Saxonator's Sick Enduro Video Diary

[saxonator]

so my mates convinced me, that we should visit our good old friend in Phayao for some Enduro fun. Oh man, I was just thinking of the long road to Phayao with the lame XR250, but it actually was a nice ride over Phrao and then Viang Papao. Arrived in Phayao in the early afternoon and checked in the hotel on the riverfront. Rest of the day was chilling with my friends and mostly relaxing. The next day we met with our mate Burin and he showed us some really cool Hard Enduro tracks around that area. We did the Anaconda Trail 1 and 2 and had some crazy steep uphills and downhills. Phayao has so much to offer, that's just amazing. The second day was for me an absolute highlight we went toward "Sam Chok Waterfall" and then continued to the mushroom pickers mountain called Mon Hed Top by the locals. Mon Hed Top is crazy steep and is extremely technical. Roots all over the place in the sandy terrain, lot of ruts and obstacles you have to clear going up there. I think this is as close as it gets to "Romaniacs" So much fun. I had big troubles clearing some of the very steep section. Lack of power and my weight didn't help here very much, but at the end we all got up there, zig zagging our way up. The prayer flags along the trail gave us sometimes the feeling as if we were riding in Tibet or Nepal...haha. The Buddha site on top of the hill is great. The locals bring water and Kanom (Sweets) up there to please the Buddha. After a very gnarly ride up there the rest would be downhill and it was a quick one too, compared to all the sweat we left on the climb. The rest was a very nice rock garden trail with fast passages through some riverbeds. The nature here is something else. We will be back for sure to explore more. Thanks for letting us ride here. Phayao we love you

 

[saxonator]

The life & times of Rocky the Saxonator.

Yeah, pretty much spot on here mate, I just get bored doing normal Enduro rides, don't know why I used to enjoy them before....555. It's good exercise for me to keep my weight....555

 

[arthskov]

 

[saxonator]

Another fantastic ride with MR. E, the 63 year old racer from Mountains near to Germany. I must admit I cannot hold on to his speed for a very long time. He is just to fit for his age and I am too fat for my age...haha. So we still keep finding some pretty awesome tracks between Mae Jo and Mae Faek. This track was an absolute killer, after a pretty long section of loose gravel rocks and up and down the hills for a while, we connected to the "Sommersault" section which is a dried out riverbed with many steps, lot of giant rocks and some pretty damn steep sections. A friend from Germany had a few attempts on this steep hillclimb almost on the end of the trail. But every time he would just tumble down the mountain like a dice. That he hadn't broken any thing is a sheer wonder. This is why my Buddy from the Alps wanted to call it "Purzelbaum" or Somersault Trail. On this very same section I met myself being totally exhausted and almost not able to continue, this has never happened in 30 years of Enduro Riding here in Thailand. Couldn't believe my battery was empty for once. My friend tried to help me, but that was not an easy task, so at the end it was all up to me....a few moments of recovery and try again and again until I finally was able to clear that last section. My arms were pumping and my body felt like a beaten Donut. But there was still the single trail back home and there were still some more hill climbs and steep down hills with very loose rocks. And there out of sudden my buddy lost his front wheel while riding on a tight edge and slipped down the mountain for a bit. Dragging the bike back up was no easy task and it was slippery on the loose ground and we hardly could find any grip with our boots. After another 15 minutes we were back on the track for the last few Kilometers left. Now Mr. E also showed signs of exhaustion and we were happy to get out of the jungle on this now late afternoon. A happy Dinner in a local restaurant quickly helped us forget over our wounds and little injuries we got today spilled down with a Soda and a beer and another epic day came to an end

 

[DavidFL]

Love it Rudi. Keep the power on.

 

[saxonator]

it ain't easy to find new tracks, but somehow I manage to discover something new each time I ride, this one still needs a little work here and there, but it's perfect for practicing with my now 16 year old sun, enjoy

 

[Biggles]

About 30 years ago I came to Thailand's North. At that time you could only rent MTX 125. At that time there was endless off-road here and in the rainy season, the red clay would turn into one big mud bath. Enduro was everywhere and having a street bike was overkill. It was an exciting time and I was happy to grab an almost brand new Suzuki TS200 plated and with green book. With this great machine it all started. The never-ending adventures in the Jungle. After a couple of years riding with this bike I swapped the bike for a Honda XR250L, ever since that time I was mainly on the same model. I tried out different dirt bikes but always came back to the XR250, I am currently riding with a Honda XR250L 2003 which is in great condition and hopefully will last me another couple of years.

