2wheels
Community Manager
Having recently sold my Africa Twin but wanting to join in the fun of this event I was delighted when KTM Phil kindly offered me the use of his newly acquired CRF250L.
I collected the bike from Riders Corner on the night of 1st June and tentatively rode it out to my home near Doi Saket. First impressions were;
1 extremely good headlight and high beam.
2 'nervous' front end. (I later put this down to the new knobbly tyres on bitumen and my need to adjust to the bike after the relatively less responsive AT).
3 the bike was showing an ominous '666 kms' !!!!
Saturday 2nd June
Ally, on her rental Versys, and I arranged to meet on 118 at Doi Saket and ride together to Chiang Rai.
We shared a couple of steamed buns for breakfast.
(Throughout the ride, that Honda seat would steam my own buns .. but more of that later!)
I was keen to check the 250L's fuel consumption, given that I'm a large guy and we were riding through mountains, so I topped up at Mae Kachan and the figure was an impressive 33km/litre. We were cruising at 80-90kph.
My next impressions of the 250L were;
1 a very perky engine
2 I was sitting on the seat strap!
3 excellent gearbox with perfect ratios, even suitable for highway touring (well, at least at my subdued speed).
4 good suspension set-up.
Stopping at Charin Resort is a non-negotiable for me, so a delicious lemon merengue and cappuccino was delivered.
We went our own ways when in Chiang Rai, me staying at the delightful 'Few Rocks', where the hospitality of Khun Pim and Phil is superb.
No sooner had I arrived and the rain bucketed down.
That was 199 kms to 'Few Rocks' so at 33km/litre the 250L, through mountains and with a load, has a comfortable range of 200+ kms.
Sunday 3rd June
By now I had adjusted to the front end precision of the Honda and had removed the seat strap! It was stowed in the handy hinged compartment.
A group of about 20 riders met at the designated rendezvous and it was a chance to meet new people. I hadn't met Chiang Rai Saddlebags' Martin and Khun Worophat before and it was a pleasure to do so.
So off we went in the general direction of Thoeng and on to the wonderful 1155. This is my personal favourite northern Thailand road and Ally and I could have spent the whole day just riding the length of the 1155, taking in and photographing the splendid views it offers.
But the burning continues.
So off the 1155 and on to the Mekong where an excellent lunch had been pre-arranged by Martin, Khun Worophat and the organisers at Pa Dai where there were superb views of and across the river.
(to be continued)
I collected the bike from Riders Corner on the night of 1st June and tentatively rode it out to my home near Doi Saket. First impressions were;
1 extremely good headlight and high beam.
2 'nervous' front end. (I later put this down to the new knobbly tyres on bitumen and my need to adjust to the bike after the relatively less responsive AT).
3 the bike was showing an ominous '666 kms' !!!!
Saturday 2nd June
Ally, on her rental Versys, and I arranged to meet on 118 at Doi Saket and ride together to Chiang Rai.
We shared a couple of steamed buns for breakfast.
(Throughout the ride, that Honda seat would steam my own buns .. but more of that later!)
I was keen to check the 250L's fuel consumption, given that I'm a large guy and we were riding through mountains, so I topped up at Mae Kachan and the figure was an impressive 33km/litre. We were cruising at 80-90kph.
My next impressions of the 250L were;
1 a very perky engine
2 I was sitting on the seat strap!
3 excellent gearbox with perfect ratios, even suitable for highway touring (well, at least at my subdued speed).
4 good suspension set-up.
Stopping at Charin Resort is a non-negotiable for me, so a delicious lemon merengue and cappuccino was delivered.
We went our own ways when in Chiang Rai, me staying at the delightful 'Few Rocks', where the hospitality of Khun Pim and Phil is superb.
No sooner had I arrived and the rain bucketed down.
That was 199 kms to 'Few Rocks' so at 33km/litre the 250L, through mountains and with a load, has a comfortable range of 200+ kms.
Sunday 3rd June
By now I had adjusted to the front end precision of the Honda and had removed the seat strap! It was stowed in the handy hinged compartment.
A group of about 20 riders met at the designated rendezvous and it was a chance to meet new people. I hadn't met Chiang Rai Saddlebags' Martin and Khun Worophat before and it was a pleasure to do so.
So off we went in the general direction of Thoeng and on to the wonderful 1155. This is my personal favourite northern Thailand road and Ally and I could have spent the whole day just riding the length of the 1155, taking in and photographing the splendid views it offers.
But the burning continues.
So off the 1155 and on to the Mekong where an excellent lunch had been pre-arranged by Martin, Khun Worophat and the organisers at Pa Dai where there were superb views of and across the river.
(to be continued)
