We met up at Kawasaki HQ in Bangkok on Saturday morning- Breakfast at a restaurant across the street courtesy of Kawasaki, Thailand :dg Hit the starter button at 0800 for the ride down to Khao Khiao, Chonburi. Our destination: Good turnout- about 90 bikes in total- Saturday was a riding course hosted by the professional riders from Siam Enduro Club. I'm still a dirt bike noob and learned a ton this weekend. The focus this weekend was on how to ride in deep sand and in water. Challenging and fun! Beautiful day and very nice setting in the "Khao Khieo Camping and Green Resort" Awesome Thai lunch courtesy of Kawasaki, Thailand :dg Some nicely kitted bikes-
Some videos from the Siam Enduro Club Riding Course- <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lPMLg7aSLeQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Shyte, why is it not possible to post videos in this section of advrider?? Can post vids in other sections but not in the Asia section... Weird :/
In the afternoon we learned how to ride over submerged rocks- quite a challenge, and one where the added ground clearance of the KLX 250 gave me a distinct advantage over shorter bikes like the KLX125's and KLX150's. (While the added clearance was nice, the extra weight of the 250 proved to be a handicap in most other areas.) Finally, after the riding course was complete we had a chance to explore the course that the Siam Enduro Club had laid out for the next day's racing. I didn't get far before I got hopelessly stuck I didn't feel so bad though, because the pro riders struggled here too- no traction in the creek so very difficult to get enough momentum to get up the soft muddy bank- Most guys needed help getting up this river bank. I call this vid "Face Full of Dirt": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weYEnBKEqHs Kawasaki catered a fantastic 6 course Thai dinner in the evening and I went down the road to find some beer The huts at the resort were basic, but fine- after the days exercise, big meal and plenty of Beer Leo I slept like an angel
Woke up with an aching head and sore muscles from the previous day- Seems no one really wanted to wake up The day started off nice and cool but the temperature climbed quickly. Sunday was a lot hotter than Saturday. Sunday is "Race Day" Other than the open class race it's an amateur class event and there is no purse so it's really all about Thai-style fun aka SANOOK! First race is KSR110- Then came D-Tracker 125, KLX125, D-Tracker 150, KLX 150, Ladies Race, D-Tracker 250 and KLX 250. Last race was Open Class and was a lot of fun to watch- Real shame I can't embed vids as there are some good ones- check these out for some of the Open Class racing mayhem Open class race start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaNBx0d9O00 Down the creek, over the rocks and under the bridge- watch your head!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gJaqtJWBa90 Across the creek, through deep sand, then up some rocks- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ctiLuTcXyH8 This was the spot where my chain came off on the last lap- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tzcfjYolJxU
A few random pics- forgive the poor quality of my camera phone- A bunch of guys were unable to make it through 5 laps- here's one racer cooling his feet in the creek- Another exhausted competitor calling it quits- Other random shots- The spot where I lost my chain. Funny how flat this looks in a pic... Last lap! Go go go!! Exhausted racer stalls on the obstacle and gets hung up on a tree http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr8yVlze8rw Some scrapes and bruises but no serious injuries (ambulance and medical staff were present both days)- all smiles on the podium after a fun day of racing with Kawasaki and Siam Enduro Club Thailand-
Tons of excellent professional quality pics on the Kawasaki Motors Thailand facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KawasakiMotorsThailand
