Read What Our Riders Say About Us.

Hi guys,

Yes we are home at last, and it's a bit wet and windy! Got the photos - aren't they fab?

I know that we've said it already, but thank you so much for taking care of us during our holiday. We had so much fun in Borneo, and most of that was down to you guys. From the moment Terry picked us up at the airport, we felt 'at home'. You have such a lovely family, great staff and a super bunch of friends out there, and it was great getting to know you all. And as for the biking, well, what a way to explore Sabah! Perhaps more for me on the back than for Stewart, who spent a lot of time thinking 'corner.corner..corner..', and came out with the classic 'what waterfall?' I think that he enjoyed the biking so much that he might have to come back just to see some of the scenery of Sabah!

Anyway, we can honestly say that this has been our favourite holiday ever; the great company, superb biking, and wonderful home of Sinurambi have made it something really special. When will we return to do it all again? 'Well, I don't rightly know', but I can guarantee that it will be soon.

Really missing Sabah, and cannot believe we're back home in Scotland! Oh, and the redness is just starting to fade, so I'm hoping for a bit of tan by Monday when I see the gang at work!

Best wishes to you all,

Fiona and Stewart, SCOTLAND.
 

Safely back home again after a good flight and no delays through immigration or customs.

Cold this morning although calm and very clear. 6 degrees at 8:30.

Thank you all again for a most delightful holiday, to you and Rose for your wonderful hospitality, to the maids for taking good care of us, and to you and Bryan for some delightful riding.

Please pass on to Bryan my my special thanks and let him know that my trip highlight was the day riding with him especially Pine Ridge I and II.

Looking forward to seeing you all again sometime,

Many thanks,

Murray and Jo-Ann, PERTH
 

Hi Terry, Rose, Bryan, Uli and Ness!

just about through the first difficult week back at the coal face here in NZ. As we drove away from Wellington airport it hailed - 4 degrees and an 80k southerly. Welcome home, travellers.....

For myself I just want to say what an absolutely wonderful time I had in your hospitable hands in your home and all around Sabah etc. The warmth of your collective welcoming and the laughs and experiences we had were immesurably enhanced over what we could have expected. So thanks to you all, may you all stay well and prosper and hopefully we may meet again. Needless to say, I have been recommending the experience flat out to friends, family and colleagues! Rose, I guess Terry is in the UK or France now, tearing around with his mates and Bryan is crafting another chapter of his to-be-made-into-a-movie novel so things should be relatively peaceful in the wake of the Kiwi invasion. Many thanks and hugs to the girls,

Warwick Fish, New Zealand.

Dear Terry,

Thank you so much for the wonderful hospitality, the great rides, the excellent food and wine, the support from Rose and Brian. We thoroughly enjoyed the rides with so much of varieties and support. All the best and will organize a bigger group next time.

Regards to small David.

Dr. Li Man Kay, Singapore.

Hi Rose,

Glad to hear your computer works a lot better now! Seems that I am better at fixing computers than I am at keeping motorcycles rubber-side down on mud and dirt! I will do some off-road training before I come back again. :)

Thanks again for a wonderful holiday. It really was one of the highlights of my life so far and I miss Borneo a lot. Hopefully we'll be back in 2010... unless you hear of any IT jobs in KK in which case give me a shout and I'll send my CV!

Cheers,

Crasher Colin, Singapore

Hi Terry Just back from Addie and Pete's birthday and it seems all we talked about was Borneo. Can you handle a group of 40? I am pretty sure a there will be a few new riders and repeats.

For my part, best vacation in years - instantly relaxing, wonderful home, great rides, terrific company, only two things to sign for; one on the way in (waiver) and one on the way out (the all-in bill).

Thanks for the shirt! I almost managed to wangle a new KTM 690 out of the Mrs but alas, 'almost' was the operative word!

Best to yourself, Rose, Bryan and Ben.

Richard Bolt, Manila, Philippines.

Hi Terry!

I just wanted to express that I have enjoyed the riding with you and Bryan very much. Everything was arranged perfectly and it was great fun. Everybody of the team as done a great job and I will never forget the wonderful days I had on the bike and at Sinurambi.

Please also give my regards to Bryan, Rose and Lucky (my favourite dog). .

All the best from Germany, stay as you are, enjoy your life and I hope to see you again!

Michael Neuroth, Mannheim

Richard Colman

Hi Terry, Brian, Rosie and David,

A belated thanks for a really great week. I had a fantastic time and the memories are sustaining me now I’m back in normal life!

Rest assured I’m spreading the gospel according to BBA and hope to be back with a few friends next year.

Thanks again for a beautiful country, great people, and fantastic riding.

