Continuing on with our Most Interesting Biker (MIB) series, we caught up with Malaysia actor and entrepreneur, Jehan Miskin.
There are lots of celebrity bikers in Malaysia, both male and female, and we hope to be able to write about them all as we go along, but Jehan is a dear friend to us so all it took was a Whatsapp message explaining the MIB series and a reply saying, “sure, want me to bring my bike?”
How could this guy not make this list?
It is also funny to think that someone who never learned to ride a bicycle would eventually end up riding Harley-Davidsons to places most people don’t ever visit, what more on a Harley-Davidson.
“I never learned to ride a bicycle as a kid,” he said over coffee in Empire Damansara.
“My brothers and sisters all learned but not me. I remember being 11 or 12 and crashing my brothers bicycle at the backroad of my terrace house in SS2. I fell in the drain and the bicycle looked like it had been crashed, but I learned to ride a bicycle on my own eventually.”
The big switch to motorcycles came at 14, an era Jehan describes as “zaman mat moto.” That was the period of the Kawasaki Victors, Yamaha TZMs, RX-Z and the Kawasaki KIPS. But his first bike was the tiny but fun 125cc, two-stroke Cagiva Mito. After that and for many years he didn’t have a bike as he focused on developing his video production business.
But the calling came eventually, just as it always does. Jehan was invited to attend a Harley-Davidson event which required some riding. Being more of a sports bike kind of person, he says he didn’t think much of the Harleys, until he saw a Nightrod.
The bike belonged to a customer who agreed to let Jehan ride it to a movie premiere, up north and eventually sold the bike him.
“I have a lot to thank Awie* for in that decision to eventually buy the Nightrod. The owner had let me ride the bike to an event in Perak, so when I met Awie I told him about my experience and showed the bike to him. Awie told me to change the handle bars and gave me a piece of advise I didn’t forget, and so I went and bought the Nightrod,” says Jehan.
*Yes, that Awie
He rode it around town for a few years first, hung around with the Harley Owners Group, and never really went on long distance rides. Until the Asia Harley Days in Thailand came along, and that was it. The tour riding bug had hit, fast forward a few years and Jehan and some mates are conquering Chinese roads in search of the real Shangri-La, not the five star hotel.
He has taken the bike where no Harley-Davidson Nightrod owners would go, and there were places where the bike wasn’t even designed to go, like the twisting mountains of Laos, and the dirt roads of Thailand. Places a BMW GS or a Kawasaki Versys would feel more at home on, not a Nightrod.
“I have always been a superbike kind of guy, but I had a pact with my brother to never own or ride a superbike. They are really fast bikes, and our mother and sister were completely against the idea, so to keep things cool we decided to agree on a pact to ride, but not on a superbike.”
Jehan’s brother eventually got on a superbike but not before promising his younger brother all kinds of things.
“And so I felt that the Harley Nightrod was one of the few bikes that could give me the performance of a superbike without being a superbike. I have always appreciated a Harley but never really wanted one, but the Nightrod is cool enough, dragster enough, powerful enough, a hybrid between a cruiser and a superbike.” – Jehan.
After our meet in Empire Damansara, Jehan went on another ride to northern Thailand for Songkran and to Bangkok to hook up with Harley owners over there. Spending over two weeks on the road, the Nightrod once again was the weapon of choice.
“Riding has evolved to be more than just speed for me. It is about friendship and it is about getting away. There is escapism in riding, adventure you can’t get anywhere else. When you ride long distance, you are in a new town everyday. It is about being on the road and not worrying about anything else but the road, that is why I ride,” concludes Jehan.
Harley-Davidson V-Rod riders are a special bunch; they are passionate about their V-Rods and are always eager to ride as far as they can. If you own or fantasise about owning a Harley-Davidson V-Rod but feel that you cannot really take it very far, then this article is for you.
Malaysian celebrity and entrepreneur Jehan Miskin and the team at Bikes Republic were hanging out recently when Jehan told a story about how he and a group of friends beat all odds and rode their V-Rods up till Shangri-La in China.
