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| deadwolf |
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deadwolf
Could Be A Chat Bot
Joined: 24 Jan 2013
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 Posted: 16:03 - 08 Mar 2014  Post subject: A bit of Penang (pic heavy) |
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I've been in Penang, Malaysia since last November, having moved back there as my UK visa expired last October (thanks Conservatives   ). Stayed bikeless until December, where after a week in hospital with dengue fever and a now much-thumbed copy of the local Bike Trader magazine, I ended up with a Kawasaki KLX150S dual sport machine.
https://i.imgur.com/zNezAIm.jpg
It's a competent city commuter with agility to match the ubiquitous Honda Super Cub derivatives but due to being severely underpowered at 11bhp and flatly refusing to go above 50mph, I wasn't very keen on long distance jaunts. Instead I decided to stretch its offroad muscles and pored over Google Maps looking for some trails. One promising lead was an abandoned construction site near the island's National Park that would hopefully have trails leading further uphill into the jungle, maybe even connecting to the hiking trail network that stretches across all of Penang Hill.
https://i.imgur.com/LwifmDD.jpg
After a sizeable lunch I headed off. From what I've seen these sites are fairly common in Malaysia and Brunei. Developers buy some jungle to build a housing estate, clear it and then run out of funds for some reason or other, leaving behind a patch of rocky badlands. It's often the closest thing you can get to the Baja 1000 in Asia.
A dirt path led through a small village to the site's entrance, with another path leading into the jungle. I decided to check out the construction site first and double back to the other trail if the former failed to provide any leads.
https://i.imgur.com/QX5Eigz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tVLMRsv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MUpkTqp.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/umLX61o.jpg
Made my way up the 'terraces', eventually reaching the top. Some steep sections, lots of big loose rocks, sand and grit of varying sizes. A nice change from tarmac, although given the state of the local roads you'd have to squint to spot the difference 
https://i.imgur.com/xt9uIk2.jpg
The KLX's suspension got a real workout and the bike's sprightly 101kg wet weight meant the bike was easy to handle over uneven ground and nearly impossible to drop if you kept enough speed to power over the larger rocks. On the way back down the wheels spent so much time bouncing in the air that braking was severely hampered. Just had to hang on tight and enjoy the ride! 
https://i.imgur.com/CtQuY9H.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nJ1DIpu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qdOuUf2.jpg
Once on the upper part of the cliffs there were some nice views to be had. The buildings on the left are a fishing village and the National Park is located on the hills behind it. The white building on the right is a resort that's been abandoned for two decades or so.
https://i.imgur.com/6fNVltu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Q9RpVk1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/S2xvkeo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/D9izKUB.jpg
Trying to figure out what this was. Was it originally curved, or did heat and rain eventually mould the wood to the contours of the rock? 
https://i.imgur.com/bUVC8cm.jpg
The route up eventually led further into the jungle, which got my hopes up. I followed the trail until I reached this creepy abandoned house and watchtower.
https://i.imgur.com/e0BBYpP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bPeXa7q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/AlNDvEO.jpg
The trail didn't continue, so I decided to turn around and try the path by the site entrance.
https://i.imgur.com/WeChj5U.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sUnCOgC.jpg
A few twists and turns led to this sandy clearing bordered by a shallow stream. Once again, there was no further ingress to be made so I took a selfie and buggered off. Shame this didn't pan out, but plenty of other possible routes with which to weasel into the jungle in the surrounding area.
https://i.imgur.com/uVKQlAO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Y6QOjLz.jpg
Further towards the east is a large reservoir and beyond that some of the twistiest roads I've ever encountered. Somewhere along those roads I managed to scrape the KLX's right footpeg 
At this point I'd only been out for about two hours and decided to hit the dirt roads that crisscross the farmland on the eastern side of the island.
https://i.imgur.com/nUiqYVR.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UT2RtG0.jpg
Mmm, crops.
