Bikesrepublic

Wahid Ooi

Ducati akan menggunakan Thailand sebagai salah satu hab eksport mereka. Keputusan itu susulan pembukaan kilang pengeluaran Asia pertama dan baharu mereka di Rayong.

Kilang THB400 juta itu mempunyai kapasiti pengeluaran sebanyak 10,000 unit setahun dalam fasa pertama.

Ketua Eksekutif Ducati Motor Holding, Claudio Domenicali berkata, “Thailand ialah pasaran penting untuk motosikal premium, atau motosikal besar, dan kami mahu menjadikan Thailand sebagai pangkalan eksport kami.”

“Kami mengeluarkan setiap model motosikal Ducati di kilang kami di Rayong. Kami memastikan produk memenuhi piawaian tinggi yang ditetapkan oleh firma induk di Itali,” tambahnya.

Kilang itu akan diselia oleh Ducati Motor Thailand dan akan membekalkan pasaran Asia-Pasifik. China pernah menjadi pasaran utama Ducati tetapi telah menyaksikan jualan merosot akibat kemelesetan ekonomi.

Ducati menjual hampir 58,000 motosikal tahun lepas tetapi masih belum menetapkan sasaran jualan untuk 2024. Jumlah jualan akan ditentukan oleh pertumbuhan permintaan dan sentimen pasaran, kata Encik Domenicali.

Namun begitu, jualan motosikal berkapasiti besar di Thailand dijangka meningkat.

Surapong Paisitpatanapong, naib pengerusi Persekutuan Industri Thai (FTI) dan jurucakap Kelab Industri Automotif FTI, menjangkakan jualan motosikal besar (motosikal melebihi 400cc) mencecah 15,000 unit tahun ini. Beliau juga berkata pengeluaran turut akan meningkat untuk membekalkan pasaran domestik dan antarabangsa.

Pengeluaran semua jenis motosikal di Thailand pada 2023 meningkat sebanyak 5.2% tahun ke tahun kepada 2.12 juta unit, dengan 1.7 juta daripadanya untuk eksport, menurut Industri Automotif Thai.

Thailand sudah pun menjadi tumpuan bagi beberapa pengeluar automotif dan motosikal utama termasuk BMW, Honda, Kawasasi, Suzuki dan Yamaha.

Dalam temu bual dengan Triumph semasa lawatan, kami mendapati bahawa keputusan untuk menubuhkan kemudahan pembuatan ini di Thailand bukan disebabkan oleh kos buruh, yang sebenarnya lebih tinggi daripada di negara jiran. Sebaliknya ia disebabkan oleh kepakaran serta infrastruktur bekalan automotif yang ada di Rayong.

Sumber: Bangkok Post

Ducati to use Thailand one of their export hubs. The decision follows the opening their first and new Asian production factory in Rayong.

The 400-million-baht plant has the production capacity of 10,000 units per year in the first phase.

Chief Executive of Ducati Motor Holding, Claudio Domenicali said, “Thailand is an important market for premium motorcycles, or big bikes, and we want to make Thailand our export base.”

“We produce every model of Ducati motorcycles at our plant in Rayong. We ensure the products meet high standards set by the parent firm in Italy,” he added.

The factory will be overseen by Ducati Motor Thailand and will supply the Asia-Pacific market. China was once Ducati’s key market but has seen sales slide due to an economic downturn.

Ducati sold a nearly 58,000 motorcycles last year but have yet to set a sales target for 2024. The sales volume will be determined by demand growth and market sentiments, said Mr Domenicali.

Nevertheless, sales of large capacity motorcycles in Thailand is set to increase.

Surapong Paisitpatanapong, vice-chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and spokesman for the FTI’s Automotive Industry Club, expects sales of big bikes (motorcycles above 400cc) to hit 15,000 units this year. He also said that production will also increase to supply both domestic and international markets.

