Batang Kali Malaysia

[bedhouin]

I tagged along on a ride with a local group of riders. About 20 of us in total, all on trail bikes.

Batang Kali is a town north of Kuala Lumpur famous for the massacre of 1948 where it was alleged that the Scots Guards executed 26 unarmed men. Now it's just another non-descript town with some excellent trails.

We ran through a number of sections stitched together with the occasional highway or tunnel crossing. Excellent variation of terrain, with the first being a 20km stretch of Baja style hard packed road, containing lovely long straights, fast corners, and air inducing undulations. Top speed in this section was 100kmh.

After that was plantation dirt trails in an older plantation with a canopy, followed by some steep hill climbs up to some younger plantations.

Some jungle section with a heart-wrenching bridge crossing, and finally an ascent to the town of Kuala Kubu Baru through some thick, tight, and stepp jungle tracks.

After 100km of tough riding, we made it to town for a very late Chinese lunch.

I wish I had taken more pics, and next time I'll be wearing my helmet cam.
Next trip planned by the group will be 360km two day run skirting the Taman Negara rain forest.

Now for the pics:

20km after the hard and fast stretch, 3 guys have flats. Luckily there is a small motorcycle shop enroute.



After racing through some palm plantation trails we cross a river and have a break at an abandoned hut.




One of the steeper hills I've ever climbed. This thing went on forever...




A false peak at the top caught some riders unawares, this guy managed to catch himself and power on:





Having a breather at the top:




Nice view and a cooling breeze at the top. It gets hotter as we press on into the jungle after this:




A wooden bridge crossing, over a ravine with a river. This bloke crossed after me:








My heart stopped after the log snapped and the bike almost fell through. Fortunately the shrouds on this KTM kept the bike up:




Some teamwork to get the bugger unstuck:




Cutting some branches and bamboo for bridge repairs:




The remaining riders cross with caution:




Except for this guy who said, "Bugger that!" plowed into the river and came out the other side, and beat a path up the ravine.





Everyone over safe and having a rest:





My trusty steed after we refuel with petrol and gatorade at the end:




The GPS Log from the trip:





North of Kuala Lumpur:

[Secrest302]

Hey Bedhouin,

You guys are having some wicked fun there. It looks like you are near Ipoh. I have been there several times in the up mountain areas. Was on business so no time to ride sadly.

Cheers,
Dano

[Gadget Boy]

Looks great. Thanks for posting.. We rarely see your part of the world on here!

[mrazekan]

Bedhouin,

Thanks for the post and the pictures. I've been travelling to Singapore and JB on business for 7 years now. Everytime we cross into Malaysia I look into the
jungle and think about the amazing riding there likely is to be had. Thanks for showing us.

[bedhouin]

Originally Posted by Secrest302

Hey Bedhouin,

You guys are having some wicked fun there. It looks like you are near Ipoh. I have been there several times in the up mountain areas. Was on business so no time to ride sadly.

Cheers,
Dano

We were about 150km away from Ipoh as the crow flies. Ipoh has some awesome mountain trails. I just got back from a run Ipoh->Sungai Siput->Lasah->Kuala Mu with 60km offroad. It's my all time favourite trail, unfortunately no camera so I'll post some more next time!

[bedhouin]

Originally Posted by mrazekan

Bedhouin,

Thanks for the post and the pictures. I've been travelling to Singapore and JB on business for 7 years now. Everytime we cross into Malaysia I look into the
jungle and think about the amazing riding there likely is to be had. Thanks for showing us.

If you're ever planning on coming into KL over the weekend, PM me early. I have a spare KLX250 and a GPS full of trail routes!

[angrymutt]

Enjoyed the report!!!!

[Stuntman]

Looks like really awesome riding. Thanks for sharing!!!

[jonz]

Great report and good job showing the steepness of the climb. Though I love riding in my desert, your photos and those of others just about have me convinced I need to try some jungle riding.

[Siva]

Originally Posted by bedhouin

If you're ever planning on coming into KL over the weekend, PM me early. I have a spare KLX250 and a GPS full of trail routes!

bloody good pics mate....

are bikes still "relatively" expensive in M'sia ? might have to keep intouch for my visit in Sept or Dec 08... be good to ride in the tropics... !

cheers
siva.

[bedhouin]

Originally Posted by Siva

bloody good pics mate....

are bikes still "relatively" expensive in M'sia ? might have to keep intouch for my visit in Sept or Dec 08... be good to ride in the tropics... !

cheers
siva.

Yeah unfortunately they are still bloody expensive 110% duty on some. Kawasaki is doing well here after they set up a local assembly plant to bypass some of the tax resulting in cheaper bikes. Cops just bought 300 KLX-250s for Special Branch.

Yep let me know early and we'll sort out a long ride!

[bedhouin]

Originally Posted by jonz

Great report and good job showing the steepness of the climb. Though I love riding in my desert, your photos and those of others just about have me convinced I need to try some jungle riding.

"The grass is always greener.."! I'd love to be able to just follow a compass and head to the horizon across a desert. Jungle riding is great but its mostly technical, and for a novice rider like me very hard going. Literally getting chucked in at the deep end. But they're a good bunch of guys that I ride with, very helpful.

[Siva]

Originally Posted by bedhouin

Yeah unfortunately they are still bloody expensive 110% duty on some. Kawasaki is doing well here after they set up a local assembly plant to bypass some of the tax resulting in cheaper bikes. Cops just bought 300 KLX-250s for Special Branch.

Yep let me know early and we'll sort out a long ride!

COOOL.... i just can't imagine wearing summer riding gear in the hot tropics..... blloody hell.. u start to sweat before anything else.... lol...

how much does the klx 250 go for in RM ?

whats the warrently like ?

do check out the OZ section... lots of pics and ride reports ...

cheers
Siva.

[dirtypumpkin]

Great stuff, looks like a fun/exhausting ride.
Thanks for sharing, like the GPS overlay.

[E-man]

Sheesh, that litle log bridge crossing was uh scary

Nice pics