Fallibilities / Funnies / Stuff Ups..........

[rudecam]

eh boys! I'll add myself to that list!
I learn quick but I'm still a new driver gotta start somewhere!

Few days ago, I gave "Lima site 85" and "saisumboon special zone" a go, I spent 10 days on a rented honda 250 Baja. At first I didn't how to handle but it didn't take me long I was racing the mini-van shuttle on the roads. That bike was awesome: it had guts and would go anywhere with a little twist of the wrist

this is what happend 2 hours before returning the bike to the shop.

quote:

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When I woke up this morning, I had the romantic idea of taking the bike to the mekong river for a "good-bye" ride before taking it back to the shop. I drove up and down, jumping and skidding. splashing the water and mud all around. On soft sand, I lost control and bailed out. Sand all over the inside of my helmet. BANG BANG BANG and I received the bottom of my Baja in the pelvis. Blood all around and a tiny scratch on Mr. Twinky but nothing to keep a next generation of Cams running around. The bike: cost me 80$us to fix it. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine.

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look at my accident on this link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudecam/91325900/

cheers to all and be safe out there eh

the cam

if there's a way; i'll find it!

 

[DavidFL]

What happens when it rains unexpectedly over night, & you've left your bike temporary import / export docs in the tank bag on your bike parked outside in the elements.

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

 

[DavidFL]

You wouldn't catch me wearing a T-shirt like the one below, especially with my riding mates.

Photographed in Luang Prabang, next to Caroline's Tamarind restaurant.

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

 

[dirthonk]

so i guess i have to write on this post then, um well yes i was playing rossi and jeff was hayden, we were in valencia on the last race of the season and i needed to make this move stick to retain my world championship crown. however the sweeping corners and sticky racetrack had been replaced with an overgrown, leaf ridden, bastard corner with a nasty section of slippery sand just on the apex, as i said before i did have to make this move for the championship so into the corner i went slamming the baja down into 2nd for a fast exit, im sure it would have been a fast exit and i would have pipped the flying hayden on his tiger to the line if i hadnt completed misjudged the corner/ road conditions/ the ability of the baja/ my own ability/. i lost the front end and promptly ended up lying face down on the road with my baja pinning my twisted leg to the floor. my fellow riders gathered round to observe the reckless gibernau lying helpless on the deck, the bike was uprighted and the shaken young rider given the once over by an already overfriendly barryBBQ. the rest of the ride was spent dawdling along at 50/kph contemplating "my own stupidity". and thanks to big and tall for escorting a rapidly deteorating rider back to chiang mai at 30kpoh on the 118. great patience there my friend although i get the feeling had i not been doing the same thing for a sugar deprived/ blind as a bat nsr rider that very previous day then your assistance might not have lasted as long as it did.
next time guys get a picture i deserve the humiliation.
and i lost the championship.

 

[DavidFL]

I was running a bit late (as usual) & when I get to the restaurant 2 GT Riders are already seated, gossiping & drinking on schedule.
I ordered my food, plus a soda & ice to start with. It was a bit of a surprise then when I get a nice whisky & soda. I look up at the other 2 GT Riders & note that one is drinking an ice-cold Singha beer & the other has his usual black soda, but he never brings a bottle. Must be the HGLG/F singer winning the lottery maybe? She’s up on the stage singing & I signal to her, thanks for the whisky, but she indicates that no, it is not her bottle. The other 2 GT Riders are deep in conversation & don’t hear my question – who’s whisky am I drinking? Oh well my pen rai, I’ll have another quickly I thought, it’s free & maybe on the house somehow.
After a couple more I’m still a little perplexed & swing around to ask the Thai guys at the table behind me, if perhaps there had been a mistake & their whisky bottle was on my drink station. Nope it was not theirs, but indeed “ours.”
Now I was indeed a bit concerned, as the Johnny Dam was a nice drop & I would not mind (considerably) more if it was going to be free all night. Eventually I was able to attract the attention of the other GT Rider whisky drinker and ascertain that he too was drinking black soda, but had only ordered a glass. Now that was a little odd I thought, as I knew that at this restaurant they did not serve by glass – only the bottle. I called the manageress over & asked her who had ordered the bottle of whisky – your friend she replied. He asked for Black Label & soda. Yes I know that, but does he know he ordered a bottle. Of course, that's how we sell it, by the bottle. But he didn’t! AND because "we" were already 1/6th of the way into the bottle it was ours – to drink & pay for. Moral of the story, make sure you know you know whether you’re ordering by the glass or by the bottle. Most restaurants don’t sell by the glass, but the bottle = TIT.

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

 

[DavidFL]

Spotted in the car today en route to pick up the Africa Twin from the "automotive electrician" (that's another story.)

The HGL G/F singer was driving & a bit concerned whether she should attempt an overtaking manouevre or not. I told her to wait.
But aint Thailand a great country though - who needs a 6-wheel truck or pick-up when you can carry all your building supplies on a Honda Dream!

Davidfl
Keep The Power On

 

[BignTall]

David,

I can't wait to see the post on the "automotive electrician". Is it going under recommended mechanics/shops list or is it gonna be added to this post...hahahaha.

