Chiang Mai, Thailand

Heyya..

I'm now in Chiang Mai after battling with lots of super sharp up-down hill corners.. And they were wet and slippery too..

The road from Mae Hong Son to Pai was fookin' brilliant.. It was smooth and hilly up to many mountains.. The scenery was breath taking too as it consists of padi fields with mountains at the background..

Upon reaching Pai, the countryside is beautiful..

But the route from Pai to Chiang Mai was difficult.. There were too many sharp cornerings with up-downhill.. Oh, have I mentioned TOO MANY? My hints for other riders, make sure that u're prepared more after u've reached Pai..

Maybe bcoz I have managed to conquer 1864 corners, my mind was not prepared the Pai - Chiang Mai route.. I thought Pai - Chiang Mai would be relaxing.. But I was wrong!!

The rain has just stopped in Chiang Mai.. I'm staying at the Royal Lanna Hotel @ Night Bazaar.. Starbucks and McDonalds are just few steps away.. Been told there are many pubs and bar for me to hunt tonight.. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe!!

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Pai, Thailand..

Heyya..

Currently I'm in Pai.. It is 130km from Mae Hong Son.. Pai is a hilly resort, very peaceful.. I'm loving it every moment here..

The route from Mae Hong Son to Pai is Absolutely Gorgeous.. Was riding only on 2nd and 3rd gear.. The road condition is smooth & superb.. I had to climb the mountains as high as the clouds.. And it was damn cold!!

Here at Pai, I'm stopping for a while to have breakfast.. I'm having Pad Thai and ice cafe latte.. Sweeeeet!!

My next journey is Chiang Mai.. It'll be another approx. 140km.. Will find out the exact distance later..

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

1864 Corners - Completed!

Heyya..

I managed to do 1864 Corners of Mae Hong Son yesterday.. Many riders have done it but there are few who did it SOLO..

The journey was 400km of distance from Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son and there was only 20km of straight road.. The rest were all corners, corners and corners..

There were many types of corners and bends.. Mostly were like Tapah - Cameron Highlands (the old route), Kuala Klawang and Bukit Tinggi to make up the 1864 Corners..

I managed to ride for 7 hours to complete the 1864 Corners.. Think about it, 400km in 7 hours??? That's a hell of a lot of corners!!

Some area had very terrible road conditions, i.e. Pot holes, slippery bends, etc..

Some area had narrow and very dark road.. I doubt if a bus or lorry can pass through the narrow road.. I had a thought that I got lost for a while.. Hahaa..

So now I'm in Mae Hong Son (MHS) and getting prepared for Pai and Chiang Mai.. There will be another challenging 120km route to Pai.. Chiang Mai is 260km from MHS.. I just hope it does not rain today..

HooRahh!!
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Mae Sot to Mae Hong Son 1884 Corners

What a lovely day!! It's been raining heavily since I left kuala lumpur..

Now I'm in Mae Sot, Myanmar border.. I'll be leaving to Mae Hong Son soon..

Mae Hong Son 1884 Corners, here I come!!

HooRahh!!
Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Chiang Mai + 1000 Corners + Golden Triangle, Thailand (Few hours before departing)

Heyya...

I'm well prepared for solo ride to Thailand.. this time, i will be covering Southern Thailand, Kanchanaburi (Bridge on River Kwai), Mae Hong Son (1000 Corners), Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai (Golden Triangle) and Myanmar border.. The total journey is approx. 6,000 km... i will double confirm with the figures once i'm back...

I will spend 14 days for this trip... i shall be departing as early as 3.00 am on Monday morning...

I will update the blog as much as i could.. so stay tuned!

See you guys in the next 14 days..

HooRahh!!

Ride: Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle and Laos

Heyya...

My Epic solo journey to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pai, Golden Triangle and Laos starts tomorrow (26th July 2010) at 3.00 am...

HooRahh!!

Farkle: Cramp Buster!!!

Heyya..

I just installed a cheap farkle and one of the best investments I have ever bought for the RedBull KLR..

It is called CrampBuster aka throttle rocker.. It costs only RM50 and it is the largest cramp buster size I've found..

Currently I'm in Shah Alam and I've tested it for almost 50km along NKVE highway.. So far, it is very handy and my right palm felt very comfortable.. But I need to re-adjust its position to a sweet spot so I don't have to use it when I'm riding in town..

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Mods: GIVI Engine Guard + Tubeless Rims

Heyya..

I'm so happy.. Very happy now as my rims are no longer using tubes.. I have modified the rims to 'tubeless rims'.. What Sunny has done, he put a thick sealant inside the rims where the spokes are connected to the rims..

By putting the sealant, it closes the holes & gap between the spokes and the rims.. Hence, there is no air can be escaped through the spokes.. Therefore I can use tubeless tires.. The modification costs RM300 for both rear and front rims and it took 3 days to be done..

Why would I have 'tubeless' rims? The answer is, it is safer to use them when I get the tires punctured as the air will not escape as fast as tubes'.. Also, it will be easier to fix the punctured tires using Puncture Kit.. It saves time to repair and it costs very cheap to repair..

Can you see the engine guard? it's wicked!!!

