Great Ride Forward - Yunnan and SE Asia

[slabo]

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.

[milton]

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.

[moilami]

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 The adventure deepen.

[euphonius]

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

[GRF_Pete]

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:

[ChinaV]

$13 to go have a beer in Myanmar seems like a good deal . I've always wanted to try a premium quality Myanmar brew .

This ride report rocks, shit happens and you guys keep taking it in stride and moving on ....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 .

Keep it coming, we need more .

Cheers!
ChinaV

[barnone]

I was wondering how all the sudden you've got that much time to read everyone's posts and respond to them as well.

Yeah, I started seeing all these GRF_Hans posts and figured it was a bot attack. I am enjoying your journey. Thanks

[moilami]

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

Absolutely! Like pretty much any place in this planet 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!


Edit: And remember to do the research in proper GRF_Hans & Co way by watching Rambo 4

[felix]

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!

[GRF_Hans]

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 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...

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.

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?

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.

Why didn't you just call Shineray for some warranty support .

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. :(:(:(