We Were Up Early Again,

and on our way to Ban Saen, 

 despite the rain clouds in the sky,

 as we made our way along the Sukumvit the sky seemed to get worse,

 which was a bit of a shame as we were going to an outdoor motorbike meeting,

 we then drove past an area where it had rained previously,

 Diana took a self portrait of us in the truck,

 the other side of the road had flooded, it must have been a huge downpour with the middle 2 lanes too deep to drive through,

 which caused a huge tail back,

 that went on for miles,

 and miles, we were both hoping the water will have cleared once we made the return journey,

 then dry roads,

 no rain at all,

 but we could not help thinking, any minute now!

 we passed a tuk-tuk making good progress, I clocked him at 80 kilometres per hour,

 we finally arrived at Ban Saen beach,

 this was quiet neat, in the 30 or so years I have been coming to Pattaya I have seen except for lorries, very few caravans or trailers pulled by cars, but here is a Austin 1300, with the back half of a second one made into a trailer,

 the beach road is wide and long, but at this stage very few in the way of bikes were present, so we drove to the far end and parked up,

 where we saw our first group of bikes, small Yamaha's,

 the owner of this one obviously likes games!

 the owners must have spent so much time on them,

 each one different, most looking like racing bikes,

 naturally there were other options for the greenies and tree hugers,

 I am guessing but I think this bike is owned by Paul or maybe Frank,

 a quick look at the beach,

 whilst Diana buys a coke in a bag,

 the wide promenade runs the length of the beach,

 towards the end of the beach is where most of the bike had been parked up,

 lots of bikes, old and new,

 old like in this BMW 650 horizontally apposed twin,

 or single cylinder 250 cc,

 food stalls beckoned!

 then the ride past began,

 a seemingly never ending stream of bikes,

 some of the bikers were a bit enthusiastic in their driving so marshals patrolled the run,

 but still the bikes came on both big and small,

 at the end of the road it opened up into a large area where stalls were set up,

 and as the first parade finished bikes started to park up,

 I just had to take a picture of these two beauties, Ducati's, but as Diana said both she and I preferred them in red,

 unlike the Pattaya bike show where the only manufacture to put on a show was Ducati, here a number of factory stands had stalls,

 like this one,

 a 100% racer, nice, but no seat for Diana!

 now this might look old, but it is in fact quite new, it is the Royal Enfield 500 cc EFI,

 at one stage I saw a road show herein Thailand where agents were being asked to import them, but nothing came of it,

 another couple of out and out racers,

this one with a custom rear end, the styles and types of bikes here seemingly endless, also there were far more bikes here than the show in Pattaya which I found strange, not many American bikes, but lots of different models from manly Japan and Italy,

 even the very small bikes put on a great show, some new models I had not seen before like this one,

 with extra wide rear tyre,

 even Diana found one she liked, also it was in her colour!

 one of the bigger bike clubs stall,

 there were plenty of stalls selling bike gear as well, like this one,

 a painted visor,

 and one for the kid that has everything, a 50 or maybe 90 cc chopper,

 but back to the big bikes,

 a few more for the track,

 I must admit I was surprised to see so many,

the reason I know they are for the track and not the road is that they do not have centre or side stands, when you stop you need a friend/mechanic to put it on a stand, not the way to go if you are on the road,

 next another Royal Enfield, but this is an old one that needs lots of loving care,

 the stand next door is for minibikes,

 and very nice they looked too,

 this guy had a seat if you can call it that on the petrol tank and did a aerobatic display, which we unfortunately missed,

 the Honda stand, well done for supporting your customers,

 the stage set up, there were two concerts one last night and one this evening but we were home before they started,

 then joy of joys! a stall selling old motorbikes in need of repair or restoration,

 a Royal Enfield,

 or two,

 BSA, I am guessing a B33,

 a single cylinder BMW,

 and a twin Triumph,

 or two,

 they even had a people carrier!

 what a great show of bikes that I had never expected to see over here,

 another BSA,

 then a Ducati,

 then a new one to me,

a AWO Simson, Simson produced more than 300,000 motorcycles of the type AWO 425, this was a shaft driven, 250 cc four stroke motorcycle that enjoyed high reputation within the eastern bloc countries, there were two main models of AWO 425, the T (touring) had plunger rear suspension, while the S (sport) model had twin-shock swinging arm rear suspension, not that I am saying it was a copy but the Simson looks remarkably like the BMW 26 - 27 series,

 there was another Ducati here,

so many to chose from so little money! as a guide the BMW was 250,000 baht (£5,222  $8,180), the Triumph 350,000 baht £7,310  $11,460)  the Enfield 180,000 baht (£3,760  $5,890) some have book some do not so ask first before buying,

a final look at another people carrier and we were off, but not before bumping into Bubi, he has a Hot Rod Body shop, he was helping me to talk to the bikes owner, if you are interested his web site is WWW.thaihotrod.com

 a few more new means of transport, then we started to make our way back home,

 but not before the next parade,

 great fun,

 if only we had a nice bike!

 there were so many bikes here,

 they all came to a complete standstill,

 but it soon cleared and then along came the choppers,

I must admit I do quiet like these Yamaha's,

they are single cylinder bikes, I guess they remind me of a BSA Gold Star, which I liked as a biker but never owned one,

 a last look along the promenade then home,

 to the food stalls on Third Road,

 luckily the soup stall was here this evening,

two soups to go then feet up at 388 and watch some television, we did not watch a DVD  or film this evening, but the excellent Top Gear and a few others on satellite, then for us we were off to bed.