Now would be a good time to get the covers of your favourite touring bikes. Repair what is needed. And get them fully ready for touring again.
According to a report by The Star, Thailand is bilateral talks with Malaysia later this month to open a ‘travel bubble’ to promote tourism.
Thailand is eager to open its tourism industry, an unsurprising move since the industry has been decimated by Covid since 2020.
This is not the first time Thailand has opened its borders though.
Last year the Kingdom opened the holiday island of Phuket as part of the Phuket Sandbox scheme where tourists who have been fully vaccinated.
The Delta variant resulted in Covid cases rising again, and this led to the Thai government closing its borders again to tourists.
But since then, a larger portion of the world’s population have been fully vaccinated and boosted as well.
This willingness of Thailand to re-open its borders to Malaysia and China comes a week after it reinstated its “Test & Go” travel project for all vaccinated travellers with Covid insurance. There is no need to quarantine.
However, Thailand is also facing a resurgence in Covid cases with the country recording 10,000 cases this past Sunday – the highest number in three months.
We look forward to riding in Thailand again, but we urge caution as well.
If you are up North and looking for a new spot to ride, perhaps you might want to check out the new Bukit Kukus bypass in Penang.
At 61.5m above ground level, the new 3.3km-long stretch is the tallest road in Malaysia. The road winds around Bukit Kukus from Lebuh Bukit Jambul to Jalan Tun Sardon and Paya Terubong.
The new route also connects Paya Terubong and Ayer Itam, the most populated neighbourhoods on the island.
Not only motorist can enjoy the scenic ride, the elevated road also features a bicycle lane. At the same time, Penang City Council (MBPP) Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang, also welcomes off-road cycling enthusiasts to enjoy the trails under the viaduct.
According to reports, the RM378.2 million project is the most expensive and largest infrastructure project by the MBPP.
Meanwhile, two private developers will complete the remainder 2.2km stretch soon.
(Source: The Star)
The Malaysian Army has added 180 units of the Kawasaki KLX 250 as part of their assets list to discharge their duties during operations.
The motorcycles will be used as part of the ongoing OP BENTENG – which is an multi-enforcement agency initiative to prevent illegal entry of foreigners, and is also part of the Malaysian government’s initiative to curb Covid-19 infections.
According to reports dated October 2020, OP BENTENG had at that time already nabbed 7,000 illegal immigrants. A further 775 skippers and 316 human traffickers were also arrested nationwide during the same period.
In a handover ceremony held yesterday (17/2/21), the 180 motorcycles were presented to General Tan Sri Datuk Zamrose Mohd Zain by the Managing Director of Kawasaki Malaysia, Dato Jefry Lim.
There was also a special demonstration of the capabilities of the KLX 250 conducted by The Army Warrior Motorcycle Team.
The motorcycles will be put to immediate use at the various borders of Malaysia to help in patrolling and curbing illegal entries into Malaysia.
The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has announced that there will be no interstate travels allowed without obtaining proper permission from the authorities. Following the national-state partial lockdown announced by the country’s newly elected Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, closures of several sectors in the nation will take place starting midnight until 31 March 2020 to control the outbreak of the Coronavirus or COVID-19. (more…)
Percaya atau tidak majoriti rakyat Malaysia lebih gemar memandu sendiri ke tempat kerja.
Berdasarkan kajian yang dijalankan Governance and Political Studies (Cent-GPS), lebih 87 peratus penduduk di Lembah Klang lebih gemar memandu kenderaan sendiri berbanding menaiki pengangkutan awam atau berkongsi kereta (carpool).
Angka tersebut meletakkan Malaysia antara yang tertinggi di dunia mengatasi Amerika Syarikat (66 peratus) dan Sepanyol (56 peratus).
Kajian tersebut melibatkan hampir 5,000 responden yang memandu kereta untuk ke Ampang, Seri Kembangan, Sungai Buloh dan Petaling Jaya dari 23 hingga 25 Oktober ketika waktu puncak di lebuhraya bertol.
Ini bermakna hanya 13 peratus yang pergi ke tempat kerja dengan berkongsi kereta.