Production of all types of motorcycles in Thailand rose by 5.2% year-on-year to 2.12 million units in 2023, with 1.7 million of them for export, according to the Thai Automotive Industry.

Thailand is already the hotbed for several major automotive and motorcycle manufactures including BMW, Honda, Kawasasi, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

In an interview with Triumph during a visit, we found out that the decision to set up these manufacturing facilities in Thailand is not due to labour costs, which is in fact higher than at neighbouring countries. Instead it is due to the automotive supply infrastructure in place at Rayong.

Source: Bangkok Post

Insta360 X4 dengan rakaman video 8k telah dilancarkan, dengan ciri-ciri hebat yang lain.

Kamera aksi Insta360 adalah salah satu yang paling popular sejak dilancarkan, kerana membolehkan pengguna merakam video aksi mereka di dalam dimensi 360 darjah. Ia amat popular di kalangan penunggang motosikal dan sukan berkuasa kepada hampir semua aktiviti.

Seperti tajuknya, ia kini merakam sehingga resolusi 8K30fps, dan anda juga boleh merakam video gerak perlahan pada 4K100fps. Selain itu, Insta360 X4 menyokong Cardo, Sena atau peranti Bluetooth lain untuk kawalan suara. Fikirkan tentang motovlogging tanpa mikrofon atau kabel tambahan.

Unit ini, sudah tentu, kalis air sehingga 33 kaki tanpa bekas kalis air. Walau apa pun, syarikat itu menawarkan pelindung kanta biasa dan premium.

Mereka juga telah meningkatkan hayat bateri, dengan mendakwa bahawa ia kini bertahan sehingga 135 minit dalam Mod Video pada 5.7K30fps. Rakaman dalam 8K30fps pula bertahan sehingga 75 minit.

Bateri yang lebih besar menambahkan beratnya kepada 203 gram, naik 23 gram daripada X3.

 

Ciri berorientasikan motosikal yang lain termasuk Mod Auto Dash yang mula merakam sebaik sahaja anda mula menunggang. Mod rakaman berterusan pula merekodkan video secara berterusan pada tempoh yang telah ditetapkan dan menimpa fail, sesuai untuk menunggang setiap hari.

Terdapat juga mod Motion ND baharu dalam aplikasi telefon dan program komputer Insta360 Studio supaya anda boleh meletakkan kesan kabur gerakan pada video anda tanpa memerlukan filter tambahan.

Insta360 X4 boleh digandingkan dengan kedua-dua jam tangan Garmin dan Apple supaya anda boleh menambah data dan/atau tindanan pada rakaman anda.

Jika anda suka menggunakan sambungan berwayar daripada kamera tindakan anda ke peranti Android atau iOS anda, sila ambil perhatian bahawa X4 hanya menyokong sambungan berwayar untuk Android. Walau bagaimanapun, sokongan tanpa kabel tersedia untuk kedua-dua peranti.

 

The Insta360 X4 has been launched and boasts 8K video recording, among other great features.

The Insta360 action camera is one of the most popular ever since its launch, allowing users to open up a 360-degree dimension of recording their exploits, from motorcyclists and powersports to just about any sports.

As the title says, it now shoots up to 8K30fps resolution, and you could also shoot slo-mo videos at 4K100fps. Apart from that, the Insta360 X4 supports Cardo, Sena, or other Bluetooth communicators for voice control. Think about motovlogging without an extra microphone or cable.

The unit is, of course, waterproof up to 33 feet without a waterproof case. In any case, the company offers regular and premium lens guards.

They have also upped the battery life, too, claiming that it now lasts up to 135 minutes in Video Mode at 5.7K30fps. Recording in 8K30fps yields 75 minutes.

A bigger battery brings the weight to 203 grams, up 23 grams from the X3.

 

Other motorcycle-oriented features include an Auto Dash Mode that begins recording as soon as you start riding. Loop Recording records continuously over a predetermined length and overwrites the files, perfect for everyday riding.

