Experience To Believe In Conjunction With Petronas Sprinta Launch Thailand

I was shopping for groceries at a nearby wet market when I received a call from an unknown number. To my surprise, it was Harvinder from Paultan.org informing me that I was selected as one of the participant of the first ever ride organized by Petronas in conjunction with Petronas Sprinta F900 launch at Phuket Bike Week 2018. I can only vaguely remember an online form that I’ve filled earlier without any expectations.

This also means I need to pass another planned ride on the event weekend with my ride & camp buddies but considering this is a rare lifetime opportunities, I have chosen to take part in it. Sorting out my work responsibilities was also a breeze as my boss supported my participation. Thank you James!

So according to the rider's handout, the event itinerary is to ride from Sungai Besi to Hatyai on Tuesday with a couple of stops in between before continue to Krabi and Phuket on the next day. The third day and the final day is the launching event in Phuket Bike Week in Patong beach. There will be about 30 riders from Petronas and Paultan riding in convoys and all of us are required to change our engine oil to Petronas Sprinta F900 at Takong Racing prior to the event, courtesy of Petronas.

Sprinta F900 courtesy of Petronas. However we have to buy the oil filter ourselves

Faizal is the first to arrive that Saturday morning

The Departure

It was a clear Tuesday morning with ambient temperature around 28°C when I departed from Rawang around 6.13am. Traffic was light heading to the city centre and I took E1 towards Subang before taking E11 LDP towards Puchong and Bandar Kinrara to Petronas Technology Park I, where the launching of the ride took place. I have arrived at Petronas around 6.54am and I am the third riders to arrive.

Right to Left: Faizal, Chon, Wan & Myself are Versys riders with Rashid & Wan (Petronas staff - not in the picture) 

Registration process was smooth and I was given event stickers, a t-shirt and a lanyard. We then filled our tanks with Primax Ron97 courtesy of Petronas. 

Light breakfast was provided and around 8.00am the officiating event started with speeches by our ride lead, Mr. Roger (RC Motor) and Petronas personnel.

Speech by Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin

Light breakfast provided at Sungai Besi

Left to right; Roger (convoy captain) with Ipin & Apiez in black (pilots) 

Around 8.14am, we were flagged off by Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, (Petronas VP Marketing of Downstream Business), Datuk Mohd. Ibrahimnuddin Mohd. Yunus (MD Petronas Lubricant International - PLI), Giuseppe D’Arrigo (CEO of PLI) & Mohd. Khalid Mohd. Latiff (Asia Pacific Head of PLI). Mr. Mohd Khalid will also ride with us to Phuket while Datuk Seri Syed Zainal will ride with us from Krabi to Phuket.

The flag off

Traffic was heavy as we rode passed federal highway to Kerinchi Link before entering E1 from Tol Duta. Riding past city traffic was smooth, thanks to two police riders escorting us all the way to Sungai Buloh.

We stopped at Sungai Buloh R&R for 15 minutes before continuing towards Tapah.

It was hot with ambient temperature around 36°C when we stopped at Petronas R&R Tapah. There was a small celebration waiting for us and the station have prepared food for us.

Tapah Layby pitstop

Approaching Gua Tempurung

We made another stop at Simpang Pulai layby and refilled our tanks with Ron97 before we regrouped in-front of the station for a photo session.

Food provided for the convoy

As we approached Taiping, the weather turned cloudy and we have 2 minutes of rain just before Bukit Merah. By 2.08pm, we have reached our lunch destination at Juru and we stopped for lunch. We stopped for one hour here to have fried Bawal fish.

my lunch - fried bawal with curry

Lunch Fried Bawal with Curry GPS N5.31987 E100.43309

At Juru Layby filling petrol

We were on the bike again at quarter past three and made a move towards Juru Layby for Ron97 petrol refill. The traffic going north was smooth and the highway surface was also excellent. We have made it to Petronas Changloon at 4.59pm and refill our tanks with Primax Ron97.

