<Trip Report> Newbie Ride Singapore to Phuket

[geeteethree]

Bike - BMW F800GS - Distance Covered, approx 3,500km.

 

 

Leg 1 - Singapore to Hatyai

 

Lessons for Newbies

- make sure you have a touch and go card for the toll on Malaysia side of 2nd link. If you don't you have to wait until 9a.m. for the booth which sells them to open. Luckily, with some advice from fellow bro's I avoided this and borrowed a card. Managed to get through around 5:30a.m.

 

- make sure you have your ownership papers and stand in the long queue for customs in thai border post. Get your customs doc, then go next window and have it lodged, lots of waiting and not smoking here Stop a little along the road to get your thai insurance. On way back you don't need to stand in the first line anymore, just go to the second window and hand in your customs doc, sign a couple of times and head off.

 

Met large group of BMW riders at GP Esso. General love fest before I headed off.

 

Uneventful trip up the NSE except for GPS getting confused when I took a bike lane which veered off near KL bypass. Ended up on secondary roads so rather than retrace my steps I just made the most of it and went touring around, re-joining main highway at Ipoh. Stopped by police at Ipoh for licence check.

 

First impression of bike is good except the seat is not made for my arse....damn sore!

 

Got to hatyai and into hotel no problem...they all used to bikers there and always allow park bikes by security post.

 

Wandered around Hatyai for first time then had an early night.

 

 

 

Leg 2 - Hatyai to Phuket

 

Up at 5a.m. for the ride to Phuket. What a ride this is, just amazing. No hurry this time so lots of stops and lots of the usual thai smiles and friends made - love stopping at the little shops along the road. The portion of the ride around Krabi is great as the mist clears amongst the rocky outcrops.

 

This is the way to tour - a reasonable ride and no hurry. Can stop to check out things along the way and it's here that the F800gs comes into it's own. Heading off down a dusty road is no problem. Reasonable water, gravel, ruts, mud also no problem.

 

Had a moment heading into the hills around a quarter way there. A truck had died 3/4 way going up the steep hill, driver stopped to see what the problem was, when he got out handbrake cable snapped and as I arrived around the corner I was greeted by the sight of a large truck coming fast and backwards toward me, totally out of control. Luckily there was a small gap in the oncoming traffic just and I managed to get around. Good training and years of riding saved my arse here. No panic, just a quick counter-steer and then again to recover. If I had rounded that corner 10 seconds later....who knows!

 

Truck made the papers the next day - it was a total mess. I didn't get a pic as the hill was too steep to stop on so after making sure no one was injured I headed off.

 

Look out for dogs and cows. Also be careful of the riders doing u-turns on their scooters - they are mostly good but some have no concept of the time it takes to turn in front of you. Also, thai drivers think nothing of overtaking when they see you coming towards them. They are so used to small bikes they think you belong on the left side of your lane and they don't allow as much importance to you as if you were a car. Always be prepared to get to the left when you see them come into your lane - that's what they are expecting you to do.

 

Leg 3 - Phuket to Singapore - one long ride

 

Had a business reason to get back to Singapore quickly. Did this leg in one 18hour stint. Thai immigration is a nightmare on way back - at least a one hour wait. Malaysia speedy as always.

 

Best to avoid NSE at night, especially in rain. Not sure what's worse, the slower cars who change lanes without indicating, the trucks or the drivers from our own country who think nothing of brushing past you as you try to get out of "their" lane. I used the rest stops a lot, especially towards the end.

 

Best part of the ride was the Krabi area again. I timed it for around 6:30a.m. just when it's beginning to become light.

 

Make sure you pack something to wipe your visor regularly - I used a soft cloth...definitely needed.

 

Summary, if not very important I would never have attempted the 18hour ride back. Touring is best when you have a 4-5 hour trip in front of you and can make lots of stops to have some fun. If I was doing Phuket again I would break it up, stay the night at KL, next at Hatyai, probably one at Krabi and then on to Phuket. Would be perfect.

 

Respect to the guys who do this on cubs

 

Will load some (very few) pics I took shortly.

 

Enjoy.

 

Edited September 17, 2012 by geeteethree
added pics

[wait4me]

u are the lone bike right ?

think i saw u when i was driving back ,

u quite near phuket already

[nikonll]

can't wait for pics

[geeteethree]

Sorry bro..been away visiting Ducati factory in Italy...yes, that was me...need dig out the very few pics

[bunny_hui]

Good info to share :thumb:

[franz71]

Hi geeteethree, couple friends and I will be attempting Phuket as well soon. Can I just gather info on petrol stations enroute to Phuket on Route4? Are they fairly easy to come by?