Menurut laporan New Straits Times (NST), harga minyak serta tol yang berpatutan menjadi penyumbang utama terhadap penduduk di Lembah Klang untuk tidak berkongsi kereta atau menggunakan pengangkutan awam.
Bagaimanapun, golongan B40 akan terkesan sekiranya harga minyak dan tol dinaikan bagi mengawal jumlah kenderaan di atas jalan raya.
Kajian tersebut turut mendapati memandu sendiri ke tempat kerja mendatangkan ketenangan dan privasi terhadap pemandu di samping dapat mendengar lagu pilihan tanpa ‘gangguan’ rakan sekerja.
Pada masa sama, Cent-GPS turut menggesa kerajaan agar tidak memansuhkan tol atau meneruskan subsidi petrol.
“Tol perlu dilihat sebagai fungsi untuk mengurangkan jumlah kenderaan di atas jalan raya,” jelasnya.
(SUMBER: NST)
Malaysia merekodkan 281,527 kemalangan bagi tempoh enam bulan pertama tahun ini menurut Jabatan Siasatan dan Penguatkuasaan Trafik (JSPT) Bukit Aman.
Angka tersebut sekaligus menandakan peningkatan sebanyak 2.5 peratus berbanding tahun lalu – 274, 556.
Selangor muncul sebagai negeri penyumbang tertinggi kes kemalangan dengan 83,607 diikuti Johor 41,161 dan Kuala Lumpur dengan 36,288.
Menurut Pengarah JSPT Bukit Aman, Datuk Azisman Alias, Selangor dan Johor turut muncul sebagai negeri penyumbang tertinggi kes kemalangan maut dengan 482 kematian diikuti Perak dengan 302 kematian.
Sementara itu, penunggang motosikal kekal sebagai mangsa utama kemalangan maut dengan 1,984 kematian dicatatkan diikuti pemandu kereta, 580 kematian dan pejalan kali, 220 kematian.
(SUMBER: Bernama)
We published a report months ago about Thailand being the deadliest in terms of road accidents in ASEAN and Asia, but a new report shows that Malaysia is in third place. The report was based on the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety (2018).
But here’s another look, especially since Malaysia is the “third deadliest.”
There’s been concern about reports highlighting accidents as rates i.e. XX/100,000, compared to pure numbers.
For example, India has the most deaths due to road accidents in the world. The rate was a relatively low 22.6/100,000 (lower than even Malaysia’s 23.6/100,000) due to the sub-continent’s massive population of more than 1.3 billion. In actual fact, 150,785 were killed in 2016.
Another instance was Indonesia who recorded 31,282 road accident fatalities in 2016. However, it became one of the “safest” as the rate was an incredibly low 12.2/100,000 due to her 261 million population.
However, rates serve as a method of looking at the number of people among the population who is likely to be involved in a fatal road accident.
A report in The Star Online today has shed some light with some raw data.
Again, the WHO report in December 2018 includes data from 2016.
The writer also highlighted that a total of 91% of motorcyclists wear helmets, while 87% of their passengers did. There was still no concrete number of deaths involving motorcyclists, but it is a well-known fact that it constitutes to approximately 60% or higher.
But more alarmingly, the writer stated that only 75% of the motorcyclists killed wore helmets. We think that there may be some discrepancy in this number, but it could be that the victims involved must have lost their helmets due to improper fastening or wearing old and/or non-regulated helmets.
It’s no surprise that we motorcyclists bear the brunt of road accidents, regardless of the party at fault. But the motorcycle is the only form of transportation some of us could afford. The WHO acknowledges this by saying, “It is also a social equity issue with vulnerable road users bearing a disproportionate share of risk, injury and fatality.”
The BikesRepublic.com team have been harping on the need to revamp our driver training methodology and syllabus for many years, even before the start of this magazine. This call has fallen on deaf ears.
Road users be they car drivers, motorcyclists, truck/bus drivers are taught on the procedures needed to pass their licensing tests and little more else. Yes, there’s the addition of theory lessons to the traditional highway code but how many actually remember even 10% of that? Every student is only looking forward to obtaining his license.
