Seems like every day is ground hog day: clean the bikes, clean the filters, check the oil, chain, tyres, bearings, brake pads, lights, indicators, body work! We have a simple check sheet that documents what we did and when we did it.

Having worked on these for so long we pretty much know all the in’s and out’s of the CRF250L, we carry a lot of Honda service items that we have on the shelf, things we don’t have we order from Thailand and can get them within 24hrs if its urgent. Prevention is better than cure so we try to ensure we catch things before they break.

When we buy a second hand bike we check everything, including steering bearings, swing arm and linkages, everything gets checked and put back together if deemed fit, if not its changed, that includes things like Stators, they let go without warning about 40,000 km.

Crash Damage is always a part of the tours/rentals, if you break it we replace it, if we don’t replace the broken and damaged parts the bikes soon start to look rubbish, if you pick up a bike with broken parts it just looks crap, so best to keep it all looking best we can, scratches we can live with.

Refurbishment on the older bikes is a total strip down with the frame being painted and the motor checked for wear, these bikes may have some big k’s but with some effort they can be made good again so we replace many parts such as Ignition switches, fuel pumps, radiators, the engine will get stripped and replace things like timing chains, valves, guides, piston and rings and anything else that is worn, normally this results in a great bike that will do many more ks with out incident.

This is a problem, why so many crashes?, it seems that nearly everybody does it, the first day and the last day are the most popular for throwing yourself at the ground, some think it’s funny, others think it’s par for the course, personally I don’t like falling of.

I have been giving this much thought whilst out riding, the surfaces change a lot here in Laos, dry dusty rock strewn roads give way to gravel, dry mud and the most dangerous is the hard packed mud with a sprinkle of rain, it’s like ice, the thick dust hides the rocks beneath which can catch you out, some roads are made of fist size rocks which can be tricky, even the shaded areas can cause problems when its slightly damp.

I think the main problem though is the riders, keen to get away on the trails and enjoy themselves, caution is thrown to the wind and generally the accidents start to happen, some 30 minutes into the journey, some journeys end there with broken bones etc. The bikes genrally dont crash themselves.

The position of the throttle is the biggest factor in my opinion, going to fast on surfaces you don’t yet understand, people who start more cautiously tend to stay upright and complete the tour without incident.

The downside of crashing is you may hurt yourself and if that means a trip to the local Hospital here, you may wish you hadn’t crashed at all when you sample the health care in Laos, secondly you may have damaged the bike which you will have to pay for, few enjoy this exercise, more reason not to fall off.

Safe riding.