Pilot Apiez in action

The street triple 765

Reza striking a pose

Border Blunder

None of us know what happen to our documents submitted prior to the day of ride. In my initial assumption, the organizer will prepare all necessary forms and insurances beforehand so it will save us time for border crossing. This assumptions were wrong as we were waiting for more than three hours at Changloon for the documentation processes. I reckon if we were to make our own arrangements to cross the border, it will be a lot faster.

At exactly 7.12pm, all of us were on the bike again riding the last kilometer to the border only to queue and declare our bikes on our own rather than having a group arrangements that will again saves us time to cross.

It took another two hours for the whole convoy including 4 support vehicles to cross the border. We have finally made a move towards Hatyai around 9.27pm MY time.

The event at Siri Bike Shop, according to rider’s handout itinerary planned at 5.30pm local time only commenced at 10.46pm and our lead pilot failed to get an exact location of the workshop on his first try, adding to the 5 hour border crossing hiatus.

the convoy at Siri Bike Shop Hatyai

Faizal had his bike checked as he found traces of oil dripping from his engine from Changloon while Wan had his rear sprocket replaced as the ‘clicking’ sound of his chain is getting worse from Juru. While Wan’s bike repair was unable to be completed that night, Faizal’s bike went aboard support van and he’ll continue to Krabi tomorrow on the van.

Wan's bike being checked 

Faizal will continue onboard Maxus V80 from here

At 11.30pm, most of us proceeded to Decha Fried Chicken Restaurant for dinner while the rest went directly to Centara Hotel to crash for the night.

Decha Fried Chicken Restaurant GPS 7.003953, 100.473759

After a very long day, we have finally checked-in at Centara Hotel into a double bed room and I have shared the room with Taness from Puchong.

Hatyai – Krabi – Phuket

My buffet breakfast at Centara Hotel

The next morning we have gathered at Centara Hotel lobby for a briefing and 2^nd day event t-shirt handout around 8.30am.

Roger briefed us that morning

New day new t-shirt

Among the riders from Thailand that will join us through to Phuket

Today we will be joined by Giuseppe D’Arrigo and a couple of Thai riders from Hatyai. By 9.30am, all of us were on the bikes for a flag off in-front of the hotel and we started riding at 9.55am towards Phattalung.

One thing hard riding on the event like this is to wait for the entire convoy to be ready to make a move, which means you’ll sweat a lot in your riding gears.

The weather is noticeably hotter than the first day with ambient temperature around 38°C and there are a lot traffic in the city. We have regrouped at a PTT station near Phattalung for petrol refill and refreshment.

A Thai Hayabusa

The traffic eased-off as we entered Highway Route 4 towards Trang and Krabi.

The weather started to get cloudy past Phattalung and we have 2 minutes of rain afterwards and the weather were cloudy all the way towards Trang. The road surface from Trang to Krabi was excellent that has freshly laid tarmac with lovely bends and surrounding limestone towering cliffs.

Another stop just before Krabi

We arrived at Aonang Fiore Resort & Spa for lunch around 3.30pm after our lead pilot took a slightly longer route around Aonang instead of a direct route 4200 and 4201 to the resort.

Datuk Seri Syed Zainal was already waiting there as we arrived and he’ll joined us to ride from here to Phuket. We have a nice set of lunch here courtesy of Petronas and we stopped here for two hours.

Arrival at Aonang Fiore Resort & Spa

Table full of food, courtesy of Petronas

Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin with me. This is his first ride on big bike and long distance according to him 

Group photo before the departure

It is here that Chris said his Katana was leaking oil so his bike went on board the support van, together with Faizal's Versys.

By 4.51pm, we have made a move towards Phuket through Route 4 and before turning left at Route 415 and arrived at Sarasin Bridge just before dawn.

Mr. Ang on Kawasaki Z800

Radiator leak 100m from Aonang  Fiore Resort & Spa

Last stop before Sarasin Bridge

Mr Chon with a female rider from Shah Alam

A great effort by PBW organizer. Providing cold drinks with wet towel for all riders heading to PBW 2018

Urat besi tulang dawai rider berapi : )
This Mr. Mohan from Paultan.org

Passing through Sarasin Bridge

The first stop at Phuket was the registration booth just after the bridge at custom checkout point. We were handed wet towels and cold drinks there.

