My first touring ride

Date: 11/4/09

Weather: Fine

Destination: Mersing

We decided to make a trip to Mersing for a day ride with other places in view, depending on the time consumption. This would be my first touring ride and also the first long trip on the ST11. The ST11 itself had probably seen more of Malaysia and Thailand than I do.

Before the ride, the ST11 was prepped with many accessories. This includes a 12V cigarette socket, a USB converter with cigarette socket adapter and a revolving amber light for breakdown warning. The charger proved itself when Eugene’s HTC diamond was low on power. HID headlamp and alarm system were also installed to light up the lightless highways and theft prevention.

We went on 2 bikes, the HONDA ST11 and the BMW 1100GS, with Eugene being pillion. The night before, we were busy checking the bikes, getting the money changed and doing last minute shopping for the trip. Bjorn had to work night shift

so we popped by over his place to check things out before we went back to rest before moving out. Eugene came over to my place so we can move out without wasting time. We ended up with Bjorn sleeping for 2+ hrs while we didn’t get any.

We met at Bjorn’s place around 7am although the agreed time was 6.30am. Bjorn was still preparing his stuff though. We proceeded to the usual to have breakfast and left for 2^nd link checkpoint at 8am.

Taking the long route to 2^nd link with Bjorn leading, we exited at the wrong exit and had to u-turn back. Once we were in, we went to fill up petrol at the Petronas station. Here, we meet an uncle on CBR fireblade.

We chatted for a while, learning that he is a longtime touring fanatic with extensive knowledge of the area. He offered some advice for our route and led us to where we can get to the start point also.

Once we parted, the ride was on our own pace and fairly easy to navigate since the route we used was one I used many times during the trail riding days. The familiar entrance points for the trails were by the roadside and memories of the rides were coming back to me.

It is also at this time when my helmet started to give me headaches. The poor fitment was a major turn off. We stopped at a petrol kiosk to rest my head, thinking on how to survive the ride since we are still very early into the ride. Luckily, Eugene’s HJC fitted me well and mine fitted him well, so we swapped helmets and rode on without helmet issues till later.

We rode fairly fast, overtaking vehicles and with Eugene being trigger happy with the camera. We reached Mersing around noon, which was within the planned time. Lunch here was some chicken rice with salted fish bean sprouts homemade barley water. It was delicious and the plates were cleaned out.

We then decided to go further north to Kuantan since we were doing good time. On the way there, we stopped at the roadside where we can access the beach and took some pictures here. Time here was 4pm. 3 Singapore cars also stopped to enjoy the beach. We are now 260km from JB.

As we went further, the ST11 rear shock was bottoming out with every small bump while in a corner and I had to ride slower to be safe. After some time, Bjorn offered to pillion Eugene and we could do better speed. The amount of curving roads in Malaysia is ridiculous. They were everywhere, even highways and expressways.

We came to a junction where we were not certain whether we should go ahead or turn right, so we asked a local motorist. He guided us in the right direction but it was a long way round with low speed areas. We were supposed to hit the expressway to KL.

Once Bjorn thought we were lost, we stopped at a roadside makan store to check the maps and for the much needed rest. Time here was nearing 6pm. Our backs were aching and we needed a cold drink. The store owner was kind enough to give us precise instructions on how to get to the expressway and we were on our way.

Once we hit the expressway, we were doing 160 to 170km/hr to cut some time. It started to drizzle and we stopped to put on our rain gear. Although we were not fazed by the rain, we were depressed when we saw the distance to KL. It was 260km away and we were well behind schedule. We intended to be back home by latest 1am.

We sped on, with some parts of the expressway doing 200km/hr and stopped at a petrol station to fill up and rest. Also, the HID kit on my bike couldn’t be turned on. Took some time here to check and finally found that the switch was faulty. Connected the wires manually and all was working fine.

We are in the centre of the Malaysia now. We went for some hot plate noodles and re-checked the maps. Left the place at 9pm with Eugene back on my bike, we continued to ride in the now unlit expressways. The HIDs were bright but due to the reflective lens on my headlight, the light throw was diffused and the contrasting light of on-coming vehicles was glaring. The curvy part of the expressway was here and it was difficult to see the road and ride fast. We stopped at the toll area to change back to my normal low beam and moved on. The usual low beam was very weak compared to the HIDs and it was still difficult to ride fast in the dark.

We came to the wet super curvy roads of Genting highlands and had to travel quite slowly, with Eugene freaking out behind me. This was a good point since we know we are near to KL. Time here was around 11 plus pm.

We proceed to cut through KL city with Eugene giving directions from the GPS on his phone and some asking around. We found the North-south highway entrance and all was well. At this time, fatigue was really setting in and we were really anxious to get home. I lead the ride here and consistently doing 160km/hr for the next hour or so in the dark with high beam on all the way. We stopped at an unknown R&R place when Eugene suddenly asked me to stop at Pagoh R&R.

Time now is 1am and we were doing good time. Eugene proceeded to curse the helmet he was wearing and that he was deaf from wearing it. He didn’t notice the deafening effect since he was napping behind. I passed him the ear plugs on the bike and we pushed on to Pagoh R&R to fill up.

We were relieved to reach here since we know we are now about 150km from Singapore. Time now is 2am. I asked Eugene to ride my bike and he was more than happy to do it. I rode Bjorn’s bike and pillion him. We rode slower at 130 -140km/hr since we were exhausted and we could better concentrate at lower speeds. Micro sleep was evident here, but luckily there wasn’t much traffic.

We reach GP R&R around 4am and we fill up petrol to head back. Bought some dried food for home and tallying the mileage we cleared. 944km was the total distance we traveled in Malaysia alone, not including the distance to and fro the customs from home, meaning we did more than 1000km in a day.

The ride home was really unsafe. We had to keep the speed limit down and the slow ride was wearing me off. Bjorn was too tired and speed off after we left the customs. I decided to speed up and get home fast since my eyes were so heavy and Eugene still have to ride his bike home.

The gear was left in the bike and I knocked out after taking my bath.

The entire route.

Click pic below to view photos.

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