There’s also a new Motion ND mode in both the app and the desktop Insta360 Studio program so you can get that cool motion blur effect on your shots with no extra filters required.

The Insta360 X4 can be paired with both Garmin and Apple watches so you can add data and/or overlays to your recordings.

If you like using a wired connection from your action camera to your Android or iOS devices, please note that the X4 only supports wired connections for Android. However, wireless support is available for both devices.

 

Road congestion especially during the festive season is due to the insufficient length of the existing roads to accommodate the large number of vehicles, said Traffic and Road Safety Psychologist, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Prof. Dr Rozmi Ismail. He also said that many other roads (not highways) only have one lane.

“If something like an accident happens, road users have nowhere to ‘run’ and they will be stuck with the congestion. They have to deal with it.

“Then, in most cities or towns, the roads are being repaired. For example in Gua Musang. It adds to the large number of vehicles causing further congestion,” he added.

He commented on the complaints of road users who had to travel for more than 10 hours when returning to the capital after celebrating Aidilfitri last year.

Apart from that, he also touched on the toll payment method and suggested that there are more effective payment systems. “For example, the user has already paid before going to a certain place. Say I want to go to Penang, I have already paid. This is to avoid these vehicles lining up at the toll plaza. That queue causes congestion too.”

Our comments:

Prof.’s summary Dr. Romzi is very good but there is another reason why the roads in Malaysia are getting more congested: The huge increase of new vehicles every day, month, and year. For example, almost 800,000 new vehicles were registered last year alone. The total length of roads in our country, including highways and paved and unpaved roads is 290,099 kilometers. But at the same time, there are 36.3 million active vehicles. That means there are 125 vehicles per kilometer.

The addition of roads and highways will not be able to accommodate the number of vehicles at any time, not to mention the construction of each highway takes a long time to complete. The construction project also adds to traffic congestion.

Kesesakan jalan raya terutamanya setiap kali musim perayaan khususnya di Pantai Timur antaranya disebabkan kepanjangan jalan sedia ada tidak dapat menampung jumlah kenderaan yang banyak, kata Pakar Psikologi Trafik dan Keselamatan Jalan Raya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Prof. Dr Rozmi Ismail. Dia turut berkata yang banyak jalan lain (bukan lebuh raya) hanya mempunyai satu lorogn.

“Kalau berlakunya apa-apa perkara seperti kemalangan, pengguna jalan raya tidak ada tempat untuk ‘lari’ dan mereka akan terperangkap dengan kesesakan itu. Memang terpaksa harunginya.

“Kemudian, kebanyakan bandar atau pekan jalannya sedang dibaiki. Contohnya di Gua Musang. Ia seterusnya tidak dapat membantu untuk menampung jumlah kenderaan yang banyak sehingga menyebabkan kesesakan,” katanya lagi.

Beliau mengulas mengenai keluhan pengguna jalan raya yang terpaksa menempuhi perjalanan panjang melebihi 10 jam ketika kembali ke ibu kota selepas menyambut Aidilfitri lalu.

Selain daripada itu, beliau turut menyentuh mengenai kaedah pembayaran tol yang menambahkan lagi kesesakan dan mencandangkan bahawa terdapat sistem pembayaran yang lebih efektif. “Contohnya pengguna dah bayar dahulu sebelum nak ke sesuatu tempat. Katalah saya nak pergi Pulau Pinang, sudah siap bayar. Ini untuk elakkan kenderaan ini berbaris di plaza tol. Berbaris itu akan jadi sesak.

Komen kami:

Rumusan Prof. Dr. Romzi amat baik namun ada lagi satu sebab kenapa jalan-jalan di Malaysia makin sesak, iaitu pertambahan kenderaan yang mendadak setiap hari, bulan, dan tahun. Contohnya, hampir 800,000 kenderaan baharu didaftarkan pada tahun lalu sahaja. Jumlah kepanjangan jalan raya di negara kita, termasuk lebuh raya dan jalan yang diturap serta tidak diturap ialah 290,099 kilometer. Tetapi pada masa yang sama, terdapat 36.3 juta kenderaan yang aktif. Itu bermaksud terdapat 125 kenderaan bagi setiap kilometer.

