Benelli Keeway TX200, Ride To Genting Highlands.

Benelli TX200 on a less traveled road.

After a ride to Fraser's Hill, my CBR friend wasn't very happy. Had already made arrangement to ride up Genting Highlands on the Fraser Hill ride itself. Received a call from him 9.30 am and requested to meet at 10.30 at MRR2 Safari. I got myself prepare, my motorcycle riding gear and waited for him. Got a call from my friend, says he shall be late, so I change the meeting place to the Shell station just before we enter Karak highway. Started off slowly. When I arrived, surprise, I saw 2 shell station side by side. I choose the second station, since there is a 7/11. Bad choice. I did a fill up on the TX 200, the pump did not stop automatically, over spilled petrol all over the tank. RM$ 9.30 (RON 95, no fill up from prevoiuse Fraser ride). Had to clean up with clean water, but the smell is still there. Check out the tire pressure, then went for a drink and an ice cream.

Benelli, cool air, clear sky.

My CBR friend arrived at 11.00 am and off we go. He fill up after the karak highway toll. There is a BPH station with a Oldtown White Coffee outlet. I guess this should be a better meeting point. Shall meet here on any Eastern ride.

Bamboo Orchid with Benelli TX200.

Riding on MRR2 and Karak highway was a breeze. Gear 4 & 5 cruising at 90 ~ 100 km/h. On an up hill over taking, lots of heavy truck/buses, I dropped it to 3rd. Most of the road are wide, but traffic is rather heavy.

Benelli, abandon mill.

We took the bypass before the tunnel. Going up to Genting, road are wide, long sweep, uneven (certain section). There were also lots of traffic, some high power cars, taking fast long sweep corners. I couldn't maximize the the corners and have to bank on keeping much to "my" lane. Being inexperience on the Benelli TX200 I just couldn't find the correct gear. 1st being too tall, no speed. 2 & 3, not enough torque to power out of corner. Was struggling. My CBR friend was having a good time. Having plenty of torque, he can maximize the corner, taking the outer lane, bank in, then powering out. Upon reaching the mid section, it's some down hill, here the TX 200 perform better as it has sufficient torque to power out of the corners. The 2nd up hill section, I had the same problem again but it's getting better, still wrong gear most of the time, also am worrying about those fast cars. Today it's rather cold, but no fog.

Keeway Benelli.

Stayed for a while. Couldn't find a good spot to park and have a drink. We made arrangement to lunch at Gotong Jaya. It rained and we chat for a while. Met up with a Singaporean motorcyclist, BMW GS 1200. Riding Singapore, Genting Highlands, Malacca, Singapore. We exchange Motorcycle stories, compared bike / motorcycle parts prices...... Our new friend left when the rain got lighter as he was in full (rain) gear. We stayed until the rain stopped. Eating in Gotong Jaya is rather pricey, maybe it's tourist's price or Big Biker's price. A fried Fresh Prawn Mee (very big prawn) for 2 person, with Chinese tea cost us RM$ 63.00.

Started off the down hill ride very slow as the road was wet. It was much better, but there are just too many speed breaker for motorcycle. It's before and after all corners. Some even have double speed breakers. It's still ok being a light bike, I can maneuver over those. I wonder how my friend handle those speed breakers. Had to slow down to even 1st gear. Stand on the foot peg ease going over the speed breaker.

My CBR friend over took me on a straight and off he went. Met up with him when he slowed down along the Karak highway and signal that he's going off. He then speed off. It was so hot after the cool weather at Genting. Riding home was hot, as it's going down hill to the Klang valley. I tried 110 km/h, there wasn't much vibration (downhill). I rode home using MRR2, traffic were extremely heavy. Stopped at Petron (MRR2) did a fill up, slowly as I don't want it to spill again. RM$8.30 (RON 95). Home I went.

Riding up to Fraser's Hill Benelli Keeway TX 200 & Honda CBR1000rr.

Took a joy ride to Fraser's Hill with a friend. Started off after meeting up at R&R Jejantas Sg. Buloh. Fill up our tank. Pump up the tires, 210 kpa front & 200 kpa rear. My friend says he knows the way, so he lead. We head up the North South Highway. As he was leading, I just followed. Traffic was heavy as it's a Saturday, plus school holidays. I ride on a relax mode, cruising at 100 Km on the highway, and 60 ~ 90 Km on the trunk road. When we stopped at a traffic junction, I check with him why are we taking a detour. He said, heavy jam at Rawang, need to avoid. Anyway, we reach Kuala Kubu Baru, did a refill as was told there are no petrol station in Fraser.

