Buying used motorbike, advice?

[tx57travel]

Evening, I'll be moving to Pattaya shortly and I'll be needing some wheels? Any advice on buying a used motorbike? Is there a good place in Pattaya and what about gear? I keep seeing "green book" on craigslist ads but don't know anything about it? Thanks!

[Lok Jit]

Baht Sold is a good site for Buying..Green Book is the Title..Make Certain there are No Loopholes in the title to have it put in your Name...Don't buy on an Invoice!

[Footymadstreams]

Place on South Pattaya Road have plenty of second hand bikes, right hand side going towards Bigc about 150 meters after soi 16

 

 

What are you looking for and i can take a look and give you a idea on price if you let me know

[Navychief(SS)]

Falang run place on Pattaya Thai sell used and also services them

[tx57travel]

Thank you gentlemen. I was hoping for a 250 Honda/Kawasaki street bike. Gonna be here a while.

[tx57travel]

That place your talking about is called "Mityon"

[LarryDarrell]

What is the minimum size motorcycle for riding on expressways?

[simon46]

Decide what you want the bike for.

If it is around town stick to the standard Thai fare, Honda Wave or scooter equivalent, can do everything, seat designed for multiple people, luggage friendly, easily fixed for very little, pretty cheap (20g will get an ok 2nd hand, 50g new).

Check your insurance, if it is cheapo may restrict to 125, if so do not hurt yourself riding a 135, insurance cos are not charities.

No bikes on motorways, no 100cc 1200cc HDs, none.

remember your IDL for bike or complain everytime you are stopped, yes they stop all bikes, 500 baht and hassle, we love hearing this.

Thai roads are dusty, you will not be wearing any protection, your helmet will be like Japanese workers', no gloves, boots.

Green book shows legal ownership, is stamped up at RTO time (inspection at 5 yo). Keep it safe.  Buy a big bike special watch for fakes, or altered ones, the police will as many big bikes are totally illegal.

Tax will be square paper dated stuck somewhere on bike shows police tax/insurance paid. very cheap but the insurance inc 3rd party is minimal, crash then before you try to outrun angry Thais on your 250 be aware that they can easily hit 70mph on their scoots.

Plenty of good info on google is it the GT bike club thailand?

You can chop and change small bikes at minimal losses but just try selling a proper bike and you will take a bath.

[JAI DEE MAK]

Good post from simon46,

 

A few more things to consider if you buy new you can get class one insurance (full comp) this can not be done on an older bike.

 

Also you may get a deal on a new bike where it is included for the 1st year.

 

Be very careful on buying a secondhand bikes as many are ex rental and clocked. also where it is registered is a factor to consider.

 

Don't buy from a bar carpark and get a bill of sale from the registered owner.

 

I have a number of different bikes and mostly use the Kwaka 250 KLX I like the ability to move quick when I need to.

 

I sometimes use a yamaha elegance (135) for local trips to the shop.

 

Both are good bikes  and I would recommend either however if you are set on a 250 trail bike then the Honda is cheaper and almost the same as the Kwaka.

 

My advice would be to rent a bike for a few weeks and try different bikes. you may well find that riding a bike in Pattaya is not for you.

 

JDM

[tx57travel]

Thank you gents! All good info!

[Garzan]

Here's my experience, for what it's worth. When I first moved here, I rented Scooters. I changed the model of scooter every month, trying to discover what I liked the most, and what felt the best. My first purchase here was a new Honda scooter, which I still have. When you're sure of what you want, I do think it's better to buy new if you can possibly afford it. 

 

Over the course of renting Scooters, I became friends with the owner of the scooter rental shop. Since that time, I bought two of his rentals when it was time to rotate them out of his stock. I didn't have any hesitation buying used from him, since I know he does the maintenance on his bikes. (IMO, the Thai style of vehicle maintenance is to run them until they break.) Without knowing the maintenance history of a used bike, rental or otherwise, it's a crap shoot on how often the fluids got changed (if ever).

 

I recently bought a new Honda CB300F, which I think is darn near a perfect Thailand bike, if you ever have plans of riding any distance. What I like about it, is it's an upright bike, rather than a lean forward, kill your wrists, type bike. Unlike a scooter, it has no built-in storage (of note) but after-market panniers and top boxes are available for it. And, if you want to get out and see the country, it will comfortably do 120 kph all day long. Of course at that speed you'll travel a lot of country, but not see much of it.

 

My main bike I also bought used, but it only had a thousand kilometers on it. Just barely enough for the previous owner to pay for the 1K service. It was owned by a Swedish expat that was getting ready to go back to Sweden. The price for a new one was 215,000 baht. I was seriously interested when he was advertising it for 180,000 baht, but when he dropped it to 160,000 baht, I couldn't pass it up, particularly with only 1000 kilometers on the odometer.   

 

Distilled, my opinion is, unless you come across an unbeatable deal, or you have some relationship with the person you are buying from, I think you are better off buying new. Typically, depreciation on vehicles in Thailand is very slow, so there usually isn't much advantage to buying a used bike with an unknown history.

 

A "green book" is the ownership title. The legal ownership of a vehicle is recorded in a booklet, that has a green cover. The booklet goes with the vehicle, so it's also a history of ownership. Looking at the booklet, you can see how many previous owners the bike or car has had.

[tx57travel]

Ok I bought a used CBR250R and I have the green book. I am trying to get insurance but first have to get the title in my name. A Thai friend told me the guy who sold me the bike should have done that. So how do I get the title in my name so that I can get insurance on the bike? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Garzan]

You need to take yourself and the previous owner down to the Land Transport Office to transfer the green book.

 

Alternately, take yourself and the previous owner into a Mityon sales outlet, and pay them to handle the transfer paperwork. In the past I used the bike shop on the east corner of Soi Buakhao and Pattaya South.

[JAI DEE MAK]

Ok I bought a used CBR250R and I have the green book. I am trying to get insurance but first have to get the title in my name. A Thai friend told me the guy who sold me the bike should have done that. So how do I get the title in my name so that I can get insurance on the bike? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Did you buy it from a Thai or a foreigner or a shop  ?.

 

 

JDM

[pattayagolf]

Ok I bought a used CBR250R and I have the green book. I am trying to get insurance but first have to get the title in my name. A Thai friend told me the guy who sold me the bike should have done that. So how do I get the title in my name so that I can get insurance on the bike? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Green book has to be signed by previous owner and You need the previous owners paperwork (differs if thai or farang) and signed transfer papers and power of attorney paper signed.  

You can call me if you want me to go through it with you on 0899-326-716