August 19, 2014

My daily commute to work (video)

A very short video I made to test my (very cheap) on-board camera. It's actually working quite well, but the battery seems to drain a bit too fast for my taste.

Anyway, this is my daily commute to work on my 2009 Kawasaki ER6n. Definitely not a long ride, but always full of surprises!





Also, as a bonus, check out this short docu about an SR rider in Bangkok and his 2 SR. If you can speak Thai, that would help...


August 18, 2014

Riding in Thailand is FUN!

The guys from Ride And Pride rode to the outskirts of Bangkok to get down and dirty. Check out their latest video!



DIRT WEEKEND from Ride and Pride on Vimeo.

August 15, 2014

Yamaha SR500 Scrambler from Italy

Gian Luigi sourced a very nice Yamaha SR500 in Germany and took it back to Rome, where he transformed it in to a green grasshopper and street tracker.
For his project, Gian Luigi got a Sport aluminium tank, aluminium side covers, exhaust pipe, front fender and the unique seat cowl by "The Sports" from the Omega Racer store. One of his friends then made little fiberglass 'skirts' under the tank for the lines to pair up with the seat cowl. We think that's a very nice touch!





News from Bubba the Biker!

Bubba the Biker is back in Thailand for some well deserved holiday.
His first stop was at the Queen's 82nd birthday classic car parade in Bangkok, where he let a caravan of over 100 cars through the centre of the city.

For a full overview of his world tour, follow this link:
http://omega-racer.blogspot.com/p/bubba-t.html

Who knows where he'll end up next?








August 12, 2014

Mother's Day - Classic car parade in Bangkok 11/08/2014

Jesada Technik Museum has the biggest classic car and motorcycle collection in Thailand. This year, in collaboration with the Thai Army, they organized a parade of over 140 cars, 99 of which were so-called micro cars.
Link to the Bangkok Post article
Video report from Channel 3
News report with video, also Channel 3
Video report from Thai PBS
Article and pictures from INN (Independent News Network)
Some nice pics here and here and here
Short article and pics from the Nation

About a month ago I was lucky to notice a post on Facebook, were the museum called upon volunteer drivers to join the parade, driving one of their micro cars. I just couldn't let this chance slip me by and applied immediately. Luckily, they accepted me and 2 other friends with our respective wives.

Last week we drove to Bangkok to choose a car and do some practicing laps in a car park. We had the opportunity to drive any car we wanted! We all felt like little kids in a toy shop.

Today then, under a scorching sun, we again drove to Bangkok to take part in the classic car parade in honour of the Queen's 82nd birthday, which is also Mother's Day in Thailand. The car we had chosen last week (BMW Isetta) was out of commission, so we've been given another one: a 1962 Trojan 200.
My two other friends had a BMW Isetta and a Fiat 500 (Cinquecento). Unfortunately, neither of them would make it to the end of the parade, as both their cars broke down about halfway through.

I got lucky...kind of. As the parade started, I had to learn fast how to drive the little bugger. The gears were a mess: hard to engage and if you didn't hold your hand on the lever, the gear would jump out due to the vibrations. Not ideal but something I could cope with. After that, the car wouldn't hold the idle and would die on me without constantly revving the engine. Changing gears was a no-no. I kept it in 2nd gear throughout the whole drive. Drenched in sweat, we eventually made it to the end. Quite an achievement considering the alarming whining noises coming from the engine!

We are all very grateful to Khun Knot and the whole team of the Jesada Technik Museum for giving us this amazing opportunity and adventure. Hope to do it again soon!
If you're in Thailand and love classic cars and bikes, you can't miss a visit to the museum.

Enough talking. Off to the gallery!

That's my face when I'm deeply concentrating






One of the cars that broke down...not very reassuring in case of a fire


Not flashy at all, but a pretty good runner









A Vespa 400


Invasion of the microcars!












Bubba is coming too!



Sadly, their Isetta broke down






The saying "chewing off more than you can bite" comes to mind

Amphibious car

Colm being interviewed

At the end of the parade we got refreshments from this lovely Citroen van

What a great day! Thanks Jesada!!