Had a short stop to chat after Kuala Kubu Baru. It's refreshing after Highway & trunk roads. After KKB, it's B & C roads. There is a water catchment, Paretak Dam, with a few scenic stop points. As this is a riding trip, I didn't stop. Maybe on my next solo trip I shall. After passing the dam, the road got narrower, C road. I started to experiment with the TX200. Playing with the gears. For flat road, the gears are well spaced for a relax rid. Doing 60 to 90, no stress to the bike.

After a while, my friend start to lag behind. I overtook him. The road got narrower and twistier. Road surface is also bad, uneven, small pot holes and sandy corner. Being a light weight bike it's easy to maneuver and avoid those. I had a fright hitting Chilling Waterfall. It was a sharp left bender, a narrow old bridge, the suddenly lots of vehicles parked by the road side and plenty people (Saturday & School holidays). Stopped for a moment to regain my composure. My friend then over took me. I played chase up for a while, then over took him again. The road is getting twistier, fun is beginning. Was having some difficulty maneuvering the bend. This is when I decide to switch my riding pasture, from relaxing to aggressive motard style. Sat nearer to the fuel tank, crank up my arms (crab style) and stand pushing the handle bar on the corner. It was a great feeling, taking on endless bends. These bends can even scrap my toes. Also be caution on the right hander. It's quite easy to scrape the rear break when you corner and brake. It's so pleasurable.

Had another stop just as we climb the Fraser Hill. Another short chat. My friend says he is struggling with the CBR1000rr. Being a heavy bike, narrow C roads, short sharp corner, uneven corners and unfamiliar road. Starting here it's a one way street, all vehicles in 1 direction. I guess we were early and we're the only bikers. We make arrangement to meet up at Fraser and ask me not to wait for him. Again the climb is extremely "funtastic" Sharp short  uphill bend. Shifting between Gear 2 & 3 offers the best ride. Down shift to 1st gear made the TX200 skid at the rear, accelerating out of a corner is too slow & stressful. Met a couple of cars going up along the way, all of them were very "gentlemenly", give way for me to overtake even on sharp corners. I guess they must had seen me having so much fun enjoying the ride. My mind was already thinking, how would a KTM 390 feel on this uphill road? Felt that the climb is just too short, reached Fraser's Hill. Park and waited for my friend. Had a short chat, my friend insisted his bike is not suitable for this trip. it's so tiring for him and the bike. Him hands are trembling, due to the weight of his body (sport position), also very tiring negotiating the slow sharp corners. The temperature of the bike is also high, the twin cooling fan was blowing fanatically even is parking. The Benelli on the other hand was just fine, not hot as there is an oil cooler. The my friend pointed out the exhaust cover.  

One screw had dropped off and the other screw is loose, about to drop. Thank goodness it's still holding the cover. Tried to find the tools and didn't know how to open the seat. Finally found a small tool box tuck on the left rear mudguard. Tighten the screw just to hold it temporary. Need to find a screw when I'm back in KL. My friend suggested stainless steel screws.

Went for lunch at the golf club, they had it rented out to a malay restaurant. It was self service. Had rice and chicken, with a couple of vege. 2 Pesi Cola to go with. Amount to RM$ 18.00. As we were having lunch, other bikes started to roll in.

This Versys has a gear lever "socks" installed. It's a rubber based sock, covering the gear lever, non marring, so as not to leave a mark on your shoes.

This Honda VFR 12000 really caught my eye. Check out the exhaust, it's so sexy. Single swing arm, shaft driven.

Going down hill, the road started as a 2 way street, until we reached a school. After that, it's 1 way street. Met a couple of vehicles along the way, again they make way for me. I played with 2nd, 3rd gears, slipping the clutch, brakes front and rear. It was so exciting. Sound of the blabbering exhaust of Leo Vince Cobra was ecstatic  Made me feel that I'm young again (ahem), thinking of my teens. Return trip is also fun, motard style. I started to enter and exit corners at a higher speed and higher angle as my confidence is back. Wishful thinking, a gear indicator and a tachometer should be nice. Again wondering how a KTM Duke 390 would fare on this trip. Slowed down to a relax ride after I reach Chilling Waterfall. My friend caught up, we ride together. When we reach Paretak Dam my friend signal that he'll ride off. I signal back that I'll need to refill up front. Off he rode went.

