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For details of the places I visited in Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with GPS Coordinates, see my book Vietnam Caves.

For details on motorbiking in Vietnam and Cambodia, from buying and selling a motorbike, to border crossing, see my book Motorbiking Cambodia & Vietnam.

 

Having had a nice rest, I decide to get out of town early. Although the next town is only about 140 Km away, it is still for the most part mountain passes, so i expect around 4 hours or so travel. In addition, that Hoi An, is a major costal tourist town, and I would like to see some of it, maybe even stay a day extra there as I hear it is a nice town.

With that, I head out to find some breakfast. Locate my favorite breakfast stands, that give so much rich experiences to me. 🙂 Even though this is a small town, it seems to be a major stop over point for backpackers, and they are no stranger to English here. I spot a mobile food stand, and the lady does not have eggs, but she does have cheesy wedges. So i ask for two rolls with cheese on. It is chilly, rainy, but beautiful in the mountains. So peaceful.
The lady actually puts the rolls on a small fire, and toasts them, wicked.

Roll being toasted.

Filled up, I head back to the hotel to check out. It is just before 9, and no sign of the other two backpackers. They where last night just going to take a shower and maybe meet me for dinner, but i only saw one when i came back from dinner. He said they fell asleep. So i wonder if they are not still sleeping, long distance riding on a motorcycle requires a different kind of fitness, ha ha ha, see how you guys are in 5 days. I head out, but before i leave the town, I spot this memorial. It turns out to be the same name as the town, so i guess he was a hero long ago as the memorial have spears and bows.

Turning around, I have a nice view of the river going past the town.

Cool, time to put the pedal to the medal, and turn the road into fudge.

I think this may be fare well as some other towns have it in english.

The scenery is stunning, and i pass a dam. At first when i rode to the town yesterday i did contemplate on skipping it and making the long trek like the other guys planned to the next large town at the coast. Now i am glad that i did not, for I would have missed all this beauty. And why else are one doing a trip like this but to see all around you.

Hammering the bike flat out, is not fun, as you constantly have to be on the lookout for strange stuff in the road like these.

Hold on man, I have an itch I just have to scratch first.

You lost something over here sport?

Soon I come to a bridge. Okay, it does not compare to yesterday’s bridge, but It looked cool on the other side, so I had to go and have a look. It turned out to be about six guesthouses or hotels, with two eating places. A nice mountain retreat, If you are half way and cannot make it, or want to sleep in the mountains away from every one else in town, this is the spot to go.

I see a sign with a coffee cup and a sunday ice cream on, and decide i am going to have ice cream. I stop, and point to the ice cream sign. The owner shakes his head. 🙁 Then I decide, okay, i will try the coffee. I love coffee, but try to avoid it and only occasionally have some. It has been a long while since i had any, so why not. The restaurant has a nice setting.

The owner, not one on giving up, actually finds me a fake cornetto, I accept, actually tasty.

There are about 5 guys playing a board game, and they leave it to come and see me map out my route on my iPad. I amaze them by zooming in and out, showing road names, then pan down to where I am going and zooming in there and indicating it is where I am heading. They are amazed, then leave for work.

Now my coffee arrives, not the coffee cup on the poster. I stare at it for a moment, not really sure what to do, as almost no coffee drips out from the bottom. My experience with these is you pour the water in on the top, then wait until it drips all though, but almost nothing is coming out.

So i use the spoon, and move the coffee around, and press down to get more water to go though. As the coffee in the glass starts to go solid, i think maybe i should dilute it with just water.

I stare at the monster I have created. But I am not afraid, I used to drink three triple expressos in a row when i was in IT. although that was a long time ago.

I go for it, and by the third sip, the hair on my chest is standing up straight, by the end of the cup i am Yoda the Jedi master as I float over the ground. Feeling indestructible, I head out and take on the mountain passes. I still have about 50 km to go, now mostly downhill as i approach the ocean.

