Touring Report

The third leg of the Yamaha PAN-ASEAN TOURING event is now under way as a 1,500 km tour of Malaysia. Following successful tours through Indonesia (Nov. ~ Dec.) and Thailand (Jan.), the Malaysian tour has started from the nation's capital and business and cultural center, Kuala Lumpur, and will tour north to destinations like the tourist island of Penang and then south through the historical city of Melaka (Malacca) over a one-week schedule that will end at Johor Bahru, the country's southernmost city. The twelve participating riders on this leg include three local Malaysian riders, two riders from the most recent host country, Thailand, two riders from Indonesia, who also toured Thailand and are aiming to complete the entire pan-ASEAN course, three riders from Vietnam and two from the Philippines. This PAN-ASEAN TOURING event is being held as a promotional event coinciding with the launch of the new Yamaha sporty moped model "T135" in six ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Already, the tour has traveled 7,876 km through Indonesia and Thailand on the sporty and durable T135.

On the morning of February 26, the Malaysian leg of the tour began with a press conference at just after 9:30 a.m. The venue was a specially prepared site in front of the Berjaya Times Square Hotel & Convention Center near the center of Kuala Lumpur. Being a popular hotel for foreign tourists situated right in front of a huge shopping mall that is a popular gathering place for young people lined with attractive cafes, this was a perfect spot to publicize the start of the touring event.

Speeches by Mr. Ng Choon Hai, the Managing Director of the Malaysian Yamaha distributor Hong Leong Yamaha Motor Sdn. Bhd, and Mr. Muhammad Heeza Bin Hassan, Assistant Director of the Ministry of Transport's Road Safety Dept. were followed by introductions of two special guests, Mr. Wee Hong, Chairman of Malaysia Motorcycle & Scooters Dealers Association, and Mr. Masanori Kobayashi, president of Yamaha Motor Asian Center (YMAC). Then the audience and reporters witnessed the main flag-off ceremony officially starting the riders off on their tour.

As they were led to the starting point by a parade of women in beautiful Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese ethnic costumes, the riders on their T135 machines (Malaysian market name 135LC) were given hearty cheers from the gallery wishing them good luck on the long tour ahead. At the moment the flags waved to start the riders off, the flashes of the strobes of the 30 or so press photographers flooded the lively scene.

After a short tour through downtown Kuala Lumpur, the PAN-ASEAN TOURING caravan was on the expressway heading out of the city toward the first day's destination, the city of Ipoh. Joining the tour as one of the riders for this leg was YMAC's President Kobayashi. One thing that immediately makes the Malaysian leg of the tour different from the Indonesian and Thai leg thus far is the fact that much of the actual touring route will be on expressways. This gives the riders a chance to appreciate another attractive aspect of the new 135LC. After a short rest at Rawang, our convoy stopped at Tapah for lunch. By just after 3:00 in the afternoon we reached Hong Leong Yamaha's dealership in Perak, where our riders were greeted by the dealership staff and local bike fans. As a special event that will be held at all the destinations on this tour through Malaysia, including at the flag-off ceremony this morning, a helmet exchange event was held. This is a traffic safety event in which local riders, including non-Yamaha brand owners, can bring their old or damaged helmets in and exchange them for new helmets free of charge.
Although the weather had been ominous at the start in Kuala Lumpur and there was light rain on and off during the day, it was never bad enough to interrupt the touring as everyone completed the first day's course of 212 km and arrived at our hotel on schedule at shortly past 4:00 in the afternoon of the 26th.

Starting out from Kuala Lumpur

At the moment of the flag-off, starting the 1,500 km tour

The tour made steady progress with a police escort leading the way

The riders made their appearance before the gallery at the starting ceremony led by women in beautiful ethnic costume

Local riders gather for the helmet exchange event. Old helmets that are no longer fully safe for use can be exchanged for new ones free of charge. Fifty helmets have been prepared for exchange at each destination of the tour. Needless to say, all the recipients were glad to get the new helmets

The marshal riders include (from front left) Mr. Razali Ahmad, Mr. Rauzan Surip, and (from second row left) Mr. Jamil Hasan, Mr. Khairil Azuan, chief marshal Mr. Yusoff Bakar and his secretary, Mrs. Nur Aida, who will play an important role as tour coordinator