Malaysian Adventure
The Alpinestars video crew – Geoff/Tom/Jamie – head to Malaysia for some Adventure riding in the jungle Then onto Sepang for interviews with Alpinestars MotoGP riders Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and Spies Malaysian Adventure Day 1 How lucky am I?! I’m […]
The Alpinestars video crew – Geoff/Tom/Jamie – head to Malaysia for some Adventure riding in the jungle
Then onto Sepang for interviews with Alpinestars MotoGP riders Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and Spies
Malaysian Adventure Day 1
How lucky am I?! I’m in Malaysia, riding a borrowed BMW GS1200 and testing out some new adventure gear by Alpinestars. The Malaysian experience on 2 wheels so far has been a mixture of city madness, cars everywhere and some endless boring freeway miles to get out into the countryside.
Now here it’s the flip side, I’m now in the hills, corners are coming at me at an immense rate and I just want to ride, yet the scenery is so beautiful, I’m passing constant astonishing views that make me want to stop and reach for my camera.
The roads are damp, in some places wet and the higher we climb the wetter and colder it gets. But colder does not mean cold, it’s just slightly cooler than the sauna air we are now living in.
It’s the first time I’ve ridden a BMW GS, yes I know that is crazy as they are a legendary adventure motorcycle but my chance has now come around. So far I’m impressed, the engine is strong, good low-down power and the hundreds of miles I’ve just done in the saddle were effortless, it seems in many ways similar to the Tenere but with stylish European features.
As we’ve now hit the mountain the roads are damp, twisty and in some parts uneven, so it’s throwing up quite a few challenges but the perfect way to get to know your gear. The BWM is well planted on the greasy asphalt and is giving me good feedback in the tricky conditions, and while I maybe riding in fine rain, clouds and mist the Alpinestars Frontier gear is keeping me 100% dry and thank goodness there are also lots of vents to keep you cool.
If I look wet, it’s sweat, any biker will get a mini workout just from riding around and as I’m wearing the full gear, you can soon overheat. That’s why many of the locals just put their jackets on backwards and ride with it flapping away, it’s cooling and a heavy back pack I’m carrying just adds to the back sweat.
However, a good part of the Frontier gear is the roll down areas that open to let the flowing air into your gear but there is also a layer of protection. It’s also the same color so I hardly noticed the panel was missing, but the air now passing through my gear has made a huge difference to keeping me cool.
My concern in doing this was of course riding in rain and how long I’d get to cool off before I got wet. But so far I haven’t felt it on my skin, OK it’s not raining hard but there is enough water in the air for you to feel it and see it on your visor and screen but I’m still dry from the outside in.
Body temperature from ‘in to out’ is being kept snug, skin tight and a comfortable by wearing the Summer Tech Performance top and pants which add a layer between your bare skin and the motorcycle gear. This did 2 things, kept me warm while giving your body support and also soaked up and perspiration I gave out. I’ve been riding in my top and pants all day, it felt great but was wet and stinky by the end, I hope I’ve a spare for tomorrow or getting back into these top and pants wouldn’t be pretty.
While riding today I’ve seen so many wonderful and naturally formed things. Tree lined rolling hills that disappear into the foggy distance to waterfalls that create sound, shimmering light and a magical sight. Malaysia by motorbike is full of flavour and culture that is easily found in their foods and it would seem any back road and I’m having a truly wonderful time.
To make it even better the Malaysian people are generous and happy, hard-working and welcoming which honestly makes for an even trip when you are surrounded by good folk that don’t make you feel unsafe.
So far, so good, tomorrow I’ll be eating more local cuisine, riding to the highest point in Malaysia and putting some different and new Alpinestars adventure gear through the Malaysian heat, sweat and we’ll find hopefully mud to play in as well.
Malaysian Adventure Day 2
The Malaysian heat seems to have turned to wind and rain this morning as we set off on our second day of adventure riding. We stayed the night in a run own block of apartments, high up in the Cameron Highlands which came complete with smelly bed sheets and no loo roll, lucky I smelled even worse, was tired and so far all of the spicy Malaysian food hasn’t yet caused me to have Bombay Bottom.
