Ally
Well-known member
Before I go off on a ramble, I have a month old Versys, with an excellent Radiator guard courtesy of Tonybkk and have 1,600 on the clock. However, a stone that bounced up from the road BEHIND the radiator and got into the fan, managed to stop the fan and until the dashboard control panel temperature light came on, I was none the wiser.
I set off for Chiang Rai on Monday & popped into a couple of coffee stops on the way to either wait the storms to pass or actually savour the surroundings. This seemed to epitomise the entire trip as it turned out !
I had previously purchased an Aqua Shell rainsuit from an online supplier in the Uk a couple of years ago and had probably worn it 4 - 5 times. Well on this trip it was on & off that many times & to be honest, I was as wet on the inside as the suit was on the outside! My journey to Chiang Rai was definitely going to see me buy a new rain suit.
As soon as I reached Chiang Rai I visited Marty & Woraphat at Chiang Rai Saddle Bags and peeled off my wet gear and Woraphat took great delight in hanging everything out to dry in the sun whilst I sat & sipped hot coffee with Marty talking about his vast range of stock including Dyna Beads and more importantly for me, rain suits.
Marty also invited me to try any of the many tank bags they have in stock & allowed me to to wander around & test any of his stock on my bike. What great service! Anyway, I now have a decent Givi rain suit & @ 1,800 baht that is the same price I paid for something online 3 years ago that wasn't really up for the job. I am a happy customer of crsaddlebags.com!
Kevin (fishenough) tunred up on his rented Versys from Mr Mechanic in Chiang Mai & then shortly followed by David & Mai from Chiang Khong.
We sat & chatted about bikes, boats, fish, crabs, weather and a wide range of topics whilst feasting on fresh Lamyai that Woraphat insisted we ate and of course more coffee!
Kevin & I found a local restaurant & ate pad king, gang ke lek & pad fak tong and enjoyed the 7 pm (nung toum) clock tower ceremony. It's a spectacle of light, music and changing sybols within the tower and despite being a resident for a while & a regular visitor to Chiang Rai this was the first time I had seen it. Thanks Kevin!
On Tuesday morning a few bikers gathered at the usual PTT pump and at 9 we set off north for Mae Cham to collect David, Phil & Ian. We took the left to Doi Mae Salong.
Happy Birthday Woraphat
After starting the first climb into the mountains at a small cobbled street village with old ladies sat smoking on front balconies, my overheating red light came on. At a convenient level spot I stopped and rested the bike. The radiator was gurgling and I could not hear the fan. After a while I turned the bike around and freewheeled down hill and cooled the bike down. At the next hump on the way down, the light came on momentarily but after that the light didn't come back on for the rest of my journey back to Chiang Mai (200+km)
In Chiang Rai I stopped and let the bike cool down enough to be able to reach my hand into the fan & tried moving it but it was rigid. Making a little backwards & forwards movements with the tips of my fingers I felt a slight movement and into my palm dropped a stone chipping like you would see at the side of the road, especially after being resurfaced. (Thoughts of last weeks ride down the 1150 flooded my mind!!!)
Despite freeing up the fan propeller movement, the fan didn't fire into action at any point in my journey back to Kawasaki in Chiang Mai. One door closes & another opens as the saying goes, I met up with Keith & Kevin (the green Ninja man) and ended my day sipping coffee at Noi's coffee shop @ the Petronas pump on the moat chatting about every subject you can imagine with a friendly bunch of guys.
Oh and here is another couple of shots that perfectly captures my journey.
When I see this I think of 2Wheels...
Ally
I set off for Chiang Rai on Monday & popped into a couple of coffee stops on the way to either wait the storms to pass or actually savour the surroundings. This seemed to epitomise the entire trip as it turned out !
I had previously purchased an Aqua Shell rainsuit from an online supplier in the Uk a couple of years ago and had probably worn it 4 - 5 times. Well on this trip it was on & off that many times & to be honest, I was as wet on the inside as the suit was on the outside! My journey to Chiang Rai was definitely going to see me buy a new rain suit.
As soon as I reached Chiang Rai I visited Marty & Woraphat at Chiang Rai Saddle Bags and peeled off my wet gear and Woraphat took great delight in hanging everything out to dry in the sun whilst I sat & sipped hot coffee with Marty talking about his vast range of stock including Dyna Beads and more importantly for me, rain suits.
Marty also invited me to try any of the many tank bags they have in stock & allowed me to to wander around & test any of his stock on my bike. What great service! Anyway, I now have a decent Givi rain suit & @ 1,800 baht that is the same price I paid for something online 3 years ago that wasn't really up for the job. I am a happy customer of crsaddlebags.com!
Kevin (fishenough) tunred up on his rented Versys from Mr Mechanic in Chiang Mai & then shortly followed by David & Mai from Chiang Khong.
We sat & chatted about bikes, boats, fish, crabs, weather and a wide range of topics whilst feasting on fresh Lamyai that Woraphat insisted we ate and of course more coffee!
Kevin & I found a local restaurant & ate pad king, gang ke lek & pad fak tong and enjoyed the 7 pm (nung toum) clock tower ceremony. It's a spectacle of light, music and changing sybols within the tower and despite being a resident for a while & a regular visitor to Chiang Rai this was the first time I had seen it. Thanks Kevin!
On Tuesday morning a few bikers gathered at the usual PTT pump and at 9 we set off north for Mae Cham to collect David, Phil & Ian. We took the left to Doi Mae Salong.
Happy Birthday Woraphat
After starting the first climb into the mountains at a small cobbled street village with old ladies sat smoking on front balconies, my overheating red light came on. At a convenient level spot I stopped and rested the bike. The radiator was gurgling and I could not hear the fan. After a while I turned the bike around and freewheeled down hill and cooled the bike down. At the next hump on the way down, the light came on momentarily but after that the light didn't come back on for the rest of my journey back to Chiang Mai (200+km)
In Chiang Rai I stopped and let the bike cool down enough to be able to reach my hand into the fan & tried moving it but it was rigid. Making a little backwards & forwards movements with the tips of my fingers I felt a slight movement and into my palm dropped a stone chipping like you would see at the side of the road, especially after being resurfaced. (Thoughts of last weeks ride down the 1150 flooded my mind!!!)
Despite freeing up the fan propeller movement, the fan didn't fire into action at any point in my journey back to Kawasaki in Chiang Mai. One door closes & another opens as the saying goes, I met up with Keith & Kevin (the green Ninja man) and ended my day sipping coffee at Noi's coffee shop @ the Petronas pump on the moat chatting about every subject you can imagine with a friendly bunch of guys.
Oh and here is another couple of shots that perfectly captures my journey.
When I see this I think of 2Wheels...
Ally
