6 bikes - Mon Chan & Samoeng

[KTMphil]

The south west monsoon has hit hard early this year and is in full force already. Looks like we might have a rain free day, not too hot, so less likely to have the afternoon thunderstorm.


Monchan by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Giving the SW monsoon some respect, we weren't too ambitious and planned some loops off of the Samoeng Loop, that should keep us well entertained.

Photo: Keld





A few adjustments to the rental Honha CRF 250 M's - the cheap hand levers were a bad fit

Photo: Keld



The Ninja on her Triumph Street Triple 675

Photo: Keld

 

[KTMphil]

South on R 121 (Canal Rd), right turn into Night Safari and the beautiful back road south, down to where it connects with R 1269 (southern side of the Samoeng loop)



monchan loop txt_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr







Westwards on R 1269, no rain, still some sandy/ gravel corners to watch out for but a great road to practice your cornering


IMG_8614_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr






Interestingly, I thought, with some decent rider's on the CRF 250 motards that Keld on the Ducati Hypermotard 821 would struggle to keep up, he said they were holding him up.


IMG_8615_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr




IMG_8617_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

4 bikes did the the loop north of Samoeng, north east to Mon Chan. We had done this 2 years ago with West and there were still some unpaved sections. Now it is paved all the way.




View attachment 29588




Up the steep steep road to Mon Chan with no drama's



IMG_8618_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr






Renowned for it's strawberries (Mon Chan), there were still some for sale




IMG_8619_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Som had not seen lettuce naturally growing on a farm in Thailand before, that was quite surprising.



IMG_8622_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr







IMG_8621_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr





Everyone arriving safely


IMG_8629_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

IMG_8628_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr






I am now convinced that the Ducati Hypermotard is immensely more fun to ride in north Thailand than the Triumph Street Triple 675. The Ducati is much easier to ride in the tight corners and is as good on the long sweepers. The only type of road where the Triumph is a fun to ride as the Ducati is on sweepers say R 120 or R 11 down to Lampang for instance.


IMG_8623_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

Mon Chan views to the north east

IMG_8630_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr





Nasty looking clouds to the west, looks like we should get out of here


IMG_8635_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr





The monsoonal rain had given some color to the place for sure


IMG_8624_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[KTMphil]

We made the Sala Cafe in Mae Rim before it bucketed down

They've got some decent looking desserts in there now, highly recommended

A good day out with no drama's

 

[LivinLOS]

yeah you lucked out on a good weather day.

 

[KTMphil]

Some interesting tires POP is putting on the Honda CRF 250 Motard's (17"). They are made by Vee Rubber and have the same tread pattern as the Pirelli MT-60's.

What makes them interesting is that they are 1/2 the price of the Pirelli MT-60's (Vee Rubber set around 6,500 Bht for both tires). The boys said they felt great, i'm going to give them a try next time.


Tire on the right



IMG_8616_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[brake034]

Here is a potential source of these tires I posted before:
saikou rubber - ¨Ó˹èÒ ÂҧöàÍ·ÕÇÕatv ÂҧöÁÍàµÍÃì䫤ìÇÔºÒ¡ Âҧö»êÍ» ÂҧöºÔê¡äº¤ì ÂҧöªêÍ»à»ÍÃì ÂҧöµÑ¡ Âҧöà¤Ã¹ ÂÒ§Ã¶ä¶¹Ò ÂҧöºÃ÷ءˡ6ÅéÍ- ÊÔº10ÅéÍ Âҧöà¡Ã´ Âҧö¡ÍÅì¿ Âҧöâ¿Åì¤ÅÔ¿·ì Âҧöº´ áÅÐ ÂҧöÍ×è¹æ·Ø¡ª¹Ô´ ¤Ø³ÀÒ¾´Õ ¢ÒÂÃÒ¤Ò¶Ù¡

 

[bill]

I am now convinced that the Ducati Hypermotard is immensely more fun to ride in north Thailand than the Triumph Street Triple 675. The Ducati is much easier to ride in the tight corners and is as good on the long sweepers. The only type of road where the Triumph is a fun to ride as the Ducati is on sweepers say R 120 or R 11 down to Lampang for instance.


IMG_8623_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

Phil
What do you put that down to. Suspension ?

 

[bsacbob]

Some interesting tires POP is putting on the Honda CRF 250 Motard's (17"). They are made by Vee Rubber and have the same tread pattern as the Pirelli MT-60's.

What makes them interesting is that they are 1/2 the price of the Pirelli MT-60's (Vee Rubber set around 6,500 Bht for both tires). The boys said they felt great, i'm going to give them a try next time.


Tire on the right



IMG_8616_edited by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

Art from Mae Sot swears by them and has been using the Vee Rubber VRM 163 for some time and claims he can get 22K km's out of a rear which is pretty impressive.

