Buying a CBR500R in Thailand

Found Buddha racked out on Yoh Island one morning. The heat's starting to build in the Hat. Must be getting near Songkran.

Hat Yai City FC

Hat Yai City FC have just formed and play in Thailand's 4th tier. Their home ground is Jaranakon Stadium, where I go jogging most evenings. One of the lads was telling me his son plays for them so off I went. The only Farang at HYCFC's first ever competitive home match. They lost 0-1 to Pattani FC. A place famous for Muslims and bombs. For some reason they kick off at 4pm while it's still hot enough to cook eggs on car roofs.

EXGF

Wan came to HY for a weekend. Took her to a 33rd floor buffet and the beach. She seemed to enjoy herself.

Still fit.

Is this bloke's selfie stick the world's longest? He could probably solve the flat earth debate from up there.

Stag

The next weekend I was on Koh Lanta at a stag do. A handsome young Brummie has inexplicably decided to relinquish his freedom and attach himself to a ball and chain for the rest of his natural. Madness.

Good crack.

I wish them the best of luck.

Marras

I don't have many mates and spend a lot of time in introspective solitude. So, to have two visit on the same weekend was crackers.

Armin came from Pattaya and Brendan was down from Chiang Mai. They'd never met before but got on like a house on fire.

There's not much to do in the Hat so Armin drank coffee at an ice rink whereas Brendan hung out in a pub.

CBR500R

I'd been looking for a second hand bike for a while but nowt showed up. So I bit the bullet and went to Honda Big Wing (Hat Yai) and slapped 215,000B on the table. 90 minutes later I rode out on this.

This is the first time in my life I've ever bought a new car/bike. There's no feeling like putting the first kilometer on a virgin bike.

This got me thinking about my other major bike purchases in Thailand:

	Honda Phantom 200	Honda CBR250R	Honda CBR500R
First Registered	June 2005	July 2011	Mar 2018
Province bought	Nakhon Si Tammarat	Petchaburi	Songkla
Province sold	Bangkok	Chiang Mai
Date bought/sold	Oct 2009/Jan 2013	Jan 2013/Nov 2016	Mar 2018
Age when bought	4yr 4mth	1yr 6mth	New
Time owned	3yr 3mth	3yr 11mth
Price paid	57,000B	70,000B	215,000B
Price sold	30,000B	45,000B
Seller’s nationality	American	New Zealand	Dealership
Buyer’s nationality	Australian	Thai
Km when bought	3,200	4,000	0
Km when sold	47,300	78,300
Km ridden	44,100	74,300
Total time	7yr 2mth
Total km	118,400
Round the equator	2.95 times

I plan to have this bike for years and aim to ride 100,000km on it. The first 400km were the very next day as I rode from HY - Satun - Trang - Pattalung - HY. I met Stefan in Trang where we had an afternoon sauna next to a Chinese Temple - an excellent way to break up a day's ride.






The bike came with a free jacket (8k), helmet (3k), gloves (2k) and bluetooth headset (10k). The very next day I put another 100km on it going to Sakom Beach in ChaNa District.

There's not a lot here other than a few dozen burka-clad women.

The bike goes like shit off a stick. I've had her up to 175km/h (110mph) but there was a bit left in the tank. I reckon it'll do 185km/h (115mph) top end although there's rarely an opportunity to hit that in Thailand.

It sits at 80-90mph as sweet as a nut. The most fun is just blasting through the gears. There's not much will beat it from the lights. It's also nimble in contrast to the Rebel500 which felt like a tank when I took one for a spin.


A few days later I added another 200km and found a great little run through Khao Nam Kang National Park near the Malay border.

Head 50km south to Sadao. Turn left and enjoy 40km of Chiang Mai-esque twisties. I'm well out of practice but that didn't stop my enjoyment of the scenery between Sadao and NaTawee.

You meet all sorts out in the sticks of Songkla Province. Air conditioned coffee stops are a must in the heat.

After 700km I'm delighted with it.

Owa the moon.

Keep living the dream.