A couple of friends and I recently spent a weekend with Tristan Park, they are a company that organizes dirt bike trail riding trips in Malaysia. If you have always wanted to do some dirt biking but don't own a dirt bike, you might want to give them a try. None of us had dirt biking experience, it was our first time at it.
Here's what we think.
Bikes
I would say the bikes are minimally maintained. The wear and tear parts were of inferior quality, and can break easily when you fall. Don't tell me you won't fall, because you most definitely would.
Throttle cable housing broke, and he had to ride with this weird pull-to-accelerate contraption
In another crash, the clutch cable snapped, and was replaced with the front brake cable. Yeah, one of us was riding without the front brake. Our guide was very creative with field repairs, which I found very impressive.
Trail
We chose the Kong Kong 2 day 1 night trail route. Before the trip, I read some reviews from experienced trail riders saying that the trails Tristan Park offered were too easy. Not for our case, I personally found the Kong Kong trail challenging and fun.
The only downside was that we had to refuel twice on the second day because the trail was rather long. Funny that we didn't run out of fuel on the first day. Perhaps, we got better, and used the throttle more. According to our guide, our bikes could have been leaking fuel.
Guide
Our guide's name was Black. I'm pretty sure that wasn't his real name, because he told us he was from Kong Kong, Malaysia. All of us spoke well of him, he was very patient, and did his job well. Helping to lift up, and start our bikes, even when all of us were exhausted from the physically challenging trail.
At night, he even invited us to go fishing with one of his friends. It was an eye-opener to see the difference in the simple kampung lifestyle versus our fast paced city life in Singapore.
Food and Accomodation
Food was not provided. Black brought us to a seafood restaurant for dinner, near where we stayed for the night. The seafood was not bad, though I had expected the portion to be larger. It was only 50RM each for 4 of us, so no complaints.
The seafood restaurant
Crab, prawn, fish, vegetable, and tom yam soup
Accommodation was 50RM per room per night, which had 2 beds, a shower, and air conditioning. If you are used to nice hotels, then this place is not for you. It was rather run-down, heck, there were a lot of ants in the toilet.
A queen-sized bed, and a single bed
The shower room and toilet
The corridor
Price
The price depends on the bikes you choose, we chose the KTM which was SGD$150 per day. Add in the optional boots and goggles rental, and it amounted to SGD$360 per pax. The goggles were fine, but most of the boots were missing a few securing straps. I had hoped that the personal gear would be better maintained.
But still, given the price, it is still rather worth it, considering we had a lot of fun. I don't think you can do anything like this in Singapore.
Conclusion
The bikes, and personal gear could have been better maintained, that would give Tristan Park a higher RB rating. The plus points came mainly from our guide, and the trail. Personally, I would pay them to bring me on another more challenging trail, but that's just me.
If you have never done dirt biking before, I think you should at least give it a try. It would most probably improve your riding skills when it comes to handling rear wheel slides.
Since the beginning of motorized private transportation, there has been constant debate between the merits of riding versus driving. Riders would of course favour riding, well, because they know what drivers have been missing out on. No doubt, drivers who have never ridden a motorcycle in their entire lives would favour driving because they think that motorcycles are death machines. But at Riding Bible, we both ride and drive, and we definitely prefer motorcycles.
If buying a car in Singapore doesn't empty your pockets, the cost of petrol eventually would. With such ridiculous car prices now, it is no wonder many people are switching to riding motorcycles. The most powerful motorcycles that can do a 0-100 km/h in less than 3 seconds, can easily beat a car in fuel economy.
One of the fastest superbikes on the market now, the BMW S1000RR can do 0-100 km/h in 2.6 seconds. It also consumes only 1 litre of petrol for every 13 km travelled. A smaller capacity motorcycle such as the Honda CB400 (commonly known to Singaporeans as a SuperFour) that does 0-100 km/h in 5 seconds consumes about 1 litre for every 26 km travelled. More power, less fuel? Take that drivers!
Before you ask why is this even a reason riding is better than driving, allow me to explain. You see, riders know that they are vulnerable, any bad decision or loss of focus can result in an injury, and sometimes even death. That is what makes riders awesome, knowing that we are in constant danger has made us ninjas of situation awareness.
