Great start to the day with a hot coffee at the Chiang Mai X-Centre and an even bigger boost for me, to see Ian's wide grin, always a delight.
There were many new faces for me gathered already and one of them, a tall giant of a man - Ray, had hired a Kawasaki Er6 for his trip. Ian took full advantage to blast the cobwebs out & took it for a spin. On his return, his grin was even wider! He seemed to like the bike.
After a briefing from Jeff, on the ride detail, 9 riders set off north on the 107.
The going was good and I started to relax on the new tarmac through some of the area that for the last 4 years seems to have been constantly blitzed with unfinished road works. North bound, there is at least a single track of tarmac now most of the way. Southbound, it's work in progress.
Why no photo's of this, don't laugh, cameras need light to take a pic & if you don't remove the lens cover, there ain't no light !
The 107 had a little bit of traffic but we worked through that and reaching the split at Chiang Dao, the sun had come out (the cap was off the camera too!) and we stopped for a natter. Tragedy struck when Neil's bike failed to start and despite Ken getting on his knees and Pikey & Richie doing a few swiss army knife tricks the diagnosis was that the battery was post-coitus. The bike was bumped and we trundled into a local bike sales shop to see if they had a battery.
After the first unsuccessful attempt to find a battery here, we blasted on up to Fang to find the Nihyom Paniche repair shop to ask them for help.
This road was a delight and again although a little bit of traffic, the road is good enough to safely enjoy the speed and the width of the road. Kevin on the Ninja made the 250 move well, as did Ben on the KLX.
By now it was it was 13:30 so before reaching the next battery inquiry stop we stopped at the pump in Chai Prackan & met up with a few friendly faces and had something to eat.
At Fang it was a negative too ! So on to Thaton & therefore resigning to get a new battery in Chiang Rai the following day.
At Thaton we stopped and quenched our thirsts and savoured the shade. We exchanged a few stories and got to know each other a little more.
The next section of road was very warm but most enjoyable, the views stupendous and the road condition excellent. But the dogs, the odd bowser & tractor etc, just waiting to tease you, were ever present!
Finally we arrived in Chiang Rai and joined the schools out chaos and early evening crush into the city.
The Orchid Guest House was wide open for all of us to stay together and the parking adequate for all the bikes.
Good clean rooms with towels, free coffee & internet, all for 450 baht. But if you share of course it is cheaper. But the sharing of room, who slept with who and where is not for discussion here! All I will say is, I did notice a lack of eye contact from the other guests in the residence the morning after!
Well that's it for this report, I left the rest of the guys waiting around for a new battery before they progressed on to Chiang Khong and onwards to Nan. But for me, I had commitments back in Chiang Mai so I headed south again on the 1 down to Phayao and then the 120 over the top.
But that's the content of another trip report.
Ally
There were many new faces for me gathered already and one of them, a tall giant of a man - Ray, had hired a Kawasaki Er6 for his trip. Ian took full advantage to blast the cobwebs out & took it for a spin. On his return, his grin was even wider! He seemed to like the bike.
After a briefing from Jeff, on the ride detail, 9 riders set off north on the 107.
The going was good and I started to relax on the new tarmac through some of the area that for the last 4 years seems to have been constantly blitzed with unfinished road works. North bound, there is at least a single track of tarmac now most of the way. Southbound, it's work in progress.
Why no photo's of this, don't laugh, cameras need light to take a pic & if you don't remove the lens cover, there ain't no light !
The 107 had a little bit of traffic but we worked through that and reaching the split at Chiang Dao, the sun had come out (the cap was off the camera too!) and we stopped for a natter. Tragedy struck when Neil's bike failed to start and despite Ken getting on his knees and Pikey & Richie doing a few swiss army knife tricks the diagnosis was that the battery was post-coitus. The bike was bumped and we trundled into a local bike sales shop to see if they had a battery.
After the first unsuccessful attempt to find a battery here, we blasted on up to Fang to find the Nihyom Paniche repair shop to ask them for help.
This road was a delight and again although a little bit of traffic, the road is good enough to safely enjoy the speed and the width of the road. Kevin on the Ninja made the 250 move well, as did Ben on the KLX.
By now it was it was 13:30 so before reaching the next battery inquiry stop we stopped at the pump in Chai Prackan & met up with a few friendly faces and had something to eat.
At Fang it was a negative too ! So on to Thaton & therefore resigning to get a new battery in Chiang Rai the following day.
At Thaton we stopped and quenched our thirsts and savoured the shade. We exchanged a few stories and got to know each other a little more.
The next section of road was very warm but most enjoyable, the views stupendous and the road condition excellent. But the dogs, the odd bowser & tractor etc, just waiting to tease you, were ever present!
Finally we arrived in Chiang Rai and joined the schools out chaos and early evening crush into the city.
The Orchid Guest House was wide open for all of us to stay together and the parking adequate for all the bikes.
Good clean rooms with towels, free coffee & internet, all for 450 baht. But if you share of course it is cheaper. But the sharing of room, who slept with who and where is not for discussion here! All I will say is, I did notice a lack of eye contact from the other guests in the residence the morning after!
Well that's it for this report, I left the rest of the guys waiting around for a new battery before they progressed on to Chiang Khong and onwards to Nan. But for me, I had commitments back in Chiang Mai so I headed south again on the 1 down to Phayao and then the 120 over the top.
But that's the content of another trip report.
Ally