At over 5000 feet about sea level, we are high up here, which is why the weather has suddenly changed as basically we are in the clouds. The roads to get here have been awesome, forever changing and a bikers dream.
Now we climbed even higher and up to the highest accessible peak in Malaysia, Mount Gunung Brinchang which is 6666ft (2032 meters) above sea level and to get there you ride through the Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation which is absolutely magical. My smile became even bigger when I got to play on a bit of forest road and squirm around in a bit of mud as we rode through the tea leaves.
Now being a Yorkshireman I just love a good old cuppa and need several just to get going in a morning. My Mum says she had to give me tea in my baby bottle to stop me crying so I’ve obviously had the tea addiction for a long time and it now seemed unreal to see all of those tea leaves I drink on a daily basis just growing in the hills.
The road up to the highest peak was no problem for the robust and adventurous BMW GS, the narrow and broken up road was just a brilliant play ground for the machine, so apart from a few locals driving their beat up old jeeps and a few tea pickers dotted here and there, all you need to worry about is the road ahead and some incredible views.
Once at the peak we also climbed the watchtower at the top which gained us another few extra feet but unfortunately for us, we couldn’t see the 360° view of the spectacular hills and tea plantation as the weather wasn’t clear and all we did was put our heads even further in the clouds and further exposed ourselves to the wind and drizzle, oh well.
I’ve been sporting the new adventure gear by Alpinestars today, the Durban Gore-Tex which I tested heavily in California, now I get chance to put it through its paces in Malaysia and conditions are quite a bit different here.
The weather is strange, it is warm not cold, it’s raining, sometimes light drizzle, other times just fog, mist or a very light haze. There is a lot of moisture in the air, on the bike the roads are greasy and you have to take care as the roads are narrow and through up plenty of interesting surprises which include the locals coming the other way at a fearless pace and not always on their side of the road.
The Durban gear is a level above the Frontier gear I was sporting yesterday and I’m not just saying this but it feels even better. The main reason is the Durban gear is so light weight and with lots of vents, changeable linings and ease setting up your gear for your riding conditions, make it my favourite.
Although the top layer is not 100% waterproof it did keep out drizzle and anything up to and including light rain. When the heavens did open, it rained hard (It is monsoon season) and water did find its way in. No problem, the Paclite inner liner is quickly installed and is 100% waterproof which also keeps you warm as well as dry.
After the fun of riding in the hills and back-roads, the crew and I set off down the mountain and once again, slowly but surely the roads opened up and started to dry out as we descended down the twisty and challenging hillside.
Care is needed when riding a motorbike, especially in countries that have people on the road who like to cut corners or use the entire road, so the drop down was no walk in the park and a few times I had to swerve to miss cars.
Motorcycles on the road here are not very fast, I’ve seen lots of motorbikes since I came to Malaysia but they are all scooters, mopeds or old school step-throughs, not many adventure bikes or sportbikes, in fact I’m not sure if I’ve seen any apart from at a dealership.
That means cars are usually quicker on normal roads but the moto mini bikers soon get their own back and are the things to have in villages, towns and the city as they skip easily through slow traffic plus cost next to nothing to run.
During the trip my right wing mirror came loose on the way up the mountain and the left one came loose on the way down so I called into one of these step-through mechanic shops that we kept passing and asked if I could use some wrenches.
In a flash I had a local kid working on my bike and in next to no time the mirrors were tight and secure and he was just amazed to see a big motorbike, especially one that had 1100cc more than his machine.
It’s been an interesting day, I’ve got muddy, wet, drank tea, eaten scones with fresh jam and cream plus come with-in inches of vehicles coming the opposite direction after I’d had curry for breakfast.
I love Malaysia and riding over here, can’t wait for tomorrow where I’ll be heading into the capital and seeing what city life on 2 wheels is all about.
