The famous Mae Hon Soon loop in Thailand that was in the checklist of many motorcycle touring enthusiasts. Chris was the one that suggested this for our yearly trip. Since its a motorcycle trip I didn’t need to think twice. While I wanted to ride there from Singapore, at least two weeks of leave is needed and time will be tight. Also riding up there in my Burgman 200 might take awhile. Thus we decided to fly there instead and rent a bike for our adventure.
2017-11-11, Day 1: Singapore to Chiang Mai. SIN-CNX
Chris did all the planning. I just contacted Pop-Rider in Chiang Mai, hoping to reserve a similar Burgman for our trip ( due to its huge storage space ). Well my own Burgman still played a part in this trip as we decided to ride it to Changi Airport and park it there for a week. To keep it from prying eyes I covered it as I installed speakers on the dash.
Went for quick bite at food court
We went directly to Pop-Rider https://www.popcarrent.com/en/ after reaching CNX airport; the plan is to get our rental bike first before making our way to our hotel.
Location is easy to find as they are right smack in the middle of the city. However upon reaching there (already 6pm+) I found out they don’t have Burgman 200 available for rent. Either big bikes or other scooters. Luckily for us there are the new Honda Forza 300 available. Thus we decided to take the Forza (as we desperately needed the luggage space).
The Honda Forza they assigned to us was brand new; (ok not totally new, around a 100KMs done on the odometer) thus its not even registered (note: no number plate).
Although I have my concerns regarding this situation; the Pop-Rider guys told me “No problems! anything call us!”.
Thus I’m like.. OK, it’s just like is Indonesia, where you paid everything but the vehicle registration plate is not yet released. Thus to play safe i kept the receipt safely and took photos of the relatively new bike.
OK now got the bike; but no helmet. Luckily they have helmets for rent as well. I found these new to be in brand new condition;
Once we settled on the motorcycle for the trip, we made our way to the hotel/hostel. Upon reaching we were told that the hotel Chris booked doesn’t ‘honor’ the booking made through the app as the owners told us to cancel through the app and just book with them directly (so much for planning).
After checked in we went to the night market / walking street and had our street food dinner and called it a day.