[Doremi]

Hi geeteethree, couple friends and I will be attempting Phuket as well soon. Can I just gather info on petrol stations enroute to Phuket on Route4? Are they fairly easy to come by?

 

Yes. The petrol stations can be found along route 4. No worries. I stopped every 150-200km for refuel.

[franz71]

Great! Thks Doremi!

[Doremi]

Great! Thks Doremi!

 

@franz71, i stopped at every 150-200km to pump petrol not because my fuel tank is small. But because their main town is spaced that far. I dont stopped by the ulu place to top up. You never know what kind of petrol they selling. lol

[franz71]

@Doremi....yup thanks. I no so worried abt my bike...touring mode get abt 300ish km per tank, it's my buddy i worried abt LOL. I need to factor in fuel stops for him coz he's gonna be dry 225/250km.

[Doremi]

@Doremi....yup thanks. I no so worried abt my bike...touring mode get abt 300ish km per tank, it's my buddy i worried abt LOL. I need to factor in fuel stops for him coz he's gonna be dry 225/250km.

 

@franz71, if his tank is going to be 225/250km. Then better stop around 180-200km. Road 4 to phuket has straights and sandy bends. I can only do 140kph max. FC actually dropped because i had to keep changing gears.

 

Btw when you going up?? Maybe i can tag along. heh!

[wait4me]

250km no problem wan

unless u particular abt the brand of petrol

[franz71]

sorry doremi, didn't check in earlier. road trip completed. Other than a oil patch in the mountain pass that the traction control sorted out. The rest was a breeze other than a sore butt. I may be the only one but I noticed Thai drivers like to take the racing line round a bend, particularly those who are driving faster. Do take note they will come uncomfortably close to your bike. Just a heads up from my riding observation.

[papabread79]

sorry doremi, didn't check in earlier. road trip completed. Other than a oil patch in the mountain pass that the traction control sorted out. The rest was a breeze other than a sore butt. I may be the only one but I noticed Thai drivers like to take the racing line round a bend, particularly those who are driving faster. Do take note they will come uncomfortably close to your bike. Just a heads up from my riding observation.

Where is ur trip report?!

[franz71]

Trip report as follows:

 

Day 1. Met up at GP Esso, pushed off at 0700. First stop Breakfast at Anthony Fishball in Yong Peng. Attemtpted to top up at the ESSO nearer to North Bound Exit. Realized they only had octance 95, never mind ..attendant refuses to sell it to us anyways. So never mind lor uturn back topped up in town - they got Octane 97 there.

Uneventful ride through all the way to Penang. Top up at Dengkil ...used the Nilai Bypass and into the Gutherie corridor (e35). Very deserted hway so pretty nice. The bike lanes here are under utlizied but a bit leceh, you can find exit points to use the main hway but remeber to get back in before the tolls. The heavens opened up on us half hour out of IPOH, so the pain in the butt act of putting on rain gear ensued.

Anopther topup in Gopeng and then into IPOH for late lunch. Weather cleared up and it bright n sunny again. Pushed for Penang to take the ferry across. Was told to avoid rush hour, we got there just ard 4pm so good to go. The ferry actually costs a bit more than the bridge but for the experience why not? Be careful how u put your bike down on the ferry...the platform is not even, my advice is go to the sides. The docking can be rather bumpy, i was caught off guard but lucky had my side stand down. Phew....

 

Went on a rouding trip thru the island to the other side - Batu Ferringhi. Traffic is slow with rush hour. toppped off one more time then onto the hotel. Rest, makan, sleep for the ride tomorrow.

[franz71]

to be contd.......

[papabread79]

Realized they only had octance 95, never mind ..attendant refuses to sell it to us anyways. So never mind lor uturn back topped up in town - they got Octane 97 there.

Motorbikes can pump 95. No restriction.

[franz71]

Motorbikes can pump 95. No restriction.

 

Yes we know, they don't wanna sell. Y argue? Go other pump lo,

[franz71]

Ok Trip report con'd

 

Day 2, Got up early and dark. Wanted to leave at 5 am, but alas, one guy forgot to print out the log card. Hotel biz center not opened. After some hunting, managed to find a 24 hr internet cafe. It's about 250m beyond Tunes Hotel on the other side of the road. Just in case anyone else runs into similar problems:)

 

Left Penang proper ard 6 am. Shot for the Sadao border. Ride was cool and there here were small groups of bikers heading that way. Friendly waves exchange of course. Changlun is the last place to top up before you go into Thailand. The last petrol station is a BHP pretty close to the border but on the other sideof the road. At immigration we joined the queue to get our passports stamped. Then get your vehicle papers done. Printouts accepted without question these days. Took the document to go buy insurance it's 13MYR and some THB amount but they seem to only want MYR. Then head back and show them the paperwork again. After all these done, then get back onto your bikes for the ride across. Big bikes may have a problem with the immigration lanes as they r narrow or purposely set up that way. No fears, just hook ard the car park on the left to bypass. We had a small crowd so it took us a while to clear. Spent about an hour there.

