7 from the N.O.B ride off road from CNX to Mae Hong Son

[KTMphil]

7 from the N.O.B ride off road from CNX to Mae Hong Son


Filled with mild drama, kind of a Friday N.O.B ride, 7 of us rode off-road from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son & got some new tracks for the North Thailand GPS map.

The route (a couple of fictitious things have been added to this map so that we can prove copying by a competitor if necessary) CLICK ON THE MAP TO ENLARGE IT


The route on way between Chiang Mai & Mae Hong Son is about 200km

 

[KTMphil]

Riders:

Luke - Suzuki RMZ 450 X

Alex - Kawasaki KLX 250 with 48 T rear sprocket

Russ - Kawasaki KLX 250

Chris (crs) - Kawasaki KLX 150 modified to 185cc

Phil - KTM 300 EXC-E 2 Stroke

Max - Yamaha WR 250 F

Heinz - Lifan 200 Cross


We all met up in Samoeng, some of us trucked our bikes there to save doing all the tarmac, then off westwards into the trails.


Luke knew a nice bit of single track out of Samoeng that we hadn't done before so we gave that a shot.

Re-grouping after the single track in the next village - looks like you could get fuel every 20km or so from whiskey bottles or fuel drums

 

[KTMphil]

Luke's RMX 450 Z only has a range of about 100km , so we took advantage of most of the fuel stops available, I think we paid as much as 50 bht a liter in some villages

The lady that owned the fuel pump and shop spoke fluent English, quite a shock out there

 

[KTMphil]

Re-hydrated, westwards out of the village and back onto the trails

Some of the wind squalls from the rain had brought some trees down across the trails

First bit of mild drama was Russ's rear rack fell to bits

A few Bungy's and it was all held together

 

[KTMphil]

The trails were still pretty dry going out there, they'd been some rain, so the ground was moist, no dust.

Wat Chan is the perfect distance for a lunch stop on this route. Opposite the Wat in town (on the 90 deg. bend) with the white walls is a good restaurant.

There's a decent sized fuel stop in Wat Chan if you're worried about fuel quality --- all the drum pump-ups seemed fine though


GPS co ords of the fuel station in Wat Chan are below:

 

[KTMphil]

Back out on the trails, Russ was having a great time . He'd been having some problem with the KLX running - one of those nasty intermittent problems. Before leaving he cleaned the dirty-looking oxygen sensor and it seemed to have solved the problem ..... more on that later

Back out on the trails, still pretty dry with a threatening sky - we'd taken a wrong turn here

Trying a short cut, where they'd been a little rain, this hill was ultra slick and steep, all of us had problems here, slips, bikes overheating, broken levers etc.........nasty

 

[KTMphil]

We had some sprinkles to deal with from then on making the terrain a trifle slippy in places

Rainy season - always great views from up in the mountains

More slippery stuff

Heinz having a great time on the Lifan!

 

[KTMphil]

A small hill-tribe village further west

From their traditional dress we think they were the Karen tribe

 

[KTMphil]

Not many river crossings on this route - this one was the widest

Then the trail ahead

Some checking and adjustments to the broken rack

 

[KTMphil]

Russ lost one knee pad, decided to leave the other one for the hill-tribe, would be interesting to know what they did with it

Didn't look like many bikes came through this way by the curiosity of the locals

Between the rain showers we got some great views of the moisture lifting from the mountains

 

[KTMphil]

We all had tumbles, Chris had one here in the loose rocks and ruts and hurt his arm

Last section before Ban Mae Ja on R 108 is tarmac and has some fabulous twisty road

Late in the day now and starting to get dark - still some great views

 

[KTMphil]

We waited and the junction of R 108 for Russ and Alex, no sign of them. They had no phone signal, but we knew they both had the North Thailand GPS map with all the trails, so we knew they wern't lost - we pushed on to the Sunflower Cafe/ restaurant on the lake in MHS. The Chicken fillet with ham and cheese inside is excellent.

What we didn't know was Russ's bike had problems running and couldn't get up the dirt hills. Alex tried towing him but that didnt work, so they were 2-up in the dark on Alex's KLX for 30km with Alex and Russ's gear on the bikes as well, must have been quite a sight.