Over the years I recorded a lot of videos from my trips and are happy to post them here. All of them are unique and most have original music from me (don't know if you like it). Some good memories. So today I will post one of those videos and will continue in no particular order to this thread. Hope you enjoy, have a good one

So Saxonator. Great tale and videos thank you. Amazing you still ride an XR. Good on you. What and where is a good legal off road track to start in CM area. I rode dirt for years in West (& MTB as well even some XC club races, but I’m a decade out of practice in hard core serious technical off road, so I need to work back into it. Can you post an image of a route, or perhaps name places from A to B A route you think might be suitable? I ride a kawasaki 250 Mot-duro. or Endtard (1/2 Enduro 1/2 Motard w ADV Tyres). Anyone wanting to join is very welcome.

 

[saxonator]

Absolutely stoked, my son took part in his first real Enduro Race. We didn't have any expectation about this race at all, but it turned out to be good fun for everyone. We left our house in Mae Rim about 7 am and hit the road on our Honda Click and the rucksack full of gear for the race. The bike would be delivered by a gentleman from the Samkaphaeng Area who was so nice to lend Oskar his bike for the race. A almost brand new Haengjian KTN 250 4t. As I hadn't raced for many years I was surprised how professional the organization was....haha. It took as a while to figure out which group he should ride in and after a while we decided for Group 6. Beginners over 200cc bikes. Later we found out everyone was in this group especially some of those very fast racers, that have raced for years. As the permission from Bangkok was not granted before midday, we had to sit and wait for the ok from the authorities. Brilliant, you gotta love Thailand cashing in all the entry fees and not having received permission yet. Shortly after that it was game on and we went to the start to queue up. Many riders, especially with expensive bikes must have had VIP cards as they passed everyone went straight to the start line and got excepted by the staff to race. Now it was Oskar's turn and he got a good start. Very quickly he became tired and had muscle cramps but he kept going on a slow but steady pace until he lost the track and got thrown back in time by about 10 minutes. Later on he crashed pretty hard in a hairpin curve tumbling down in a pit. First he was super tired to get going again but somehow he managed to get the bike out and continue. Towards the end of the race he had to clear some cement pillars and bent his gear lever and was only able to continue in first gear until the end, which cost him another ten minutes. He finished the race 422 Overall from 800 riders. In his class he still was able to get position 58
r

 

[saxonator]

 

[Biggles]

it ain't easy to find new tracks, but somehow I manage to discover something new each time I ride, this one still needs a little work here and there, but it's perfect for practicing with my now 16 year old sun, enjoy

Fantastic work. Love to read this stuff. I’m 63 in a month or so.

 

[Biggles]

Great Video. Beautiful track and scenery. Made me want to go out and buy a KLX140G and start a class for over 60YO. I’d really do it, and I will after I finish a house build, (theres a bunch of Enduro types in PAI as well). So, if you want to do some Enduros starting in maybe 6 months, or if you like plain old dual sport / ADV let me know, I ride a DTracker 250 converted to dual sport / ADV at a budget price with lots of good quality parts and DIY parts too. For me its not about brand, its about how it works regardless of being cheap or expensive. Dual sport / ADV is a fun challenge as you want something good on corners on & off road in hills. Tyres are the limitation. Trying to find something that will do both well is a fun challenge. There is no such tyre, but its fun to do crazy stuff on tyres that were never really designed for it.

 

[Biggles]

The D Tracker. Non standard wheels. Modded forks. Non standard custom seat. Prototype tank extra fuel mount in future board. Great bike for low $. Very underrated machine shadowed by the CRF250/300. KLX 300 piston & barrel fit straight on (not on mine yet), and theres an inbuilt cam mod too. You can buy one of these for 50-70K last I looked.