Thus, the best way to teach driving etiquette and skills is at the practical level. Which is unfortunately missing. This is what really should be done instead of setting everyone loose on the roads and them figure everything out by themselves. Worse, everyone blames everyone else.
Isn’t it better than subjecting the people to punitive measures while saying that you wish for accident rates to come down? It won’t happen automatically.
The authorities should look into this if they are really serious about lowering accident and fatality rates.
Source: World Health Organization and The Star Online
Buying a motorcycle is one of life’s greatest pleasures. A motorcycle represents freedom, but in the modern sense that usually means freedom from getting stuck in traffic, freedom to go anywhere, and the spirit of adventure.
But what about maintaining the motorcycle? The mechanical parts are usually sorted out by a trusty mechanic or even the service centre from where the motorcycle was bought from.
But the aesthetics of the bike, well that is the owners prerogative.
Not too long ago, I bought a Moto Guzzi V7 III Anniversario, one of 1000 around the world. Being a limited edition model built to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, the motorcycle is fully decked out in chrome.
Everything from the tank to the mirrors and the mudguards is 100% chrome. And then there’s the saddle which is made out of plush brown leather.
I knew from the start that maintaining it was going to be difficult, but I didn’t know how difficult.
A ride in the rain resulted in the entire tank being blotched by rain spots. And with dirt being kicked up from the road, the chrome quickly becomes a dull shade of silver.
Maintaining it was, simply put, difficult.
Then I got a phone call one evening from a long lost friend – Mark.
“Horus have just opened a detailing shop bro, it is something I have been working on for a while now, come check it out,” said the enthusiastic voice over the phone.
Mark has always been one of those guys who you don’t see very often but you know is always there working on something awesome and always has a cool story to tell.
“I’ll come by tomorrow”, I responded.
Located at Temasya Glenmarie, Horus Premium Tints and Detailing Studio, the Malaysian dealer principal for Horus, specialises in everything needed to bring out the aesthetic shine in your car.
‘We started off in Singapore and did rather well, and now we’re in Malaysia with our good friend Azmi and looking to expand,” explained Mark.
On the topic of motorcycles, Horus did a fantastic job at working on the chrome and all the tiny bits. Detailing motorcycles is unlike a car, a bike has hundreds of tiny sensitive areas which if not handled carefully can be catastrophic.
The talented team at Horus consist of experienced bikers as well says that the entire process began with a an inspection of the bike, and from there the team planned out which Horus product to apply.
A bath with anti-static biodegradable shampoo started off the process followed by the usage of clay to remove heavy dirt.
This of course needed to be washed and wiped off before anything else could be done, so the Anniversario was cleaned and dried with a microfiber cloth.
From there the entire surface of the bike was wiped down with an alcohol based solvent which removes any excess oil and dirt. This was a necessary step as the next step involves paint correction to remove any scratches.
“We do that by using a medium cut polish, this retains the shine and removes small microscopic scratches. After that we leveled out the paint using a fine cut polish, this ensures the shine is consistent with zero paint defects,” explained Azmi Ismail, Managing Director of the Malaysia’s Horus dealer principal and another long time friend of mine.
From there, the entire process involved polishing with medium compound and the usage of solvents to remove any dirt and grime that may be tucked away deep inside the nooks and crannies of the bike.
To cap it all off, each component of the bike is cleaned with a microfiber cloth and a generous amount of Horus premium hybrid coating is applied to that extra shine.
It has been about three weeks now since I collected the bike. I have ridden the bike in the rain (in fact it rained right after I collected the bike) and it is now covered with dust again. But a quick swipe of a microfiber cloth immediately brings out the shine again.
Detailing motorcycles is a long tedious process, and not everyone can do it as it requires knowledge of the internal electronics of the bike. Am I happy with the final result? Im ecstatic with it, and for a bike as unique as the Anniversario, every bit of shine matters.
Horus Premium Tints and Coating is located at 32-G, Japan Penguasa B U1/53B, Temasya Glenmarie, Shah Alam, Malaysia. And can be contacted at 0122749586.
© Copyright – BikesRepublic.com 2023 Trademarks belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved
