Bangkok Bike Festival 2013

My wife has a small business with wedding decorations and I always help out, so I had my fair share of weddings in the past 2 years. You can imagine how happy I was last week, when she told me we were invited to the wedding of one of her friends in Bangkok. Ecstatic! Yeah, right.

Finally, after a few days of avoiding the issue, I agreed to go. Actually, I was quite excited!
I've got to be honest. This change of heart wasn't due to a raving desire to be part of yet another Thai wedding or to gain always needed points with my wife. It just so happened that there was the annual Bike Festival at Central World. Why not combine the dreadful with the pleasant?

So it happened that last Saturday I dropped off my sweetheart and her friend at the wedding, while I made my way to Central World.

I don't like big cities and crowded places. It makes me physically and mentally tired to be around hordes of people and being bombarded by street noise and shopping mall 'music'. In the end it was more like a touch and go experience rather than full immersion. I also have to apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, as my camera was being used at the wedding.

Here's a small photo collection:

I must admit I'm not a big Honda fan, and I certainly wasn't blown away by the new Honda CB500 when I first saw the pictures online. However, seeing it live and sitting on it, made me change my mind, somehow. It's got several good things going for it, not least the price tag. At 205.000 Baht for the CBF, one can't complain much.
I still think there's too much plastic, though.

These modern bikes...far too much plastic hiding the nice mechanical bits

 Not too shabby for ol' Honda, but let's get serious now

 A sea of crazy scooters

Another addition to the  lazy Honda engineers: the KSR copy...

What a little gem I found among scores of same-same Kawasakis ER6 and Harleys...

The key was there and I was really tempted. :-))

KTM has got to be the most fun loving brand out there...their bikes are hooligans on wheels, but at 200.000 Baht for the new 200cc available in Thailand, sad but true, I rather buy the CB500F. Oops, did I just say that out loud?

The new Freeride...I wished I could ride it away for free

One of my all time favourite bikes. I'm not much into sport bikes anymore, but the MV Agusta is SEX ON WHEELS!!!!!!!!!!!

The F4 is not bad either!

Ducati! Yeah baby!

New Aluminium Tank for your Yamaha SR

New in store is this great looking aluminium tank, following the lines of the famous CHS type 4 tank.
Made of 2.5mm thick aluminium alloy, this tank is both lightweight and robust.

Planning a cafe racer project? Need a crowning jewel? Well, here it is!
http://www.omegaracer.com/parts_store/prod_2470621-Yamaha-SR-Aluminium-Tank-Stinky-Type-4.html

Have a look at our extensive collection of aluminium tanks and other custom cafe racer parts for your SR!

http://www.omegaracer.com/parts_store/cat_635636-Tanks.html

Aluminium Fairing for Yamaha SR

I apologize for the long absence, but now I'm back and I'm proud to present a new product soon to be found at the Omega shop!

Here is a unique front fairing for the Yamaha SR (400&500), made of strong but lightweight aluminium alloy. It comes with all necessary parts for an easy install, including the front light and mounting brackets.

Copied from the timeless lines of the Ducati 750SS fairing, but adapted to the smaller size of the SR, this fairing is truly something special. AND you can find it ONLY on Omega Racer! :-)

It's also the last part I need for my Project "Telos".

Here's a little preview, but more pictures will follow once I get it.

For more information, please contact me here: soundstream1111@gmail.com

Project TELOS

If you've been following this blog for a while you may or may not know how it all came to be, so here's a short resume` to everything into perspective.

Two years ago I bought a 1998 Yamaha SR400. I immediately fell in love with this bike and to share this passion I created this blog. Soon after, people started to contact me and asked me if I could find SR custom parts for them. This went on for a while, until a friend suggested setting up a website to do just that. Together we created www.omegaracer.com, where you can find Yamaha SR parts, custom helmets and t-shirts.

Things started rolling and the feedback has been very encouraging. What else was there to do?
Why, buy another Yamaha SR of course!

Not in Thailand, though. After all, I can only ride one bike at a time. No, I bought one in Germany! Why Germany? Because there's a huge SR community there and lots of bikes for sale, while in Italy there are only a handful SR.

I named my new project "TELOS". Telos is a Greek word meaning "final cause" or "ultimate puropse", and my purpose is to create something special. To make a long story short, with the help of another friend, I bought a very nice 1990 SR500 in Germany. This bike will travel to South Tyrol in the North of Italy, where another friend will be in charge of stripping down the bike and rebuilding it with parts I supply from Thailand.
I've provided the idea, the bike and the parts, but unfortunately, I can't be in two places at the same time. The practical side will be in the hands of my friend Thomas.

So, this blog will be home of the TELOS build thread, showing the up and downs that inevitably come with such a project.

I hope you'll enjoy the show!


This is what's happening at the moment....

My lovely SR500, awaiting to go to Italy...

such a beauty...almost too beautiful to customize it...

Fitted with a drum brake. Common in Thailand, but unusual in Germany

Most of the custom parts have been sourced and already sent off by ship. Got to keep the costs down ;-)

And here is what my twisted mind came up with. Sorry, no fancy photoshop here...just a very down-to-earth pen and paper job.

As usual, comments and suggestions are always welcome.

EDIT: 06/02/2013
She's now ready for transport to Italy. I just hope we won't have problems with the snow!

some snow in Germany

And some more snow...
But now she's safe in SouthTyrol! yeiii

Koh Chang and the Lifan Cross 200

Just came back from the beautiful island of Koh Chang in the Southeast of Thailand, where I spent a few days of well-deserved rest.
The first day was all about beach and food, but on the second day my right wrist started twitching. I knew what was coming and how to get it out of my system. I needed a bike!

Most of the bikes for rent on the island are small scooters, with a fair amount of Honda Phantoms 200, ugly chopper-would-be and I wouldn't want to be seen dead on one of those. The island, with its steep and partly dirt roads, needed something a bit more powerful and with good handling. At least that was the line I used to convince my wife... ;-)

The rescue came with a LIFAN Cross 200. I've heard mixed reviews about this Chinese bike for some time and I was curious to see for myself. On top of that it was the first time on an Enduro bike, so that just doubled the excitement.

 Lifan is a very big company, in business for many decades already, and it shouldn't be put on the same (low) level as other Chinese brands, such as JRD, Platinum etc.

The first impression was that it was very light, around 130kg I believe and handled well, as you would expect from such a bike. Something I didn't quite like from the start was the gear configuration. The gears are like on the smaller step-through bikes: from the top down...N - 1 -2 -3 -4 -5. I'd rather have the traditional 1 (down) - N - (up) 2 - 3 - 4 - 5. Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it. The gearbox was well built and the gears engaged easily and noiselessly. When moving you don't even need to pull the clutch. Just step through.

Going uphill I was pleasantly surprised by the power and the power delivery, which seemed smooth and more than enough to tackle even the most extreme inclinations.

On straight stretches I didn't notice any problematic vibrations, which was good. Something not so good however, was the hard seat. After 20 minutes I had to stop to relieve my poor backside.

The bike was pretty new, with only 1300km on the clock. So far no ugly rust on the frame or bolts.
Brakes were sufficient at best. The front disk continuously made lamenting noises, while the rear brake....was there a rear brake?

"The road broken. It's dangerous." :-)

All in all I enjoyed the ride. Would I buy a Lifan Cross? Hmmm I know the price is more than competitive, but buying a Chinese bike still seems risky to me for a number of reasons, which will have to be explored in another post, maybe.
That said, there's a very nice Chinese Motard, called Mbike Delta200....