Cheers all.
"Formerly known as the twat, racer55"

 

[DavidFL]

What’s this man doing?

Is that the Red–Eyed Snail alias David Lek working on someone’s bike?

Yep that’s Lek alright & its could even be a certain well known GT Rider’s Africa Twin

What could the problem be – electrical?

Yep. And the problem's solved with some good old scotch tape.

This must have been one of the more bizarre breakdowns, involving a dog that sounded like a pig, being kindly assisted by the locals with some burning kindling for light as we took off the fuel tank in the dark, then patching it all up with scotch tape to make it safely back home....

 

[DavidFL]

Just back from Mae Sarieng & delivering some maps, one of North Thailand’s coolest quietest towns.
And ah yes the Riverside Guesthouse one of my fave low budget hang outs & what I rate as North Thailand’s answer to Fawlty Towers.

Every room’s different but some are a tighter fit than others.

The entrance to room # 15

The door’s been modified & just clears the bed by centimeter or two.

Then you have the entrance to the bathroom where the dresser covers part of the door entrance, so as not to be out done too much by the front door.

 

[dirthonk]

me again, practicing wheelies around the go-kart track i pulled one up a little too high and flipped it over backwards before my brain engaged to hit the back brake. the result is a badly sprained ankle and 3 days( and counting) of sitting on my arse watching tv. great to be here
suzukiluke

 

[Pikey]

Commiserations mate and had heard a rumour that you stuffed up - a picture would be nice! (of your ankle, assuming that the "magic moment" of you looping it wasn't caught on camera?)

Hope you get fixed up soon.

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[SilverhawkUSA]

Luke-

We are going to give you your own forum page where you can just fill in the dates and times.......

Glad it is not worse than a sprained ankle. Take it easy.

 

[Rhodie]

Luke

Sorry to miss your further moments of glory.
I only hope that you are on the mend - how's the bike?

In case there any doubting Thomases out there, here some stunts you pulled earlier [last week]:

Couldn't have lined it up better

Neat racing line

Please note the raceway approved go faster tennis shoes with airated socks!

I assume you were not wearing the extra rubber this time?

Taking the Lead

Get well soon!

 

[BignTall]

Good on ya Luke!!! Sorry Jeff, Silverhawk and myself were not around to lift the bike off you this time[] like on the 1252. Happy to hear this time its a sprain and not 4-6 weeks of healing bones.

Rumor has it that Luke went out and plunked down some dosh for a nice telly and cable services to make his downtime between get offs more tolerable. The only problem is there's not enough motorbike racing DVD's in Chiang Mai to keep him entertained. Thankfully the always entertaining "V" club is just outside his window to pass the time[}].

Great photos Rhodie of Luke doing the deeds. Nice to see Luke setting new standards for vented gear. Ask for pictures of his riding boots. They have even more holes ground in than his tennies.

Luke just to keep you from another potential sprain, in the cornering photo it has your toes below the shifter in the corners. With your waffle stomper size footsies best to keep them above the shifter in the corners to keep it from getting yanked back under the peg. For my own self interest of course as I want you healthy when I'm back over soon for some riding.

Glad to see you're enjoying yourself.

 

[dirthonk]

hey guys thanks for the concern, just got back from the hospital and the good news is that i will be tearing up a road new you in the next 3-4 days, nurse says nothing is broken although she did say my ankle was weird shaped..
thank god nothings broken as even my big tv is starting to bore me, ill prob hit v club tonight if anyones up for it??
see you on the road soon. p.s pikey have you seen that chinosnake has now resorted to asking for ze specifications and ze pictures of the bikes in dutch now! classic stuff mate!
suzukiluke
p.s the bike is not too badly injured a few scrapes thats all!

 

[solent01]

The time I nearly died......

Many moons ago I used to have a highly tuned RD350LC with a whacky Pepsi paint job, any body knowing these bikes will be aware they are hooligans bikes, when the power comes in, it comes in hard, wheelies and rear wheel steering being the order of the day.

Well, one sunny saturday afternoon back in England a friend of mine popped round to my house on his GSX750R, so off we went for a bimble through the twisties, but stopping first to see if one more chum wanted to come along but he wasn't in..... His house is on the outskirts of town, on a long straight road leading downhill into a lovely smooth fast road with some great high speed corners, so as we left his house we started whinding on the power, over a small bridge then into the first corner, a long sweeping left hander, a dab of the front brake scrubbs off the excess speed and I've got the line pinned, now comes the problem, god damn, I left the stand down and can't get the lean I need to make the corner, so I gingerly back off the power and apply a gentle amount of front brake, easing the bike back up again and looking down to kick the stand up (the one and only fault with this bike was a very stiff side stand), great, stand now back up and looking at the road again SH*T I'm on the wrong side of the road and about to have a head on with a (found out later) 323i BMW........ with an estimated impact speed of around 100mph (me 60 odd and I'm guessing the BMW around 40 ish) all goes quite and I feel knumb, and all I can see are trees doing summersaults in front of my very eyes (in fact me doing the famous trapieze act without a net!! after hitting the BMW, sliding up the bonnet, hitting the wind screen and being thrown skyward, next thing I know its 6 hours later and it hurts, I'm in hospital with my left leg broken, left whrist broken, 4 smahed ribs on the left side (seems that I hit the car with the left side of my body), my right elbow was down to bone and my boll*cks were the size of rugby balls (my groin took out the petrol tank as I flew forward), the BMW was totalled as was of course the LC. Total time in hospital 3 weeks, total time in casts 6 weeks total cost £10,600.00 (£600 for my LC and the 10 grand I was sued by the BMW drivers insurance company to recover the loss as my insurance company dropped me as I had not declered the modifications done to my LC..... Doh.......