 

[saxonator]

yeah, same here, I don't care about all that, just need a reliable bike that gets me thru the jungle without braking down. My Honda XR250 must be almost 30 years old but still running great. Will contact you when going to Pai. Cheers

 

[saxonator]

as some of you might know, as of Sunday the 19th June 2022 a mushroom picker from the local community of Papai Ban Pong, Amphuer Mae Jo went missing. On the th 20th I got the info and we were asked to go help to find the missing person in the jungle, as me and my buddy knows the area very well and we know most of those tracks. So on Wednesday the 22. of June we met at Ang Keb Nahm Mae Jo, the reservoir of the local community. There was a tent set up with water and some food supply and they even gave us some gas to do the search. I didn't need to fill up, because I went to the gas station just before, but the local guys were more than happy to get some fuel. Then we spread out in small groups all over the place and searched the area in every corner until we returned to the tent for lunch and some water. So far everything had failed. My buddy and me decided to go on a trail that we haven't searched again. It was one of the hardest trails around Chiang Mai, hidden deep in the jungle, please watch second video. We got back at 18:30 without having had any success. Our prayers go out to the family and their relatives, we still hope they will able to find him.

 

[saxonator]

Good news I just received a message, he was found on Thursday 23th of June 2022. Finally after missing for so many days. Unbelievable

 

[saxonator]

เจอตัวหนุ่มนักวิชาการฯ ม.แม่โจ้ในสภาพอิดโรย - Chiang Mai News

เมื่อเวลาประมาณ 12.00 น. วันที่ 23 มิ.ย. 2565 ทาง ”กำนันแหลม” เจริญ คำปินใจ กำนัน ต.หนองหาร อ.สันทราย จ.เชียงใหม่ รายงายว่าในขณะนี้ชุดค้นหา ประกอบด้วย ชุดทหารกองพันสัตว์ต่าง…

www.chiangmainews.co.th

 

[saxonator]

เจอตัวหนุ่มนักวิชาการฯ ม.แม่โจ้ในสภาพอิดโรย - Chiang Mai News

เมื่อเวลาประมาณ 12.00 น. วันที่ 23 มิ.ย. 2565 ทาง ”กำนันแหลม” เจริญ คำปินใจ กำนัน ต.หนองหาร อ.สันทราย จ.เชียงใหม่ รายงายว่าในขณะนี้ชุดค้นหา ประกอบด้วย ชุดทหารกองพันสัตว์ต่าง…

www.chiangmainews.co.th

 

[Biggles]

yeah, same here, I don't care about all that, just need a reliable bike that gets me thru the jungle without braking down. My Honda XR250 must be almost 30 years old but still running great. Will contact you when going to Pai. Cheers

yeah, same here, I don't care about all that, just need a reliable bike that gets me thru the jungle without braking down. My Honda XR250 must be almost 30 years old but still running great. Will contact you when going to Pai. Cheers

OK. Thank you for reply. Look forward to hearing from you. I check on here each day or two. Building a house presently. Its a one off so it takes up my time. Soon it will be done, and then I will try to start some kind of Dual Sport / ADV group for those in and around CM. Would be great to do some of those enduro trails on your videos, or a ride of your choice.... I run 80 Road / 20 Dirt (sort of) tyres, but not trials universals as I like more sticky. If the interest is there, maybe I’ll get an 18/21 set of wheels & dirt tyres, or just buy a KLX140G because they are so light = not so tiring. Many years back I rode a Hodaka 100 Dirt Squirt & then a DT250, plus others and I rode all day long. But now at near 63 I need light weight. Lets do a ride sometime soon and get a few others into it.

 

[saxonator]

here's the last part of our search mission, this is Erich's Dinner as refered to Carl's Dinner at Erzberg Rodeo, the hardest Enduro Race in the world, we couldn't find anyone, but still had some fun on those rocks there, I love this track, will be even better with more gear, yesterday I was just not prepared for such a ride

 

[Biggles]

Thank you so much. I have just read your message. I will look at the video after, as I am working on a deadline re something for the house.

 

[cdohrman]

looks like some sick fun,

 

[Biggles]

Hello

saxonator & cdohrman​

Good to see some likeminded folks.