I round a sharp bend, slack off, then take a reasonable uphill. As i give the bike gas, my heart almost stops. Suddenly, like a switch was thrown, the bike has no power. she still manages to run 45km/h up the hill, but it is not that steep a climb. Not sure if it is the coffee and i may be misjudging the steepness as yesterday on some i could only manage 40km/h, i wait until i hit the downhill. Here my fears are realized, as the bike even on the downhill has no power, and just feels out of breath. At that point i miss my turn as it actually goes through a very small town where the main road just continue on, if it was not for the GPS i would not have known. As i stop to turn around, I notice what i first thought was houses (did not give them much attention as i have bigger things to worry about now), turns out to be a mass graveyard. Great, 50km from nowhere, bike on the edge, at a graveyard.

I turn back and ride the 3km back to the turn, my head in high gear as i am thinking. the next bit is a bit boring, but welcome to my technical reasoning. Cool thing i was rebuilding earthmoving machines, souping up cars and so on from since i could walk.

The bike still runs, she just feels weak, but still manages to get up to 60km/h.
The bike only needs three things in correct quantity and timing to run.

Air, well i am still alive, so a giant octopus did not just suck the air out of earth, a bag could not have gone into the air take as it is to protected and the engine is not bogging down with a suffocating sound. (mechanics will know).

Spark or electronics. Well she still runs, and the power loss although sudden, is constant. Since the bike is carburetor, it is not the fuel injection computer, and these bikes have a fixed sensor, so the timing could not have gone out. There could be a short, but unlikely as the bike performs the same through high and low speed, bumps in the road or level.

Fuel. This seems to be the more likely culprit, as two days ago i ran flat out uphill, and the bike suddenly bogged down, then as i released the gas for 10 seconds, she went again at a lower speed. This indicated blocked fuel filter or carburetor. However, now it is constant loss of power, and even if i keep the bike flat out for a distance, she does not bog down. This indicates possible dirt in the main jet of the carburetor, as it feels like I only have half throttle. My suspicion gets stronger as i drastically see the gas drop faster than should be. (easy to see on a 5L tank). Running a bike flat out on to lean a mix actually uses more gas.

I pass a few towns, but they are small, and decided that the bike is still running, I am unlikely to get it fixed on the road, and every mile i get closer to where I want to be, is better, so i just go for it.

Along the way, I spot a ship that has been converted into a restaurant.

I get to town, and drive around trying to find my hotel, but the numbers are strange. A local stops and directs me. I soon find out that you cannot go by the numbers on one side for the other side, they run independently. For the one side is in the 300, and the other side in the 100. Soon I find my hotel, and like it. I have a nice room for $13, with balcony and a bath. I decide to stay an extra day here. Go down, and hand my washing in. I ask if I can get it express for the same evening as I have no more clean clothes, and they refuse, 24 hour service. I say I will pay extra, but nope, you are forced to stay another day in town. Was going to in any case, so I just leave it. Find a place across the road to get a quick bite, then head off to find a mechanic. Now here the fun starts.

the next part is funny at times, but mostly technical and me struggling with a mechanic that knows little.

I find one that looks like he has a decent shop, and he speaks no english. But the restaurant next door does, and the lady translates. However, this guy just does not want to do what I ask him to do. He has taken the bike for a ride, and yes the power is down. But, as I have discovered in Cambodia, few mechanics actually know much about the workings of a bike. They are just basically replaces. In that they just go out and buy the usual suspects, replace it, and hopes it solves the problem. And since they went out and bought it, you are forced to pay for whatever they come back with. I have ended up having to pay for a new battery, voltage regulator and coil that was replaced the day before, just because of a lose wire. And lose wires are common on bikes that have been worked on for a common method of fixing things is just to randomly cut wires and short them out against the chassis to see if there is power. In the end you end up with a bunch of connects that just gets twisted together, and later pulls out.

I want the guy to replace the fuel filter, and strip and clean the carburetor, as I suspect there is where the problem lies. He starts by taking the air filter box apart. I get the lady to explain it has been replaced 200 miles ago, and cannot be the air filter. His reply (translated) is that he needs time to find the problem, and I can get my bike the next day. I am no, I am staying, for now I know I know more about bikes than you.

