Unexpected Chain reaction.

(Ready to Ride) (Admin Building)

Ever plan for something so carefully and thought that you have everything in control....Not!

On a sunny sunday morning we prepare to venture in to the unknown....well i had a vague idea the place that we where headed to be honest. Its been a year since i have been to the Mahua water falls the guys was excited and even mention about not getting some sleep at all because of the excitement. The bikes was refuel and we where ready to go..the distance was 96km...it was to be a leisure ride across the crocker range. As we where getting ready to depart we met up with the Borneo Biking Adventure guys who was riding the Aprilia 650 we chatted for a while and off we go.

Ascending the crocker range was as usual exhilarating the bends and curves is always a favorite of mine no matter what bike you use its always about the feeling of freedom taking that journey and experiencing the unknown and adventure. As crazy as it sounds we actually had some one who was on a really small bike traveling with us...... when i mean small its a midget bike but it was as fast as we where going at about 80-100 up hill...most of the time it was up front.

( Mahua) (Jimmy)

As we got closer to the entrance to the junction to the water fall which was about 6-7 km i was expecting the road would be an unsealed road all the way in. It would be a fun ride with mud,gravel and just playing around with the bikes. To our dismay it was sealed all the way in....Great! there goes the high expectation of riding on an off road. As we enter the site it was fully renovated with administration building and toilet facilities again "there goes the expectation of being in the wild natural rain forest with a water fall". Since we are there already why not make it the best of the day. The trail in was properly looked after and there is a plank walk half way to the water fall, because this place is not really fully promoted you only see locals picnicking and having a deep in the pool.

(Sealed Road) (Lunch at Tambunan) (After the rain)

By midday we started to head back to Kota Kinabalu, we heard thunder and the clouds was getting darker the rain was coming. When we thought what worse can happen except just getting wet one of the guys bike chain break loose and fell of while riding...the pin was gone so we decided to head for tambunan to see if there is any bike shop is open. after a tiring looking ther was no bike shop that was open as it was a sunday, than another rider had his breaks jammed...what!.. we fix the problem and stop by at a local shop to have lunch. The journey back was at a slow speed as the rain came down we just had to be more careful riding on a wet condition.

If you ride in Borneo make sure to expect the rain...its a life style hear.

Enjoying the country side

04th April 09,

After breakfast and a short briefing we headed for a short easy off and on road trip towards the back roads of Kinarut area. along the way i gave pointers on how to ride on a gravel road since being on a flat pavement and being bounced around and trying to control your machine at the same time can be difficult. another reason why o take 1st timers on this part of the area..almost flat, easy, turns and corners and straight long gravel road which is ideal for beginners. it only took us half a day to finish the trip and i was happy as i can see a satisfied face.

There is a few places for a fun off road adventure it all depends on the riders experience handling the Machine, road condition and curves. Mud is the most you have to be careful of , going to fast on a muddy road can mean disaster.

Nulu ridge Home of the Mountain Guides

The day looked sunny and bright! Our tour this time was heading to a village at the foot of Mt Kinabalu just a short visit. We started out running at 130km heading for Tuaran and would stop by the last refuelling point for some spare fuel just in case.

The road up Nabalu was one of the best even for an enduro bike as the curves and bends snakes up the Mountain, the only mistake was not to take photo as the clouds draws in we stop as much as possible on every corner to get a good shot of the mountain. But I guess luck was not on our side as every stop we mad the clouds seem to cover the mountain “ The hell with it” one of the guys said and we proceeded on for our main destination. The trail we took was in a valley the trail was along ridges that is hidden along the hills and ridges that connect to Mt Kinabalu. We stop for a tea break after the 2 hours riding,…my back was beginning to feel the pain of seating on the bike to long.

The mountain was totally gone by this time, no hope for any photos but loads of off road trail to explore and we where excited to try out an old trail that has not been used for quite a while. Well that’s what we thought. Nulu is where you find most of the Mountain guides are from! So visiting the village where the legends of Mt guides is quite exciting to see how they everyday life in the natural way. We proceeded to another village along the crocker range bank bone to small village called pahu. The descend was really steep and if you think riding a bicycle down hill is challenging try riding a motorcycle down with big rocks the size of a rugby ball and a 45 degree angle down at 45 km per hour with a sharp turn. If you mis the tern, the drop is 100 feet down a riverside. Than cross a suspension bridge across a river which was dodgy enough that you feel the bridge is going to give way. Than there is a few other rivers we had to cross,…at first glance it looked flat and an easy challenge, but than some loose con troll and takes a plunge in to the river. The worse part of it was by this time the rain started to fall, with the bikes engine filled with water we had to drain the engine of its oil and replace it which took us about 45 min. Smiling and still full of excitement it was more of a joy ride. The guys had fun even after the gruelling ride down the ridge and the experience of falling in to the river. With no airfilter and the rain still heavy we where lucky to make it out before any of the other rivers swelled up.

Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu on two wheels

Try this out....i travel in 1 day from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu on our enduro 150cc bikes and was accompanied by Mr Taichiro from Japan.

We carried spare fuel just in case..our top speed was at 120-130..from hill to valley and through local village's along the way. Mind you most of the ride was ascending to about 1500mtr....imagine that...what would it do to the contained petrol in the gerry cane?...pop and you ll find petrol flying from the back of you bike! But that didnt happened as where prepared so all safety causation was taken.

We stoped along the way for some photo views,..however we never did get a good panoramic view of Mt Kinabalu. We where really lucky up to ranau...the weather was sunny and bright so we decided to have lunch at a local chinese shop. I thought,...looks sunny why not take our time..little did i know it was a bad call. At about 1400hrs after we pass the world heritage site it started to drizzle and later pour,..the visibility was really bad and it was about 5-8 meters vizz.

We mad it back to Kota Kinabalu safe and sound...but the trip was really an experience,...

Motorcycle Rentals in Borneo

Motorcycle rentals is not something you'll fine in Borneo, this rental business does not exist...at least thats what many many who e-mail me told me. No..there is only two company that does rent bikes in North Borneo, Absolute Borneo Tours and Borneo Biking Adventures. so if you find your self wondering where to find this motorcycle rental company both have website that you can visit.

Down South where the rain dont shine.

Down south….that was on our mind…how far? Will figure it out when we get there…or somewhere!!.. Since it has been raining non stop the previous day we figure it would not continue to rain as the sun was already out. But down south it look gloomy and grey…”will it rain today?”.

As we made our way across the south road we decided to take the ferry crossing a small town called Kuala penyu..now the rain started and we where in good spirit that we just thought its just rain nothing more…”we have been in worse hell than this…what would be more worse”. little that we knew the trail we plan to take was flooded and the bridge fell. Time to move to plan B, take another route….we manage to get through taking a detour the thing is the trail was really fun…mud, gravel and more mud. The bike skidded, twisted and all you can imagine in a slippery situation. We stop by a resort to check out the rooms and all but on the way in the area was flooded and we had to traverse across whiloe others just waited for the flood to settle down.

Our ride back was like a wet but sunny ride 5 minute there’s rain and the next 5 minutes it was dry again and it went on until we reach Kota Kinabalu.

All and all the trip was..”most important Fun” and the old ferry crossing was really cool and as usual the ride was as always back breaking.

The Long Way Round North Borneo

New years come and go, but this is the 1st i have ever spend time with a group of bikers and had great fun.

It was good weather through out our journey during the 6 Days traveling through Sabah(North Borneo). Keen Lee,.. u where asking about the price tag on this tour well RM4607.00 with a min of 4 person it gets cheaper above the 4 so you should look at the budget as above.