French · 7 years on Samui
French motorcycle tour guide living on Koh Samui for 7 years. Marc leads group rides across southern Thailand and knows every road on the island.
Updated: May 2026
Above the Nathon junction last February on the CB300R, I took the switchback road toward the central viewpoint - 8 per cent gradient, tight corners, uneven tarmac surface from tree root heave. At 50 km/h in third gear the CB300R was composed and controllable; the suspension handled the road joins without chassis flex. A scooter on the same road would have been at its limit; the CB300R was well within its envelope. Mountain roads on Koh Samui - the Nathon pass, the central viewpoint road, the plantation approach above Chaweng - are where the CB300R earns its place in the fleet.
Completing the ring road circuit last January on the CB300R - departure at 7 a.m., 52 kilometres, back before noon - I averaged 75 km/h on the Nathon straight with the engine pulling cleanly in fifth gear. The CB300R's 31 horsepower is not excessive on Samui's roads, but it is sufficient to make ring road sections feel genuinely relaxed rather than maximally committed. For a rider planning a full island day who wants to cover ground efficiently and still have energy for the mountain detours, the CB300R is the tool.
On a three-day rental last October - day one the north coast circuit, day two the mountain road to the viewpoint, day three the south coast and Lamai - I used the CB300R across three completely different route profiles without adjusting my riding approach. The same gear selection that suited the north coast flat at 70 km/h also suited the mountain switchbacks at 40 km/h. No mode switching, no range anxiety, no compromises across route types. For a multi-day rental covering Samui's variety, the CB300R is the most route-agnostic option in the motorbike fleet.
At Chaweng's beach road last November, I parked the CB300R and watched the traffic pattern - 90 per cent scooters, 10 per cent motorbikes, all moving at 30 to 45 km/h in two lanes. The CB300R in that context is larger than it needs to be: the gearbox requires attention in stop-start traffic, the footrests are slightly forward of scooter ergonomics for lane filtering. For a rider whose entire itinerary is beach road café-hopping at 30 km/h, a Honda Scoopy or Click 125 is a better match. The CB300R is for routes, not errands.
On the Nathon mountain road at 7 a.m. last January - cool air, no traffic, dry tarmac from the previous night's rain - I rode the CB300R through the first switchback section at a pace I would not use on a busy afternoon. The CB300R's Showa front fork and Pro-Link rear suspension absorbed the damp road joins cleanly, and the motor's light flywheel made throttle response precise rather than lazy. Early season mornings on Samui's mountain roads, before the tourist traffic builds above the Nathon junction, are the best riding conditions on the island. The CB300R uses them fully.
Seven years of motorcycle tour guiding on Koh Samui has produced a clear answer to when the CB300R is the best choice: any tour that includes mountain roads, any full ring road circuit at highway pace, any multi-day rental covering varied route types, and any morning departure before 8 a.m. when Samui's roads are at their least congested. The CB300R's 31 horsepower and six-speed gearbox are matched to those conditions in a way no automatic scooter can replicate. Outside those conditions - beach errands, town circuits below 30 km/h - the scooter fleet is the better tool.
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