Met him again at KKB Petronas. Told me that he's riding off home, so we said goodbye. It was a boring ride back to KL for me. Made my way via the old road and hit the highway at Bukit Beruntung.

I stopped by a motorshop at Pudu to look for the screw. Couldn't find 1 that fit. Went to another shop, managed to find an old screw. Doesn't matter, screw it up 1st as it's almost 5 in the evening.

When to Jalan Loke Yew, Asia Bolts & Nuts bought the sample. Got 2 sets of stainless steel with spring washer, RM$1.50. No more rust.

Hope to go riding again soon. Oh yeah, just received a call from my friend, this time Genting Highlands.

Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties (Transporting Jackfruit Sapling) Part 2.

Previously from Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties.

The transported Jackfruit saplings, from Temerloh, Pahang to Keningau, Sabah, day 1. They look ok.

Jacfruits sapling, Day 1 after transporting.

 Day 2, things don't look well. The leafs and stems start to dry up.

Jackfruit Day 2, drying up.

Jackfruit sapling drying up.

Jackfruit sapling drying up.

Bag up Jackfruit saplings.

I immediately bag up all the Jackfruit saplings.
Day 9, some Jackfruit show signs of budding. I removed the bags of those.

Some bags removed.

 Day 12, I figure that after 12 days, things are stabilized now. I then decided to remove all the bags.

All bags removed.

Day 17, Those that are not well are turning worst. Decided to re-bag again.

Re-bag the Jackfruit saplings.

Did a stock count.
SongSang Red Transported 5, 1 budding.
CJ 3 Transported 10, 3 budding.
Mastura J 37  Transported 10, 4 budding.
Leaving them as they are as I'm on leave from 20th Nov. Shall be back on December to check on them. Hopefully more can recover.

Summarizing for a better transport
Sapling has to be very healthy, with lots of established roots.
Soil removal has to be done with care, without damaging the roots.
Maintain high humidity at all times, in a cool dark environment.
'Pot' it as soon as possible. Water thoroughly and regularly. Keep under shade.
Remove all new leafs, leaving maybe 2 ~ 3 matured green leafs. Bag up the plant, to keep humidity high for a week then slowly reduce humidity.
Then 'harden' it.
Ready for field planting.
Good luck.
Happy transporting.

Micro Propagating Banana, Pisang Berangan, Musa cv Berangan.

Micro propagating Banana Berangan, lazy man's version.

Was chatting with my helper to request him to transfer out those Berangan banana to replaced those unwanted cultivars, especially the Cavendish. I couldn't find market for the Cavendish as our buyers refuse to accept those. They call it Pisang Hijau, Green Banana. These Cavendish don't turn yellow  until way over ripe. Nobody want to buy, except a few who use it to make cakes. The last batch of 10 bunches which I send to our Free Range Chicken were left untouched cause I thin that the chicken may not know that it had ripe.

I was then told that there are a couple of Berangan that is bigger, both trees & fruits. We have 3 groups of it only and the sucklings are only a hand full. Other Berangan is smaller, trees & fruits but we have quite a number of these. I then remember we can do micro propagating. I read through there instruction and find it quite bothersome and plenty work especially the sterilizing part. I then came out with a short cut, lazy man's version.

Berangan.The tree next to the wheel barrow.

I requested my helper to identify the Berangan that he wanted. I then choose a medium plant of above 6 months ( I guess). 1 fine morning, after it rained the previous night (thank god), I started out to dig out the plant. It turned out to be quite a tough challenge even with wet soil. I can't imagine if the soil is dry and hard. It was hard work (for me). I had with me a machete, a crowbar, a cangkor and a wheelbarrow. It too me almost 2 hours to dig out the whole corm undamaged.

A heavy fellow. Berangan corm.

The corm was pretty heavy, unlike the big trunk which was light comparatively. I cut it down further hoping to reduce it's weight but it didn't help. Wheel it to our water tank to have the soil removed, clean and cut off the roots.

While cleaning, found another 3 suckers with corms. It's a small ones. I then core up the middle all the way to the corm. This is pretty easy as it is very soft. Once it reached the corm, it feels slightly harder. Had the corm divided into 8 section, without cutting through. For the smaller pieces, 4 sections.

 Dug up a hole and had it planted back to the same level.

The same were done for the smaller pieces. Covered back with soil and watered.

I then cover them up with some banana leafs. Let's leave them for 3 weeks.

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Sukun, 面包树.

I only came to know about Breadfruit after I started farming here. Locally it's known as Sukun. According to Wikipedia, the ancestors of the Polynesia found the trees growing in the northwest New Guinea area around 3,500 years ago. They gave up the rice cultivation they had brought with them from Taiwan and raised breadfruit wherever they went in the Pacific. Their ancient eastern Indonesian cousins spread the plant west and north through insular and coastal Southeast Asia. It has, in historical times, also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere.

The Mother Breadfruit tree in our little farm.

 My interest in breadfruit grew as there is a mature tree in our little farm. Thank you for that. I wanted to fell it to make way for my planting. I was told that the fruit is edible. When it fruited, we had a snack made from it. Meshed up the breadfruit, mixed with fine coconut pieces and deep fried in thick pieces. It tasted marvelous. I then check at the local market and yes, it's sell able. Made further check at the city, I found ready market for Sukun. When in season, there are some stalls selling it in the market, and plenty stall sell on their Tamu (weekly market).

Artocarpus altilis. The smallest of the 3.

I then went around this area and spoke to a couple of farmers. I spoke with them on this and was told that's it's call 面包树,Chinese translation. Previously there are buyers coming to collect, but nowadays no more. Maybe the profit margin is not there. Hence most of them had fell off the breadfruit.

A search on the internet shows that it's suppose to be a very easy to grow with minimal input. Propagation can be done easily with air layering, root cutting and root shoot.

The 2nd breadfruit which is about 3 feet.

Being seedless I just didn't know how to propagate it. I had tried air layering, but at that time my farming experience is practically zero. It didn't work, I waited for it to propagate itself, root shot. Had tried transplanting a couple of times to polybags, but failed. At 1 time I had some successful transplanted a couple to the field, but it didn't survive.  I then lost interest in it as I feel it did not fit into my farming plan which is to search for a lazy man's fruit tree. Being so difficult to propagate and transplant really kill my interest. I also do not have the ability to propagate in volume. Breadfruit or Artocarpus altilis is a tall large tree and till now I had not found a suitable land to plant. As the land that we are planting now are mostly left over idle land, perimeter, in-between terrace from rubber trees. Also hilly lands shall have problem with harvesting. Farms with breadfruit, which I had visited are integrated as a supplementary crops only. It maybe not feasible to plant breadfruit as a mono crop here, or maybe the market demand is not that big.

The 3rd Sukun, largest.

Being a big & tall tree, harvesting is also very challenging. Harvesting the ripe fruit undamaged is difficult. Flowers and fruit are grown on the tip so it's not productive to prune back the trees in height or width. Until I can think of ways to solve all these issues, I shall let it take a back seat. I'll just plant a couple for fun, learning and maybe own consumption.

This time I managed to transfer 3 plants to the field. I had them nursed till they are more than 2 feet before I transplant. Upon checking I found the same problem, rodents love to chew on the young sapling during hot drought.

Had requested our helper to shore up the soil to cover up the wounded area, hopefully it shall root and recover. I have 2 more sapling in my nursery. Lets hope that all can survive and bear fruit soon.

My crude air layering of Breadfruit tree.

Mother Breadfruit tree bearing fruits.

Breadfruit Male & Female. You can easily tell which is the male.

Breadfruit / Buah Sukun.

Jackfruit, Acquiring More Varieties (Transporting Jackfruit Sapling).

Jackfruit, I love Jackfruit. Had been going banana over Jackfruit lately. Since I was having difficulties in getting various varieties of Jackfruit clone in Keningau, Sabah, I decide to acquire it from Peninsular. On this trip home, I tried to source for these. Pricing is definitely much cheaper over here.

Had planed to acquire Mastura J 37, CJ-3, CJ-6 and the New Red Jackfruit. I started on area closer to Kuala Lumpur, but unfortunately was not successful. Was on the verge of giving up, but thank goodness I manage to locate most of these ex-stock at Termeloh, Pahang.

Called up the owner for a final confirmation as it's quite a distance from Kuala Lumpur, about 140 KM. Started off 8 in the morning.

Along the way, I found some Jackfruit trees at the R&R Hentian Lanchang. As I came out of the Gents, I noticed quite a numbers of trees at the rear.

 I think these could be the Mastura.

