7Mar2012. Wednesday. Motorrad Malaysia All-State 4-Corner Peninsula Ride
Despite having been riding for almost 40 years, I have never circumnavigated Peninsula Malaysia. Years ago i did ride parts of the Peninsula, but never on a continuous basis.
In fact, I have covered the whole of Thailand, Parts of Cambodia and Laos, but have up till now neglected to know my country better.
Doing it alone would be ok, but having a couple of friends who are on the same wavelength is even better.
So I set about floating the idea to get at least another 2-3 bikes to join me.
As it turned out, more than 10 wanted to join in, and at that stage we decided to turn it into a Club ride.
When the headcount was finalised, apart form the 10 who will be riding continously on the route, another 10 bikes will be joining in some of the stages.
I started planning the Route about 3 weeks before the ride, using a combination of memory, Google and road maps.
In order to hug as close to the coastline as possible, I had to do some guesswork as the roads were not on Google or wiki, nor was it on the printed map.
Riding around the Peninsula is not unusual, and has been done many times by many other bike groups. However, none that we know of made full use of all the "B" , "C" and
gravel route we were planning to use. Most were Highway followers, some indulging in a little "B" road excursions, but certainly none on gravel.
To be really sure we were not doing something done before, I also located the 4 apexes/points/corners of Peninsula Malaysia.
This more or less looks like a Rectangle with the corners apexing at te SW, SE, NE & NW positions.
Peninsula Malaysia is made up of 11 States and the Federal Capital, Kuala Lumpur. Hence I made sure that the Route will also cut through all the States of the Peninsula as well as the Federal Territory.
The ride starts at Merdeka square, a place symbolic with Malaysian Independence, the site of the world's tallest flagpost.
Malacca is also an important stop point, given its role in Malaysian History.
I also wanted us to visit Tok Bali, a stop on the East Coast, significant because it was the place that marks the start of the Pacific War during WW2.
As the first shots were fired here by the Japanese Army 8 hours before the Pearl Harbour Attack, this is where battles were raging as the first bombs dropped in Wickham Airfield in Oahu.
A minimum distance of 2,500km was also set.
The criteria/aim/goal were;
a. To reach all 4 Apex points of the Peninsula. I was not sure if there's a Motorable road to those points after determining the positions by coordinates.
I guess some things will have to be tackled when we got there.
The Apexes are;
a1. South West Most - Tg Piai, also the Southernmost Tip of Mainland Asia.
a2. South East Most - Punggai, Johore
a3. North-East Most - Pengkalan Kubur, Kelantan
a4. North-West Most - Bukit Putih, Perlis
b. No Highways unless totally unavoidable.
c. To ride through all states and FT.
d. Ride through Gravel to stay as close to the Thai Border.
e. No backtracking unless unavoidable.
f. At least 2,500km total
g. Pass through all 11 States and Kuala Lumpur.
There will be six nightstops; Malacca, Desaru, Cherating, Kota Bharu, Belum Resort, Penang. No night riding was planned.
No 'Iron Butt' sectors.
The Route looks like this;
Although all were advised that DP Bikes were most desirable for the trip,
World Adventurer / Photographer / Musician / Singer Extraordinaire Alex Wong chose to follow on his Ducati Streetfighter.
The rest of us were on the BMW GS/As. The Roll Call of Riders who completed all 4 points were : My Wife & Me, Simon Saw & YY, Sunny Puan, Shaharin & Jane,
Minesh, Alex, Gary, Assir, Mel, Jovey, John Dave and Maznah, the sole Lady Rider. Eddy Tan managed three APEX points.
SP Lee, Aras, Ariff, Justine, Janna, Harris & Mona all joined in on various stages of the ride.
The ride was real fun. On the first day a number of other rider joined in to Malacca, some staying on for the night.
A few other riders joined us at Kota Bharu. Penang was really fun as a number of riders rode up to meet us, and joined the Penang - KL leg.
