am now often spending 1,000 baht a day on fuel. Chuck in a hotel, 600 baht maximum, + food + drinks 500 baht a day & you can be up to 2,000 baht a day.
PLUS if you hit the Pubs / Disco for late night entertainment & are not careful it can get as high as 3,000 baht a day = O-U-C-H! Not that the good Captain Slash would ever get near that. 3,000 baht would be 3 or 4 days for the Captain I'd say. So it can be done on the cheap if you want.

But I note that on a bigger bike you tend to ride faster & further in a day, so fuel is not the biggest single expense most days. Also Fuel Injection on a bike is a lot more economical than my old carburretor model Africa Twin. Once upon a time petrol never figured in the cost of a ride. But not anymore. ...
Current fuel prices are

I can feel a change in lifestyle coming on due to the price of fuel (& lack of tourists = low map sales).

Slash what is your budget?

 

[feejer]

Davidfl wrote: But I note that on a bigger bike you tend to ride faster & further in a day, so fuel is not the biggest single expense most days. Also Fuel Injection on a bike is a lot more economical than my old carburretor model Africa Twin. Once upon a time petrol never figured in the cost of a ride. But not anymore. ...

I can sure relate to this. One thing I did not anticipate is how terrible the fuel mileage is on my new FZ1. I am lucky to get over 30 MPG (13 kM/L) on that pig! I mean the FJR is 300cc and 200 pounds more bike and it consistently gets 40+ MPG. The FZ is an thirsty little bike to run, but a thrill a minute. So ya gotta pay to play I reckon.

But we're all going to be taking a bite of that BP shit sandwich. The cost of that cleanup is going to get passed on one way or another.

 

[DavidFL]

Davidfl wrote: But I note that on a bigger bike you tend to ride faster & further in a day, so fuel is not the biggest single expense most days. Also Fuel Injection on a bike is a lot more economical than my old carburretor model Africa Twin. Once upon a time petrol never figured in the cost of a ride. But not anymore. ...

OOPS that should be FUEL IS the biggest single expense most days. But I figure most of you more intelligent guys picked up on it.

 

[daewoo]

Hi Gary,

Wot bike are you carting across from Aus??? Stupid that it costs 4 times as much to ship a bike as a person, even though it doesn't eat or drink init???

If you can find my ride report threads burried back there somewhere, I tried to put prices in Baht and AUD there so that my Aussie mates on my Aussie forums would know the prices...

For me it is usually a tank/1 1/2 Tank of fuel a day (most days seem sub 600km) $30-$45
Accommodation - less than $30
Food and drink - Less than $10 if you eat only Thai food, Less than $30 if you eat only Western Food (some days, you will want a burger and chips)...

In BKK, my beer bill is usually $100 -$200/day (often much more :cheers: :smile1: )
Out of BKK, especially if you are riding the next day, usually $15 - $30...

You can pretty much decide what sort of money you want to spend... You can choose 80Baht accommodation or 8000 baht... you can choose 100baht meals or 900baht meals... you can choose 20baht beers from 7-11 or 100baht beers in a bar... you can choose to have a couple of quiet ones, or drink for 18 hours solid... up to you... for me, once you get to Th, the costs are irrelevant ...

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[Gary D]

Davidfl wrote: I was just thinking about this the other day after returning from Nan & 4 nights 5 days away - how expensive it is getting!
On longer distance rides I am now often spending 1,000 baht a day on fuel. Chuck in a hotel, 600 baht maximum, + food + drinks 500 baht a day & you can be up to 2,000 baht a day.
PLUS if you hit the Pubs / Disco for late night entertainment & are not careful it can get as high as 3,000 baht a day = O-U-C-H! Not that the good Captain Slash would ever get near that. 3,000 baht would be 3 or 4 days for the Captain I'd say. So it can be done on the cheap if you want.

But I note that on a bigger bike you tend to ride faster & further in a day, so fuel is not the biggest single expense most days. Also Fuel Injection on a bike is a lot more economical than my old carburretor model Africa Twin. Once upon a time petrol never figured in the cost of a ride. But not anymore. ...
Current fuel prices are

I can feel a change in lifestyle coming on due to the price of fuel (& lack of tourists = low map sales).

Slash what is your budget?

My current ride is a DL650 fuel injected Suzuki with ABS and i average around 22km/L, which is pretty good. Here in Brisbane we pay around $1.30 a litre, an average ride for me around the Sunshine Coast hinterland at 100 kph+ is probably about 300kms so the cost of a ride is about 500thb.

Don't normally worry about the cost because the ride is so enjoyable.
David your fuel rate shows fuel at 30thb a litre ie $1.10 AUD, hasn't that gone up in recent times, always wondered while it was so cheap, welcome to the real world.

Gary

 

[Gary D]

daewoo wrote: Hi Gary,

Wot bike are you carting across from Aus??? Stupid that it costs 4 times as much to ship a bike as a person, even though it doesn't eat or drink init???

If you can find my ride report threads burried back there somewhere, I tried to put prices in Baht and AUD there so that my Aussie mates on my Aussie forums would know the prices...