Penambahan apa-apa jalan dan lebuh raya tidak akan dapat menampung jumlah kenderaan sampai bila-bila, apatah lagi pembinaan setiap lebuh raya mengambil masa yang lama. Projek pembinaan tersebut juga menyumbang kepada kesesakan trafik.

Sebanyak 62.6 juta motosikal dijual pada 2023 di peringkat global.

Ia mewakili rekod kedua terbaik selepas 2018. Jumlah jualan juga mewakili peningkatan 2.7% daripada 2022, dan tahun ketiga pertumbuhan berterusan selepas menyaksikan penurunan mendadak pada 2020 akibat pandemik Covid-19.

Sekali lagi, pasaran Asia yang mendorong peningkatan itu.

India menyumbang jumlah jualan tertinggi, dan peningkatan sebanyak 9.1% dalam kalangan pengeluar tempatan mereka TVS Motor, Royal Enfield, Bajaj Auto dan Hero. Beberapa jenama bukan India lain turut hadir di negara ini melalui perkongsian dengan pengeluar tempatan seperti BMW, Triumph, Norton, KTM, et al.

Pasaran kedua terbesar ialah, tidak mengejutkan, Indonesia yang berkembang sebanyak 20.2% lagi walaupun sudah mempunyai bilangan motosikal tertinggi di sana.

Walaupun pasaran ini berkembang, beberapa negara Asia juga menunjukkan kemerosotan. Jualan jatuh di China sebanyak -2.4%, Vietnam sebanyak -18.1%, dan Pakistan -32.7%.

Pasaran global lain yang berkembang termasuk Brazil sebanyak 21.3%, yang menduduki tempat ke-7 di dunia dan yang terbesar dalam pasaran motosikal Amerika Latin. Turki menyaksikan pertumbuhan yang mengagumkan sebanyak 117.9%, melonjakkannya ke tempat ke-11 di dunia.

Data itu dikumpulkan oleh MotorCycles Data yang menjejaki jualan di lebih 90 negara. Mereka menjejaki penghantaran sebenar kepada pembeli dan bukannya daripada pengeluar yang menuntut jualan kepada peniaga mereka.

A total of 62.6 million motorcycles were sold globally in 2023.

It represents the second best record after 2018. The sales volume also represents a 2.7% increase from 2022, and the third year of continuous growth after seeing a sharp decrease in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Once again, it was the Asian market that drove the increase.

India contributed the highest number of sales, and an increase of 9.1% among their local manufacturers TVS Motor, Royal Enfield, Bajaj Auto, and Hero. Several other non-Indian brands are also present in the country through partnerships with the local manufactures such as BMW, Triumph, Norton, KTM, et al.

The second biggest market was, no surprise, Indonesia which grew by another 20.2% despite already having the highest number of motorcycles there.

Although these markets grew, several Asian countries showed downturns, as well. Sales dropped in China by -2.4%, Vietnam by -18.1%, and Pakistan a huge -32.7%.

Other growing global markets included Brazil by 21.3%, who ranked 7th globally and the largest in Latin America motorcycle market. Turkey saw an astounding 117.9% growth, moving it to 11th place in the world.

The data was collated by MotorCycles Data who track sales in more than 90 countries. They track actual deliveries to buyers rather than from manufacturers who claim their sales to their dealers.