 

Off towards Hat Yai it was! It's about 50km away. There is a custom inspection station up the road but the detour is not really meant for bikes or cars, so go go through it but don't botherwith formalities. It was heating up in Southern Thailand. HOT! Stop for a quick brunch in Hat Yai and off again on route 4. Just when your thought it was gonna be a hot and dry day the heavens replied nayyyyyy again. Another downpour hit us just after Trang. That slowed us down. There was construction as well with huge puddles to navigate/circumvent. I followed the locals as the bikes took the dry route on the new stretch of newly paved but unopened roads on the sides. There's a lot of sediment laying ard so do be cautious.

 

Overheating on one bike made us stop for a while. Another hour lost waiting for the bike to cool. Had a chat with a local chap about our bikes. Yes, we pay too much for too little it seems LOL. Rain subsides at least and it was pretty clear from Ao Luek to Phuket. We took the bypass Route 415. By the time we reached our hotels in the Bang Tao area in Phuket it was like 6ish pm.

 

As Doremi pointed out petrol stations are not hard to come by, but make a point of asking for gasoline instead of gasohol. If you are more of a planner type, Caltex Thailand has a nice planner tool to list the petrol stations along the route. Good to be safe I reckon. There was a local gas station Phang-nga area ...the station so ulu, but the toilet so clean! LOL.

 

The 2 days of riding made me realized a few things.

 

1. My waterproof boots are no longer waterproof. Cracks in the sole joint made it unpleasant for me. Worth checking before your trip.

2. The scenery along the highway in Perlis is beautiful with the rice padis on either side.

3. Rain gear is MUST

4. Thai drivers ARE very different from Msian drivers.

5. I need a better touring seat!

Edited September 6, 2012 by franz71

[franz71]

*double post*

Edited September 6, 2012 by franz71
double post

[franz71]

Spent 2 nites in Phuket with the family ( they flew up). Time to head on home.

 

 

The return leg is very similar so ntg much to expound there. Only difference is we broke up the trip to stop over in Hat Yai and KL. Also return trip was dry ...Rain left us alone this time. My feet are pretty happy that way .

 

Hat yai is pretty much the same from what I remembered it to be. My last trip there was a good 10 years ago at least. Getting through the border was a breeze. We left Hat Yai ard 10 am. Got to the border, passports stamped, papers returned chop chop no queues. I like!

On to Ipoh for lunch. Rode into town and randomy picked a eatery. Hakka beef noodles, tad to salty fro my friends but I am ok. Went over to a coffee shop across the street and I had the BEST iced white kopi c kosong in my life. We all agreed it was good! Random pick too. Seesh.

Continued to KL to hook up with some local friends for dinner and drinks. We stayed in Subang to avoid KL traffic but got caught in a bit of it anyways. But nowhere as bad as KL.

As usual dinner and drinks tend to get a bot carried away with good friends...we were only back to bed at 3 am.

Awoke next day and started to leave at 10.30am. Traffic was manageable from KL to SG. Along the way I was thinking, when are we gonna get a road block? Well there was none....all the way until Gelang Petah, there was one on the other side! Door to door 4.5 hours inclusive of 2 fuel stops and a brunch break at Ayer Keroh A&W.

 

It's definitely nice to home. Had a short chat with immigration officer about our ride while queuing up to clear.

5 days on the road- definitely doable in 4. Virginity lost and looking forward to more.

 

Next trip maybe Northern Thailand or Cambodia. Lets see.

[geeteethree]

Hi Guys, just noticed the thread has a little life. Sorry I have not been checking in, will do so from now on and answer any questions. My thanks to Franz71 for stepping in. Good to hear about your trip, think I'll do it again soon myself.

[franz71]

Hi Guys, just noticed the thread has a little life. Sorry I have not been checking in, will do so from now on and answer any questions. My thanks to Franz71 for stepping in. Good to hear about your trip, think I'll do it again soon myself.

 

To Phuket again??

[ZZR600]

i did a trip myself to krabi in may on a burgman scoot. i found the mountain road before trang damn dangerous as there is no run off area.

[geeteethree]

To Phuket again??

 

Or maybe further north this time.