First trip with the Triumph Rocket 3 GT – The North of Thailand

Sisaket – Nothaburi – Uthai Thani – Tak – Mae Hong Son – Chiang Mai – Phetchabun – Khon Kaen

Honestly, 2 month after my PCL surgery I was a little concerned if itˋs working to travel with a 350 kg motorbike. Especially pushing it backwards.

But who cares I thought by myself. If I not try, I will never know if it works or not. If itˋs not working, I can always book a van for transport the bike back home.

First destination was Nonthaburi for doing the 1.000 km service at the dealer where I bought the bike.
Not really a good experience there at Triumph Praram 5. It was more like I bought a Honda Click than one of the top models of Triumph. Maybe itˋs on me that I canˋt deal well with city people??!!

Nevertheless, they did the service and everything worked out fine.

Great atmosphere in Nonthaburi – even this provinve has itˋs beautiful corners.

Leaving greater Bangkok as fast as possible was the main goal for the next day.
On dusty highways with lots of constructions we rode straight up North to Uthai Thani.

We where really happy when we arrived there and found a quiet resort in the nature. Perfect for relaxing nd take a deep breath.

After good food and two relaxing days, the road led us to Ban Tak , around 20 km north of Tak.

We started early in the morning and on the way to Ban Tak we passed by the ‘Switzerland of Thailand.’ Compared to the real Switzerland there is something missing, especially the Alps. Anyways itˋs a nice scenery and the smell of the flowers stimulate the senses.

Out of Switzerland, the road was partially bit boring and sometimes very dusty – overall a great riding and criusing day.

Ban Tak is close to some twisty mountain roads so – after lots of straight highways – we decided to check out how the Rocket works in the mountains.
Hwy 1175 was the choice to go Mae Sariang. On the map, the road looked good and promised a lot of fun.
In reality there was a lot of road construction. Almost every bridge is built new and for some bypasses an ADV is more useful than a cruiser.
After almost 80 km in the mountains and some heartbeating moments in the constructions we made it to Hwy 105 up north to Mae Sariang.
Riding this Hwy with the Rocket is pure fun – good road conditions, twists and curves .

It was really strange how the nature changed within 3 month. In December, everything is
green, in March it sometimes feels like you are on a different planet. The local farmers burn the wood and farms almost everywhere. The positive thing is, that less traffic on the roads.

Thunderstorms and rain made us take a 2 days break in Mae Sariang. Does not matter, take it easy and relax

Once you arrive in Mae Sariang you can hop into the Mae Hong Son loop.
The Mae Hong Son loop in total has around 4.000 curves, twists and corners – for those who love that itˋs heaven on earth.
Two choices from Mae Sariang – go North on the Hwy 108 direction Mae Hong Son or go East on the 108 direction Chiang Mai.
We decided to visit Mae Hong Son – more mountain roads on this way.

Due to the burnings in Thailand and Myanmar, the air was not really fresh and the sky not clear. But who cares, itˋs all for the ride and it was a great ride up to Mae Hong Son.

Mae Hong Son itself is a small little town. Out of the main season (November, December, January) very quiet. For me, one of the ‘worth to go’ spots in Thailand. Not only because of itˋs a motobike riders paradise.

On the way from Mae Hong Son to Chiang Mai you pass by Pai. Maybe I did something wrong, not visited the right places probably. But for me, Pai is totally overrated. A crowdy and touristy city in the middle of no where.
For motorbike enhusiasts, the Hwy 1095 to / from Chiang Mai is the real highlight in Pai. And thatˋs it.

After a great and relaxed ride we arrived in the early afternoon in Chiang Mai. Welcome back to city life, traffic jam and bad air. (This I mean a bit sarcastic).

4 nights in Chiang Mai, thatˋs enough. Ok, we had many things to do but city life is not our favourite.

As we needed to arrive back home soon and as we wanted to drop by at Triumph Khon Kaen we decided to go back on main highways. Hwy 11, 1, 106 (to Sukothai) and 12 where the choice.
Very very very cool riding, thatˋs where the Rocket really shines. Fast driven curves on good roads – what a pleasure.

After the not such good experience with Triumph Praram 5, I really looked forward how Triumph Khon Kaen is. What a big positive surprise. Totally different to Praram 5. Friendly staff, perfect service, perfect workshop. For testing, I told them to do the 1st 1.000 km service again. Appreciate a lot the good work and feeling in this garage.

Conclusion: Almost 3.000 km – a great trip with the “Boss”

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