Arrive in Penang
So I’m now on the island of Penang and have covered 450 miles so far, and have actually started heading towards home.
Just before leaving KL I decided I needed a back rest for the C90 if I’m going to do over 20,000 miles. I got given an old back rest off a Yamaha tourer for free and then I started hunting for a welding shop. I came across the ‘Fook Tech welding factory’ which I had to use because of the name 🙂
While it was being welded up by a guy with one eye (I’m not joking) a couple by the names of Wee and Sue and they helped translate what I needed and then they took me out for lunch. When it came to the paying for lunch they wouldn’t let me and then when they took me back to the welding shop they paid for the welding too!!! 🙂
This is Wee and Sue:
After leaving my keys in the UK (don’t ask) I had to hot wire the bike every time I needed to ride and after 7 days of this I decided to buy a new set of locks and wasn’t looking forward to the price….which turned out to be £3 including labour haha.
This is the guy fitting them:
After leaving KL I headed south to Melaka on the advice of Hadi and NZ, which is the wrong direction to be heading home haha.
When I arrived I was told to text HJ Said and sure enough, when I did, Said turned up on a lovely pristine Goldwing and he took me to his house. His family and friends helped to unpack my things, gave me a room and switched on the air-con in it 🙂 It was impossible to pay for anything and I was taken all over town in a variety of different vehicles to see all the sights.
After two days there it was time to head back up north because I’d had a phone call from Givi to say that they are going to sponsor me some equipment to ride back with! It was a 150 mile ride north to the Givi Headquarters and when I turned up a crowd of laughing Givi employees gathered around and allthough I don’t speak Malaysian, I could tell the moment when they were told I was riding the C90 back to England haha
From there I headed north for about another 50 miles before I rough camped by the side of the road behind a hedge. The day after I was talking to someone about rough camping the night before near Ipoh and they said “what about the snakes?” woops haha. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.
I woke up in the morning an after a lovely wet-wipe shower I headed further north to the Island of Penang to meet….yep, someone else I’ve been told by NZ to text when I arrive. The ride is about 100 miles and when I get there I send off the text and await my latest guide. After a short wait Mohamad Rozaimi turns up on his GS1100 and takes me back to his house and shows me my room! 🙂 What is it about me and my bike that just seems to attract charity, I’m happy sleeping in hedges but no nobody seems to listen haha.
I also got a puncture and this can spell major problems…..or on a C90 you just ride 300 metres down the road to the small bike shop (they’re everywhere) and pay the extortionate rate of £1.40 for the new inner tube and fitting. I can change tubes easily but for this price and ease it’s not even worth unpacking my tool kit.
Today I’ve been riding around the Penang mountain roads and they’re awesome (see video)
Anyway, apologies for this video not being very good and a bit jumpy but I’m still learning this on the fly video editing and slowly realising what works and what doesn’t.
Next stop, tomorrow Thailand 🙂