Around 7.45pm Russ and Alex arrived in MHS we all checked in at the Piya GH next to the Sunflower Cafe , 600 Bht

Heinz took R 1095 to Pai, the to Wat Chan, Chris waited for Russ in MHS, so only 5 of us together on the way back

 

[KMA]

Great RR!

 

[LivinLOS]

Great RR! For you guys still fartin around with bungees and crap I still have one Mojave bag for sale - 5800bht

PM sent.

 

[KTMphil]

Drink stop in one of the villages

Karen lady in the village in tradition dress

Alex with great views from the village

Out of nowhere, 3 Thai guys came racing through, one of them on a YZF 250, they said they were from MHS

Coming back east on the southern route, about 30% of the paths had been concreted

Another drink stop about 6km west of Wat Chan

Back into Wat Chan, we couldn't figure out if this was chicken or frog on the bbq

Heinz with a big smile

East of Wat Chan, we had 2 choices here to get back to Samoeng, left being on trails, getting late and we were tired, we all took the easier dirt trail (straight on) which link to a cobbled road and tarmac

 

[KTMphil]

Great scenery east of Wat Chan

The ancient stone road, R 5032 easr of Wat Chan, west of Samoeng

As you get closer east towards Samoeng, the road is gradually being upgraded and soon to be sealed

AS the road changes from R 5032 to R 1349 there a still 2 cobbled sections

All 5 riders back in Samoeng safely, load the bikes up and head home, even some great views on R 1096 at the Samoeng look out

 

[Stokes70]

Great Photos Phil! A thoroughly enjoyable trip with fellow enthusiasts, fantastic scenery and awesome trails, cant wait for the next NOB foray into these parts..
Just washed my bike and its taken me an hour to get all the dirt off! man that clay sticks to the bike..

 

[KTMphil]

Great Photos Phil! A thoroughly enjoyable trip with fellow enthusiasts, fantastic scenery and awesome trails, cant wait for the next NOB foray into these parts..
Just washed my bike and its taken me an hour to get all the dirt off! man that clay sticks to the bike..

Was a great trip great group of guys!

Got mine douched in the Caltex in Mae rim on the way back.

 

[MastaMax]

Thanks for the write-up and great pictures Phil!

 

[2wheels]

Excellent!
Lucky here aren't we?
Fascinating 'Hill-tribe' groups, great rides and scenery.

 

[harrygps]

Nice trip, boys. Great pics indeed. I am surprised, that Heinz is back allready. Regards
Harry

 

[KTMphil]

A slip in the mud

Having a breather

 

[esspressolungo]

Can't help but I love this picture from Phil, looks like a knight from the Lord of Rings who just came back from a battle....

 

[Russ McDermid]

Firstly a big thanks to Alex, who waited with me in the jungle and when I finally abandoned the bike, rode 2-up with all our luggage, for 30km, mostly in the dark. Looking at the road the next day in the light, we were quite lucky not to have had an accident.
To complete the story, the next day I asked George (Wallop Chayakarm) of the Sunflower Cafe for some help in retrieving my bike. He kindly drove me all the way back up the mountain in his 2wd pickup and when we got the bike, frustratingly it started OK. I put 3 litres of gas in it, and it ran perfectly all the way back to MHS.
Naturally I compensated George for his help, and yet again, I'm often so touched by the help given by the Thai's to us, as he could have easily damaged his truck or got stuck. If anyone else ever gets problems in MSH, he really should be your first port of call.
As the bike was running OK, Chris joined me and we rode back to CM in 2 days - the bike never missed a beat .... just so frustrating !

Thanks to the other NOBbers on the ride, and Luke for guiding us.

Russ.

 

[alexuk]

good to know that you 2 got back
after trying to drive with russ on the back, I'd like to thank him for riding with me on the back to MHS, and I'm really glad I put some uprated headlamps in.
Is chris'arm ok now?

 

[KTMphil]

Glad to hear you got back ok Russ, an irritating problem with that bike.

