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Ouch, that hurt.
A reframe:: Great news, you get a new engine, an upgrade finally. I can't wait for that to happen to my bike.
How many km did you get out of the engine before it blew up? How long was it before your last oil change? Did you figure out what caused this? How come Pete's bike is ok? Beginner's luck?
You chose the perfect place to get stuck. Great motography by the way... Keep up the good work.
I was wondering how all the sudden you've got that much time to read everyone's posts and respond to them as well. Now I understand why. Getting stuck in paradise ain't all that bad. Hope there are enough things in Phuket and Patong to keep you guys interested until the engine is put back together.
Great report.
Thanks of the great report. The bless and curse of Chinabikes. You never know when they break. Will be very interesting to see can Thai people fix the bike.
Liked and lolled to your "research" by watching Rambo 4 :lol8: The adventure deepen.
Epic! That engine is so fried I could barely tell what I was looking at. Surely the repairs won't take a week, and it'll be interesting to see how close the clones are. Are you holding out for genuine Honda fake parts or Thai fake parts, or maybe even genuine genuine Honda parts?
Looking forward to your next posting, and very very juiced to know that Thailand (and Burma) are but a motorcycle ride away....
(Right Moilami?)
By the way, how was the Burmese beer? (I don't much care about the ciggies...)
Keep it coming!
cheers
Yes, Hans' research on Burma has been legendary - I think he's watched Rambo a dozen times this trip. The Myanmar beer was decent, but no Beer Lao...
Hans' bike had about 4k more than mine from his riding in Shanghai, but overuse wasn't the reason for the engine catastrophe. I'll tee Hans up for this one, explains his hatred for Bangkok...
One more quick pic from the night ride out of Bangkok:
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea.../Nightride.jpg
$13 to go have a beer in Myanmar seems like a good deal :thumbsup:. I've always wanted to try a premium quality Myanmar brew :goodtime:.
This ride report rocks, shit happens and you guys keep taking it in stride and moving on :thumbsup::bowdown:....respect. Been in a few dodgy situations in Cambodia and Thailand, so I know how the locals there love to prey on your misfortune. Glad you are finding some good souls to help you along. Why didn't you just call Shineray for some warranty support :confused1: :lol8:.
Keep it coming, we need more :popcorn:.
Cheers!
ChinaV
Yeah, I started seeing all these GRF_Hans posts and figured it was a bot attack. I am enjoying your journey. ThanksQuote:
Originally Posted by milton
Absolutely! Like pretty much any place in this planet :deal: And if preparing for the trip begins to be too complex you can simplify it by chosing you have 2 hours time to pack stuff on the bags. Wont be very easy still but at least you don't waste too much time on it!Quote:
Originally Posted by euphonius
Edit: And remember to do the research in proper GRF_Hans & Co way by watching Rambo 4 :lol8:
Holy crap! I can't believe that engine is salvageable, from the pictures i thought you were going to have to replace it completely! Very impressed with your keep-going attitude, though of course you could do worst than breaking down in paradise.
I love this report, please keep it coming!
I meant to write about this in the last ride report but forgot to. The shop in Bangkok neglected to change my oil like I asked. What I'm confused about is whether they drained some of it and then didn't replace it or something, because when we did an oil-check after the explosion, it took a third of a liter before it even registered on the dipstick. I know... I know.. JV move on my part not check that stuff myself. No excuses...Quote:
Originally Posted by slabo
Pete's bike is okay because it is a beast. He has crashed that thing more than a test-dummy and it is still going strong. I'm am envious...although i didn't lose a mirror when we laid it down in Laos, which was good luck.
I ended up getting the Beng Thom treatment; they make the exact same engine in Thailand so had some parts lying around. The sleeve is a bit confusing though because they said they had to machine that or something (I don't really understand Thai). All seems well, though. Glad it all worked out.Quote:
Originally Posted by euphonius
Ugh this one gets me so upset. During the 6 months leading up to this trip they always reassured me they had extensive connections in Thailand and could keep me going in case anything were to happen. And of course, as soon as something happens they play dumb/ignore my calls. :(:(:(Quote:
Originally Posted by ChinaV
Everytime I ask them for spare parts, like rubber tank mounts, brake oil hose, even an allen head screw for the carb float bowl, they just laugh out loud... No problem, you don't need that. They only time they were able to give me new parts was when they had another brand new bike, just took it off... Basically if the bike isn't on fire, they don't want to lift a finger.Quote:
Originally Posted by GRF_Hans
Haha exactly. I think my bike is really starting to fall apart. We'll see how it holds up for the final month!
