As well as riding, the group took part in activities such as Elephant riding, jungle adventures and cooking schools.

Every day was different in terms of riding, food, accommodation and experiences along the way. But everyone enjoyed getting on the bikes, and riding the quiet hilly twisty Northern Thai roads, which you share with scooters, oxen and a variety of rural traffic.

One of the favorite parts of the ride is the Mae Hong Son loop, and the photo to the right shows the town of MHS.

Tour Vital Statistics

• Group sizes 13 + 10 = 23 Participants in total
• 20 riders & 3 pillions
• 17 guys & 6 gals
• 10 days of riding
• Bikes used: Kawasaki ER650 =8, Honda CBR 250 =2 Honda CB 750 =1,Honda CB 400 = 9
• Total minutes of rain on trip = 40
• No of minor crashes = 3
• Total damage bills paid over 20 bikes = $300 NZ
• No of parking spills = 2
• Kiwi guides = 3; Thai guides = 2

The Bikes

Everyone is always interested in what we ride in Thailand. As you can see from the vital statistics is that there was a mixture. Given the conditions, those on the Kawasaki ER 650s and the Honda CBRs were more than happy with their choices and these bikes were perfect for the roads and speeds we were riding. The older Hondas had irritable issues, though the Honda Steed 400 V twin I rode was reliable and a dream for the whole ride.

In the attached photo, you will see that the ER650 was great riding 3-up Thai style (for a short distance), but Phil & Jane loved it as a 2-up bike for the whole journey.

Trip Logistics

Managing 23 people on a trip like this as you will appreciate has logistical challenges. As well as getting suitable accommodation for all it is a time-consuming exerciser to arrive at a restaurant with such a large number say for lunch and expect to complete the meal in an hour.

In order to make the riding journey a pleasant experience for all, we decided to break the group into 2: the first group of 13 left Chiang Mai on the bike trip 24 hours before the second group of 10, who followed in our footsteps. This also gave us the chance to make minor alterations to stops and new discoveries as we travelled along the journey.

However, we all met up for a day at our rest day in Pai which is where the attached picture was taken of the whole group and our bikes.

Flooding- what flooding?

What you can see in the attached picture is NOT flooding in Thailand- it is the houseboat resort we stayed at in the Sri Lanna National Park.

So many people have asked me whether we were drowned out or riding in 2 feet of water. The answer is absolutely NO. Where we were in Northern Thailand the weather was warm, sunny and dry, with rain just a couple of times. In fact in Northern Thailand some areas were suffering from drought.

The only evidence of flooding was flying into Bangkok, and you could see through the plane windows that the Northern suburbs had a lot of surface water. A newspaper photo showed planes at Bangkok airport inundated with water. What they failed to say was that was not the commercial airport!