 

[crs]

Yep, arms getting better,ta - can move it a lot more now. No worries.

Thanks to all on the ride, jolly good stuff, looking forward to another outing soon...

 

[Loop]

^ interested to hear how the big bore KLX went?

 

[Wolf]

Russ - we had a problem with 2 of our KLXs, where sometimes they would just stop running after 10 or 15 minutes. This was very irregular and took us a while to find out: there is breather passage inside the gas cap which connects to the pipe going through the tank, and that breather passage was blocked with hardened dust. Once the vacuum inside the tank was strong enough it would stop running.

Now we're blowing compressed air into that hole in the gas cap to clean it out before every ride.

Cheers,
Wolf.

 

[crs]

^ interested to hear how the big bore KLX went?

Good! Enough power for me. It's the Boss 175 piston and barrel in it. Not exactly sure what cam got put in. The guy on Chiang Moi were adamant that it was the best option, it's what they used on 140s (mine will of been the first 150 they did) so presume it's got a higher lift profile - so that might have increased the cc a bit(?). Will go back and try find out exactly what it is/does!

Powers fine but going to try some changes to help with handling, braking, etc. Will play then post what I settle for.

 

[KTMphil]

Glad to hear you got back safe Chris.

Russ - that could well be the problem, a vacuum building up in the gas tank.

^ interested to hear how the big bore KLX went?

Good! Enough power for me. It's the Boss 175 piston and barrel in it. Not exactly sure what cam got put in. The guy on Chiang Moi were adamant that it was the best option, it's what they used on 140s (mine will of been the first 150 they did) so presume it's got a higher lift profile - so that might have increased the cc a bit(?). Will go back and try find out exactly what it is/does!

Powers fine but going to try some changes to help with handling, braking, etc. Will play then post what I settle for.

 

[Captain_Slash]

Good photos there and it sounds like you had a great time

 

[Pounce]

Good trip report. How long did the ride take & what distance is it? It seems the quicker option compared to driving there.

 

[KTMphil]

Pounce -

It's roughly 200km both ways, there's plenty of villages to get fuel even if you're on a MX bike with a small tank (KXF would be fine etc...). You could prob do it in 5 hours if you didn't stop, maybe less.

Good trip report. How long did the ride take & what distance is it? It seems the quicker option compared to driving there.

 

[KTMphil]

If you're looking for live music in Mae Hong Son, try the Baiyoke Chalet, which is 200 meters down the road from the crossroads pub towards the lake. Starts to get lively about 11pm.

 

[crs]

And Russ - let us know what happens with the fixing/swapping bikes, etc.

 

[Midnitemapper]

Thanks for the great post of some of the "ole" favorite trails. The first time I rode the Somoueng(sp), Wat Chan, Mea Hong Son road was with Dr G. this was before digital cameras were invented so sorry no pix. Thanks for the great pix and story.

 

[LivinLOS]

Can't help but I love this picture from Phil, looks like a knight from the Lord of Rings who just came back from a battle....

Orc or wraith ?? :LOL

 

[esspressolungo]

Can't help but I love this picture from Phil, looks like a knight from the Lord of Rings who just came back from a battle....

Orc or wraith ?? :LOL

posting.php?mode=quote&f=47&p=14085#

 

[Russ McDermid]

Russ - we had a problem with 2 of our KLXs, where sometimes they would just stop running after 10 or 15 minutes. This was very irregular and took us a while to find out: there is breather passage inside the gas cap which connects to the pipe going through the tank, and that breather passage was blocked with hardened dust. Once the vacuum inside the tank was strong enough it would stop running.

Now we're blowing compressed air into that hole in the gas cap to clean it out before every ride.

Thanks Wolf ... I had tried opening the cap before with no success. However, yesterday the problem is now becoming reproducable, and it definitely occurs once the fuel light comes on. So, being able to demonstrate this, I have taken it back to the Kawasaki Centre. To me, it look like it could be a fuel pump problem even though when they checked with a full tank, they found nothing wrong.
Strangely I had this very same problem with a C&P rental bike & once as I long as I refuelled before 100km, my day wasn't spoiled !
I'll let u all know the outcome.