After about 15 minutes, we made a move to a workshop called Ride Thailand for the launch of Petronas Sprinta F900 lubricants there.

After that, we proceeded to Boat Lagoon Resort to check-in and I was sharing a room with Taness. Traffic was heavy heading towards Phuket city center and about 4km from the hotel, Mohan fell of his bike after a vehicle in-front of him put on an emergency braking. He is alright and at least four of us helped him back to his bike. His bike and a vehicle next to his bike suffered a scratch and the organizer managed the incident very well.

Our reception at Boat Lagoon Resort

Taness was one happy flower recipient

We were told to regroup at the lobby by 10pm and we boarded a bus to Laem Hin Seafood for dinner.

We had a big seafood dinner courtesy of Petronas and we went back to the hotel afterwards.

The Event

The last day of the event started late as we were told to check-out by 12pm and morning activity was free and easy. Some of us took the chance take a swim at the resort’s enormous pool and rejuvenate from the long hours for the past two days. By 12.30pm there was a briefing at the lobby and we took a chance to take group photo at a nearby dock.

Roger were at it again, briefed us on what to expect today

Mr Roger the convoy captain

At 1.37pm, we have a flag off at the hotel and the convoy moved towards Patong Beach for the main event.

We arrived at Patong around 2.15pm and the road along the beach was bustling with visitors and we have arrived at our last checkpoint, Andaman Embrace Patong Hotel at 2.27pm. We were ushered to a hall for lunch and we have briefing for the main event and t-shirt handout.

Room or No Room

When we had our room key distribution, Taness & I were told that since the Andaman hotel was full, we have to make a move to Holiday Inn Express hotel and we have a room there. So Taness and I walk about 250m to Holiday Inn with all our gears hoping to get refresh before the next event. Upon arrival, Taness was talking to the registration counter and no event organizer was on site making check-in process a hassle. After more than 1 hour, we were finally able to reach the event staff and were told to double back to Andaman Hotel where we got our names there. Finally after almost two hours, at 4pm we have a room for the final night at Phuket, courtesy of Petronas.

By 5pm we were at the lobby for another briefing and the final convoy to Phuket Bike Week 2018.

When Miss PBW 2018 came down off the main lobby area, they literally stop the crowd!

Gearing up for the last convoy

We rode to the event site escorted by local traffic police and greeted by the organizer with cold coconut drinks. Around 6.30pm, the main event for Petronas Sprinta F900 product launch were held at the stage and a gimmick with a drone carrying a bottle of Sprinta oil to the main stage was really brilliant.

Petronas booth at PBW 2018

the main stage at PBW 2018

After a dinner by ourselves at the event site, I spent the rest of the night loitering the streets of Patong watching people splashing water to each other for Songkran Festivals.

The Return

Faizal, Reza, Jim & Taness have all agreed to depart before dawn to avoid the incoming traffic to Phuket for the festival. I am planning to catch sunrise at Kwanta Eiam viewpoint about 80km east of Phuket and Faizal with Reza said they’re interested to follow while Jim & Taness planned to ride back directly.

I came down to the hotel lobby around 4.00am and packed my gears, Jim with Reza checked out slightly afterwards. By 4.47am, I departed to Phangnga with Reza while Jim waited for Taness and Faizal was nowhere to be seen. We’ve regrouped at Mai Khao PTT station in Phuket and departed together towards Sarasin Bridge.

Subuh prayer beside an unidentified cute blue animal

Just before Phangnga, we’ve made a u-turn towards Tha Yu and said goodbye to Jimm & Taness. It’s a small winding road through villages and we rode slowly avoiding potholes. We arrived at the viewpoint waypoint around 6.30am and rode through a short offroad trail up the hill.

