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: June 2026
I point CRF300L renters first at the steepest trails behind Na Muang, the ones a smaller bike struggles to climb. Riding them last February, the CRF300L's torque hauled me up gradients that had defeated lighter machines, all the way to clearings with views over the southern coast. These are demanding tracks that reward the bike's extra muscle. For a confident rider wanting to feel what the CRF300L can really do off-road, this steep, rugged corner of the island is the place.
Crossing Samui's interior on the graded fire roads last dry season, I linked Maenam in the north to the southern hills almost entirely off-tarmac. The CRF300L ate the long dirt miles in comfort its little rivals cannot match. These wider tracks let you cover real distance through plantations and jungle, stitching the island together away from traffic. For a rider who wants to traverse Samui rather than loop it, the interior fire-road crossing is a genuinely memorable backroad day.
Loading the CRF300L onto the Donsak ferry last April opened up the part of its range Samui alone cannot use. On the Surat Thani backroads I rode forest tracks and quiet country lanes for two days, the bike equally at home on both. The mainland is where the CRF300L's touring reach truly pays off. For an adventurous renter with time, the ferry turns a Samui hire into a regional expedition, and the CRF300L is the bike that makes it comfortable.
A caution from experience: some inland tracks deteriorate badly after rain, and I once committed to a Lipa Noi descent that had turned to deep, greasy clay. Even the capable CRF300L slithered, and I rode it out slowly and carefully. Samui's remote backroads have no recovery service. I now scout conditions, ride the worst sections within my limits, and always leave a way to turn back. Capability invites ambition, but the island's mud humbles every bike eventually.
After years mapping the region's backroads, my favourite CRF300L day is an ambitious one: the Na Muang climbs at dawn, across the interior fire roads to the west coast, then a ferry over for an overnight on the mainland trails. It needs dry weather, a full day, and a sense of adventure, and it uses every strength the bike has. I sketch it for the right renters and watch them return having seen far more of southern Thailand than they expected.
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