*MOTO GEAR* - Buying a Motorcycle Helmet. Finding the Right Fit

I strongly advocate quality approved full-faced helmets that fit correctly. You will find out why further down..
Quality of helmets in Thailand vary, and many will wear helmets that are the safety equivalent of a plastic bucket on your head. Its a personal choice and years ago my personal choice was not to worry about helmets much.

I came to regret that.

Full-faced in particular felt suffocating. (Now they feel reassuring)

 First off, here is an excellent run down of buying a motorcycle helmet from MOTORESS: http://motoress.com/gearstyle/the-basics/buying-a-motorcycle-helmet/

Second, here is why i advocate the wearing of correctly fitting full-faced helmets:

This is a day i will never forget. A day i nearly lost my life...
...and my face.
I still have issues to this day.
Blog report on this day here

I wore an open face REAL brand helmet, which is popular in Thailand. I have a stupidly small size XS head, and the helmet was a size M. So not only was the helmet open faced, it was ill-fitting.

I apparently (for i do not remember) slid on gravel, bounced of my bike and slid along the road. My face was lacerated, my nose broken, my tongue split, my hand fractured and lots and lots of bashes and bruises. I lost consciousness and to this day i cannot remember anything, nor events leading up to it. (I retraced my trip 4 years later, and had a strange event occur. You can view this trip revisit here).So, i am now the proud owner of a couple of full faced quality brand helmets and the feeling whilst wearing them is no longer suffocating, it is reassuring.

I feel lucky to have a life..and a face to present to the world....
Take care :)

*MOTO GEAR* GT.Rider Maps

Ok..so, you will notice on a few of my blog posts that I've mentioned GT.Rider maps.
These maps are a staple of most riders exploring the northern territory of Thailand and Laos regions.

David Unkovich aka Mr GT Rider, has been exploring Thailand for decades and his maps are well-respected guides. Teamed with GPS, these maps have got me back on track, and offer insightful and interesting routes. They also include recommended places to visit and to stay etc.

So, they are definitely something i advocate as part of your riding "gear".

You can buy the maps online or via these outlets.

GT.Rider also has a forum, where you can read about other riders trip reports and gain advice and help on border crossings etc.

Big fan! Can you tell? :p

*MOTO TALE* : Jacket Lost / Jacket Found

Mini Adventure Drama...with a magical twist. 
 (...involving "homing pigeon" shoes, a beloved moto jacket, an orange shopping bag, and a dizzy female > me)

Day 1 (2 days ago):
Took a quick motorcycle trip around the Samoeng loop, only to stupidly lose a bag i had (obviously) tied badly onto my bike. In that bag was an awesome pair of beat up flip-flops and my prized motorcycle jacket that fits me like a dream (we women of various shapes and sizes don't find this easy to come by!). So..tracing back my route 3 times and finding nothing, i eventually gave up. Handed in my number to a local policebox and returned home despondent. 

Day 2 (yesterday): With a renewed resolve of at least ATTEMPTING to find my jacket, i made up some posters and flyers in English and Thai (thanks to help from my friend Tik). I went back over the area and painstakingly got on and off my bike on a hot day to hand people the posters and flyers and explain the situation. I figured that if i didn't at least try, i would end up kicking myself. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If i didn't get the bag back, it wasn't meant to be. The nice part of the whole thing was that it forced me to interact with people (which I'm normally quite reserved about), who all turned out to be lovely and helpful. A bonus being some mahouts with baby elephants that i stopped to chat with.

Day 3 (today): Well officially last night really. I received a phone call around 7pm last night. My bag was found! I was to meet at the local police box at 9am. I arrived at the box before 9am, (and as is the way of Thailand in general haha), when I arrived, I was told that the lady who found it had gone to work and forgotten to bring the bag in. So, I had to ride back 80km or so home and wait to return later. Around 2pm i received a call to say the bag was handed in and to make my way back to the policebox.

I arrived to find all the contents intact! The policeman (although not smiling in the photo) was lovely. I left an envelope with a finders fee for the lady who found my bag, and a bag of home made treats for the policeman. Really amazed and happy about the outcome.
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The magical twist...
..ok. The flip-flops that were in the bag are really old beat up things that i have had for approx 8 years. In that time they have been washed down a fast flowing river and retrieved (which i actually have a comical video of) ..fallen off on a road... fallen down a mountainside... and well, a number of things. Yet, they somehow let themselves be found. Because of these magical homing-pigeon flip-flops, my bag and jacket came back to me. HAHAHA.
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To end..
Most people do like to return things. I could have made it easier for them to do so if i had put a number in the pocket of the jacket or used a marker on it etc. Its a good heads-up to me to do this to my motorcycle gear and anything important to me. So...might be a good tip for you to do so too. ^.^

*MOTO GEAR* - pee like a man.....

Not exactly moto "gear", but absolutely worth doing a write up on.
This is one for the girls.

Picture this:

• You are on the bike.
• Nature calls.
• You are far from anywhere.
• The bushes await..

WELL, IVE FOUND A SOLUTION! ..(bear with me as i give a little lead in..)
If, like me, you have been caught short whilst riding and need to "go" in nature, then you know its not much fun as a woman. Squatting down with your riding gear around your ankles feels pretty damn vulnerable. Not only in terms of possibly exposing yourself or needing to flee, but also in terms of what bugs etc are around. Case-in-point, this video of me dealing with exactly that struggle, here:

Basically not being able to pee like a man, makes things difficult. Well, this solution i found works, Ive tried and tested it many times...and it works 100%!

Its called the Shewee and simply put, you can pee standing up. Its a funnel-like small fold-able device, made of silicon...and its awesome.

LOL.

HOnestly though, it may be too much information..but its too much of a great piece of information NOT to share!

You can also find cheaper generic versions. Im really really happy with it and i no longer have a "toilet dilemma" like my video above!