See you before too long I hope – in Borneo or Shanghai....

Cheers!

Richard Colman
Lotus Engineering China

Cheryl & Paul from Sydney, Australia.

Terry, Rose and Brian,

Paul and I have arrived back in Australia and unfortunately gone to back to work. We just wanted to say thank you once again and how much we enjoyed the holiday with you. It was an amazing experience and a unique way to experience Borneo. I have travelled around alot over the past 17 years but have never had the visceral feeling like after your tour. After leaving your mountain paradise, Maria looked after us very well and couldn't do enough for us, so thank you and her for her assistance and help.

We had a wonderful and complete tour of Sandakan and as we were sitting in a lovely and pleasant enough tour bus; I looked at Paul and stated how sterile and seperated I felt travelling through the countryside. Paul agreed and said It was not the same as on the bikes when you could smell, feel and hear the country. I agree. You have spoilt it all for us now. In fact our visit planned for Vietnam in 09, has now changed and I have started to research for a company like yours, that can offer the same fantastic way to see the Vietnam, although I personally will be happy to not get as "up close and personal" to Vietnam as I did with the Borneo ground...

I have been riding alot since and Terry, you will be happy to know, I have enrolled in a Off road course end of Oct. I feel very confident on my bike now, so thank you for your patience with me during our rides! My little Honda CRF230 felt like a toy after the Aprilla's but I now throw her around a bit more now and am enjoying riding - it's like a new found drug!!

So once again, thank you. I have spread the word and have passed out some your business cards.

PS - Wondering if you still had the photos of our water crossing and if you could send them if possible. Take care, everyone and see you again (for sure!!!)

Cheryl and Paul

Charlie and Olwen, Sheffield, UK.

Dear Terry, Rosie, Bryan Wade"The one with the Bikes?" and David Mills,

Gone but not forgotten and I don't think we will ever forget our wonderful holiday in Borneo. From day one you made us feel part of the family and you have our eternal gratitude. You have a beautiful secret which you choose to share just a little. But that seems just the right way to do it.

Coming back to "Blighty" and back to work has really brought it home how lucky we were. From the fantastic weather, the glorious roads, the friendly people it is difficult to imagine we have been there and done it. I am already boring my friends about Borneo and they think I am making it up. "It couldn't have been that good?"

Our thanks also to our fellow rider Ian, true gent :-) Hope you can pass on some of our photos

Many thanks, take care and keep on riding,

Charlie and Olwen

Ian Hudson, Manchester.

Dear Terry, Rose, Bryan, David and the gang
Back safe in England if somewhat shattered. I wanted to let you all know what a fantastic time I had on my 'adventure' in Sabah, the trip surpassed all expectations. Especially, being welcomed into your home as a 'friend' rather than a 'customer'. Every aspect of the trip from Sabah itself through the biking, riding tuition, roads, food, scenery and animals was superb. Can't say I enjoyed some bits of the gravel whilst I was actually riding it, but I was very proud to have improved enough to get through it all safely. I can assure you that I will be boring anyone who will listen with stories about the trip for at least a couple of years.

Thanks again to everyone for a brilliant adventure.

Cheers & Good Luck Ian

Ian Newcome of Southampton's letter to BIKE

Dear Sir,

I’m writing to thank you for enabling me to experience one of the most amazing holidays ever. In July I returned from an awesome climbing holiday around the Eiger in Switzerland. I had jumped at the opportunity to do something hopefully as exciting but different from motorcycling. Why? Well because I was at risk of becoming a biking bore.

Well that objective is now truly stuffed. On my return I read about Ben and Chippy’s trip to Borneo. I’ve been reading Bike since the late 80’s and I know that what is said is not just exaggerated journalistic prose for the masses. I simply had to go. So 6 weeks later and I’m on the plane to Borneo to meet Terry and Bryan. I won’t drone on but how many holidays can claim to tick the following boxes?

• Mind blowing scenery and great weather
• Rain forest
• Wild elephants and crocodiles
• Genuinely friendly natives
• Horse riding on tropical beaches
• Snorkelling and scuba diving on some of the most spectacular sites in the world
• Staying with friends you never knew you had
• Riding with a five times British motorcycle champion
• Being waved and smiled at by everyone from the people high up in the hills, deep in the forests and even the police in the towns
• Oh, and riding on everything from alpine roads to the most challenging gravel and off road sections with next to no traffic (or none that went over 50 miles an hour).

My trip with Borneo Biking adventures went way beyond anything any holiday maker has any right to expect. Whilst Borneo is incredible in so many respects the thing that really made it for me was Terry, Rose, Bryan and their friends who were all so welcoming and generous that it was hard to believe I hadn’t known them for years. Easy said I know but I have had some truly fantastic holidays over the last 20 or so years and met some incredible and generous people but this really was something special.

