Vy and I belatedly watched the season finale of White Lotus recently and it made us think of when she went to Thailand for a month last year to film on The Sympathizer. When she was there she sent me photos of some bikes that caught her eye but I never got around to sharing them – now seems like a good time to fix that!
Let’s start with something unexpected – a vintage Harley-Davidson! This was actually on set and was used in the filming of the Sympathizer, Vy took a photo as she knew I would appreciate it:
Said Harley arrives on set in its enclosed transport.
Speaking of “on set”, this was Vy’s “trailer”, haha. I’m very proud of her for booking this role!
Alright – on to bikes. The biggest takeaway is that the Honda miniMOTO platform is super popular out there, to the point that Honda has established a network of boutique dealerships called The CUB House – obviously a play on the iconic Super Cub model but it doubles as an acronym for “Culture. Unique. Bikes.”
They sell specialized bikes and exclusive swag/accessories.
Vy found one a CUB House in Phuket and found some cool 125s as well – Groms, Daxes, and Monkeys, most of which had been customized in small ways.
Ever heard of the Monkey Easter Egg Edition? They only made 300 of them and they were only sold in Thailand.
It came with different bodywork, a different seat, and a matching helmet. Looks like the Monkey can pull off pink.
She also found a bike I had never heard of – the made-in-Thailand Honda LS125R. The headlight makes me think of my old NX650 in some ways but it’s a small two-stroke city bike that produces ~25 horsepower and weighs just 220 pounds.
One of my favorite photos from Vy is this one as it shows the difference in culture – some market had a “Superbike” section of parking for bikes that were 300cc and up!
Here were some of bike in the lot plus some other “Superbikes” that Vy found out and about:
A couple of bikes for you ADV fans.
My favorite stuff to see was just older bikes that are still being used.
Meet the made-in-Thailand GPX Gentleman 200 and Legend 200.
Also made in Thailand (but by Yamaha) is the M-SLAZ, a 150cc “sports model.” A quote from the linked press release says that “The M-SLAZ was developed based on the concept of “Just Size Ultimate Fashion Street Extreme”.” I’m happy to report that I have no idea what that means.
In the US, Yamaha sells the XSR700 and the XSR900 – both of which are fantastic bikes (here’s my review of the 900). In certain Asian markets they also offer the XSR155. Here’s a stock one but they’re popular bikes to turn into trackers. A friend of a friend in Bali has a couple custom ones that he rents out to tourists who want to explore the area.
Speak of customization, how do Thai riders feel about stock bikes?
For the four-wheel fans, here’s some stuff that was used for filming (note some scenery changes used to try and make Thailand look like 70s Vietnam:
This was also used in filming but I have no idea what it is. Do you?
We started with Harleys and we’ll end with them, as Vy found some sort of riding group that was having a grand old time with their H-Ds.
Good to know that the love for motorcycles and girls in bikinis transcends national borders.
Hope you enjoyed!