It was a triumphant ride for the bunch as everyone told them it couldn’t be done with the Harley-Davidson V-Rod. The story is exciting enough to create a short movie but since we didn’t have enough clips, Jehan wrote a short story on it to share with us, and the official magazine for the American chapter of the Harley-Davidson Owners Group (HOG). The following is what he sent us a few days ago:
— Written by Jehan Miskin —
Ever since I got my custom Harley-Davidson Nightrod Special in 2011, most riders I meet would say, “Hey, badass bike man. But you can’t go long distance on that bike for sure!”
Then I met a couple of other crazy V-Rodderz called Simon and Rambo and found out they were the first Malaysian V-Rod riders to ride from Kuala Lumpur to Vietnam and back.
We did a few rides in Thailand covering thousands of kilometres and still people would say ‘No way you guys can’t go further than that on a V-Rod”.
So last year, we decided to ride from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia all the way to Shangri-La in Tibet, China. A month long ride that would take us on unpredictable roads through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Tibet in China. Simon and Rambo rode from Kuala Lumpur up to Chiang Rai in Thailand, a seven day ride over 2,500kms.
Because of other commitments, I shipped my bike to Chiang Rai and we started our expedition there with some other bikers from Indonesia and Thailand.
We rode from Chiang Rai to Chiang Kong, then crossed into Laos, stopping briefly at the laid back town of Luang Namtha.
Next we crossed the border into China, stopping in a different town every night. Mengla, Xisuangbanna, Linchang, Dali, Shangri-La and finally the peak at 15,000 feet, Deqen. The weather got colder and the air thinner the further north we rode.
We rode through countless mountain roads, crossed rivers and lakes, rode off-road and on-road, in high altitude, even in the rain in sub zero temperature. Every chance we got we took the scenic route and skipped the highways. We lived in the moment and adapted to whatever the road or weather would throw our way. And after we reached the peak, we rode back again from Shangri-La, stopping by the ancient city of Lijiang, then back to Dali, Xisuangbanna, Mengla, Boten, crossing over to Laos and back to Chiang Rai.
Here the trip ended for the other riders but we were not done. We wanted to conquer the Road of a Thousand Corners, a legendary road to bikers in this part of the world otherwise known as Mae Hong Son. So we continued our journey from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai, stayed over in scenic Pai, to Mae Hong Son where we got our official 1000 corners certificate (it actually acknowledges 1862 corners!), then down south to Mae Sariang and back to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to complete the trip. In all, we covered a total of 8,500kms in 30 days, on V-Rods.
This ride was an unforgettable experience and has inspired me to seek out even longer rides on my Rod. Every moment spent riding was a joy, even in the most challenging times like riding for two days in nonstop rain and in sub zero temperatures. Thank you awesome people at Harley-Davidson for making such a fun bike for us to go on our adventures with.
I have since had a realisation. When people say “You can’t ride that far on a Rod,” they’re not actually talking about the limitations of the bike, but it is more a reflection of their own limitations as a rider. The V-Rod can be ridden far and long and hard, probably even around the world. So the question is not whether the bike can make the journey, but whether we are the right riders to dare to take the Rod on that ride.
When the idea of writing about ‘The Most Interesting Biker in Malaysia” first came about, we expected a backlash, or lots of feedback rather, about the definition of the most interesting biker in Malaysia.
What defines an interesting biker though?
Could it be someone like Oh Kah Beng who raced with MotoGP legends back in at the Batu Tiga track? Or how about people like Hafizh Syahrin and Zulfahmi Khairuddin? After all, they were and still are the national flag bearers in a sport dominated by the west.
Or could it be long distance riders who willingly fly our beloved “Jalur Gemilang” from country to country without expecting funding from the government to do so, displaying their patriotism where ever they go. These guys spend months and even years away from their families and jobs just for the sake of riding and seeing the world.
Or could it be the mad nutters that ride dirt trails and logging tracks in the jungle that run across peninsular Malaysia up until Thailand. Camping in the jungle for days on end, falling on to rocks and jumping off everything just for the thrill of it.
Trying to define the most interesting biker in Malaysia would largely depend on what tickles your fancy but the dude you see in the pictures here would be among them. Mohamed Assir or more fondly known as ‘One Dollar’ has been riding the world since 1985, which he did on a 80cc motorcycle.
The 47 year old claims to have rode a bike an astonishing 400 times into Thailand from Malaysia, and claims to never had any major problems with authorities anywhere in the world throughout his 31 years of touring.