Quote:
Originally Posted by slabo
I apologize! It has been much too long. For all 3 of our readers, here is the next installment. CAMBODIA!!!
So we last left you with a blown piston in Patong, Thailand. Being stranded for 6 days on the beaches of Phuket is not all bad.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...les/Beach1.jpg
Besides working on the bronze, I got to rent a Honda Steed for a day and tour around the peninsula.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...ansCruiser.jpg
It felt great. I had never ridden any cruiser style motorcycle before, and having 600cc definitely made me realize how inadequate the 200cc Shineray was. I rode over the fantastically curvy pass between Patong to get to Phuket Town, and managed to cruise around and find some beautiful sites.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...s/HansBoat.jpg
This abandoned boat was washed ashore at a park just outside Phuket Town where I had an impromptu nap due to the previous nights activities.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...s/P1000684.jpg
You don't know how we 'gammon.
Being in Patong really took it out of us, however. There is only so much lounging on the beach you can do before you get bored and want to start riding again. So when my bike was finished up we hightailed it the next day. Not before a little custom paint-job, though, just so we could tell who's bike was who's.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...intinsmall.jpg
The plan was to backtrack over 1400km along the same route we had come down, stopping around Chumphon and then shooting through Bangkok to cross the border into Cambodia from Poipet the third day. It seemed doable.
The first day on the road was a good 500km of riding back along the border of Myanmar before picking up the main north-south highway. We started off early because we knew that it would be a long day otherwise, but within the first 100km both of us had already almost fallen asleep. Also the breakfast was not sitting well with either of us and I had to do what a bear does in the woods while Pete scouted out the area for some interesting photos.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...CrashedOut.jpg
We made it to Chumphon right at dusk and found the lovely little Chumphon Guesthouse. Coincidentally, a Belgian motorcyclist who was doing a trip around Thailand was staying at the same place after having passed us a couple of times on the road. He imparted his knowledge of Cambodia upon us, and since it was nothing but horror stories about evading police, we got nervous. One of the part-owners of the guesthouse was a German man in the prosthetic limb business, and he had the same warnings for us as well. It seems that every time we cross a border, there is so much negativity!
The next day found us heading towards Bangkok, with the plan to make it to the eastern side of the city in order to expedite the third days' journey into Cambodia. The city schemed nefariously to impede our progress at every turn, however. We arrived at the outskirts around 3:00pm and stopped to clarify our route before heading into the vast network of illogical roads. The owner of an auto glass repair shop was happy to help out, and he was actually wearing a shirt from the Santa Ana Star casino right near Pete's house in New Mexico. What are the odds?
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...files/Maps.jpg
By the time we made it into downtown, it was rush-hour. It took us the following 5-6 hours to make it to the airport, a distance of maybe 40 kilometers. Being that I was about to pull my hair out, we stopped at an airport hotel in eager anticipation for the border crossing the next day. Thankfully there was a balcony to air-dry our foul-smelling riding gear.
Freshly showered and stuffed with complimentary breakfast, we drove onwards the next morning.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...s/P1000787.jpg
Pete looking handsome.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...s/P1000790.jpg
Driving with the lights on, which is actually illegal in Cambodia we would later find out, for the most ridiculous reason ever: Four years ago it was actually mandatory to drive in the daytime with lights on, but then the cyclops dictator for life was late for a meeting due to all the glare from the motorcycles' headlights slowing down his motorcade.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...s/P1000782.jpg
Taking a nice little break to get the bugs out of our ears.
We arrived at the border crossing at around 3:00pm again and were ushered to the 'Cambodian Embassy' (was actually an abandoned parking lot with a bunch of fixers mulling around, not the real Embassy), overpaid for our visas and bikes to get across the border and made it through with no problems!
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...es/GateHDR.jpg
Hello Cambodia!
The border crossing was actually very interesting, and the first hour past the archway into Cambodia would rival our two weeks in Thailand in terms of stories.