Alpinestars Tech Touring: Adventure – Durban Gore-Tex Video
Video http://vimeo.com/19578917
Website http://www.alpinestars.com/techtouringrange/touring.html
BMW GS: www.bmwmotorcycles.com
Malaysian Adventure Day 3
Since I jumped on the adventurous GS I’ve been trying my best to get out of the city stress and away from the madness I’d had to endure in the taxi just getting to the motorcycle dealership, since I engaged gear I’ve been in search of the countryside, twisty roads and hill tops.
This unfortunately was my last day of riding in Malaysia so we decided to turn right back around and head back into the countries capital Kuala Lumpur, see the sights, find some local riders and go get a feeling for the craziness of KL traffic in this well populated city.
As we’ve come down the freeway and advanced from toll check point to toll check point it has been a pleasant surprise to see a special lane for motorcycles that takes you on a small road (small foot path size) and around the toll station. Sweet, you don’t have to stop or pay for tolls!
As you get closer to the city, there are motorcycle only lanes, kind of the width of a good sized foot path and these motorcycle only lane guide motorbikes away from cars and protected from harm by Armco barriers. The part I loved the most was dipping under roads and riding through the tunnels, care is needed at some points as the road is narrow and my BMW GS was bulky in traffic and not liked by my surrounding step-through riders who didn’t appreciate my wide handle-bars.
In the city the 1200 was no faster than the 100cc machines as traffic was always slow-ish, the city is swarmed in cars and if there was a gap so slide a motorbike through, I couldn’t always get the bulky Dual-Sport where my fellow 100cc riders could go and was left only wishing I was on something smaller myself.
It was no surprise to me to discover that motorcycles rule the cities roads. They do this by being able to squeeze through practically any gap, ride between cars and do things only a motorcycle can do. Many motorcycles in the city are just run of the mill plain old scooters, nothing fancy, just a cheap mode of transport that also happens to be the fastest way to get around the Capital.
These motorcycles that generally cost less than $1,000, beat any fancy $50,000 car no problem, cars and the city don’t mix too well and motorcycles in this hot country do the job just fine and fast.
On my travels around the city I caught up with some cool local scooter riders who were hanging out on a park corner and of course and chatted about bikes. It seems that they are many locals clubs that ride in Kuala Lumpur, this gang were soon going to bike week in Thailand and were going to be riding their scooters the whole way there and back! Now that is a love for the 2-wheeled life..
The Kuala Lumpur city is alive with the activity of motorcycles and I felt energized by being around so many and seeing just how well they all ride. It would seem as so many of them learn to ride at a young age and as this is an affordable means of transport, many people, male and female learn to ride motorcycles in Kuala Lumpur.
Until you’ve numerous years of constant riding, the more you ride, the better you get and by the looks of things here in KL, people ride a lot. It’s understandable why though, it’s hot, even hot at night, traffic is slammed and it’s no fun sat in your air conditioned car when you can be riding in the warm motorcycling breeze actually getting somewhere.
Again I sampled local foods, which have been delicious, which I’ve found to be much like a mix of Indian and Chinese foods, I’ve tasted nothing shocking or disappointing, and the local places are much cheaper than touristy places or hotels.
Oh and don’t forget to carry fluids as you’ll soon need them when things start getting a bit heated. The low speeds of the city, high temperatures and humidity make it thirsty work at times, the Durban gear I was wearing came complete with a water bladder so it made life easy when I wanted a sip.
To get to the city I had to ride through some of the worst rain I’ve ever ridden in on a motorcycle. My experience was made somewhat more terrifying as I was following our Malaysian guide who drove like an absolute mad man.
I’d no choice but to try and stay with him as he was taking us to our destinations and also was carrying camera crew so I had to just grin and bear it and ride though the monsoon at terrifying speeds, I’d later find out my crew was asleep in the back of the 4×4 the whole time while I held on for dear life behind.
My motorcycling experience in Malaysia has been absolutely brilliant; I’ve had an absolute blast and love just about every second. Some of the sights and scenery have been breathtaking, the roads have been worth the trip half way across the world to ride and the people and country have been 100% hospitable, helpful and friendly.
If you every get the chance to go and ride over here, do so, head for the hills and you won’t be disappointed. If like me, you like cups of tea and motorbikes, you’ll be in heavenly bliss.
