2011 First Farkle - Suspension

It's 2011 and I have clocked 23,000km on the bike in 6 months.....and you thought that I'd leave the bike alone huh? Well fat chance. 

OK confession time, normally this is where you'll hear lines such as:

A) "my riding has improved and I feel that my suspension is not keeping up" or 

B) "I feel I need to make the change in order to feel more of what the tyres and the bike is doing"

as means and/or justification for the change.

Let me just say it straight.....that's just utter rubbish. The truth is, I have little(if any and if I'm feeling generous towards myself) or no skills whatsoever and as such decided to plonk on an aftermarket rear shocks to assist in keeping the bike upright. If you've never heard of YSS Suspension you can check them out here.

YSS vs stock....it's beefier

All CNC'd nicely

Nice rebound adjustment vs stock

Straight out of the box, you can see that it's well constructed and machined, the pistons and springs are larger vs stock which means it'll take longer to heat up and faster to cool down when it's working hard. You can only adjust the preload and rebound rate, there's no compression adjustment, though that's fine with me, cause the more I can adjust the higher the chances for me to screw it up.

I managed to install this in time for my Golok-Betong ride (report coming up later), and my first impression is that it feels firmer than stock though at no time was the ride hard or jarring. It did take me a while to tweak the settings as I had my panniers on, but once I got it right it was saaaweeeet!

Definitely happy with the first farkle of the year.

Phi Phi - To the beach we go.

1st Feb to 8th Feb 2011.

Hardly a month after coming back from my tour of Indochina I am back in Thailand. I didn't hit any beach on the previous trip as my visa ran out, so definitely something that I've got to rectify. Rode up with Husref and Shahrin as they've been to Phi Phi on a number of occasions. 

We crossed into Thailand via Wang Kelian this time, as we're taking the road that hugs the coast. 

We stayed in Ao Nang and not surprising given that it's the Chinese New Year hols there's a lot of Malaysians there. They come in all sorts, be it bikes(kapchai's included), cars, vans and buses. The next day we made our way to Krabi in order to park our bikes and catch the ferry to Phi Phi.

We looked like real goofballs as we've packed our gear into the bags, so yeah kids, a word of warning, "these stunts are performed by trained professionals and should never be attempted on your own".

I knew that silly hat would be handy.....

It takes about an hour and a half to reach there so there's plenty of time to absorb the sun and catch some zzzzzs.

noice....very noice..

It's quickly apparent once on the island that it's "farang" galore. Generally young and generally hot....wash eyes maximus.

Narrow streets lined up with restaurants and guesthouses

Famous donut lady....didn't try any though.

Phi Phi is like a 2nd Sweden.

OK Phi Phi is totally unlike the other parts of Thailand that I've travelled to. 1st thing that strikes me is that, it's not cheap, so be warned. A fried rice with chicken can set you back 120baht, so a "simple" meal here can easily cost you RM18 - 20. Along with accommodation, you should set aside RM150-200 a day.

There's a lot of lazing around during the day, just chilling by the beach, taking a nap or go for a massage. It's the night time that it comes alive with all the parties, either at the bars or the beach, and it can go on till the wee hours of the morn. After a couple of late nights my "I sleep at 10pm" ass was begging for mercy. What to dooo you're not young anymore......

I'd definitely recommend the sunset cruise if you're here. It starts at 2pm and takes you to a few places for sightseeing, snorkeling, canoeing and some beach football and get's back by 7 after witnessing a brilliant sunset. Good way to spend the day I say.

We left Phi Phi on Saturday and rode our bikes into Hat Yai for the night before crossing the border the next day. I was supposed to continue touring on my own before hooking up with some guys in Golok, but unfortunately there was a gasket leak on my bike. It's not major nor is it a show stopper, though I'd feel more at ease to sort that one out before heading back up for the Golok-Betong ride.