Today, I managed to buy an engine guard, produced by Givi.. There are few engine guards available in the market for KLR 650 but so far, Givi's engine guard has the best look, size and protection.. Not to forget, I noticed the finished quality of the engine guard is similar to Motech and Hepco & Becker (although they don't produce for KLR650)..

Somehow, Givi's engine guard does not increase the bike's vibration and it is wider than Motech's although it is smaller in size.. It costs RM600 including labour cost..

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Service: New brake pads + Metzeler Sahara 3 tires

Heyya,

Today I have changed front brake pads and both front & rear tires.. Actually the front brake pads have 10% left..

Meanwhile the rear Sahara tire would last for another 5,000 km but I would not take any risk to use it for the upcoming ride to Chiang Mai and border of Laos..

The front brake pads cost RM70 and RM550 for a pair of Metzeler Sahara tires at Sunny Cycle..

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Test: Updating blog using BlackBerry

Heyya,

I'm trying to setup my Blackberry email account so I could update www.Globe-Rider.blogspot.com , including photos, at anytime and anywhere I would be..

If this works successfully, then I can update my "epic" solo journey in the future easily.. (As long as there is h/p roaming) :-P

Cheers..

HooRahh!!

Sent by Maxis from my BlackBerry® smartphone

Olympus PEN E-P1... i'm done with the wish list!!

Heyya...


On July the 8th 2010, i have bought the ultimate PEN, the Olympus E-P1...

The design of the camera is reminiscent of the Olympus PEN half frame film cameras and is marketed as the Olympus digital PEN and it is very similar to the Olympus PEN F... 
I bought the E-P1 with 2 lens kit, which comes with 14–42 mm f/3.5–5.6 zoom lens, a 17 mm f/2.8 pancake prime lens and a viewfinder "VF" (not an electronic VF).. for your info, the VF only works with 17 mm f/2.8 lens... 

Other features include HD video recording with the ability to process the video in camera with different effects. The PEN E-P1's design is Retro and it is constructed with a solid stainless steel body... it is heavy and has the solid feel when i hold the camera... with its Retro look, i believe the design will last forever.. it is a Micro Four Third (m4/3) camera which has a similar sensor as other Olympus DSLR cameras...

The E-P1 comes with 6 Art Filters and photo editing features are also built-in, meaning i do not need to use PC to edit and add special effects on images.. All the effects can be done on E-P1 itself.. Also, videos can be recorded with these Art Filters effects.. the Art Filters are:

- Pop Art
- Soft Focus
- Pale & Light colour
- Light Tone
- Grainy Film
- Pin Hole

The photos above are taken using 17 mm f/2.8 pancake lens... I'm loving this lens so much as it is easy to do Bokeh and as you can see, i love to use Grainy Film and Pin Hole effects.. i'm trying to learn as much as i could before my solo ride to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son next week...

The E-P1 with 2 lens + 'viewfinder' kit costs msrp RM 3,799 with 16 GB SDHC memory card...

and for those people who gonna ask me, "Why didn't you buy E-P2, which is the latest and more expensive??..."

then I'd say: "Why don't u get it for yourself first, smart-ass!!!"

HooRahh!!

FMF Power Core 4: A complete installation guide!

Heyya..

As you have read in my previous article, i received the FMF Power Core 4 exhaust in the evening of 2nd July 2010..

THE next morning as early as 7.00 am, i called up my mates Din and Erry to assist me installing the FMF..

Erry turned up late, so we proceeded with the installation as i was so excited!

(Review on FMF Power Core 4 exhaust will be done later)

Introducing, Team KLR 650 Red Bull Dakar :

         The KLR Red Bull Dakar Rider..  ;-P                                                          The Team Chief Mechanic.. hehee

First of all, unscrew and take off the rear brake cover and rear brake fluid reservoir... By removing them, it is easier to reach the exhaust mid-pipe clamp.. Hence, unscrew the mid-pipe clamp...

Then unscrew all nuts and bolts of the rear fairing...

Then unscrew the exhaust muffler nuts and bolts from the KLR chassis / rear frame.. Remember to keep the nuts and bolts as they are needed for the FMF exhaust.. FMF does not provide these nuts and bolts.. Now the stock exhaust muffler can be pulled out and removed..


The FMF Power Core 4 comes in a box which is packed with 1 mid-pipe clamp, 2 brackets, bracket extension, spacers, nuts and bolts..

By comparison done by Din, the team chief mechanic, the FMF exhaust is three times lighter than the stock exhaust.. it can be held with only 2 fingers, it's super light... Das ist Gut!!!

It is advisable to assemble the brackets, extension, spacers, nuts and bolts on the FMF exhaust muffler before installing it into the mid-pipe.. it took us almost 15 minutes to assemble the bracket, spacers, etc components onto the muffler..

Placed the FMF exhaust front pipe into the mid-pipe section.. then, tighten the nuts and bolts of the brackets onto the KLR chassis / rear frame.. then tighten up the clamp of the mid-pipe section... Also placed and re-assembled the rear side fairing, rear brake fluid reservoir and its cover protector..

It took us almost 30 minutes from removing the stock exhaust to installing the FMF exhaust from box!

and the sound with spark arrestor is............... fookin' Superb!!!


HooRahh!!