It had been six long years since I last crossed the Singapore-Malaysia border on two wheels—the last time being December 2019 to visit extended family in Penang. Living deep in the Singaporean heartlands, taking a one-hour ride just to sit in border checkpoint traffic rarely makes logistical sense for a casual morning run. While I frequently fly to Kuala Lumpur and Penang for corporate work, I am almost always confined to smoggy city limits, commercial zones, or corporate offices.
When the team at CFMoto Singapore offered to loan me their highly anticipated, race-bred CFMoto 675SR-R, I finally had the perfect excuse to break the streak. I decided to escape the stifling concrete jungle of Singapore, cross the Tuas Second Link, and head into the rural roads of Johor to see what has changed, explore a hidden bee farm, and experience a proper sportbike on roads where it can actually breathe.
The Border Paradox & The Company Expense Hack
Before crossing any international border, your first stop as a rider is the fuel station. Singapore enforces a strict rule requiring vehicles to leave the country with at least three-quarters of a tank of fuel.
While my tank already met the legal threshold, I decided to pull up to the pump and top it completely off to the brim. While I like to joke that I do this purely because I am a law-abiding, upstanding citizen, the real-world reason is much more practical: topping off in Singapore means paying in Singapore Dollars (SGD), which makes it a breeze to track and claim back through my company expenses.
Once past the Tuas Second Link checkpoint, the scenery shifts instantly. The dense, manicured high-rises of Singapore give way to vast expanses of wild greenery and untouched Malaysian foliage. The morning breeze riding through Johor is incredibly crisp and cool—a massive sensory relief from the stuffy, stagnant, heat-trapping air that traps you when navigating Singapore’s heavily urbanized infrastructure.
Lost in the Kampongs: The No-GPS Challenge
Riders today are incredibly spoiled by smartphones, Quad Locks, and turn-by-turn navigation. However, the CFMoto 675SR-R loaner bike didn’t have a phone mount installed on the handlebars.
Riding blind into rural Johor without a constant GPS map in your field of vision forces you into an old-school style of touring. I found myself navigating entirely by memory and instinct, occasionally pulling off to the side of the road to check Google Maps on my phone.
I eventually managed to get myself completely and thoroughly lost deep within the local kampongs (villages) leading toward Kukup. At one point, my map suggested a path that dissolved into a rough, muddy off-road trail. While I wouldn’t hesitate to throw my own personal sportbike down a messy trail, I was acutely aware that I was piloting a brand-new factory loaner. Damaging a manufacturer’s media unit is a quick way to tank your relationship with a brand, so I turned right back around to hunt for paved tarmac.
Rural filming also highlighted just how difficult it is to create creative content in high-density cities. Back home, my default location for shooting motorcycle b-roll is Neo Tiew. Yet, even in Singapore’s most remote, rural “boondocks,” the country is so crowded that there is always someone standing around, watching you, and silently judging you while you work. In the quiet coastal kampongs of Johor, I could pull up to a quiet wooden jetty and film crisp, uninterrupted b-roll without a single distraction.
The 13-Ringgit Village Breakfast
By 9:30 AM, riding on an empty stomach caught up to me. In urban Singapore, finding food is effortless—you simply walk downstairs, cross the street, and enter a mall with 30 different climate-controlled dining options. In rural Malaysia, establishments operate on a completely different rhythm; local seafood restaurants near the Kukup jetty don’t open their doors until late in the evening.
Deep in the heart of a local village, I stumbled across a tiny, unassuming mom-and-pop roadside stall selling Nasi Ayam (Chicken Rice).
The meal—a generous plate of classic chicken rice paired with a tall, ice-cold chocolate drink—came out to a grand total of 13 Ringgit (MYR). Having spent a lot of time dining in corporate areas like Penang’s Bayan Lepas and the suburbs of KL, I’ve watched food inflation steadily climb across Malaysia. Seeing those price shifts mirror themselves even within a quiet Johor kampong was eye-opening. While 13 MYR is still exceptionally affordable for anyone earning a living in SGD, it makes you highly cognizant of the economic pressures local residents navigate daily. That said, the warmth, hospitality, and kindness of the local village keepers remain completely unmatched.
A Detour to a Stingless Bee Farm
With the morning still young, I spotted a small stingless bee farm on the map en route to Pontian. My wife loves high-quality honey, so I marked it as a mandatory detour.
Finding it without a handlebar GPS proved to be an absolute nightmare. I spent a solid chunk of time riding up and down the highway, missing the entrance repeatedly. Eventually, I spotted the gateway: a tiny, weathered sign no bigger than a standard sheet of A3 paper, pointing down a narrow, hidden private driveway.
The detour was well worth the frustration. The local keeper was incredibly enthusiastic, walking me through the unique architecture of stingless bee hives. Unlike traditional honeybees that build expansive wax combs, stingless bees construct small, bulbous “pots” to store their honey.
The keeper pulled a fresh sample directly from a hive using a syringe for me to taste. The flavor profile is completely unique—it isn’t thick or cloyingly sweet like commercial honey; it has a very watery, distinctively sour, and citrusy tang that tastes remarkably like fresh fruit juice. I bought a small, fresh jar to bring back home before pointing the nose of the 675SR-R back toward the border.
The Sportbike Itch & The Verdict
Pushing the CFMoto 675SR-R along the sweeping open curves of Johor’s regional roads completely rekindled my love for fairing-clad sportbikes—a feeling I haven’t felt since I sent my old 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R off to be exported.
The reality of living in Singapore is that our heavily monitored, stop-and-go road network makes owning a high-revving, race-replicated machine completely pointless. Crossing the border into Malaysia is the only way a Singaporean rider can truly stretch a sportbike’s legs and appreciate what the engineers intended.
The 675SR-R’s three-cylinder powerplant is intoxicating, and on multiple stretches of open highway, the temptation to pin the throttle way past Malaysia’s speed limits was massive. However, out of respect for the team at CFMoto SG who trusted me with the keys, I kept my inner racer in check to ensure no speeding tickets made their way back to their corporate office.
Crossing back over the border checkpoint brings an immediate, familiar comedown—the highly structured, sterile, and predictable landscape of home soil. But this short morning run proved that whenever the concrete jungle starts feeling a bit too stifling, a quick border cross into the quiet spaces of Johor is the ultimate reset button.
See the Raw Three-Cylinder Pace
Want to hear the distinct exhaust note of CFMoto’s new three-cylinder engine, see the direct syringe-to-mouth honey tasting at the Pontian bee farm, or watch the scenic coastal roads of Kukup? Check out the full ride vlog below!