It’s rainy season in Northern Thailand; the sky is beautiful, the landscape is verdant, and we might get wet (or not 😊) as we explore the far north for a few days, two up in our Triumph 400X Scrambler.
looking to retire in Thai or the Pines in the next 2 years, spent time in both and love both, hard decision. But I do want to ask if you had to chose between the rally and the 400x and you could only have one which would you chose and why. Those are both of the bikes I'm considering and i really like both any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
Many thanks for commenting. Yours is a very valid question as both bikes are made in Thailand, have road and dirt road ability, and are pretty much the same price. If I had to choose just one now, it would be the Rally, however, this is because I ride on unsealed roads and trails a lot; having said that I have not ridden the Honda since I got the Triumph (though I intend to get into the hills on the Rally tomorrow). Here in the north, there are many steep and (for me) challenging dirt trails where the Rally is more competent. If I did not ride off-road so much then I would choose the Triumph as it is more comfortable both solo and with a passenger, it has a more powerful and refined engine, to my eyes it's more stylish, and I like its character and general vibe. Having said this, my wife and I have been on many trips on the Rally, two up with luggage on journeys of several thousand kilometres - with a pair of 50/50 tyres the Triumph would be able to explore the dirt roads. Having said that, everywhere I go off-road on the Rally, hill tribe folks go on Honda Cubs, so I am sure the Triumph can go anywhere, just not so well as the CRF. The power and torque difference between the two is significant, as is the dirt road ability; so the question is, what are your priorities? It will be interesting how I feel about the Triumph in a few months, especially when the rainy season is over and I venture off-road on it more and get more dirt road experience. As an upcoming video with soon show, I have been using it on gravel roads recently and it works well. I would also take into consideration how far the nearest Triumph dealer is from where you intend to live. I intend to make a video comparing the Rally and the Scrambler as they are such great bikes for Thailand, I will try to get this done before too long.