[video=youtube_share;1Z2ne3MYRA0]http://youtu.be/1Z2ne3MYRA0[/video]

 

[Forest]

sorry why u say 'potential' source, is the website working to order?quiet interesting ,could give them a try

Here is a potential source of these tires I posted before:
saikou rubber - ¨Ó˹èÒ ÂҧöàÍ·ÕÇÕatv ÂҧöÁÍàµÍÃì䫤ìÇÔºÒ¡ Âҧö»êÍ» ÂҧöºÔê¡äº¤ì ÂҧöªêÍ»à»ÍÃì ÂҧöµÑ¡ Âҧöà¤Ã¹ ÂÒ§Ã¶ä¶¹Ò ÂҧöºÃ÷ءˡ6ÅéÍ- ÊÔº10ÅéÍ Âҧöà¡Ã´ Âҧö¡ÍÅì¿ Âҧöâ¿Åì¤ÅÔ¿·ì Âҧöº´ áÅÐ ÂҧöÍ×è¹æ·Ø¡ª¹Ô´ ¤Ø³ÀÒ¾´Õ ¢ÒÂÃÒ¤Ò¶Ù¡

 

[brake034]

sorry why u say 'potential' source, is the website working to order?quiet interesting ,could give them a try

I used the word potential because there will certainly be other sources, as I am not a native English speaker I might have used the wrong wording?

Have not used the website/company myself so cannot speak from experience.

 

[Forest]

oh no worries ,i am not a native Eng speaking either..the website is acting a bit 'funny' and doesn't look very professional..so I was wondering of that 'potential' meaning.something quiet funny,the on/off road tires are called 'rubber semi fruit' .. u go figure,anyway better try give them a call first tomorrow.thanks

I used the word potential because there will certainly be other sources, as I am not a native English speaker I might have used the wrong wording?

Have not used the website/company myself so cannot speak from experience.

 

[brake034]

Could someone have a peek at POP's to see what size of Veerubbers are mounted?
If I decide to go for the CRF250M I will order the tires from Saikou upfront so they can be mounted from new.

 

[Forest]

Could someone have a peek at POP's to see what size of Veerubbers are mounted?
If I decide to go for the CRF250M I will order the tires from Saikou upfront so they can be mounted from new.

I'swing by. I remember 17'' for sure .but wait.. the rim is wider from the original(?).give me a couple of hours

 

[brake034]

Thanks Forest, I was wondering if the one's on Phil's pic are converted 250L's?

 

[Forest]

Thanks Forest, I was wondering if the one's on Phil's pic are converted 250L's?

It was closed when i drove by ,sorry, but from the pix the golden rims do look like afterstock,with the front looking the same as the back.(?)
Keep the tires it comes with then decide.will last only 6-7000 kms.depending on ur driving n road conditions.the crf L 18" /21" will make u feel potholes less tho.
Ps make sure u get a thai speaking with Saikou! My th gf ordered n i tranfer$$ ..day after i told him to send me pics of tires before sending and were not the ones i wanted..what i ordered was out of stock! Got the $ back tho

 

[Loop]

One of my mates hired a new CB500X from Pops,seemed fairly new.

We were stopped by the side of the road and on closer examination the front tire had "for rear wheel use only" marked on it 55
It didn't cause any problems and the guy riding it was a vastly experienced rider and he didn't feel anything amiss over the whole trip with it.

Probably not a bad idea to check for anyone hiring anywhere.

 

[Forest]

Thanks Forest, I was wondering if the one's on Phil's pic are converted 250L's?

tires 110/90 both .I was curious too,looked them up today.no much difference between M n L .wheels size and of conseguence lower seat height ..

Sergio

 

[Forest]

most probably nothing is gona happen,since is a relatively low weight/HP bike..but never know.anyway there is choices out there ,or the real Pirelli 4 not that much more.. or Michelin Sirac(nice), Dunlop D604 etc

One of my mates hired a new CB500X from Pops,seemed fairly new.

We were stopped by the side of the road and on closer examination the front tire had "for rear wheel use only" marked on it 55
It didn't cause any problems and the guy riding it was a vastly experienced rider and he didn't feel anything amiss over the whole trip with it.

Probably not a bad idea to check for anyone hiring anywhere.

 

[brake034]

Just checking out the Michelin Sirac but they do not have 17" front tires to suit a CRF250M, would it be possible to mount a rear tire up front or is that impossible?

 

[bsacbob]

Possible, but as with the Pirelli MT60 the front look's oversized but if your ok with that look then no problem.

 

[brake034]

I like the oversized look of the Veerubbers on the CRF's, gives it a cute VanVan look.

 

[brake034]

The original tires on the CRF250M are 110/70-17 front and 130/70-17 rear, the Michelin Sirac's come in 110/90-17 (rated rear) and 130/80-17 so quite close to the original set up.