It was a journey of discovery for all of us. This is one pretty country, with pristine beaches and excellent roads.
Certainly much better than Thailand if you're a keen rider as the roads are so much better.
Pictures however tells a better story.
Our first day ride route ;
KL Merdeka Square - Bt Tinggi Klang - Morib - Coastal Port Dickson - Linggi - Kg Lereh - Puri Hotel, Malacca.
We started early
1Malaysia, with the World's Tallest Flagpole behind.
We found a TV Crew awaiting. They wanted to know something about the ride and also see us of.
We held a small briefing before departure
Group Photo
Leaving Dataran, the journey starts.
[
I was having an evil grin stuck on my face, looking at the poor souls stuck in the traffic jam, facing the start of another dreary day in the office.
And we're on our way to have fun.
Mel is going all the way
Aras will be joining us for the night in Malacca, then heading straight to Johore after Tanjung Piai the next day.
Jeff is only following us to Port Dickson
Hatta will follow us all the way to Malacca before turning back.
Alex, the only one on a streetbike.
After just 30 minutes on the road, we arrived here for breakfast. Assir, a veteran world travellr arranged for Dato Shaik to host the riders for breakfast
We left after an hour there.
We followed the coastal road to PD as planned
The Lukut area has interesting curves, but the road has a bit of traffic
After another hour on the saddle, we reached Port Dickson
Another round of drinks at Pak Lang Cafe. This is a famous old school cafe owned by a Chinese but serving all kinds of food from Nasi Lemak to Koay Teow.
Next stop, Malacca
The roads were nice, passing through lightly populated areas with some traffic.
We checked out this Observatory, used to spot the new moon to determine the start of the Muslim calender.
As we approach Malacca I was pleasantly surprised to be riding through a Forest Reserve, with virgin jungles left and right.
This is Hutan Rekreasi Sg Udang.
Malacca was the seat of the earliest Malay Sultanate. Located on the strategically important Straits Of Malacca, it grew and prospered with ships from the
Middle East and China using it as a trading post.
Legend has it that the Sultanate was founded by Parameswara, and the name Malacca came from a local tree called the Melaka Tree.
The famed eunuch Admiral Zheng Ho even stopped there with his armada. He left behind a sizable Chinese settlement, which is still there right till today.
Their descendants assimilated to local life, but, maintained their unique characteristics till today.
The Portuguese put an end to the era of Malay Sultans when they conquered the Kingdom in 1511. Later the Dutch captured the city after 100 years of Portuguese rule.
In the 1800s the Dutch swapped Batavia ( Jakarta ) for Malacca with the British. It more or less stayed that way until 1958, when Malaysia became Independent.
We arrived at Hotel Puri, Malacca at 1400hrs.
Eddy Tan in front of Hotel Puri. The Hotel has a facade of a shoplot, but it is deceptively big, at least 40 rooms in rustic setting, very nicely done
Minesh coordinating room arrangements
The interior
Swifts have been making nests in the Hotel foyer since a long time ago, and they continue to do so unmolested. Something about good luck i was told.
After settling down, we took a walk, to the famous "Jonkers Walk"
Famous Ice Kacang ( shaved Ice with sweet condiments )
Another famous food joint
Having had our fill, the gang wanted to chill out
Twilight
Nightfall
The first day was a short ride of just under 300km. The roads were just better than OK, and as expected, the West Coast is a heavily populated area so we rode through very little rural area.
I did notice interesting house and building designs, and just by entering Malacca the architecture changed markedly, with predominant Chinese features.
Even the mosques had Pagoda style roofs.
Malacca town has been done up nicely, but thankfully, not tacky. Clean, with all the significant buildings done up, it is a place that deserves at least a three night stay.
As for us, we had dinner, the guys had some beer, and later to bed, ready for tomorrow.