https://i.imgur.com/wblH8mz.jpg
Inspecting the right footpeg for evidence of scrape. Would never have thought I'd scrape on this bike. It happened in the midst of some hard cornering and the surprise was not helped by the huge truck that was parked in my lane just around the next bend.
https://i.imgur.com/sqhsh57.jpg
A section of the twisties, lined by stalls hawking drinks and fruit.
https://i.imgur.com/2GfnJTn.jpg
Took a short break at the entrance to a 'durian chalet'. Apparently when the durian is in season you can come and stay here and munch on the noxious hellspawned fruit to your heart's content.
https://i.imgur.com/hteaRj4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4PBPecd.jpg
Heading back past the reservoir, lots of wide curvy roads here
https://i.imgur.com/Mp9jckQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/YQFUQul.jpg
Stopped by the abandoned resort on the way home for a closer look. There was lots of construction noise going on somewhere behind it and I later found out that some developer was planning to build something new on the site. Any subsequent urbex expeditions should be planned with haste.
https://i.imgur.com/fEcX85V.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/shfy5Fo.jpg
Got back home and pulled this mean sliver of metal out of my boot!  Definitely advise thick-soled footwear when sliding around abandoned construction sites at speed.
https://i.imgur.com/uZQfJCE.jpg
Went hiking in the National Park two days later with my dad and brought him to have a look at the site. According to him small streams like this were popular with bootleggers back in the day, who would use it as a water supply for brewing and then bury their hooch in the adjacent sand 
https://i.imgur.com/WcYGwV8.jpg
Also explored the fishing village and came across among other things this curious C90/70/whatever outfit.
https://i.imgur.com/gAJoSqN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7Z0lCKw.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/r1aPhRF.jpg
More to follow, as I'll be here for at least a few more years if everything goes well. Penang's got some biking history as evidenced by the Penang GP in the 60's and the local Ducati dealership just keeps getting more and more flash so the present ain't doing so bad either
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| Dan87 |
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Dan87
Renault 5 Driver
Joined: 15 Nov 2010
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| deadwolf |
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deadwolf
Could Be A Chat Bot
Joined: 24 Jan 2013
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Posted: 16:42 - 08 Mar 2014  Post subject: |
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| Dan87 wrote: | Great thread mate .... Loving the C90 side car outfit!
Are most bikes out your way small low CC stuff? |
Cheers  just remembered seeing a more substantial version carrying a wheelchair-bound pensioner a few weeks ago. Kinda makes sense, since for most cargo hauling duties they prefer a sort of large platform that fits over the pillion portion of the seat.
Yeah, 125cc is the norm, surprisingly few 100ccs or 50ccs, a few 70ccs and some electric scooters that are just as rare. Not many twist-n-go machines too, the 4-gear centrifugal clutch setup rules the roost. Maxi scooters are surprisingly popular though, more of them on the road every day.
The 125s are very competent. My dad's Honda will do 100km/h all day and the only letdown is the tiny tank. In fact I actually prefer doing distances on it than the KLX as it's just easier to live with on the road.
150cc is the next tier up, and you'll find a lot of supermotos and sportbikes in this category. This engine size seems to attract the more 'serious' motorcyclist out of the masses, i.e. those who want a tank between their legs rather than a step-thru. The big four all have one or two sportbike models in this cc. Performance varies tremendously, from my bike which puts out a mere 11bhp to strokers like the NSR150 which does 25hp or 39hp depending on which version you get.
Personally I'm not a fan of the 150cc sportbikes, they all look ugly as sin, like halfhearted caricatures of bigger bikes and I rarely see one ridden in anger or pulling off epic filtering despite the narrow width, which hasn't helped their image in my eyes. Plenty of step-thrus will give them a run for their money in terms of speed too. Would rather just step straight to a 250cc machine.
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| mintex |
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mintex
Nova Slayer
Joined: 10 Jul 2012
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| Posted: 17:39 - 08 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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Some very nice pics
I would like to ride somewhere like that, would make a nice change from the norm |
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| -Monty- |
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-Monty-
World Chat Champion
Joined: 20 Apr 2012
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 11 years, 134 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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