Reached Tapak Samaian Suzi at about 10.30 am. Locating it was easy, exit the Pantai Timur highway at Termeloh, turn left at the T junction toward Termeloh after the toll plaza. It's about 300 M on the right. There is a small white signboard. As the owner had gone out station, Suzi's mum was at site to meet me. Makcik is a very nice lady, I took some plants and managed a short chat with Makcik. Was granted permission to take a couple of photos. They have a mid size nursery at the road side and they concentrate more on Jackfruit. I manage to acquire Mastura, CJ-3 and the Red Jackfruit.

I managed to load about 25 plants onto the MyVi. As this is a trial these shall do.

Reached home in the late afternoon and transferred these to the balcony.

Wavy leafs, Mastura.

Preparation before traveling
I started to pack up the night before my flight. Flight is next morning 7.50 am. hence I need to start off from my home about 4.30 am. I started packing early 7.00 pm the night before as this was my 1st time.Thank goodness for that as there was no working space in my small home. It's a small apartment located on the 1st floor. I did prepare by watering these plants regularly a couple of days before, but it's still difficult to separate out the soil. I tried on 2 Mastura and found that I broke many of their roots.

I then tried dunk the whole bag into a pail and try to bath the soil out. This is much better, but still not a perfect method, but giving the circumstances and time, it's the best that I can do. Getting rid of the soil is very messy as I need to walk thru' the living hall, dinning hall and kitchen, then out of our home and down the stairs. Being wet and muddy, it left a trail of messy dirt & footprint. Thank you to Alice my wife who help to clean up after me. Have to dispose the soil for every plant. Alice even brew tea for me. How lucky of me with a supportive wife. Couldn't get more photos as my hands were too muddy.

Packing Jackfruit sapling for transport.

I only manage to finish up at 11.00 pm. That is 4 hours of packing. I'm sure that doing it in a farm with proper equipment shall be much faster. I line the plastic bag with old news print, spray it moist. I need to seperate the different varieties in different bags, Mastura, CJ-3 and Red Jackfruit.

Packed and floor cleaned.

I bag all these 3 bags into a larger yellow bag. Cover the top with another bag. I tried to stuff this into my backpack, but it's slightly too long. Had no choice but to bend it slightly.

Traveling with my Jackfruit.
Zip up my bag, off to catch my flight with AirAsia As am hand carrying, was afraid that I may have issues with the custom department. Well it went smoothly. Was only queried on the content and is there any soil.
I tried to take care of the sapling through out my journey. On the bus and in the airplane. Today being traveling day, the sapling have to withstand approximately 40 hours before I can replant them. I pray that they can survive the long journey. I immediately open the top bag for inspection upon arrival to my place.

Arrived safe, Jackfruit sapling.

 I found that one of sapling was damaged. The old news print is still moist and some leak out to my backpack. Shall add in some water to keep them moist as it's already evening.

Damaged Jackfruit sapling.

Took them to the farm 1st thing in the morning. Immediately started to " pot" them.

Welcoming our new members upon arrival at our farm.

 I started with the Red Jackfruit, we only had 5 saplings.

Done, I marked them SR Songsang Red.

Next comes the Mastura. We have 11 of them.

Done, I marked them M37.

Next and lastly the CJ-3. We have 10 of these.

Done, I marked them CJ3.

Since I still have time, I germinated the Honey Jackfruit seeds from CML trading which I bought from AEON Jusco. These tasted very sweet, strong jackfruit aroma with strong after taste, crunchy and golden yellow color. I reused the disposable packing for the seeds, which have been clean of the sack and soak in water. I left some water there to keep them moist for the journey as Jackfruit seeds drys superfast. Let's see if I can identify this variety when they grow up.

Arrived still moist.

Have 22 seeds. I marked these S cml.

Finally got it all done. "potting" them was much easier as I'm in the farm and I have tools at my disposal. I shall keep all of them in the shaded nursery, let them recover, grows then only transfer.

Say cheese for the Jackfruit album.

Let's have a group photo for our album. With these we now have 6 varieties of Jackfruit in our farm. J 29, J 32 Mantin, J 33 Tekam Yellow, J 37 Mastura, CJ-3 and Songsang Red. Let's wish every one of them a speedy recovery so that they can be planted in the field and do their variety proud by manifesting their variety. This complete our story on our Jackfruit Journey, from Temerloh, Pahang to Keningau, Sabah. Stay tune for their outcome on their migration.

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it”
― Gautama Buddha