What exists at the former smuggling town of Poipet is a no man's land between Thailand and Cambodia, which has turned into a casino town. It takes only about 15 minutes to walk from one side to the other, but there is a tremendous draw, with people coming to gamble from both sides due to the almost open border. I ran into a dozen Chinese from Guangzhou (or so they say...) in the line for the entry stamp , so you know the gambling is good. While this haven is celebrated by some, it also becomes a nightmare for others.
We met Hermann from Cameroon sitting dejectedly at the Custom's Office near the Cambodian side. Apparently he had been stuck here for a month. His employer in Thailand needed him to make a visa run, so his Thai visa had been canceled upon leaving Aranyaprathet. Prepared with a Cambodian visa, he marched towards Poipet. However, the Cambodians refuse to give him a stamp to allow him to enter. You see, Cambodia has a huge problem with our friends the Nigerian Princes of e-mail spam fame. It has unfortunately become a hide-out where the Princes can scam conveniently, and in a typical knee-jerk reaction, the borders are closed to Africans.
Hermann was now stuck with a canceled Thai visa and a Cambodian visa that was not useful. His company then apparently closed up their Thai office without helping him, and being as there was no Cameroon Embassy in either country, he was high and dry. We tried to convince him to hop on our bikes to sneak past the guards, but he wouldn't do it. And the worst part about it was that the whole time this conversation was going on, the Cambodians were crossing unchecked behind us due to the open border.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...es/Pushers.jpg
Nobody looked under that tarp or checked any ID for any of the hundreds of push-carts going through every hour.
After getting some dinner, we rode for a couple hours into Siem Reap, but not before the most exciting part of any border crossing. Stickers.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...diaSticker.jpg
It must have been almost 2 hours straight riding in the dark, through a series of quick and light rain showers before we arrived in Siem Reap. Arriving at night is almost boring, since you cannot make out anything of the city. Pete had visited some three years ago and with his amazing memory led us both through the dark and narrow streets to a guesthouse he had stayed in previously. Yet another night ride. It's really starting to get old.
Nice, it seems you got your motors running and headed on the highway looking for an adventure and whatever comes on your way.
Thanks of the report + ob. whining: why not report how the engine rebuild went?
Nice one...now pictures from Ankor!
Greetings
One of the three
Hooray another update! Thanks for keeping us in the loop Hans!
That poor guy at the border. I can't believe he's been there a whole month and hasn't tried making a run for it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by moilami
Ah yes. Apologies for this. What happened with the rebuild was unfortunately uneventful. The shop picked up a new piston (same as an XR250, but with a shorter stroke I believe) and then had to go out and fab a cylinder sleeve and he told me to come back and I thought we would build it together, but he ended up just doing it all himself so that was rather upsetting. I'm bummed I didn't get any photos of the shiny new bits as well. :sad:
Awesome :clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by GRF_Hans
GRF_Hans, The pictures of your most recent ride-report seem broken... Assuming it doesn't have anything to do with the Chinese GFW, any chance you could fix them? I'm itching to see more of your trip.
Edit...
Ok, so I went all hackery and found that this image broken image:
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...diaSticker.jpg
Is really here:
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...diaSticker.jpg
(note the change in date).
You can also read the whole official ride report here:
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea..._Thailand.html
GRF_Hans, thanks for cross-posting your reports here!
Haha thanks! I just noticed that myself. Will update the OP now.Quote:
Originally Posted by CantDecide
EDIT: UPDATED whoo!
Edit: The photos should be fixed now. The url's change from when Pete puts them up and the ride reports get finished so it always breaks links. Apologies.
Hello mychinamoto brethren! A new update for anybody following us :D
Ride Report – Siem Reap to Stung Treng
Siem Reap was one of the big highlights of our trip. Pete had been three years ago and knew the important things to see. We ended up taking a five day break there, with three days devoted completely to Angkor Thom. I never realized how immense this entire area is, because it definitely takes more than three days to complete the tour, although after three you definitely have a pretty good idea of what it's all about.
The first day that we went we tried to sneak our way in to the temple complex on our motorbikes, but the security guards busted us. Apparently only locals are allowed in on motorbikes due to several cases of foreigners causing accidents. All was not lost, however, as we ended up finding a tuk-tuk driver named Johnny who was a very informative and jovial tour-guide and gave us a lot of pro-tips and background about the place.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...homfaces_2.jpg
Bayon may have been my favorite stop in the entire complex. The place is adorned with hundred of faces, keeping watch in every direction.
