Finally, a Russian girl between my legs.
Let me introduce you to Sasha (the name of JD’s scooter on Scrubs and Russian for Schwinn III). She is 12 years old and comes from Minsk, Russia. 125cc 2-stroke engine, off road set-up, and verrrrryyyyy basic. She has been used and abused for a while and limped in carrying a couple of Spanish tourists who dumped it off. It was in really rough condition, but I bought it as it is registered/titled in Vietnam. Touring in south-east Asia is different than India in that there are individual countries which all have individual immigration and customs requirements. The main problem is that Vietnam does not allow any motorcycles larger than 125cc to enter. This generally means a smaller moped or small import motorcycle. The other problem is that in most of the countries, foreigners are not allowed to purchase and register motorcycles. Since you can’t register them into your own name, crossing borders becomes problematic. There are ways around these issues, but the time factor also makes things more complicated. Renting was an option, but I just like being able to call something my own. It actually worked out really well as there are not many tourists doing the bike thing or locals for that matter, at least in the tourist areas, so finding this thing was really lucky.
The Russian Minsk was imported into Vietnam under the title of farm machinery. They are the ones where you see huge amounts of cargo strapped all over it. Unfortunately, their usage has declined drastically through the years as new motorcycles especially the cheap import scooters are all around better machines for the money. At the moment the only place where the Minsk can be found is in the north-west mountainous area of Vietnam. What that means is this bike is a fish out of water. Parts are a no-go, mechanics don’t know what it is, and even at its best, it was known as, well, crap. What do you want from something designed in Russia during the 1950’s. At the moment, I would rank my Enfield Bullet as a BMW and this bike as a Yugo. There is a large difference between the two bikes. The Enfield was a tank, smooth running, but way heavy. The Minsk is more of an off-road bike so it is a lot lighter and maneuverable. I was originally wanting to get a small Yamaha or Honda so that I could take advantage of the nimbleness, especially for in-town driving. Maneuvering that huge tank through India was a challenge and a half. At least with this bike, it is somewhat more flexible and has a lot more pep to it. Unfortunately, it is in a pretty bad state of disrepair so I have been working on it for the last four days trying to get it a bit more road worthy. The biggest problem I foresee is finding necessary parts. Many components are just common motorcycle related equipment so I have been able to modify existing stuff, the problem will come if the motor or transmission hard parts fail. If that happens, I am stuck. Since, I got the bike really cheap, it wouldn’t be a big deal to light it on fire and walk away, but it does seem to add a bit of adventure.
It has been nice having a mission when I get up in the mornings. It’s almost like the night before Christmas. There is a motorcycle area within Chinatown, so I spend a lot of time there searching for parts and actually going to a market for a reason. Markets are a lot more interesting when you are there to shop. I was amazed at how much more advanced Thailand is over India. The stuff you get here is way more current and the market itself is just so much more civilized. I guess that is a huge difference just between the two countries. Here in Bangkok, everything seems so much more westernized. Things are clean and organized, there is very little trash, and even in the market areas it is not so congested. Driving too is way more civilized. People follow road laws and there are even street signals which people actually pay attention to. Unfortunately there are lots more traffic police who actually have motorcycles (that are way better than mine) so no possibility of doing the drive around. The guidebook says that Asian traffic is pretty crazy, but compared to India’s bigger cities, it is nothing. Oh yea, no freaking farm animals wandering all over the road shitting on everything makes a huge difference. I know religion and all, but you gotta have balance.
So, with my new Russian friend, I am feeling much happier again. My traveling mojo has intensified and I am looking forward to hitting the road. I was so dreading doing the tourist cattle calls for the rest of my Asia travels. I think that was what was bumming me out. Freedom, you can’t beat it.
So what’s the plan? Well, I am worried that Sasha is going to be very high maintenance so I think I will get her fixed up as best as I can here in Bangkok, then make a straight dash through Cambodia to Vietnam where I can hopefully get some of the bigger parts related issues resolved and pick up some vital spares as well. From there it will be a matter of zig zagging through the Golden Triangle countries Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and then back to Thailand to do some quality beach time. I haven’t done much research about all these places yet so the route is still pretty uncertain.
See, I told you I always get what I want, my hot Russian babe, Sasha.
Tags: chinatown, Minsk, motorcycle, Sasha, Thailand