Lessons learnt....

Don't leave your stand down
Only race on a race track
Make sure your insurance company know what your running
BMW's are hard......
and last but certainly not least, don't take life too seriously, enjoy what time we are given.

Sol

 

[DavidFL]

Apologies to all, but did anyone else see this one.

ROCKET MAN FLIES ON A WING AND A PRAYER

http://www.smh.com.au/news/unusual-tale ... 68614.html

A daredevil former fighter pilot has blasted through the sky at 184 kmh in jet-powered wings.
Yves Rossy, 45, donned the carbon-fibre wings he has spent five years designing for the test flight over Spain.
"It was absolutely fantastic - total freedom in three dimensions. So much speed and power, it's better than a bird," he was quoted as saying in The Sun.
For the test flight he jumped out of an aircraft - which then followed him - over Empuriabrava and glided to 2500 metres.
He then fired the jet and shot across the sky for four minutes before killing the engine and parachuting to earth.

What a way to go eh?
The guy's surname is Rossy, I wonder if he’s just tying to get one up on his long distance cousin Valentino?

 

[DavidFL]

Thought this one was a ripper.

Spotted roadside on Route 1, south of Phayao yesterday in perfect weather while I was enjoying a ride in the car with the HGL G/F Singer. AND I have to admit she's getting pretty damn good as a driver now!

 

[DavidFL]

Spotted this one in Thoed Thai a few weeks ago.
The Koda shop.

 

[tropicaljohno]

"Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...."

Seen at the Floating Markets, Bangkok

 

[DavidFL]

Spotted in Mae Sai

Thanks to Danny from Siam Sun

 

[tropicaljohno]

 

[Auke]

They finally finished the roadworks on the west of Dan Sai (Rd 2013). When I passed yesterday they had finished putting up the traffic signs but this one, indicating that the divided lanes will become single lane, ended up being put upside down.

 

[DavidFL]

Probably qualifies as a bit of a stuff up:
Two weeks ago the Africa Twin's electrics were playing up yet again. So the local Cnx native expert 1st determined it was the regulator yet again. This was a a bit surprising after I'd just installed a 5,000 baht after market regulator imported from Germany only 14 mths earlier, (along with a new battery & some hard wiring to remove old sockets & connectors.)

Anyway a new OEM Honda regulator was obtained from Singapore in 48 hrs - ptretty good eh? This was installed & it was then determined it was not the regulator, but really the stator that burnt was burnt out - & not surprising to me after 192,000 kms. It was about time.
The stator was re-wired & hey presto everything was perfect. I could re-install the old regulator & keep the new one as a spare. Ok I will go along with that. When I finally went to pick up the bike the experts had also decided to replace the starter solenoid as it too was dodgy - ok I will go along with that as it probably on the way out & I did not want the bike breaking down in Laos.

Everything looked & sounded good. New wires, stator, solenoid, & confirmed good regulator & battery. An overnight test run to Chiang Rai took place & yep it was all A-OK.

Less than 2,000 kms later it all shuts down on the road at 5pm 100 kms north of Vientiane. Something's not quite right, specially the 2,000 baht trucking fee for 100 kms (ok he had to do a return trip from vte), but after 1 1/2 hrs at a Lao police box beside the road flagging down only twin cab short tray pickups with not enough space for the AT I weakened & opted for the sure but pricey option from Vte.

I arrive in Vte at 15 mins past midnight, after breaking down at 5.00 pm & leaving Luang Prabang at 10.15am. I felt somewhat cranky - only breakfast & one can of sponsor all day for sustenance.

In Vte the bikes at Fuark's & after 36 hrs a new battery is imported from Thailand & installed on the bike. Something's still not quite right though & after stripping a few wires & connections we identify the problem: a broken wire to the starter solenoid.

The local expert in Cnx has simply joined wires by twisting & taping over a join. No soldering & not impresed!! He's now cost me a regulator, one battery & one 2,000 baht trucking fee.

Tomorrow I leave Vte & slowly head home for Cnx. Aint life on the road fun.
Oh yeah it's also cold & wet. But the good news is I've got a rain jacket but no pants. Loei it is tomorrow night.

The other good news is Im promised a total bike re-wire in March by a real expat expert in Cnx. I hope it's not only talk...

 

[DavidFL]

Spotted in Chiang Khong last week en route to Luang Prabang.

Also in Chiang Khong, at the downtown immigration office where you must get your TM2s & TM4s before departing overseas with a vehicle.

Spotted in Muang Sing, Laos & still en route to LPQ.