Saxon7 wrote:Showing my age and narrow-mindedness here, but what is the bike?
Sean.
Good question Sean... you may remember me going on about importing my K1200 or K100 to Singapore or M'asia. After trying with a number of companies it turned out that AU$1600 was the cost of a return trip. As I was there for 10 days only, that come to $160/day + insurance. I will give this another go next year when I will contemplate 20 days and tour Singapore to Bangkok and back. Most through the mountains of the peninsular.
The final solution was to hire a near new bike there. The guys from
http://www.ridemalaysia.com.my/ were able to give me a 650cc Kawasaki Versys for around AU$800 or $80/day including insurance
As much as I would have loved my K1200 with me, it was not an option. (BTW look at their video... I was on the same roads and it is accurate).
Having said that if I was there for 20days or more ... I may have been tempted to take one of my girls.
Versys is a 650 liquid cooled twin. It is a perfect bike for touring the technical mountain roads around Kuala Lumpur, has plenty of power for 120+ on the express ways as well as it is narrow enough to deal with heavy traffic in the city. I was impressed and happy to have left the big girl at home. She would not have appreciated 30-40 min in heavy traffic in temperatures above 35C on the tarmac. Oh yes, do not take your leather jackets to south east asia (SEA)
you will regret it the moment you stop at the firsts set of lights
I love the experience. As I have been riding since I was 17, I thought that I could cope with most situations. Unfortunately nothing prepared me for 100% humidity, 35C, sunny days with a standstill traffic where rules of the road are only advisory. Yes, it is a survival course and after the first few days of discomfort, i took to following 100's of scooters, scooting around me. I learned to like the whole challenge of bypassing stationary cars and the complete freedom of taking to footpaths, parks and any area that will get me from point A to point B and home
Yes, everything u think as illegal is expected and practiced, even illegal parking where cars get booked, bikes don't
I love the SEA region for many reasons. From a bike touring point of view the roads are first class and in the mountains, very technical, no traffic and the scenery was stunning. There is a mixture of no holds bared express ways (any speed will do), mountain roads through tropical forests, logging operations, palm oil and rubber plantations with all the wildlife one expects. If u wish u can travel 100% on express ways or 100% over the mountains with no traffic to contend with. As always I tend to ride alone, so a mix is what i use.
Communications are great, with 100% mobile phone coverage and working GPS (Garmin in the case) I was very confident and happy to get lost anywhere in the jungle. Will go back and do it again.