He is unhappy, but continues. I let him open the airbox, and see his disappointment on seeing a brand new genuine Yamaha air filter. Next thing he starts tuning the carburetor. Now I am fuming. What is it with every mechanic at they always want to tune the carburetor. It has just been tuned by Yamaha. And the loss of power happened suddenly, not over time as I came down from the mountain. By the time I get the restaurant lady to stop him, he has tuned the carb out so far the bike dos not want to start. Since the bike now does not want to start, he decided that there must be something wrong with the plug. (Nothing to do with him playing with the carburetor.) he removes the spark plug, and find it brand new, but decide he is going to go over to a amaril wheel (fixed grinder with a wire brush wheel on one end) he is now going to polish the spark plug. I explode as you never do that. The wires going at high speed over the plug electrode magnetically charges it, causing the spark plug not to work right.

I get the lady to explain, and he is like okay I can pay for a new one if I do not like the cleaning. I am like okay, fine just put a new one in. With a new plug in, and some fiddling with the card, the bike starts, and he runs it up and down the street and comes back it is fixed. By now my patience are tested to the limit, for no nothing has been fixed. I now know it must be fuel as with the standing, the dirt in the line or carb must have run back, opening the blockage. So I know it will happen again.

I have Simon my friend I made in Saigon put his mechanic on the line to explain to him I want the fuel filter replaced and the carb cleaned. After the phone conversation, the local mechanic just continues to put the bikes fairing back. I grab a half carburetor lying around and show him I want mine taken apart, and cleaned. (Take a paint brush used for cleaning lying around and brush it over the half carburetor.) the mechanic shakes his head yes, and climbs on his bike and drives off. I am like, maybe he is getting someone that knows carbs, for it is clear he does not know where the fuel filter is. (In. Asia, when they do not know, they rarely say it, they just give nervous laughter, and this guy can be a standup comedian).

Ten minutes later, he comes back, gets the restaurant lady, and informs me he cannot get a new carburetor. By this time I just had it and grab some tools and strip the bike and carb myself. There is some dirt and sand in the carb, and we blow it out with a compressor. (He now decides to help a bit).

However, the fuel filter seems to either be inside the fuel tank, or deep inside a mess of boxes. I however see a vacuum pipe, connected to the airbox, and has a vacuum switch. Basically the petcock for the bike is controlled by vacuum. As you crank the engine, the vacuum opens the petcock, letting fuel run from the tank. This prevents fuel leakage when the bike is not being used. The pipe is cracked where it attaches, and I wonder if that could be a problem, so I run electrical tape over the end.

We put all together, and the bike starts and now revs nicely. He now starts putting fairings back. Something says to me to just check that the bike starts again, but I ignore it. When the mechanic is finished putting the fairings back, he tries to start the bike, and it refused to comply. Now this guy is almost in tears.

But, he holds out, and starts with the likely suspect (tuning the carb). Actually by this stage, about four locals have come into the shop, grabbed a flat screwdriver, and tuned their bike’s carbs. Finding no solution in tuning, he moves to the spark plug. No spark. Ahh, getting somewhere. Taking the one fairing off again. Now the bike starts. We check the wiring to the coil, but all seems fine. All we can see, is that the spark plug wire has rubbed against the chassis. I saw that earlier, and wrapped electrical tape as far as I could around it. He pulls it out and wraps some more around it. It is possible that the plug wire did rub through and shorted out against the chassis. However i did not see that, and although it would cause the bike not to start, it would not cause the consistent loss of power, while going over bumps and through turns.

So with the bike running again, pulling strong (but idling to high) I leave. $8 poorer, not knowing what actually was the problem, and with a bike I now have to go tune again myself. O well, that is life.

We will see tomorrow when I go sight seeing, how the bike runs.

place I had lunch. And dinner, very nice, and relatively cheap.

view from my balcony, other backpackers getting ready to go.