Category Archives: Motorcycles Suitable for Thailand
This category is all about motorcycles and motors scooters that are suitable for driving in such Southeast Asian countries as Thailand. Due extremely high duties on imported bikes that can nearly double the prices charged in Europe and the U.S. comments about bikes that are prohibitively expensive here, lack parts availability and that are suited chiefly for high speed interstates in Western countries are of no interest here.
Rain-snow-or just getting maimed? no sacrifice I will make any sacrifice when I review motorbikes. I’m calling this my Jack Corbett Honda CBR 250 broken collarbone review.
Who else would sacrifice his body just to do a little motorbike review of a Honda 250 CBR?I broke my collar bone while test driving a Honda CBR 250 from Pattaya to Rayong.If you absolutely must have an accident driving your motorbike the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital is your number one choice. I chose Bangkok Pattaya Hospital when I broke my clavicle.
Thailand is the 2nd most deadly country in the world to drive in. Only Namidia in Africa where headhunters and cannibals still roam ranks ahead of Thailand.
In ten years living here full time, I have never ever seen a motorcyclist stopped by the police for running a read light, driving the wrong way against the flow of traffic, or for reckless driving. And yet, it is impossible to drive in Pattaya for even ten minutes without encountering at least one Thai driver running a red light or driving against the flow of traffic.
Needless to say, doing these motorbike reviews is extremely dangerous. But the lure of owning a larger motorbike than a PCX or Yamaha Nouvo lives on. In spite of my accident and all that pain, I nearly bought a Honda CBR 250. Three years later I bought the Yamaha 400 SR.
My Jack Corbett PCX Elegance road test finally proved Honda’s fuel injection does not offer superior fuel economy to the carbureted Yamaha Elegance .
There’s nothing like pitting two or more motorbikes against each other in hands on road tests to get the right answers.
In 2011 these were the two flagships for Yamaha and Honda in the 125 c.c. underbone motorbike class. Later Honda would upgrade the 125 c.c. PCX to a more powerful 150 c.c. model whereas Yamaha would replace its 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance with the less powerful 125 c.c. Nouvo SX
This test pitted a 125 c.c. Honda PCX motorbike belonging to a Norwegian friend against my own Yamaha 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance.
We chose a 140 kilometer course for our PCX Elegance road test
No one had done such a comprehensive PCX Elegance road test before. And I’m certain no one would ever top our shootout between the Honda 125 PCX and Yamaha Nouvo Elegance 135 motorbikes.
We drove the two bikes from Pattaya to Rayong. After filling up at the same gasoline station. We used the same pump and returned to the same pump after returning from Rayong. To be 100 percent certain that both motorbikes filled up at exactly the same angles. We left nothing to chance.
Keep in mind that we conducted this road test in 2011. Since then Honda’s replaced its 125 c.c. PCX with a larger 150 c.c. model. While Yamaha has replaced its carbureted 135 c.c. Yamaha with a fuel injected 125 Yamaha Nouvo SX. Which Yamaha replaced with its outstanding 155 Nmax in 2016. You will find more up to date road tests of the newer model PCX’s and Yamaha Nouvo’s on this web site .
Meanwhile, let us take you back to 2011 that pits the 125 c.c. Honda PCX against the 125 c.c. Yamaha Nouvo Elegance
Don’t you ever tell me that your small 125 c.c. motorbike can’t make it up the hills. Because if you do I’ll tell you a tall tale about taking the Honda Click off road on Koh Samet.
You won’t believe how steep these trails are. Or how easily a Honda Click can manage them if this small automatic rides on off road tires
The tall rutted trail on the right hand side of the picture is a lot steeper than it appears here. The rocks and the ruts are a lot larger and deeper too. But the little Honda Click I rented handled it and a few others just about like it with aplomb.
It might be too much for you to believe that in many ways that little Honda Click off road Honda Click automatic was a better dirt bike than the 185 c.c. Honda XL’s I had down at the farm.
The secret’s all in the special cleated dirt bike tires the Honda Click had been outfitted with. This makes a 1000 percent difference between a small automatic motorbike with street tires and one wearing dirt bike styled rubber.
Now don’t get me wrong. Those 185 c.c. Honda XL’s were very good on the farm. They could do things the Honda Click couldn’t dream of doing.
First off my 185 Honda XL’s had loads of ground clearance. So it could jump into an eight foot deep drainage ditch and propel me up its 90 degree far side. I’d be going so fast that the bike’s momentum alone would gyrate me right over the other side. The bike would leave the ground and when I landed the motorcycle’s excellent shocks would keep both me and the bike from falling apart. With equal aplomb I could survive tile holes over a foot deep on a Honda 185 XL. Whereas I would have torn apart the off road Honda Click due to its lack of clearance and shocks of a true dirt bike.
BUT–those dirt bike tires enabled the small automatic to cling tenaciously to the rocks, ruts and small streams I crossed on Koh Samet’s so called dirt roads. Call those dirt roads, and I’ll tell you my name is Abullah Egypt. And that I’m a practicing Moslem who believes in witchcraft. Those are no ordinary dirt roads. But never mind, Koh Samet’s a blast to be driving a motorbike on. Just make sure you rent a bike that has the kind of tires that will make the grade.
Honda Click off road ing on Koh Samet is something you just gotta try.
For my full review on dirt bike driving on Koh Samet Click hereSimilar Thailand motorcycle riding you might like
