Northern Thailand Off Road Tour

Thailand Moto Tours built this trip in direct opposition to the standard off road holiday. Most operators, as the company points out, base themselves in one place and ride cloverleaf routes back to the same bed each night. This tour stays in five different locations across the week, so no trail gets ridden twice and the terrain changes character every day: flowing double track, technical single track, hill climbs and river crossings. The overnight sequence is Chiang Mai, Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son, Pai, Mae Win and back to Chiang Mai. The Mae Sariang day is the acclimatisation leg, mixing easy double track with the supermoto style connector roads that link the trail sections. The run to Mae Hong Son follows a jungle river through villages and, by the operator's own count, involves well over a hundred river crossings. The Pai day is single track the company describes as legendary, riding towards the Myanmar border to a unique lunch stop before dropping down the mountains into town. Mae Win brings one of the operator's most beautiful jungle single track trails, an elephant sanctuary visit and a family style meal. The final morning offers optional challenging single track on the way to a temple in the mountain forest, then a memorable trail back into Chiang Mai and a group dinner. Everyone rides the same machine. The fleet was replaced with Honda CRF300Ls in 2021 and each bike is built up with Renthal handlebars and risers, an Acerbis grab strap, a BFT exhaust, knobby off road tyres, YSS front springs and rear shock, and engine bash and radiator guards. The operator chose the CRF300L specifically because it is built in Thailand, which makes parts and repairs straightforward. Entry is restricted. The company only accepts expert level riders, for two stated reasons: the route is far from medical attention, and the group needs to keep a decent pace to reach each night's destination at a reasonable hour. Guides are first aid trained. Off road groups run between seven and thirteen riders, with a chase van carrying bags. A skills self assessment ladder is published on the operator's site.

This is the dirt version of the Thailand Moto Tours week, and the company is blunt about who it is for: expert riders only, because the route goes deep into jungle a long way from medical help. Rather than looping out and back from one base, the group sleeps in five different places, so every day is new terrain. From Chiang Mai the week runs to Mae Sariang on flowing double track linked by supermoto style road sections, then north to Mae Hong Son on a day the operator says includes well over a hundred river crossings. Legendary single track leads towards the Myanmar border and down into Pai, then deep jungle trails to Mae Win and its elephant sanctuary, before an optional challenging final morning brings the group back into Chiang Mai. Every rider is on a custom built Honda CRF300L.