In our furthest trek away from Siem Reap with Johnny, we rode about 45 minutes out of town to Banteay Srey, a very well-maintained ruin. The red earth and stones made for an interesting contrast after spending so much time amongst the gray Angkor Thom buildings. Maybe it was because of all the time we had spent crawling around the towering faces, nagas (snake bannisters), and whatnot that made Banteay Srey seem quite like a miniature red clay mock-up. The carvings were exquisite, however, and it made for some great photos.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...eayWalkway.jpg
The next stop would be the famed Aki Ra landmine museum.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...les/Gunner.jpg
For those of you who don't know about this guy, you should check it out here. Formerly a Khmer Rouge child soldier responsible for laying mines, upon reaching adulthood he realized the horrible damage his past was doing to Cambodia's future. With his pointy stick in hand, he began to dig up mines, one at a time, by hand. To date he has cleared mines numbering in the tens of thousands.
On the way back from the landmine museum, we also stopped at the killing field in Siem Reap. Once an elementary school, it has since been converted to a monastery, an AIDS shelter, and an orphanage. At a nearby temple, we spotted some of the kids playing.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...es/BikeBoy.jpg
In between our three scattered days at Angkor, we managed to take the bikes out sans load-out to visit Bang Melea. Pete kept referring to it as an Indiana Jones temple, so of course my interest was at a very heightened state.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...verRedRoad.jpg
We decided to take a huge 120km detour to the temple because we knew it would be a dirt road there and also why not. It felt nice to do some wheelies and get the bikes dirty again after almost two weeks of road riding in Thailand.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...WickedTire.jpg
There we go. (We also noticed that when all our gear is on the bikes, the rear suspension is so compressed that hitting any moderately-sized bump will cause the rear tire to rub against the exhaust pipe, creating that nice clean ring of rubber on the right side of the tire.)
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea.../Minefield.jpg
This photo was taken right at the side of the road out. Signs like these can be seen everywhere, and it is a sad reminder of Cambodia's recent past. We believe that this is warning people not to go chop wood because of mines in the forest.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...sOneBridge.jpg
Pausing for a quick photo-shoot on the bridge leading up to the temple.
Bang Melea was fantastic. The giant tower in the center of the complex had collapsed and taken down most of the buildings around it. This meant that for quite some time, the temple was relatively forgotten. When we showed up, there was nobody there and we had the entire place to ourselves, save for the two guides who helped direct us. Trees had taken over inside, with branches sticking out of every small crevice. It made for some amazing lighting due to the jungle-like canopy over the entire ruin. Much like Angkor Wat, the Khmer Rouge had used Bang Melea as a refuge and as a result the entire surrounding area was mined.
After five days, Pete and I both felt completely templed-out. Our next stop would be Ratanakiri province in the seldom visited northeast of Cambodia. From our fellow Khmai-Irish ADV Rider Peader (Jacl-Kampuchea), we learned about the Death Highway, a grueling 200km of pure sand in the dry season, and mud in the wet season. Of course we decided that it would be a great idea to conquer it in the loaded out Shinerays.
It would take us three days to get to the start of the trail from Siem Reap, so we mapped out a route taking us through Choam, Sra Em, Chhep, across the Mekong to Stung Treng, and then to Ban Lung, the capital of (and perhaps only city in) Ratanakiri.
Our first stop, Choam, is a quiet town. Several of the top Khmer Rouge leaders ended up making their homes here in the mountains, an ideal location because of the strategic advantages and also because of the proximity to Thailand in case the need to flee ever arose. The reason that we had chosen to travel through here was because it is the final resting place of Pol Pot, the man responsible for deaths of millions of Cambodians through his horrible purges and reforms.
He died of a 'heart attack' in 1998 just as the Khmer Rouge surrendered. Rumor has it that his last order was to have one of the men negotiating the concessions murdered along with his wife and children, then have their bodies “run over by trucks.”
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...Creamation.jpg
Creamation.
