I leave you guys for 5min and look what you do to the list and the site in general

How are u all ?

I've just returned from a Malaysian tour... had a great time, on what I can safely say, is a great place to ride motorcycles. The roads are great, surface quality is amazingly good, hundredths of km of technical mountain roads with little traffic, jungle, monkeys, rubber and palm oil plantations ... just great.

I'll post some pics if I can remember how


Ned

Ned!

Good to hear from you again.

Looking forward to the photos!

good to see you back ned ...

happy times ol mate .......yes please post some pics ...

I didn't touch it it was like this when I came on one morning......... Honest it was.
Glad you had a good time and better to see an old face once again

charlie99 wrote:good to see you back ned ...

happy times ol mate .......yes please post some pics ...

I can't recall how to post pics so here is a link to my FB page... click on the helmet and follow the pics

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4231080536649.2195772.1274447566&type=3&l=f823aed6ec

Ned

good pics ned ......love the helmet ....

Showing my age and narrow-mindedness here, but what is the bike?
Sean.

Saxon7 wrote:Showing my age and narrow-mindedness here, but what is the bike?
Sean.

Good question Sean... you may remember me going on about importing my K1200 or K100 to Singapore or M'asia. After trying with a number of companies it turned out that AU$1600 was the cost of a return trip. As I was there for 10 days only, that come to $160/day + insurance. I will give this another go next year when I will contemplate 20 days and tour Singapore to Bangkok and back. Most through the mountains of the peninsular.

The final solution was to hire a near new bike there. The guys from http://www.ridemalaysia.com.my/ were able to give me a 650cc Kawasaki Versys for around AU$800 or $80/day including insurance As much as I would have loved my K1200 with me, it was not an option. (BTW look at their video... I was on the same roads and it is accurate).

Having said that if I was there for 20days or more ... I may have been tempted to take one of my girls.

Versys is a 650 liquid cooled twin. It is a perfect bike for touring the technical mountain roads around Kuala Lumpur, has plenty of power for 120+ on the express ways as well as it is narrow enough to deal with heavy traffic in the city. I was impressed and happy to have left the big girl at home. She would not have appreciated 30-40 min in heavy traffic in temperatures above 35C on the tarmac. Oh yes, do not take your leather jackets to south east asia (SEA) you will regret it the moment you stop at the firsts set of lights

I love the experience. As I have been riding since I was 17, I thought that I could cope with most situations. Unfortunately nothing prepared me for 100% humidity, 35C, sunny days with a standstill traffic where rules of the road are only advisory. Yes, it is a survival course and after the first few days of discomfort, i took to following 100's of scooters, scooting around me. I learned to like the whole challenge of bypassing stationary cars and the complete freedom of taking to footpaths, parks and any area that will get me from point A to point B and home Yes, everything u think as illegal is expected and practiced, even illegal parking where cars get booked, bikes don't

I love the SEA region for many reasons. From a bike touring point of view the roads are first class and in the mountains, very technical, no traffic and the scenery was stunning. There is a mixture of no holds bared express ways (any speed will do), mountain roads through tropical forests, logging operations, palm oil and rubber plantations with all the wildlife one expects. If u wish u can travel 100% on express ways or 100% over the mountains with no traffic to contend with. As always I tend to ride alone, so a mix is what i use.

Communications are great, with 100% mobile phone coverage and working GPS (Garmin in the case) I was very confident and happy to get lost anywhere in the jungle. Will go back and do it again.

Thanks Ned, very interesting stuff. I've never really thought about touring SEA by bike...apart from the ubiquitous thrash about on a stepthru in Thailand years ago.
Did you think about the idea of just buying a bike over there and selling it after you'd finished? What do bikes cost and are they readily available to buy? ( By that I mean larger capacity bikes). I did that twice in Europe when I was there, though I only sold one...( K75), as the other got stolen in Prague. ( MZ251).
Sean.

Saxon7 wrote:Thanks Ned, very interesting stuff. I've never really thought about touring SEA by bike...apart from the ubiquitous thrash about on a stepthru in Thailand years ago.
Did you think about the idea of just buying a bike over there and selling it after you'd finished? What do bikes cost and are they readily available to buy? .....
Sean.

I can do it because i have friends in both Singapore and M'asia. However, I never really thought about it. Singapore has larger bikes (more money around), but M'asia is predominantly small. The guys at the http://www.ridemalaysia.com.my/ tell me that it is cheaper to get a second-hand bike in Singapore... it surprises me, but I never checked.

For one-off I prefer to hire and even go guided for a long tour... from memory just $300 or so will give u a 4d3n thing all the way to east coast with 80% technical mountain rides at 250km/day. That includes food and accommodation and a guide.

I did it alone, but I have been going to M'asia for nearly 10y and know the country reasonably well. I also tend to ride alone, so it is no problem.

One thing is certain... if I can get enough people together to fill the maritime container with bikes, the price is likely to be below $1000 return. The major cost component is port charges, customs and quarantine.

If you ride 20 days, say Singapore to BKK and back, it will be worth it and probably less trouble than buy/sell thing. I will do it again next year... my friend will come this time so I will make another attempt to get my bikes over. Maybe I'll try air transport, less port charges, I am told.

charlie99 wrote:good pics ned ......love the helmet ....

ahhh... mate, the helmet was ok, fitted well, but it is illegal in Australia... no Austrian Standards sticker. Snell rated, but no AS sticker = illegal how times change.

I understand that AS is now a semi or privately owned, so they have a deal where they make money from dispensing standards stickers. I am not sure if this has to do with a Nanny state thing or just a way of making money in the name of safety.

The government makes a law hands it over to private enterprise to do the work and when a problem occurs they say not my fault and points at some poor sucker that signed a 679 page agreement and in page346 it says in very fine aribic its your fault if we say so and washes their hands while another company goes broke.

and i though that I was a cynic.
I can see their argument... in the name of safety we need to be able to inspect every helmet and the factory... Snell, DIN, BS ... yes, but it is not AS who is going to argue with the safety experts answer: NO ONE

If there is one thing I have learned in my 62 years Ned and that is that I have been nowhere cynical enough