Chiang Mai X-Centre

& TJ Memorial Plaque Run!!!">Simon & TJ Memorial Plaque Run!!!

Posted on 06. Feb, 2010 by iankiwi in Ian's Blog, Trip Reports

To fol­low up on the Memo­r­ial Ride we had here a cou­ple of Months back in Mem­ory of Our Mates:  Simon “Siinthai” Grant & John “TJ” Hamil­ton We had some Brass Plaques made up for the Trees We planted in Mae Hong Son in their Mem­ory. One of Simon’s Friends from Phuket, Steve was up so to fit in with His time here it was a bit of a Rush Job and I had a Steel Frame and Peg fab­ri­cated to Mount the Plaques on then it was Off to deliver them!!!

A Good Deed done by all, Wasn’t such a Large Group as the Memo­r­ial Ride but for Me No Less Fun!!!  Fan­tas­tic Ride, Trip and Com­pany!!! The Guys should be Proud of Us and I am sure they would have been Smil­ing the Entire two Days watch­ing Our Antics!!!
We meet at the Kafe then off towards Doi Inthanon where We stopped to Wait for the Snail who had to do some­thing in Chi­ang Mai and would catch Up.

Rex, Naomi & Steve.

Off up the Moun­tain We went and a Fan­tas­tic Ride We had all being on the Same Size Bikes. I was Laugh­ing out Loud dic­ing with David all the way. Him on a D-Tracker and Myself on the Trusty KLX. Once up the Top We took a cou­ple of Pho­tos and dis­cov­ered Rex hadn’t been there before so Here is His Photo.

I had both Simon and TJ’s Plaque Firmly Strapped to My Bike after fab­ri­cat­ing a Frame and Steel Peg for them back at the X-Centre, and What a Ride they Got all the Way  Hope the Boys enjoyed it!!!

We didn’t stay long so off back down the Moun­tain and down into Mae Chaem. I was still in the Flow from the Ride up so it just felt Per­fect on the Nim­ble KLX blast­ing down the Hill. I waited for quite a while near the bot­tom but only Naomi turned up so we made our way into town and refu­eled and time for Lunch. This is when the rest turned up and I learned of Snail’s Mishap. He had the mis­for­tune of los­ing His D-Tracker on a gravel cov­ered cor­ner, He Proudly showed His Skinned Hands, Going Down an Extreme Rar­ity for Him!!!

Lucky MotoRex had a Photo of Snail’s Lay Down for Us to share!!!

Snail try­ing to get his bike out.

After Lunch We started out at an easy Pace which grad­u­ally picked up into the Fastest Ride I have Had to Mae Hon Song, Our Lit­tle 250’s were Pinned and You would be amazed at How Fast they can be cor­nered. One of the Best Fun Rides I have ever Had. Both Myself and Snail were Sur­pris­ing how lit­tle dif­fer­ence there is between the D-Tracker on Road Tyres and the KLX on Dual Pur­pose Tyres ?
Checked into Our Rooms and Time for a Beer!

Decided to do the Plaque Plac­ing then and there so off We went.

Simon’s Plaque.

TJ’s Plaque.

Group Photo after finishing!!!

We even decided to Light some Lanterns for the Guys so up went two of these.

A Night Photo of the Tem­ple where the Guys Memo­r­ial Trees are Planted!!! Beautiful!!!

A Photo of the Restau­rant & Bars oppo­site where We Drank many a Toast the both Simon & TJ!!!

It was a Pretty Big Night and a lot of Fun. Next morn­ing after Break­fast We all went Our own ways as i had things to do back in Chi­ang Mai. As I left Snail had a Depart­ing Chal­lenge say­ing He had got back from MHS to CM Years ago on His Old BMW in 2 Hours 54 Min­utes. I never really thought about it at first as I enjoyed the Beau­ti­ful Morn­ing and Great Ride but by the time I was at Sop­pong I was start­ing to get into the Flow again and Pick­ing up the Pace. It is Just So much Fun on a Small Bike and So easy to throw around I was Fly­ing by the time i got to Pai. Re-Fueled there and Off again!!! The Road was Pretty Slip­pery over the Moun­tain and I had some Great Slides Enter­ing and Exit­ing the Cor­ners. I was Buzzing all the Way. I refu­eled again with V-Power at the Shell Sta­tion where the Pai Road inter­sects the 107. Quick Blast back to the X-Centre and Time Check: 2 Hours 46 Min­utes!!!
OK to be fair the Roads are prob­a­bly bet­ter now and I only went to Mae Rim but The Snail did it on a Big­ger Bike??? Still a Pretty Impres­sive Time
So To all You Guys out there who think a Big Bike is the Way to Go I sug­gest a Rethink!!! I Ride My 250’s every­day and Pre­fer them every­where except on Fast Long Trips where My Tri­umph Tiger comes into it’s Own.
The Per­fect Bike for this Coun­try I believe is either a Enduro or Motard. You can get by on a 250cc but 400cc up would be the Best so You can have some More Speed on the Big Straights. Might I be so Bold to Sug­gest either the:
KTM 690 Enduro
or
Ducati Hyper­mo­tard 796
Lets See Who gives Us the Best Deal

If You would like to Read some other Reports and See some More pho­tos on this event please  click here:

http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/planting-tjs-and-simons-memorial-plaques-in-mae-hong-son-t7146.html
_________________
Cheers Ian
www.chiangmai-xcentre.com