2 months offroad adventure in Asia?

M

Matthias87

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Bikes
KTM EXC 400
Hello!

My name is Matthias, I'm 28 years old, from Sweden. This is my first post on this forum and I must say I've found a whole lot of great inspiration for adventures here!

Me and two friends have been dreaming of a longer motorcycle adventure for quite some time, and lately we have been discussing it a bit more frequently. Initially we had a dream of buying ourself bikes in India and ride through Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and finally through Indonesia, but I guess we would need several months to do this trip, right? Our plan is to ride as much offroad as possible, which obviously would make the trip even longer.

By registering on this forum and posting here I turn to people with a lot more experience than any of us. All three of us are experienced enduro riders, but we have never done anything like this before.

Basically we cannot be away for more than two months (we all have jobs here in Sweden and I have a girlfriend who doesn't want me to be away for any time longer).

- What country/countries would give us the biggest adventure and best offroad riding?

-Where could we buy decent bikes? Preferably we want something maintenance free like the Honda XR. The XR400 or XR650 would be nice, but I haven't seen these in south-east asia.
Or could we ship or own bikes to asia and then back home after the trip? I've been trying to find info on this without sucess.

i've got a lot more on my mind, but I start with this :)

Best regards,
Matthias
 
Matthias -


North Thailand and Laos will offer you the best 2 months off-road riding. Laos tends to be more sweeping easier fire roads in general, although the tough stuff is there if you want it. North Thailand holds a multitude of different terrain. Stop by see me in Chiang Mai and I can give you some off-road routing ideas.


Have a look here


http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-...857-umphang-chiang-mai-off-road-possible.html




Phil
 
I agree with Phil that North Thailand and Laos and probably Cambodia would fit what you are looking for. I don't know Vietnam but have heard good things about it with regard to riding. The problem with Vietnam is that you may need prior approval before you can get in with bikes from other countries and this might be expensive. Alternative is to fly in and rent bikes there from Flamingo (Rentals Archive | Flamingo Travel is one of the better if not the best bike rental conpanies in Vietnam) and they can help with plans for the north of Vietnam - see here fro a 11 day tour in the north and west of Vietnam: Flamingo Travel | 11 Day Motorbike North West & Central tour.

It depends a bit at what time you want to ride due to the rainy season (late may through September/October) in all four countries as the trails will be muddy and river crossings might be impassable. Best time for tiding is November/December through February as it is relatively cool but after that it gets hot (around 37 degree C. at the moment). Looking at the picture you attached you could easily spend a week or more around Chiangmai and south-east of Chiangmai as well as in the north of Laos.

Some trip reports for North Thailand:

North of Pai http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/trail-riding-reports/5232-crashed-huey-helicopter-site-ride.html

very close to Chiangmai http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/trail-riding-reports/6658-last-wo-man-standing-first-girl-did-not-pussies.html and a few more here: Trail Riding Reports

Some trip reports for Laos:

[url=http://flamingotravel.com.vn/tours/vietnam-motorbike-tours-north-west-and-central/]Flamingo Travel | 11 Day Motorbike North West & Central tour[/URL]

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/laos-ride-reports/3393-crusty-quinns-do-northern-laos-december-2012-a.html

http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/trail-riding-reports-laos/325-10-day-dirt-trail-riding-north-east-laos-part-1-a.html
 
Thank you for the answer Lone Rider!

I think Vietnam would be nice to ride through as there is so much different thing I want to see there anyway. I read this on another forum though, is this true?



"1. Whether or you're not an experienced motorbike rider is irrelevant because you cannot legally ride a motorbike in Vietnam unless you have a Vietnamese license - own-country licenses and international driving permits are not accepted.

2. No Vietnamese license usually means no insurance coverage for medical bills etc. in the event of an accident because of insurance companies' standard opt-out clause: no pay-out if any claim is associated with an activity deemed illegal in the country in question.

Type the word motorbike (or scooter) in the search box above your post and you will find umpteen threads on the subject and covering all practicalities, including the danger of road travel in Vietnam. Read those threads and then make up your mind about whether to proceed with your plan.

In answer to your specific question, yes it is possible to take bikes on trains but you will need a Vietnamese speaker to help you with the procedure and all other practical details. I gather that people who hire out motorbikes to tourists for more than a day often require passports to be left as security, but without a passport it's impossible to check into a hotel, so that has to be borne in mind too."


 
Matthia87 said:
Hello!

My name is Matthias, I'm 28 years old, from Sweden. This is my first post on this forum and I must say I've found a whole lot of great inspiration for adventures here!

Me and two friends have been dreaming of a longer motorcycle adventure for quite some time, and lately we have been discussing it a bit more frequently. Initially we had a dream of buying ourself bikes in India and ride through Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and finally through Indonesia, but I guess we would need several months to do this trip, right? Our plan is to ride as much offroad as possible, which obviously would make the trip even longer.

By registering on this forum and posting here I turn to people with a lot more experience than any of us. All three of us are experienced enduro riders, but we have never done anything like this before.

Basically we cannot be away for more than two months (we all have jobs here in Sweden and I have a girlfriend who doesn't want me to be away for any time longer).

- What country/countries would give us the biggest adventure and best offroad riding?

-Where could we buy decent bikes? Preferably we want something maintenance free like the Honda XR. The XR400 or XR650 would be nice, but I haven't seen these in south-east asia.
Or could we ship or own bikes to asia and then back home after the trip? I've been trying to find info on this without sucess.

i've got a lot more on my mind, but I start with this :)

Best regards,
Matthias
Click to expand...

I vote for Cambodia. Used Honda XR250 and XR400 are not hard to find in Cambodia. XR650 are around too but not that many.
 
I've considered Cambodia, but to my understanding it is not as scenic there? Not many high mountains to ride in etc?
 
There are not any high mountains like in Laos for example. You have the Cardamons in the west peaking at about 1000 meters. What you do have is loads of trails, unpaved roads and old remains from the days of Angkor. If you are looking to buy a bike they are in general cheaper in Cambodia than Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. I do not know how easy/hard it would be to cross borders on a bike registered in Cambodia.
 
Renting is probably a better option if you want to see many countries. Rent a bike in every country you visit. No hassle at the borders.
 
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