I lost count of the number of times in two weeks that at the end of a road I stopped and couldn’t speak to Terry or Bryan for ten minutes because I was giggling and gibbering like some kind of loon.

I’m well known for being a quirky and grumpy git so its bordering on the embarrassing to see the manic grins and look of childish excitement in all my several hundred holiday snaps.

All in all I have to say not only a big thank you to all at Borneo Biking Adventures but also to Bike, Ben and Chippy for a great article which got me out there in the first place. I have a feeling I shall be going back.

I’ve had a go at summing it all up for others but words don’t do it justice. This was the best I could come up with;

“Imagine a game of Tomb Raider, an episode of Blue Planet and the Isle of Man TT combined and still it can’t compete with the roads and experiences of Borneo which have clearly been designed by some drug crazed biker or cyber freak gamer. I spent the whole holiday expecting to wake up realising it had all been some incredible dream. My advice is pack a bag, leave a note to your loved ones, tell the boss to stuff it and leave tomorrow, you’ll never regret it.”

Regards

Ian Newcombe


PS Ben, Chippy if you ever find a place/trip that you think that beats this please let me know and I’ll resign from the desk job and emigrate immediately.
 

From Dave Forbes, Norwich.

Hi Terry!

I never had the chance to thank your staff for making my stay with you an even more pleasurable experience, so could i ask that you thank them from me please. The interest I've had from my biking friends has been fascinating, so maybe i can convince them to get their arse's out to you for some incredible riding. I'll sign off now as I've got to a living to earn looking after my clients, but who knows what the future holds???

Take care Mr Mills, its been a pleasure to meet you, Bryan & your family & hopefully I'll be in touch soon with some good news about moving out to that part of the world..................................stranger things have happened!!!

Many Thanks

Dave Forbes

From Chippy Wood, BIKE Magazine.

Hi Guys

Just about getting back to normal here, straight from your place into a 4 day trip around Scotland then working all weekend and an enduro with Ben on the Sunday (finished 81st out of 220, should try harder), I cant tell you how much we enjoyed our trip and your company truly amazing, and I cant wait to come back with my girlfriend, who is so excited about it after I told her how good you guys have it out there.

I need your address so I can send you some mags, cant see it on the web site Say hi to Brian and I forgot to thank your helpers Rose, so please thank them for all the glorious food they prepared for us .

Your a lucky bugger Terry

All the best

Chippy Wood. BIKE Magazine.

Martin Sloan from York:

From the moment the plane set down I knew that the bike trip was going to be something special and I was not disappointed. Nothing compares to this experience, it is simply the best biking I have ever experienced and your homely hospitality made for the best 40th birthday present a biker could ever wish for. Like I promised, all my biking buddies now want to come - how many bikers make it free for me to come again.

Thanks guys for showing a born again how to truly live.

Martin.

(Martin and his family are coming back in August)

Dave Betteridge, Birmingham.

We thought we’d put all of his letter in to show you that we do listen to our customers.
 

The delights of Biking in Borneo even with Terry Mills Terry, I'm afraid it about the best I can write about staying with you on your holiday, if you want better bull-shit you'll have to write it yourself. Joking apart good luck, I enjoyed myself, but do take on board what people want to do. Most of the touristy things are a good bike ride, which suit the bike purists, other want to ride a bike and see Borneo, but the riders can go on riding, while the gawpers gawp a bit, and meet up in the evening. For yourselves your going to see a lot of the same bits of Borneo, many, many times, lets hope it doesn't get boring for you. I think it indicative of how I was treated, that I would do this for you, but I thought I had better not mention your generousity in not asking us to pay, till we'ed been home a fortnight. Pleasure to do this for you, hope it helps, if there are any particular bits. I've left out and you'd like gilded let me know, Best wishes to you, Rose and everyone, Kiss fo my young brother, Dave Betteridge.

HOLIDAYING WITH BORNEO BIKING ADVENTURES.