So why doe he spend months on end away from loved ones, racking up the bills? All for the joy of travelling he says. “I have lost love because of travelling, and I have also found love because of travelling,” he says at a recent meet, an obvious hint at the fact that he met his wife Alina in Russia.
His longest adventure was five months long when he rode from KL to the middle east on a bike, continued riding up till Jordan where he parked his bike at the Malaysian embassy. He then got on to a flight to Caracas, Venezuala, and from there drove a 4×4 through the Amazon to Lima, Peru with some friends.
From there he drove to Ascension in Paraguay, got on a flight to Buenos Aires to Jordan, picked up his bike and went on a solo ride through eastern Europe until it was too cold to continue riding, but not before he had reached Rotterdam. From there he shipped his bike back, and got on to a flight back home.
The only thing missing from this seemingly epic adventure was dicing with giants, wrestling anacondas and slaying fire breathing dragons.
But how does one travel for so long and so far and not worry about money? “Work hard so you can play hard” he says. As if we believe that. He also dabbles in a logistics business his family owns. And sometimes people pay him for tours, but only enough to cover the cost of travelling i.e., petrol, accommodation, etc.
“Adventure travel is never about making money, it is always about the passion. There are thousands of adventure organisers around the world, but it will never make you a millionaire, you need to do it for the love of it, the passion.”
When asked about his most interesting ride ever, he is quick to remember one of the many rides in South America, this time in Patagonia. “It was the most memorable because it had different terrains all the time. There was a new highway, but at the same time you have to ride in situations where you can’t put your foot down because the mud is too slippery and I was on street tyres,” he reminisces.
And, just like some top secret spy traversing across distant lands, Assir also has the Chinese military to be thankful for for still being alive. His most dramatic moment came when he got stuck in the Torugart Pass in between China and Kyrgystan.
After getting stuck in a snow storm, he was hit by altitude sickness and says he almost died from hypothermia. The Chinese army had found his bike parked at the side of the pass, and found him curled up in a ball in between some rocks. He does not remember anything, but about eight hours later he woke up in the army cabin. The army had left his bike up in the mountains, but later assisted to get it back.
So what is this adventure man’s weapon of choice? He explains, “Up until 1999 I rode a Honda Africa Twin, but after that I only ride a BMW GS, and I ride a BMW for the engineering, ability to handle weight, carry a pillion, distance cruising and stability, I know I can count on the bike.”
He explains that there was once he dropped the bike badly in Salt Lake Uyuni in Bolivia and encountered a problem with one of the pumps, but found the part rather easily, in Rio. He also swears by Toyota and says this if he is going to drive a 4×4 somewhere in the world, it has to be a Toyota but is quick to point out that no manufacturer pays him to say such things, sadly for him.
But Assir says he still hasn’t seen 50% of the world, and his travels are going to continue. He will continue to offer tours to riders who want to experience riding the world, and has a few tours already coming up. You can follow his adventures and even tag along, more details at www.4x4worldexplorer.com.
Some possible sad news for all you tour riders, according to a report by the Bangkok Post, the Thai government is “tightening up rules” on foreigners driving into Thailand.
The report stated that the Thai Land Transport Department will ban foreigners from driving motorcycles and motor homes into Thailand.
Those wanting to do so will have to apply for a special permission through Thai tourism operators at least 10 days before their scheduled trip.
This comes after a surge in the influx of foreign cars, especially from China visiting the northern provinces of Thailand, causing severe traffic jams and other inconveniences to local Thais.
Bangkok Post stated that only vehicles with nine seats and pickup trucks with a maximum weight of 3,500kg will be allowed into Thailand.
Those who want to drive or ride into Thailand will have to make arrangements at least 10 days prior to their trip, and transport officials from local provinces will decide on whether or not to grant them permission cards.
These cards will have to be displayed on the windscreen, and will cost 500 baht and is only valid for 30 days. The total permitted period cannot exceed 60 days in one year.
But before you cancel your trip up north, you will be pleased to know that the new rule only applies to vehicles driving in from China, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, and does not apply to vehicles from Laos, Malaysia and Singapore as Thailand has a pact with these countries on international car usage.
But be sure to check with border control or the Thai embassy before making a trip as you never know when these rules can change.
You can read the full report here.
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