Hat Yai was .... umh ... guess i did not really see much of Hat Yai ... then again I could not recognize any of the landmark ... a lot have change since I visited nearly 15 years ago and the small little city that base of the center area for tourist seamed to be eaten up by loads of development around it. It was more like a gateway town to get all the niche shopping that one needed across the border.
I went shopping for bike parts. :) Coincidentally my right side foot paddle rubber tore in two so i had to get a replacement. Time to replace the left side as well which was already broken a bit since the beginning. My cousin drove me around the next day to find motorbike parts shops and the first challenge appeared ... how to get the right parts when I cant speak the Thailand language ... parts are much much more technical and my ‘ninoy’ language of Thai can barely order a meal.
Alas at lease with the broken sample in hand I still manage to convey the message across but the first shop did not have the right fit.
2nd shop gave up when I tried to speak English waving their hands in a no no manner
3rd shop was a Chinese owned shop ... could speak fluent mandarin ... great ... still handicapped anyway but with the sample and my poor mandarin saying any type and brand will do so long as the holes are the same it will fit, managed to somehow get me a part. Cost of minor maintenance on Bluey .... 40 baht.
It seams that Thailand was the best place for me to get Bluey custom fitted out with new modifications and of course beautification. The only issue was trying to find the parts which was normally hidden inside the shop storage and somehow convey the message of the modification intentions. After all the trouble in finding parts, then comes the negotiation skills to get it to a reasonable price.
I had to go to a shop near Trang to get my very very high pitch squeaky back drum brakes fixed. That was a hard communication for me for I had to make the sound like a piercing dying chicken while I keep pointing to the drum set and the back brake foot peddle.
Eventually once they get the rough idea, the mechanic will open the parts I indicated to inspect and from there first option was to replace but with Bluey, the right parts are hard to come by so ingenuity to modify to fix was usually the case.
In this case my brake pads was roughen up with grinder and sandpaper and re-fixed back onto the bike. Cost of maintenance 40 Baht
My back brake lights sensor was also twitchy one day and while I was tinkering with the wiring at a car park, curious locals came to see what I was doing and eventually it became our mini project.
From our mini project it became their project and I was sidelined to watch while they carefully strip the whole wiring system testing each circuit for the fault. It was the sensor, but of course no parts so another modification to fix it. Cost of maintenance 0 Baht
I had a broken mirror once and going to a bike shop showing the broken mirror proved difficult even to convey the message in the heart of Thailand. Many shops did I visit and finally at Kanchanaburi the more free helpful staff tried looking for alternative mirrors to fit my bike. Cost of replacement mirrors 680 baht
The same shop at Kanchanaburi and I saw the hydraulic system back absorber which was tempting to get an upgrade but after asking for the price it seams no different from Malaysia. 2500 baht for the set of shock absorbers ... I was hesitant but now after a month later I kinda regret not changing the absorbers
My conclusion was that Thailand was a good place for Bluey, unlike Malaysia, even when I bring Bluey all the way to the largest parts shop in Kuala Lumpur, one look at Bluey and they all say No Have parts.
The mechanics in Malaysia seam to have lost the ability to tinker and retrofit bikes and those who could charge a fortune. Thailand however was different, the mechanic spend time to understand a bike before testing each parts that fits before fixing it up or if they don't have parts a clever idea with my permission of course would do the trick.
The only problem now was if I were to really custom retrofit Bluey, I will need a good translator to accompany me to a workshop.
I went shopping for bike parts. :) Coincidentally my right side foot paddle rubber tore in two so i had to get a replacement. Time to replace the left side as well which was already broken a bit since the beginning. My cousin drove me around the next day to find motorbike parts shops and the first challenge appeared ... how to get the right parts when I cant speak the Thailand language ... parts are much much more technical and my ‘ninoy’ language of Thai can barely order a meal.
 |
| Shopping for Bike Parts at Kanchanaburi |
2nd shop gave up when I tried to speak English waving their hands in a no no manner
3rd shop was a Chinese owned shop ... could speak fluent mandarin ... great ... still handicapped anyway but with the sample and my poor mandarin saying any type and brand will do so long as the holes are the same it will fit, managed to somehow get me a part. Cost of minor maintenance on Bluey .... 40 baht.
It seams that Thailand was the best place for me to get Bluey custom fitted out with new modifications and of course beautification. The only issue was trying to find the parts which was normally hidden inside the shop storage and somehow convey the message of the modification intentions. After all the trouble in finding parts, then comes the negotiation skills to get it to a reasonable price.
I had to go to a shop near Trang to get my very very high pitch squeaky back drum brakes fixed. That was a hard communication for me for I had to make the sound like a piercing dying chicken while I keep pointing to the drum set and the back brake foot peddle.
 |
| Fixing a Back Squeaky Brake in Trang |
Eventually once they get the rough idea, the mechanic will open the parts I indicated to inspect and from there first option was to replace but with Bluey, the right parts are hard to come by so ingenuity to modify to fix was usually the case.
In this case my brake pads was roughen up with grinder and sandpaper and re-fixed back onto the bike. Cost of maintenance 40 Baht
My back brake lights sensor was also twitchy one day and while I was tinkering with the wiring at a car park, curious locals came to see what I was doing and eventually it became our mini project.
From our mini project it became their project and I was sidelined to watch while they carefully strip the whole wiring system testing each circuit for the fault. It was the sensor, but of course no parts so another modification to fix it. Cost of maintenance 0 Baht
 |
| Roadside Modification for Twitchy Break Light |
I had a broken mirror once and going to a bike shop showing the broken mirror proved difficult even to convey the message in the heart of Thailand. Many shops did I visit and finally at Kanchanaburi the more free helpful staff tried looking for alternative mirrors to fit my bike. Cost of replacement mirrors 680 baht
 |
| New Mirrors at Kanchanaburi |
The same shop at Kanchanaburi and I saw the hydraulic system back absorber which was tempting to get an upgrade but after asking for the price it seams no different from Malaysia. 2500 baht for the set of shock absorbers ... I was hesitant but now after a month later I kinda regret not changing the absorbers
 |
| Hmmm ... Should I get these Upgrades ... |
My conclusion was that Thailand was a good place for Bluey, unlike Malaysia, even when I bring Bluey all the way to the largest parts shop in Kuala Lumpur, one look at Bluey and they all say No Have parts.
The mechanics in Malaysia seam to have lost the ability to tinker and retrofit bikes and those who could charge a fortune. Thailand however was different, the mechanic spend time to understand a bike before testing each parts that fits before fixing it up or if they don't have parts a clever idea with my permission of course would do the trick.
The only problem now was if I were to really custom retrofit Bluey, I will need a good translator to accompany me to a workshop.
Traveled on: October 2018
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