A Great Day Out

This is the shortest thing Motorbike Madness sells and it exists to answer a specific question: what are the roads around Pattaya actually like once you get away from the resort strip. The answer, according to the operator's own route, is quiet rural tarmac, a ring road round a hill with a large Buddha on it, some easy dirt and a beach lunch. The day is graded beginner friendly, groups run up to twenty riders, and the logistics are handled end to end. A chauffeur collects you from your Pattaya hotel and returns you there afterwards, so nothing is required of you beyond turning up and being able to ride. The route follows five stages. It starts at Buddha Hill in Pratamnak, where two temples look out over Pattaya City and the length of its famous beach. It then picks up back roads towards Siam Country Club and Maphachan Lake, running through plantation country, golf courses and cattle ranches that few visitors to Pattaya ever see. The Silver Lake area is the centrepiece, with the ring road around Big Buddha Mountain and viewpoints across hills, vineyards and lakes, plus dirt trails through the surrounding scrub where the operator says monkeys can sometimes be spotted. Lunch is at Bang Chang, which it describes as a beach hugging community, and the return leg follows the coast. Everyone rides a Honda CB500X fitted with the company's own upgrades, though other machines can be arranged as an upgrade. A professional guide leads the group, helmets are provided and further riding gear is available on request, and third party liability cover is in place. Lunch, fuel, the guide, the bike and both taxi transfers are included, along with a company T-shirt. Alcohol, souvenirs and personal spending are not, and a refundable 20,000 baht damage deposit applies. The operator is explicit that it does not charge for crash bar scratches from a drop or for mechanical issues, only for deep body damage or broken parts. No distance figure is published for the day.

Motorbike Madness built this single day ride as its introduction to the roads around Pattaya, and it is graded beginner friendly. A car collects you from your hotel and brings you to the base camp, and the ride opens with the two temples on Buddha Hill at Pratamnak and their panoramic views over Pattaya and its beach. From there the group leaves the resort behind on quiet country roads past Siam Country Club, Maphachan Lake, fruit plantations, golf courses and cattle ranches on the way to Silver Lake. Big Buddha Mountain follows, with a ring road running the whole way around it and viewpoints over hills, vineyards and water, plus some dirt trail riding in the surrounding area. Lunch is at the beach community of Bang Chang, and the return leg hugs the coast back towards Pattaya.