7Mar2012. Wednesday. Motorrad Malaysia All-State 4-Corner Peninsula Ride Day 1
Despite having been riding for almost 40 years, I have never circumnavigated Peninsula Malaysia. Years ago i did ride parts of the Peninsula, but never on a continuous basis.
In fact, I have covered the whole of Thailand, Parts of Cambodia and Laos, but have up till now neglected to know my country better.
Doing it alone would be ok, but having a couple of friends who are on the same wavelength is even better.
So I set about floating the idea to get at least another 2-3 bikes to join me.
As it turned out, more than 10 wanted to join in, and at that stage we decided to turn it into a Club ride.
When the headcount was finalised, apart form the 10 who will be riding continously on the route, another 10 bikes will be joining in some of the stages.
I started planning the Route about 3 weeks before the ride, using a combination of memory, Google and road maps.
In order to hug as close to the coastline as possible, I had to do some guesswork as the roads were not on Google or wiki, nor was it on the printed map.
Riding around the Peninsula is not unusual, and has been done many times by many other bike groups. However, none that we know of made full use of all the "B" , "C" and
gravel route we were planning to use. Most were Highway followers, some indulging in a little "B" road excursions, but certainly none on gravel.
To be really sure we were not doing something done before, I also located the 4 apexes/points/corners of Peninsula Malaysia.
This more or less looks like a Rectangle with the corners apexing at te SW, SE, NE & NW positions.
Peninsula Malaysia is made up of 11 States and the Federal Capital, Kuala Lumpur. Hence I made sure that the Route will also cut through all the States of the Peninsula as well as the Federal Territory.
The ride starts at Merdeka square, a place symbolic with Malaysian Independence, the site of the world's tallest flagpost.
Malacca is also an important stop point, given its role in Malaysian History.
I also wanted us to visit Tok Bali, a stop on the East Coast, significant because it was the place that marks the start of the Pacific War during WW2.
As the first shots were fired here by the Japanese Army 8 hours before the Pearl Harbour Attack, this is where battles were raging as the first bombs dropped in Wickham Airfield in Oahu.
A minimum distance of 2,500km was also set.
The criteria/aim/goal were;
a. To reach all 4 Apex points of the Peninsula. I was not sure if there's a Motorable road to those points after determining the positions by coordinates.
I guess some things will have to be tackled when we got there.
The Apexes are;
a1. South West Most - Tg Piai, also the Southernmost Tip of Mainland Asia.
a2. South East Most - Punggai, Johore
a3. North-East Most - Pengkalan Kubur, Kelantan
a4. North-West Most - Bukit Putih, Perlis
b. No Highways unless totally unavoidable.
c. To ride through all states and FT.
d. Ride through Gravel to stay as close to the Thai Border.
e. No backtracking unless unavoidable.
f. At least 2,500km total
g. Pass through all 11 States and Kuala Lumpur.
There will be six nightstops; Malacca, Desaru, Cherating, Kota Bharu, Belum Resort, Penang. No night riding was planned.
No 'Iron Butt' sectors.
The Route looks like this;
Although all were advised that DP Bikes were most desirable for the trip,
World Adventurer / Photographer / Musician / Singer Extraordinaire Alex Wong chose to follow on his Ducati Streetfighter.
The rest of us were on the BMW GS/As. The Roll Call of Riders who completed all 4 points were : My Wife & Me, Simon Saw & YY, Sunny Puan, Shaharin & Jane,
Minesh, Alex, Gary, Assir, Mel, Jovey, John Dave and Maznah, the sole Lady Rider. Eddy Tan managed three APEX points.
SP Lee, Aras, Ariff, Justine, Janna, Harris & Mona all joined in on various stages of the ride.
The ride was real fun. On the first day a number of other rider joined in to Malacca, some staying on for the night.
A few other riders joined us at Kota Bharu. Penang was really fun as a number of riders rode up to meet us, and joined the Penang - KL leg.