For me it is usually a tank/1 1/2 Tank of fuel a day (most days seem sub 600km) $30-$45
Accommodation - less than $30
Food and drink - Less than $10 if you eat only Thai food, Less than $30 if you eat only Western Food (some days, you will want a burger and chips)...

In BKK, my beer bill is usually $100 -$200/day (often much more :cheers: :smile1: )
Out of BKK, especially if you are riding the next day, usually $15 - $30...

You can pretty much decide what sort of money you want to spend... You can choose 80Baht accommodation or 8000 baht... you can choose 100baht meals or 900baht meals... you can choose 20baht beers from 7-11 or 100baht beers in a bar... you can choose to have a couple of quiet ones, or drink for 18 hours solid... up to you... for me, once you get to Th, the costs are irrelevant ...

Cheers,
Daewoo

Hi Daewoo,

Bringing a Suzuki DL650 Vee Strom. Have had a couple of prices to ship air BNE to KL and price seems to be around $1200 one way. For myself i have a daughter at Virgin Blue and get a family rate to Phuket for about $400 return. An Air Asia flight from Phuket to KL is about $180 return.

Have been guilty of the BKK play costs in the past but now have adjusted to a quieter lifestyle......mostly!

Gary

 

[daewoo]

Gary D wrote:
Hi Daewoo,

Bringing a Suzuki DL650 Vee Strom. Have had a couple of prices to ship air BNE to KL and price seems to be around $1200 one way. For myself i have a daughter at Virgin Blue and get a family rate to Phuket for about $400 return. An Air Asia flight from Phuket to KL is about $180 return.

Have been guilty of the BKK play costs in the past but now have adjusted to a quieter lifestyle......mostly!

Gary

Great bike for Thailand (and I arseume Malaysia)... Mate's got one here, and it is definately a step up in refinement from my KLR... I am sure you will make a lot of the Thai residents jealous, because so many good bikes just aren't available in Thailand...

Check out their availability in KL while you are there, and maybe find a shop that is willing to freight parts to Thailand... If you run into problems in Thailand, you will NOT be able to get any bits...

I have a simillar deal with Qantas Staff travel... but I choose to just fly to Chaing Mai and hire a bike... $2400 is another 24 days in country ...

I do like Malaysia tho... much easier to travel in than Thailand because of the removal of much of the language barrier...

Do keep us updated on your travels whilst I am stuck in my day job in Sydney...

Cheers,
Daewoo

 

[feejer]

daewoo wrote: [quote quote=Gary D]
Hi Daewoo,

Bringing a Suzuki DL650 Vee Strom. Have had a couple of prices to ship air BNE to KL and price seems to be around $1200 one way. For myself i have a daughter at Virgin Blue and get a family rate to Phuket for about $400 return. An Air Asia flight from Phuket to KL is about $180 return.

Have been guilty of the BKK play costs in the past but now have adjusted to a quieter lifestyle......mostly!

Gary

Great bike for Thailand (and I arseume Malaysia)... Mate's got one here, and it is definately a step up in refinement from my KLR... I am sure you will make a lot of the Thai residents jealous, because so many good bikes just aren't available in Thailand...

Ha! Its not just the Thais who are jealous. Try finding a new DL650 ABS here in the States right now. Was my next bike of choice but hardly a bike to be had and when you do find one, dealers are asking way over the odds for it and won't budge a satang. Hope next year brings a better supply/demand situation. But yes, almost the perfect all-rounder at that price point. Spin a set of Metzler Tourance on there and go almost anywhere, and in comfort too.

 

[Gary D]

feejer wrote: [quote quote=daewoo][quote quote=Gary D]
Hi Daewoo,

Bringing a Suzuki DL650 Vee Strom. Have had a couple of prices to ship air BNE to KL and price seems to be around $1200 one way. For myself i have a daughter at Virgin Blue and get a family rate to Phuket for about $400 return. An Air Asia flight from Phuket to KL is about $180 return.

Have been guilty of the BKK play costs in the past but now have adjusted to a quieter lifestyle......mostly!

Gary

Great bike for Thailand (and I arseume Malaysia)... Mate's got one here, and it is definately a step up in refinement from my KLR... I am sure you will make a lot of the Thai residents jealous, because so many good bikes just aren't available in Thailand...

Ha! Its not just the Thais who are jealous. Try finding a new DL650 ABS here in the States right now. Was my next bike of choice but hardly a bike to be had and when you do find one, dealers are asking way over the odds for it and won't budge a satang. Hope next year brings a better supply/demand situation. But yes, almost the perfect all-rounder at that price point. Spin a set of Metzler Tourance on there and go almost anywhere, and in comfort too.
I got it new 010 black ABS last November after a Ducati ST3. Certainly a much different bike but more enjoyable overall. Why the holdup on new ones in the US, there seems to be plenty of 2010 models over here. Maybe a model update coming? Price here is around $11k AUD on road.
The Mtezlers will go on before the trip.

 

[daewoo]

"Never trust a man who doesn't drink" - WC Fields

 

[Captain Wally]

daewoo wrote: "Never trust a man who doesn't drink" - WC Fields

It's my experience that most GT Riders are extremely trustworthy :lol-sign: