Peninsular Malaysia rendezvous part 2

Done with lunch, we headed north. The plan was for us to ride straight to Malaysian-Thai border, before retiring to the lead rider's parents' house. After Penang, we again entered the highway and maintained a 130km/h average speed. It was a boring route, without much to see, plus the fact that we rode with a full, cholesterol-laden stomach. Then, came the highlight of the journey. We reached Changlon, a northern district where riders would normally stop before entering Thailand. We were greeted by a group of CBX riders, and true to Malaysian hospitality, they guided us to a "cendol" restaurant. We spent almost an hour here, before we continued our journey to Padang Besar. Now, the ride had become more interesting, as we rode through B-road, with picturesque sceneries, the route cuts through a sugarcane plantation, the biggest in Malaysia..

My Wife

Alun Davies wannabe...

At about 4pm, we reached our destination, Padang Besar. What a ride! 491 km in total.

Not much excitement though, as Padang Besar is normally frequented for shopping, heaven for cheap Thailand products. Both my panniers were fully-packed with things, as by the next day, i had to continue my journey to Kelantan together only with my wife. I had instructions from work, to settle some matters in Kelantan, and they "had" to have me go. Nevermind, more about that later. Just mentioning, to highlight my points about the "plans go awry" thing..

Apis - CBX750, Me- ER6n , Ustad Nazri-CBX750, Nas - Virago 535

Shared success..

We spent about 2 hours in Padang Besar, before finally heading back to Padang Sera, our lead rider's hometown, our stop for the first night.

Padang Sera, Kedah. North Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia rendezvous - 1705km round adventure

"DIBUSH" ER6n ; THE MAIN ACTOR

"TABBY" VIRAGO 535 ; SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sometimes, things happen not according to your plan. You can plan months, but when the time comes, it got out of your hands. The best thing is, sometimes, it turns out better than your plan. Plan i did, for a trip way north, to Malaysia-Thailand border, supposedly for sorta final ride, before Ramadhan. Expected ride date : 9th and 10th July. There would be 9 bikes altogether. two CBX 750, one ER6n, one Versys 65o, one Kawa Z1000sx, one Yamaha fazer 1000, one Kawasaki Voyager, one Kawasaki GTR1400, and surprise-surprise, my other bike "Tabby", Yamaha Virago 535cc. The plan would be for me and the wifey on my trusty steed Kawasaki ER6n, and my tabby will be ridden by Nas, a friend whose ZZR250cc was "hospitalised"....

Day 1, 9th July 2011

We assembled at Rawang Rest Area, approximately 7.30 a.m. The wifey and I were late. when we arrived, all the others were about to finish their breakfast already. We grabbed a bun and a can of coffee, and off we went. There were other groups as well, all ready for their own plan. We waved and left the area towards a petrol station, where we then filled our tanks.

Dato' Lan, Datin, and Me

Done with refuelling, we head north, averaging 130km/h, as we had to take into account the most comfortable speed for my Tabby. Surprisingly, she coped well, at times overtaking me at 140km/h. The only downside she had was her puny tank, and without a fuel gauge, it was such a hassle to be always on alert of the mileage. pity Nasrul harhar..

Came Tapah Rest Area, we had a quick stop, the smallest tank called for fuel. The others refill as well, just to be on the safe side. The lead rider, being a no nonsense person, insisted that we carry on until our next stop, where lunch would take place. I didn't even have time to light up a ciggie, too bad the leader was a non-smoker.. i'll keep that in mind, when i next ride with him hehehe...
Next came Sungai Perak Rest Area, where we were supposed to have our lunch. The fact that the missus and me skipped our breakfast had started to take its toll on us.. I felt famished, what with the lack of nicotine in my body. I started to hallucinate, the ER6 seemed like a BMW GTL by now.. sweet...

About an hour later, we reached penang. The lead rider led us to a roadside restaurant, supposedly the best place to have "pulut panggang", a glutinous rice based delicacy. To our dismay, it wasn't ready yet, so we had to settle with more common lunch, me choosing the fried rice. It was blasting hot, most had our T-shirts wet inside weather-proof jacket. I had to take off my waterproof riding boots, as by then, my socks were already wet with sweat inside the boot. My hallucinations were getting worse. I, by then, thought that i was actually Tom Cruise on a Ducati... I mean, how else would i describe myself, when i saw so many faces looking in awe towards our bike group.. nice..

bentong breakfast ride

SELF PROCLAIMED HOG PRESIDENT...

GOMBAK TOLL PLAZA, on the way back home


MEE AIRPORT... only in bentong

GOMBAK BHP, RV point

shadow gang - VTWIN LINE-UP BIKERS

With the shadow, enter a certain lifestyle changes... i can no more wear adidas windbreaker, imitation magnum cheapo helmets, and black suede formal shoes.

a "key" handkerchief, as we call it, is a must. half-helmet, optional, as it is illegal in Malaysia. leather jacket, preferably rusty, worn-out look, and better if there are patches of leather here and there on the jacket..( you see, in Malaysia, the more times you are brushed with near-death experiences, the better... people will look-up at you, with awe...). Then, a whole-day affair of leather boots hunting is required, preferably at well-known bike accesories shop, macinda-pertama complex, campbell complex... friends, when you use a big-bike, money is no object man.. :)))

Then, there's a need for you to have a circle of friends who share the same passion as you. oh, sorry, it's not a "need", it's a "must" man.. or else, how are you supposed to share your biking problems and what not, how are you supposed to go ride to Genting for breakfast, man?

when you are down, after that heated arguments you had with your missus about the rm1000 you spent for a new exhaust system, friends are supposed to be there for you and give you support... that's what friends are for...

finally, when you have friends, who will be there for you forever and ever, friends who look fierce and brutal and fear nothing, but with a soft-heart and will cry with you when your carburator is overflowing, or when you are stranded with a flat tyre, you now need to go for excursions, or go ride, or go for a cuppa, or just meet-up to catch up on things, sometimes...

heck, that's what friends are for... man..

chamang ride part 2

CHAMANG WATERFALL

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

BBT BIKERS LINEUP
BENTONG RESTHOUSE on our journey home

Karak exit.. no exit, haleem rode on, swiftly, smiling mischieviously under his visor.. true to true bikers camaraderie, we followed faithfully, albeit in total mystery.. finally we arrived at bentong, and stopped to refuel at a petronas. we quickly grabbed haleem and made him confess of where he planned to lead us to..

so, truth be told, chamang it was. we were quite happy with the destination. syam quickly bought some gardenia whilst the others bought "jajan" to chew during the picnic.. harhar..

Chamang Waterfall ride

This ride was way back in 2009. It's sorta a welcome ride for me, as i had just bought my first "big-bike", a honda shadow 400cc, no less :))

As it involved only my collegue, we decided to start our journey from putrajaya.

Truth be told, the ride wasn't supposed to be a ride at all. We had to attend a rehearsal for MOE monthly assembly that very morning, which was scheduled to end at 12 noon. However, luck was on our side, it ended around 10am...

Typical of cunning husbands around the globe, we immediately came up with a ride plan. To cut a long story short, we decided to head to Karak, for lunch. So 7 bikes left Putrajaya, ( adi- shadow 400, Amir-Virago 535, Hezreen- jaguh, Meeyz- shadow 600, Sham- Vulcan5, Haleem- Pegaso III, Rozi- shadow 600 ) happily cruising on the hi-way, oblivious to the fact that none of us informed our wives about this particular rendezvous :)))

Strange things happen in rides all over the world, you know... and strange things happened to us too. Came karak, the leader didn't stop... our single line formation naturally became a double line formation, as we looked at each other, wondering loudly where would we be led by halim to..

to be continued..

unforeseen hiccups

i wish to apologize to my dear friends for the hiccups in updating this blog. Ramadhan was a busy month for me, with loads of things to do, yet with so limited time. How i wish i could steal some time to continue with my biking history (harhar), but alas, a man's got to do what a man's got to do... first things first..
well, now that Ramadhan is over, comes Syawal, the month of celebration. enter another hectic week, but at least there is time to peek into this passion of mine..
let me put some things straight first, then i promise, i'll serve you with my next course.. :-)