The hospitallity and comfort at base were second to none, food & drinks first class. The Aprilla Motorcycles a pleasure to ride, on and off road, handling great. Borneo itself was magic, and the tarred roads generally first class surfaces, but akin to British A & B class roads, in type. Lots of good fast straights, plenty of swoopy bends, and quite a few blind drops, and fantastic climbs and falls around mountain style roads. Borneo roads are nearest to an "Isle of Man" TT paradise this side of Heaven. Plenty of easy dirt surface mileage, and some real jungle type tracks, for the enthusiastic off-roader, roads you never expected to meet trucks on - but invariably one turns up unexpectedly, just when your on a difficult line, testing nerve and bike riding. Nevertheless I never found myself in a real dangerous position, thanks to the confident guidance by Brian Wade & Terry Mills. Brian's guidance on riding and handling a bike added to the pleasure of the ride, and improved my riding technique even at 70, with 50 years experience, including off road under my belt, albeit sidecaring. I only fell off in Borneo when I forgot to put my foot down when I stopped. The other thing was that what you wanted to do Terry & Brian would attempt to bring to reality, and the times when I went off to visit the off-shore islands, with snorkling, swimming, beach style bar-b-q's, and mud bathing, put another dimension on my holiday. Would I do it again? yes but there's still a lot of the world to see, and I ain't got a lot of time left. I must say that Terry, family, staff and yes even their friends couldn't do enough for us, and all added to a memorial holiday on and off bikes. You have also found a new bunch of mates.

"Cheers"

DaveB

This letter as sent to all the major biking magazines in the UK and even printed by a few.

I have just returned from what must rate as one of the best motor cycling holidays currently available on today’s market. Three biking buddies, my brother and myself, all of whom have several years biking experience in Europe and Asia under our belts, recently spent two weeks in the company of Terry Mills and Brian Wade, the owners of Borneo Biking Adventures.

Our base was Kota Kinabalu in the Northern province of Sabah, in the shadow of the highest mountain in South East Asia, Mount Kinabalu (14,500 feet). Each day a different route would be planned, depending on the mood and requirements of the riders. From base to 6000 feet up the mountain, no fewer than 220 corners had to be negotiated, giving everyone a chance to see how the new Aprilia Pegaso trailies handled the twisties. Their off-road capabilities were tested picking our way through roads that had just been reopened due to recent landslides and it made for interesting riding on different surfaces - tarmac, clay, gravel and mud. On other rides we would travel for miles on completely deserted roads, water buffalo and monitor lizards being the only sign of life, not a speed camera in sight. Some days we took to the gravel and rode through the rural countryside skirting the rain forests and seeing how the locals truly lived, on other occasions we would take in river crossings or logging trails. One outing took to an overnight stay at the Tip of Borneo. We always had back up, and on the longer runs were shadowed by a 4x4 truck and trailer should it be required, or if a pillion passenger simply wanted a change of mode of transport. The beauty with Borneo Biking Adventures is that they are so flexible; routes can be planned or altered on a moments notice, there is something for everyone, and nothing too extreme.

The highlight had to be a two-day visit to Brunei. Every facet of Borneo is to be found on this 200 mile each way trip. Terry and Brian did us proud putting us up in the Sultan of Brunei’s six star hotel, The Empire, where we sampled world-class comfort and cuisine. Terry’s wife Rose, and staff looked after us magnificently each night when we returned to our base in Kota Kinabalu, wonderful food, wine and lots of biking talk being the order of the day; nothing was too much trouble for them.

Borneo has got to be a must on any motor cyclist’s “things to do” list and it is the only place in the world where I have overtaken a police car on a bend only to be greeted with smiles and waves from it’s occupants!

Neil Johnston

South Queensferry

Cliff Fornier, an American living in Kuala Lumpur who did a 4 day special.

“I’ve ridden bikes all my life but that beats anything I’ve done, even in California.”

Ben Warren Cheltenham.

Was that a bike ride or what?

You guys are crazy! How old did you say you were?

Thanks for a great trip, see you next year.

(Ben and Becky rode with us twice and then moved to Borneo!)

Angela Cannon from Epsom wrote:

Dear Rose, Terry and Bryan

I just wanted to thank you all for such a fabulous time. Rose, you made us feel so very welcome in your home and I know that at times this can be a pain. Terry, Jim has been telling everyone that the holiday was like being invited by a millionaire friend to come and stay and share his toys, so a huge thank you for that. Bryan, what can I say, the boys all thought you were great and all the bikers I have subsequently spoken to know exactly who you are and are quite envious that you were part of the team.

I am giving out brochures to all those who I feel would enjoy such a trip and telling them what fun it was and that Jim wants to come back again! (so be warned).

Yesterday on the holiday programme, they covered Brunei which included The Empire so now everyone can see where we stayed - such a treat.

I expect you are all very very busy now with the park, so from all of us, good luck with the launch and please let us know how it all goes.

Take care

lots of love
Angie

Pete and Kelly from Norwich.

What a pain, now we can't find a holiday to beat it!
Spectacular scenery,
Wonderful people,
Plenty of food,
Fantastic biking,
Something to suit all types of riders (and pillions)
But most of all, the hospitality is second to none!!
Guess we will be back soon!

Hopefully will see you soon

Lots of love
Kelly and Pete