Bike sold: Wednesday, 13 February 2013

Motorcycle advertised and sold. Blog ended for time being.

Here's wishing the new owner many pleasurable and safe miles, and hoping he has as much enjoyment from the motorcycle as I have had.

Breakfast: Saturday, 5 January 2013

The pictures can tell the story :

Dubliner - Sukhumvit Soi 33/1

This was followed a few days later with a ride to Samut Sakon:

Mileage on return from Samut Sakon

Taling Chan Market: Monday, 31 December 2012

Last motorcycling day for 2012 so thought short trip to Taling Chan Market would be a welcome ride. Given a public holiday, and most people seem to have left Bangkok, I was looking forward to some quiet roads. This was, for a change, quite true.

Trip Statistics:

Mileage at departure: 10,281 kilometers
Mileage upon return: 10,317 kilometers
(round trip: 36 kilometers)

Some pictures of the market:

Fish for lunch!

A nice way to finish 2012 motorcycling. Happy New Year!

Siriraj Hospital Pharmacy: Saturday, 15 December 2013

Needed some medication so took the opportunity to motorcycle to the Siriraj Hospital Pharmacy shops. There are several shops outside the Siriraj Hospital that act as wholesale pharmacies. Their drug prices are significantly lower than those found in local pharmacies. In fact, while shopping I came across many people who seemed to be bulk buying for resale in their own businesses.

I left reasonably early but the sun was out and it was becoming quite hot. While riding I was thinking that perhaps a better pastime could be sitting on the beach enjoying the sun, sand and sea. Then I remembered a photograph my son had sent to me from London a couple of days before. It was a picture of a temperature sign outside a London shop - it read -0.9 degree centigrade. I then reasoned it was preferable to be biking in Thailand, even if hot and having to travel through Bangkok Saturday morning traffic.

Route and statistics as follows:

Route Sathon to Siriraj Hospital

Route statistics from Garmin GPS watch

I'm not too sure how I burnt 539 calories but perhaps that was due to the stress of riding through Bangkok traffic! Whilst only averaging 23.9 km/h, I am sure this was substantially more than could be achieved in car or bus.

After Siriraj Hospital, I rode to K-Village, Rama IV for some shopping. As below:

K-Village, Rama IV - Sukhumvit Soi 26

A motorcycle is a great form of transport and hugely convenient. But, today, I would have enjoyed an air conditioner!

Cafe 66 Car Wash: Monday, 10 December 2012

A pleasant afternoon with nothing particular to do so decided to have a short ride to Cafe 66 Car Wash for a bike wash and wax.

I had spent an hour or two in the morning watching YouTube videos of crazy car and bike crashes - these made me feel quite cautious while riding to the bike wash so I have decided not to watch these anymore!

Location of Cafe 66 Car Wash

Given the motorcycle looked so good after the wash and wax, plus the late afternoon weather was perfect for a ride, I decided to go to one of my favorite spots at the Chao Praya river estuary near the Royal Thai Navy Dockyards.

Location of Royal Thai Navy Dockyards

Bike looking cleaner than the bridge!

Mileage on return: 10,242 kilometers.

Motoaholic: Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Mileage just exceeded 10,000 kilometers so I thought time for a good car wash and service and, given it was such a nice day, I rode (the long way round) to Car Wash 66 only to find it closed. However, I continued on to the Motoaholic service center. This was the first time for me to go to their new facility which is opposite the sales showroom.

I asked for a full service and check of everything. As far as I could tell, everything was checked and the attention to my motorcycle was thorough and careful. The following was replaced:

- spark plugs (x2)
- engine oil (Agip semi-synthetic)
- oil filter
- air filter

In addition, the chain was checked and oiled, and tire pressures checked.

On ramp ready for full service

The bill

Date	Description of Service	Mileage (klm)
28/05/2011	1,000 km service (oil & filter)	1,000
23/07/2011	Intermediate oil & filter change	2,850
17/09/2011	Intermediate oil & filter change	4,705
13/12/2011	6,000 km service (oil & filter)	6,158
13/12/2011	Replace front & rear tires (Pirelli touring)	6,158
01/04/2012	Intermediate oil & filter change	8,566
05/12/2012	Replace spark plugs, oil, oil and air filters	10,153

Mileage was 10,153 kilometers.

The ride home was lovely, my motorcycle was riding like new and the weather was super. I didn't want to stop!

Don Wai Market: Saturday, 10 November 2012

10,053 kilometers start.

Removed motorcycle cover and, at 10:07 a.m., departed on a lovely Saturday morning happy in the hope that the rains have finished for the year (this subsequently proved very wrong).

Earlier, while having breakfast, I had programmed the Garmin GPS to take me to Don Wai Market in Nakhon Pathom Province (Bang Krathuek, Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom 73210, Thailand). The route was north-west out of Bangkok and the GPS suggested just over 30 kilometers and a 45 minute ride. The Garmin is configured for motorcycle / shortest distance and, since I have taken this route on other occasions, I wasn't sure if the GPS calculated route would be the same as the way I know. Consequently, I ignored the GPS (which consistently had to re-calculate) and followed the route familiar to me which is via Ratchapruk Road,  Boromarajajonani Road and Phutthamonthon. The traffic was quite heavy and the route taken was longer than that calculated by the GPS.

Don Wai Market Location

I arrived at Don Wai market at 11:10 a.m., parked under cover, locked helmet to the motorcycle, and left to explore the market.

The market was much bigger than expected and full of goodies to eat. Most of which were quite unknown to me, and I believe a Thai gourmet (farmer or other) would be needed to interpret all the sweets, fruits, vegetables and other delights. Lunch was fried fish sat next to the river feeding the fish. 

Anyone for Chili

I decided to follow the GPS for the return to Bangkok. This took me via Thanon Phet Kasem Road and heavy traffic due to the construction of the new BTS. In addition it started to rain quite heavily so I stopped for gasoline and shelter. While waiting for the rain to stop, I wandered to the next building which housed a Mazda car dealership. The saleslady kindly offered me a free ticket to the up and coming motor car show so I may well take advantage of her generosity. 

Mileage on return: 10,130 kilometers