Sunrise at Phangnga

Waypoint Kwanta Eiam N8.25717 E98.44191

This was Reza’s first try riding offroad and he was struggling at first to ride through a ditch. After a short brief about throttle control technique and he did the section with ease. The view was nothing short of magnificent and it’s worth the early morning ride that we have to endure.

We’ve spent about two hour at Kwanta Eiam and we’ve rode down and have breakfast at a nearby mosque.

Thung Ma Jud Mosque GPS 8.253202, 98.414116

After breakfast we continued riding through Route 415 and Route 4. As the sun rises, it’s getting hotter and it’s almost 38°C when we’ve approached Krabi. We continued to Trang and Phattalung while the weather was hot all the way.

Just before Hatyai, we stopped for lunch nearby Na Khuan Lang Mosque before finding a place to crash for the night.

Lunch at Hatyai GPS N6.99832 E100.43759

Going through the city of Hatyai, we were ‘attacked’ when we stopped at a traffic light nearby Lee Garden hotel. One guy even approached me and splashed inside my visor! Bloody hell!

Finally we’ve settled at The Train Hotel and were allowed to park our bike inside the train station for the night. After sunset, there were stages erected on the road for street concerts nearby Santisuk Market.

The whole streets were flogged by people splashing water to each other over loudly played music.

The next day we started a little bit late and checked out of the hotel around 8.30am. We went for breakfast at Restoran Abidin.

Restoran Abidin GPS N7.00078 E100.47010

We departed right after breakfast and ambient temperature was 36°C while traffic was smooth heading towards the border. We have made it back to the homeland around 10.30am as the immigration and custom processes were smooth and took less than 15 minutes.

refill at Petronas Changloon southbound

pitstop at Sg Dua

After another stop for fuel at Petronas Changloon, we rode back through NSE and the highway condition was perfect although I am quite sleepy as the heat penetrates through my double visors warming my eyeballs. It is started to get cloudy after Taiping and finally we have rain just before Simpang Pulai.

 Our final stop was at Behrang around 3.18pm where we had our last cup of coffee together and we parted way afterwards. I have finally arrived at Rawang around 5.00pm Saturday afternoon.

There were plenty of hiccups throughout the ride event and we were riding longer past safe riding duration. Lack of communication and poor time management were the most common aspects that would be needing improvement in the future.

The riders however, given these shortcomings were superb and came strongly together although most of us haven’t met each other before the event. I believed that most of us had a wonderful experience riding for the past couple days and some are like me, get to ride with our aspirations that we can only view in videos and reviews prior to the event while experiencing the great product Petronas had to offer.

This may sounds like a commercial but it is based on my own experience after riding more than 2000km. I can feel smoother engine acceleration and less noisy when I shift gears while at high speed maneuvers feels light and vibrate less during a prolonged ride in the heat around 40°C. If Petronas can position this oil on the right price range, I do strongly encourage others to give it a try and experience it by yourself.

Petronas Sprinta.. the best!

Ride snippets

Paultan & Media Riders:

1. Reza BMW R1200 RS
2. Jimms BMW F800 GS
3. Hj Hilmi BMW F800 GS
4. Ah Kim Yamaha MT09
5. Azami Yamaha MT09
6. Fzz KTM 990 SMT
7. Wan Kawasaki Versys 650
8. Rashidin Kawasaki Versys 650
9. Faizal Kawasaki Versys 650
10. Ang Kawasaki Z800
11. Kennee Kawasaki Vulcan S 650
12. Taness Yamaha Tracer 900
13. Hisham Triumph Speed Triple 765 RS
14. Zulfahmi Triumph Tiger 800 XRX
15. Fadil Triumph Tiger 800 XRX
16. Mohan Triumph Tiger 800 XRX
17. Chris Suzuki GSX 1100 S Katana

Distance: 2,096km

Duration: 5 days

Petrol: RM105 for the return trip.
Petrol to on the way to Phuket covered by Petronas

Date: 10-14th April 2018

Average moving speed: 87km/h

Lowest temperature: 28°C (Rawang)

Highest temperature: 41°C (Patong, Phuket)