Dalam kisah yang membanggakan hati setiap rakyat Malaysia (kecuali yang rasis tegar), penduduk sebuah kampung Cina membaikki jalan tikus pada tengah malam untuk membantu pengembara Aidilfitri ketika mereka memandu pulang.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri memang menyeronokkan, tetapi ia juga menandakan tempoh ketika berjuta-juta kenderaan membanjiri lebuh raya ketika rakyat Malaysia di perantaun pulang ke kampung halaman. Lebuh raya yang sedia sibuk akan sesak dengan kenderaan sehinggakan sesetengah pemandu mencari jalan alternatif. Walau bagaimanapun, sebahagian daripada ini bukan jalan B, tetapi laluan yang tidak diturap yang dikenali sebagai “jalan tikus.”

Begitulah kisah ini, apabila Zairul Annuar mahu mengelak kesesakan lalu lintas di lebuh raya PLUS menghala ke Kuala Lumpur. Dia memutuskan untuk keluar di Gopeng untuk mengambil jalan dalam hanya untuk mendapati jalan itu mempunyai kesesakan lalu lintas yang besar di Ladang Bikam.

Dia kemudian memutuskan untuk mengikuti laluan yang lain yang dicadangkan oleh Google Map, walaupun ia merupakan laluan ladang kelapa sawit yang tidak berturap.

“Perlahan-lahan, kami meneruskan perjalanan. Tiba-tiba, kelihatan beberapa kereta dari arah bertentangan, yang kemudian berhenti di sebelah kami untuk memaklumkan bahawa jalan di hadapan tidak boleh dilalui.”

“Mereka menyuruh kami berpatah balik. Semua kereta di belakang kami diarahkan melakukan perkara yang sama.”

Dia kemudian berbuat demikian tetapi ketika keretanya memasuki semula kawasan perumahan, Zairul diberhentikan oleh sekumpulan lelaki Cina pertengahan umur yang tinggal di situ.

Mereka kemudian bertanya kepada Zairul jika dia dan keluarganya menuju ke Kuala Lumpur dan menggesa mereka untuk tidak berpatah balik kerana mereka akan terperangkap dalam kesesakan lalu lintas.

Sebaliknya, penduduk kampung Cina berkata bahawa mereka akan membaikki jalan yang terhalang itu. Kumpulan lelaki Cina itu berkata kepada Zairul yang boleh didengari dalam video Zairul, “Jalan di hadapan kamu terhalang, kan? Jangan risau, kami akan membawa jengkaut untuk membaiki jalan itu. Awak tunggu sekejap.”

Zairul kemudian berkata, kawasan kejiranan itu ternyata merupakan kawasan perumahan Cina dan penduduk secara bersatu bersetuju membantu memudahkan laluan kenderaan melalui kawasan kejiranan itu.

Penduduk kampung berkumpul dan menggunakan jengkaut untuk meratakan jalan untuk digunakan oleh orang yang tidak dikenali.

Dalam video perjalanan melalui jalan tikus itu, sebuah jengkaut dapat dilihat di tepi jalan selepas ia digunakan untuk meratakan jalan supaya kereta biasa boleh melaluinya kerana hanya 4×4 boleh melakukannya sedemikian sebelum itu.

Tersentuh dengan tindakan penduduk kampung Cina keluar membantu orang yang tidak dikenali pada Aidilfitri, Zairul memuji mereka dengan berkata, “Mereka keluar dari rumah dan bekerja bersama-sama. Hebatnya rakyat Perak. Inilah semangat Malaysia yang sebenar.”

In a story that warms every Malaysian’s heart, Chinese villagers repaired a road in the middle of the night to help Aidilfitri travellers as they drive home.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is fun, but it also marks the occasion when millions of vehicles flood the highways as Malaysians travel to their hometowns and back. The already busy highways will be so choked with vehicles that some motorists look for alternative routes. However, some of these are not B-roads, but off-road paths.

Such was the case in this story, when Zairul Annuar wanted to avoid a traffic standstill on the PLUS highway heading to Kuala Lumpur. He decided to exit at Gopeng to take the inner roads, only to find that road had a massive traffic jam in Ladang Bikam.

