A decade of Motorbikes in Thailand

For you?

Speed, skill and danger. What more could a man want?

Do you thrive on adventure, adrenalin and freedom? Then Northern Thailand could be for you.

This mountainous area is overlaid with high-quality ribbons of tarmac. A million miles from the hellish dirt roads of Laos and Cambodia. Northern Thailand’s roads have been engineered to perfection – both encapsulating the sublime scenery and offering the rider an exhilarating experience. I often wonder if a biker designed these roads? How else did these smooth asphalt surfaces end up undulating and twisting through remote regions of rainforest as elegantly as they do?

I moved to Chiang Mai in November 2013 and six months later put this map together.

These are all fantastic routes but if I had to choose the best stretches: The 1148 going west from Song Khwae. The 120 just west of Phayao. The 1081 south of Pua to Bo Gluea. The 1149 near Mae Sai. The 108 just south of Mae Hong Son. The 1009 north of Chom Thong.  This is not to take anything away from the rest. They’re all good.

What kind of bike? Phantom

I like Honda's reliability. I had a Phantom (200cc) from Oct 2009 to Dec 2012 (3yrs) and rode 44,000km all over Thailand on it. A Phantom provides armchair comfort and is a perfect cruiser for beginners.

It was quite emotional selling this as I'd had many fantastic adventures on it. We saw parts of Thailand few foreigners get to lay their eyes on.

CBR250

Next was a CBR250 from Dec 2012 to Dec 2016 (4yrs). With good fuel economy and nimble handling it’s a great choice. I rode a hugely enjoyable 74,000km on this legend.

There are bigger bikes out there but prices rise exponentially after this for diminishing marginal utility.

CBR500

I splashed out on a brand new CBR500 in 2018 and rode an incredible 38,000km in only 1.5yrs.

Where?

In 2012 I rode 7,500km from Phuket to Pattaya on the Phantom. <<<

In 2013 I rode 11,000km from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the CBR250. >>>

In 2018 I rode 7,000km around the edge of Thailand on the CBR500. <<<

Data

	Honda Phantom TA200	Honda CBR 250	Honda CBR 500
First Registered	June 2005	July 2011	Mar 2017
Province bought	Nakhon Si Tammarat	Petchaburi	Songkla
Province sold	Bangkok	Chiang Mai	Chiang Mai
Date bought/sold	Oct 2009 Jan 2013	Jan 2013 Nov 2016	Mar 2018 Sept 2019
Age when bought	4yr 4mth	1yr 6mth	NEW
Time owned	3yr 3mth	3yr 11mth	1yr 6mth
Price paid	57,000B	70,000B	215,000B
Price sold	30,000B	45,000B	105,000B
Seller	American	New Zealand	N/A
Buyer	Australian	Thai	Thai
Km when bought	3,200	4,000	0
Km when sold	47,300	78,300	38,000
Km ridden	44,100	74,300	38,000
Total time	8yr 8mth
Total km	156,400
Round the equator	3.83 times