FROM TOP: A
breathtaking view
on Koh Yao Noi; the
landscape over
Khao Sok National
Park; local smiles
from Koh Yao Noi;
at a hidden
waterfall in a Khao
Sok forest.MY KNIGHT IN SHINING leather arrives with
some sound advice. “Just holler if I’m going
too fast for you,” says Roberto Gentile, the co-
founder of Royal Bike Tours, as he straps bags
to my machine and whisks me away from our
rendezvous point in the little town of Takua Pa in
southern Thailand.
I’d traveled to the south keen to live out my
Easy Rider fantasies. And as the 500cc Royal
Enfield rockets down the highway towards our
resort at nearby Bang Muang beach, the wind
whistling past my ears so violently I can’t even
hear myself tell Roberto to slow down, I feel the
outlaw spirit course through my veins.
Some of my most memorable experiences in
Thailand have been piloting rental bikes, most
with barely more power than a hairdryer, around
the rollercoaster mountain roads in northern
provinces like Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and
Nan. The south though is another matter. It
remains a mystery to me.
So, when I hear about Royal Bike Tours and
their multi-day trips around the back roads on
vintage dream machines, I’m onto it in a flash. A
relatively new operation—it debuted last year—
the company was born when unashamed petrol
head Roberto, originally from Australia, and
his now business partner Belgian Eric Limbos
bonded over their joint loves of high performance
motorbikes and of Thailand.
“It’s just a bloody awesome country to
motorbike in,” laughs Roberto as he and Eric
deliver a briefing session over cold beers on Bang
Muang beach.
I’m certainly raring to go. Over the course
of the next three days, we’ll ride deserted roads
past limestone crags and through verdant jungle,
bathe in secret waterfalls, eat spicy local food
and generally immerse in the culture of southern
Thailand—a flavorsome stew of influences that
encompasses Buddhist and Muslim, Chinese