He then decided to follow a reroute suggested by Google Map, albeit an unpaved trail for an oil palm estate.

“Slowly, we continued our journey. Suddenly, a few cars from the opposite direction can be seen, who then stopped beside us to inform us that the road ahead was impassable.”

“They directed us to turn back. All of the cars behind us were instructed to do the same.”

He then did so but as his car re-entered the residential area, Zairul wasstopped by a group of middle-aged Chinese men living there.


They then asked Zairul if he and his family were heading to Kuala Lumpur and urged them to not turn back as they would be stuck in a traffic jam.

Instead, the Chinese villagers said that they would repair the blocked road so that cars could pass through. The group of middle-aged Chinese men said to Zairul. The conversion can be heard in Zairul’s video, “The road ahead of you is blocked, right? Don’t worry. We’ll bring a backhoe to repair that road. You wait a moment.”

Zairul then said that the neighbourhood turned out to be a Chinese residential area and that the residents collectively agreed to help facilitate the passage of vehicles through the neighbourhood.

The villagers banded together and used a backhoe to level out the road for strangers to use.

In the video of travelling through the trail (colloquially called ‘jalan tikus’), a backhoe could be seen by the roadside after it was used to level out the road so that normal cars could pass through, as only 4x4s could do so before due to an incline.

Touched by the Chinese villagers’ action of going out of their way to help strangers on Aidilfitri, Zairul heaped praises on them, saying, “They came out of their homes and worked together. The people of Perak are amazing. Powerful. This is the true spirit of Malaysia.”

A total of 116 deaths due to road accidents were recorded during the three days of the Songkran festival in Thailand. The death toll on Saturday alone reached 48 cases, while 411 injuries were reported. The number of those injured reached 968 in the same period.

A total of 936 road accident cases were reported. 40.05 percent of them were caused by speeding, 27.81 percent were due to drunk driving, and another 16.85 percent were due to overtaking other vehicles.

A total of 85.5 percent of accidents involved motorcycles. The majority of accidents were not due to winding roads or bad conditions, instead 81.63 percent occured on straight roads.

Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla provinces recorded the highest number of road accidents in three days with 19 cases each.

The city of Bangkok recorded the highest number of deaths in the same period which was 8 deaths, while Songkhla recorded 45 cases of injuries.

The Director General of the Civil Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, Chaiwat Chuntirapong, said officials are adjusting prevention measures to suit the reality on the ground.

The focus is on secondary roads and communities, where motorcyclists tend to speed without helmets and after consuming alcohol.

We know many motorcyclists and drivers from Malaysia who like to go to Thailand for the Songkran festival and for recreation, but do hope that you ride and carefully when there. Also, the report mentioned the consumption of alcohol but did not include the consumption of the legalised  marijuana. There may be cases involving it but not reported. Regardless, the Thai government will withdraw the legalization of cannabis at the end of this year.

Seramai 116 kematian akibat kemalangan jalan raya dicatatkan dalam tempoh tiga hari perayaan Songkran di Thailand. Angka kematian pada hari Sabtu sahaja telah mencapai 48 kes, manakala 411 kecederaan dilaporkan. Jumlah mereka yang tercedera mencecah 968 dalam tempoh yang sama.

Sejumlah 936 kes kemalangan jalan raya dilaporkan. 40.05 daripadanya disebabkan oleh memandu laju, 27.81 peratus oleh kerana memandu di dalam keadaan mabuk, dan 16.85 peratus lagi kerana memotong kenderaan lain.

Sebanyak 85.5 peratus kemalangan melibatkan motosikal. Majoriti kemalangan bukan kerana jalan berliku atau keadaan tidak baik, sebaliknya 81.63 peratus berlaku di atas jalan lurus.

Wilayah Nakhon Si Thammarat dan Songkhla mencatatkan jumlah kemalangan jalan raya tertinggi dalam tempoh tiga hari masing-masing sebanyak 19 kes.

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