Best Regards

Biggles

 

[Eoin Christie]

Absolutely stoked, my son took part in his first real Enduro Race. We didn't have any expectation about this race at all, but it turned out to be good fun for everyone. We left our house in Mae Rim about 7 am and hit the road on our Honda Click and the rucksack full of gear for the race. The bike would be delivered by a gentleman from the Samkaphaeng Area who was so nice to lend Oskar his bike for the race. A almost brand new Haengjian KTN 250 4t. As I hadn't raced for many years I was surprised how professional the organization was....haha. It took as a while to figure out which group he should ride in and after a while we decided for Group 6. Beginners over 200cc bikes. Later we found out everyone was in this group especially some of those very fast racers, that have raced for years. As the permission from Bangkok was not granted before midday, we had to sit and wait for the ok from the authorities. Brilliant, you gotta love Thailand cashing in all the entry fees and not having received permission yet. Shortly after that it was game on and we went to the start to queue up. Many riders, especially with expensive bikes must have had VIP cards as they passed everyone went straight to the start line and got excepted by the staff to race. Now it was Oskar's turn and he got a good start. Very quickly he became tired and had muscle cramps but he kept going on a slow but steady pace until he lost the track and got thrown back in time by about 10 minutes. Later on he crashed pretty hard in a hairpin curve tumbling down in a pit. First he was super tired to get going again but somehow he managed to get the bike out and continue. Towards the end of the race he had to clear some cement pillars and bent his gear lever and was only able to continue in first gear until the end, which cost him another ten minutes. He finished the race 422 Overall from 800 riders. In his class he still was able to get position 58
r

Excellent, Saxonator!
I've been offline for a long time, but am enjoying catching up.
As a parent, you know that the Number 1 achievement for Oskar junior is finishing, as there are always so many reasons not to. To do so in his first race, and to place midfield in such a large start number, is even more special.
Well done to both of you!

 

[Biggles]

Dear All

Been waiting 2.5 weeks for spoke nipples for my Kaw. to re-lace myself, after bad lacing by shop. While at it I'm changed rim sizes & tyres to about 80/20 type. Soon I hope to take time for a good ride, & maybe we can meet. Saxonator, Eoin Christie, cdohrman and other enduro / dual sport riders on GTRider! Maybe run a monthly ride for dual sports / adv bikes up, max being say 650cc. (Or what ever you want as long as you can pick it up off ground infant of impartial witnesses.... 555. Just joking guys, but I think you know what I mean.

 

[Biggles]

so my mates convinced me, that we should visit our good old friend in Phayao for some Enduro fun. Oh man, I was just thinking of the long road to Phayao with the lame XR250, but it actually was a nice ride over Phrao and then Viang Papao. Arrived in Phayao in the early afternoon and checked in the hotel on the riverfront. Rest of the day was chilling with my friends and mostly relaxing. The next day we met with our mate Burin and he showed us some really cool Hard Enduro tracks around that area. We did the Anaconda Trail 1 and 2 and had some crazy steep uphills and downhills. Phayao has so much to offer, that's just amazing. The second day was for me an absolute highlight we went toward "Sam Chok Waterfall" and then continued to the mushroom pickers mountain called Mon Hed Top by the locals. Mon Hed Top is crazy steep and is extremely technical. Roots all over the place in the sandy terrain, lot of ruts and obstacles you have to clear going up there. I think this is as close as it gets to "Romaniacs" So much fun. I had big troubles clearing some of the very steep section. Lack of power and my weight didn't help here very much, but at the end we all got up there, zig zagging our way up. The prayer flags along the trail gave us sometimes the feeling as if we were riding in Tibet or Nepal...haha. The Buddha site on top of the hill is great. The locals bring water and Kanom (Sweets) up there to please the Buddha. After a very gnarly ride up there the rest would be downhill and it was a quick one too, compared to all the sweat we left on the climb. The rest was a very nice rock garden trail with fast passages through some riverbeds. The nature here is something else. We will be back for sure to explore more. Thanks for letting us ride here. Phayao we love you

Looks like really hard work there.