It was actually a rather interesting day, as Pete noted in his article, we received several bad omens on the ride out, witnessing a horrible car accident, and then watching a house burn down.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...BurningHDR.jpg
The same day we visited Choam, we stopped in Sra Em, the nearest town to the fabled Prasat Preah Vihear. Two years ago, UNESCO named it a cultural heritage site for Cambodia, and ever since, the Thais have been so upset about it that the literally shell the temple. Built on a mountain-top, it is one of the most amazing sites that we have stopped at so far.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...ahSoldiers.jpg
The only people up there besides Lewis, an Englishman that we'd met in Siem Reap the night before, were soldiers. There were guns and RPGs lying around everywhere.
On the initial ride up we were prevented from going to the top, and afterward we would find out that it was because we had spray painted our names translated into Thai on our gas tanks. You see, the Cambodians don't like the Thais so much because any time there is domestic unrest, they start shelling Prasat Preah Vihear to distract the populous and drum up nationalism.
We made sure to distribute tons of our stickers at the site, so when UNESCO visits, they'll know who was there.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...tickerKid2.jpg
After hanging out with a few off-duty soldiers, we attempted to make our way to Stung Treng. A town on the other side of the Mekong River, on the map it looked like only a 200km journey.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...gtheBridge.jpg
This is the bridge that exemplifies the type of roads connecting Stung Treng and Prasat Preah Vihear.
Despite our utmost effort, we arrived in Chhep about 6 hours later. We had a dinner at a nice guesthouse/restaurant before continuing on towards Stung Treng at around 8 or 9 o'clock. After only an hour of trekking, we realized that this was insane. In an hour, we had managed only 10-15 kilometers. It was some of the most brutal sand and ruts we had seen the entire trip, and trying to motor over it with no light was a ridiculous endeavor. Only later would we discover that Chhep actually means “stop” in Khmer, some advice that we should have heeded from the guesthouse owners repeated requests that we stay the night at their place before continuing in the morning.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea.../GRFNight1.jpg
We did manage to take an awesome long-exposure shot, however.
So after the said hour, we decided that the best idea would be to turn around and wait until morning to tackle the trail. After a nice bucket-shower and a decent night's sleep, we hit what would be quite the scenic route through some beautiful forests. We ran into several downed trees and collapsed bridges, which required some serious improvisation to make it around. The last obstacle for us to clear was the mighty Mekong River, the lifeblood of Southeast Asia. We descended a 40 meter, near-vertical ramp and boarded a ferry.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea...atBikeWide.jpg
The ride was about 15 minutes, and quite pleasant, save for the flock of 30 chickens sitting right next to me tied together by their feet.
When we got off the boat, we made a left turn and ended up at a nice guesthouse. While we were unloading, we met up with an Austrian fellow by the name Bernhard who has been riding his 1980s BMW around the world for the past two years. After chatting for 20 minutes, we got some food and then crashed out. It had been one of the most eventful stretches of our trip.
Is it just me or is this getting better and better with every update? You guys are seriously starting to piss me off, leave some riding for us please.
http://www.greatrideforward.com/Grea.../GRFNight1.jpg
Awesome picture!
Hey this ride report is serious advrider material, are you guys posting there too? These stories and pictures need to be widely spread...
Thanks of the report. Epic stuff. I second Felix on putting this to ADV.
Haha. Only Vietnam and China left to go, so the reports are drawing to a close.Quote:
Originally Posted by felix
Yea our ADV thread is here. Same material as is on MCM, but those forums aren't nearly as fun!
If you don't mind me asking, what processing techniques did you apply in Aperture to these two pictures? The sepia tone look in the lower one is awesome, and the contrast looks great in the other one. Maybe respond with a PM or something...Quote:
Originally Posted by GRF_Hans
Thanks!
Beautiful. Finally a photography question. I've been mixing and tweaking a bunch of the presets to get what I want. The first is Toy Camera with lessened vignette, a few minor adjustments to the brightness and contrast. The second is actually an HDR, then a combo of Toy Camera, High Contrast Sepia, and Punch, with a few minor tweaks. Glad you like em!
Ack! The images are broken again!
Ditto here in Shanghai. My system will not load the pix in your latest post, even with my grandma-buster running. Where are your pix hosted?Quote:
Originally Posted by CantDecide
Felix, what are you using to view this thread?
thanks!
My laptop.Quote:
Originally Posted by euphonius
I can't see them anymore either unfortunately. Well, they were nice while they lasted...
I think they should be working again now. I don't know why the urls keep changing on the pics...Quote:
Originally Posted by felix
Sorry.