Every rider on the street has some kind of neural radar, we know exactly where every motorist is at. "Red car far behind on my left, fast black car overtaking me on the right, if the car in front of me stops suddenly, I can avoid collision by swerving to the left."
Sounds familiar?
Riders! Our weakness is actually our strength! 8. It is the closest thing to flying that ordinary people can do
There has always been this saying. "I don't ride fast, I fly low." If you ride, you know what I mean. If we talk about acceleration alone, any motorcycle 600cc and above can out-accelerate a fighter jet. A 1000cc superbike will be able to reach the take-off speed of a jumbo jet (280 km/h) in less time (14.8s) and distance (780m) than the jumbo jet takes. Riders are fighter pilots on land, just saying.
Another one of those reasons that leave you going "Huh???". So what is this all about? If you watch racing, you would realize that even the best riders in the world crash. Why is that so? Because we are human, we have habits which are sometimes bad, and when it comes to riding, instinct may not be the best trick you have in your bag. When you first start riding, you would have heard from experienced riders that you would eventually crash, it is only a matter of time.
Fortunately, there are riding schools all over the world where you can learn to ride faster and safer. The nearest school is the California Superbike School branch in Australia. Constantly improving your riding skill should be on the top of your priorities as a rider. So what is the benefit to being a better rider? Uh, how about not getting killed? Don't be like the couch potato drivers on the streets.
I was contemplating just putting up that photo as good enough reason for this. Seriously, what is cooler than sporting a full leather suit. You don't need to look like Marc Marquez to look great in a suit. Just take a weekend trip down to the nearest race track, and decide for yourselves. Bask in the moment when the girlfriends of drivers can't keep their eyes off your sexy gear. Drivers, we don't mean to steal your girlfriends, tell your girlfriends to stop ogling!
5. You laugh at drivers when they are stuck in traffic
Traffic in Singapore can be frustrating with the absurd car-to-tarmac ratio. Luckily, lane splitting is legal in the country. And drivers, we thank (most of you) for being nice to riders.
Typically, a 20 km peak hour commute will take a car about 30-45 minutes. The same distance can be covered by a motorcycle in half the time, that's 4 days of your life a year spent doing something more meaningful than being stuck in traffic. Riders also enjoy the benefits of waking up later, and reaching home earlier. More sleep and more leisure time for riders, it's no wonder we are happier people. 4. Getting your knee down is the closest thing to sex
The holy grail of riding, once you get your first knee down, there's no turning back. Sure, there is the occasional sex from the hordes of girls lining up to get their cherries popped, but nothing beats the feeling of the sensation from your knee sliders scrapping the tarmac. Nothing. 3. Chicks dig riders
Chicks love motorcycles, and they love even more the riders who ride them. Every lady in their prime would have sat on a motorcycle at least once in their life. There is something intriguing about a rider who can tame a two-wheeled machine. Or maybe it is the multiple orgasms from the engine's vibrations.
All the cool characters in movies ride motorcycles, Tom Cruise from Top Gun, Hugh Jackman from X-men...etc. And chicks love them! If you need some help in the love department, try rolling up to her front door in a BMW S1000RR rather than a Toyota Vios. In Singapore, the BMW is cheaper than the Toyota. Burn! 2. You can accelerate from a red light faster than a car 10 times the cost of your motorcycle
A lot of drivers get all excited about their new sports car, they tell all their buddies how fast it can go, and how it will beat every other car. Until they stop beside a motorcycle one day, and the motorcycle disappears seconds after the lights go green.
Sorry drivers, we don't mean to crush your dreams. The reason why bikes are faster is simple physics. A Ducati Panigale produces 195 hp with a dry weight of 164 kg, that's a whopping 1.19 hp per kilo! To put that into perspective, a Ferrari 458 produces 562 hp with a dry weight of 1245 kg. Not really a competition when it comes to raw power-to-weight ratio. 1. I was so excited to know that I was going to my bike the next day, and I still feel that today
And finally, the numero uno reason why riding is better. I have been riding for 10 years, and I still get excited whenever I put my legs over the seat. Riding gives you a sense of freedom, at the same time, a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people.
Given a choice, normal people choose driving. Riders will always choose to ride. We will ride till the day our body stops functioning. That's what makes riders awesome, because we ride by choice.