It was a journey of discovery for all of us. This is one pretty country, with pristine beaches and excellent roads.
Certainly much better than Thailand if you're a keen rider as the roads are so much better.
Pictures however tells a better story.
Our first day ride route ;
KL Merdeka Square - Bt Tinggi Klang - Morib - Coastal Port Dickson - Linggi - Kg Lereh - Puri Hotel, Malacca.
We started early
1Malaysia, with the World's Tallest Flagpole behind.
We found a TV Crew awaiting. They wanted to know something about the ride and also see us of.
We held a small briefing before departure
Group Photo
Leaving Dataran, the journey starts.
[
I was having an evil grin stuck on my face, looking at the poor souls stuck in the traffic jam, facing the start of another dreary day in the office.
And we're on our way to have fun.
Mel is going all the way
Aras will be joining us for the night in Malacca, then heading straight to Johore after Tanjung Piai the next day.
Jeff is only following us to Port Dickson
Hatta will follow us all the way to Malacca before turning back.
Alex, the only one on a streetbike.
After just 30 minutes on the road, we arrived here for breakfast. Assir, a veteran world travellr arranged for Dato Shaik to host the riders for breakfast
We left after an hour there.
We followed the coastal road to PD as planned
The Lukut area has interesting curves, but the road has a bit of traffic
After another hour on the saddle, we reached Port Dickson
Another round of drinks at Pak Lang Cafe. This is a famous old school cafe owned by a Chinese but serving all kinds of food from Nasi Lemak to Koay Teow.
Next stop, Malacca
The roads were nice, passing through lightly populated areas with some traffic.
We checked out this Observatory, used to spot the new moon to determine the start of the Muslim calender.
As we approach Malacca I was pleasantly surprised to be riding through a Forest Reserve, with virgin jungles left and right.
This is Hutan Rekreasi Sg Udang.
Malacca was the seat of the earliest Malay Sultanate. Located on the strategically important Straits Of Malacca, it grew and prospered with ships from the
Middle East and China using it as a trading post.
Legend has it that the Sultanate was founded by Parameswara, and the name Malacca came from a local tree called the Melaka Tree.
The famed eunuch Admiral Zheng Ho even stopped there with his armada. He left behind a sizable Chinese settlement, which is still there right till today.
Their descendants assimilated to local life, but, maintained their unique characteristics till today.
The Portuguese put an end to the era of Malay Sultans when they conquered the Kingdom in 1511. Later the Dutch captured the city after 100 years of Portuguese rule.
In the 1800s the Dutch swapped Batavia ( Jakarta ) for Malacca with the British. It more or less stayed that way until 1958, when Malaysia became Independent.
We arrived at Hotel Puri, Malacca at 1400hrs.
Eddy Tan in front of Hotel Puri. The Hotel has a facade of a shoplot, but it is deceptively big, at least 40 rooms in rustic setting, very nicely done
Minesh coordinating room arrangements
The interior
Swifts have been making nests in the Hotel foyer since a long time ago, and they continue to do so unmolested. Something about good luck i was told.
After settling down, we took a walk, to the famous "Jonkers Walk"
Famous Ice Kacang ( shaved Ice with sweet condiments )
Another famous food joint
Having had our fill, the gang wanted to chill out
Twilight
Nightfall
The first day was a short ride of just under 300km. The roads were just better than OK, and as expected, the West Coast is a heavily populated area so we rode through very little rural area.
I did notice interesting house and building designs, and just by entering Malacca the architecture changed markedly, with predominant Chinese features.
Even the mosques had Pagoda style roofs.
Malacca town has been done up nicely, but thankfully, not tacky. Clean, with all the significant buildings done up, it is a place that deserves at least a three night stay.
As for us, we had dinner, the guys had some beer, and later to bed, ready for tomorrow.
7Mar2012. Wednesday. Motorrad Malaysia All-State 4-Corner Peninsula Ride Day 1
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