Getting
dressed this morning I had a bit of a bad flashback - to the final day
at the Chatanika Gold Camp in Alaska. Recall that I dropped one of the
motorcycle keys through a floorboard crack on their front walkway. The
nightstand at this guest house was directly over a similar floor setup
- one with cracks for keys to fall into. As I was picking up the keys -
the only set - the shudder came over me and I made sure to grasp them
well as they went into my pocket.
On the way out of town, out on
the highway, I stopped to ask a policeman on where an intersection was.
He drew a nice, detailed map. The intersection will be two
intersections ahead. I shall take the left where the main highway will
be turning right.
Finally getting off the highway to some third
class roadway - more enjoyable than the highways and the larger two
lanes. Less crowded and just as nice road surface.
Getting into agriculture country. Farmed fields full of different crops.
Rolling along with the Cambodia border just to my right - over the approaching mountains.
Passing
through some military/police checkpoints - permanent things. I stopped
at one that was manned, two guys, to confirm directions. They were all
smiles and joking about - one laughingly pointing to the other "to help
this guy that doesn't speek Thai".
I went through perhaps 5 or 7
checkpoints. They were often situated near an intersection. Some were
manned while others were not. At the manned stations the people were
just sitting inside their hut/building.
The bike is starting to
make some grinding noise - audible at slow speeds - coming from perhaps
the front sprocket. The chain needs tightening - it has "loosened" and
I believe the rear wheel hasn't moved up. At the town of Aranyaprathet,
about 5 kilometers from the Thailand-Cambodian border, I stopped at a
Honda shop to have them look into it. They thought the problem was
mainly that the chain was too loose (I think it might be good to
replace it). The chain has two clip style master links. I unloaded the
bags and pulled the bike into the service area. Three or four of the
kids did various things - from working, fetching tools, looking at the
GPS. In the end they ended up removing a link to shorten the chain (the
proper term would be 'bashing' and the proper tools would be hammer and
a slightly modified screwdriver. Remove a master link and bash off the
adjascent link.) Job done and they were happy with the work performed.
I motioned to some chain cleaner / lube that I might buy and while they
went over, grabbed their can, and sprayed the chain - they did not have
a can to sell to me (or maybe they did not understand my question - but
I did not see any product on display though other lubes were). Anyway -
the problem continues - at slow speed I hear an unpleasant crunching
sound from the front sprocket.
Continuing on I stopped at a
T-intersection and was looking at the maps. An Englishman or
Austrailian and an Asian lady were walking on the roadway in my
direction. I wasn't so much as lost but just deciding which way I
wanted to go. They stopped and we discussed options. I was looking to
take the "smaller" road and while I ended up heading in that direction,
into town, I promptly lost what road I should have been on but saw a
sign for the one I had been on. It'll do - I'll keep going on 317
towards Buri Ram.
With the sunet coming in an hour or so I
figured I'd better find a place to sleep. I stopped in the town of Nang
Rong and pulled out the LP book. The selection for Buri Ram - about 40
minutes up the road - wasn't stellar but they had some listed. The
kicker was that the town I was in was suggested as it is closer to some
good ruins. I'll see about staying here. One spot was listed - no map
just written directions. I was not able to find the spot and ended up
driving about town for 20 minutes looking for something. Nothing jumped
out so I stopped by a repair shop that had two kids sitting out. I
pulled out the LP book and pointed to the phrase "I'm looking for a
hotel" and one of them motioned for me to follow him. He got onto his
bike and we went down the road a bit (by a place I twice passed
earlier). A wave and a simle he was off and I checked in (250 Baht per
night for a fan room). I went for two nights as I'll see about the
noise issue tomorrow. If it's terminal I'm not too far from Pattaya to
exchange the bike, if I should have it fixed, or if I should keep
riding and monitor the issue.
Fuel rate on the bike: 200 KM and I had to switch to reserve 13.52 Liters (3.57 Gallons), 400 Baht (10.53 USD), 210 Kilomters (130 miles): 15.5 Kilometers per Liter (36.4 MPG) Some higher speed running - max 145 KPH (90 MPH) on a slight downhill in a partial tuck.
3.67 Liters (0.97 Gallons), 110 Baht (2.89 USD), 76.4 Kilometers (47 miles): 20.8 Kilomters per Liter (48 MPG) More consistent 70 to 90 KPH (45 to 55 MPH) running on country roads.
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