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[Spyder Rocket]

I've been riding a motorbike for awhile now and still hate doing it. However, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on it.

On Phuket a motorbike is more or less needed if you are staying here a longtime. For me, it was a big adjustment getting used to the traffic.

I rented a Honda PCX and a Honda Click to see which one I liked better before getting a used one.

While the PCX has a bigger engine that comes in handy going up the mountains, I think it is an inferior bike despite it being marketed as a step up from the Click.

I don't like how it handles at hiway speeds, and it really gets pushed around by the wind as opposed to the Click.

Besides, that extra power of the PCX means you are more likely to ride it faster and here on Phuket that translates to a higher chance of more serious accident.

I never had to really hit the brakes that hard when I had the PCX, but I did take it on a empty road one morning and practice a few emergency stops. I didn't like how it braked when compared to the Click.

I'm skinny enough that a Click can haul me up the mountains and still accelerate. Unless you are really big, a Click is probably a better choice.

There is the Forza which is even bigger than the PCX, don't know how it rides but it looks like it would be a pain in the ass in parking lots.

I see guys blasting around on Big Bikes all the time, and I'm just not cut out for that. Neither are the roads in Thailand.

Big bikes are what the Thais call Ducatis, Kawasakis and other race/open road bikes, in other words motorcycles.

There are serious design flaws with the roads on Phuket. So many of the curves on the mountains and even through the flat parts of the island have diminishing radius curves. That means you will drift significantly if you try and take the curve at a high speed.

I read the local paper and I hear about guys on big bikes getting killed frequently for going off the road.

Then there are hazards from other people on the roads. You've got traffic moving at differential speed throughout the island and in the towns it can be overwhelming.

I hate the fact that I'm getting used to the roads because that means I'm doing crazy shit like the Thais do.