Information On Platinum Motorcyles

[Rhys]

Ok Wheelie fans.. does anyone out there have an experience with the Chinese made motorcycles? It appears to be a study Enduro frame? I'm thinking of buying the 150-175 model..

Thanks.. Up on the pegs..

Edited May 21, 2007 by Rhys

[Beardog]

They Are Pure Crap. Better to get a 6-10 year old Japanese enduro instead of walking your new Junker to have it repaired under warranty. It is a very poor copy of an ancient Honda motor & a piss poor one at that!

I heard from a group that rides in Pattaya in the back hills of Soi Kao Talo they rescued some duid on a new plat dirt bike. Apparently they forgot to tighten most of the accessories. Like foot pegs, brake lever &the electrics & not only did it not move he still would have had a hard time stopping. Used to ride dirt in California .While I am a seasoned rider I would be a little sketched out pulling a stunt & having to rely on one brake. & 1 foot peg. Refer to lady in reds forum only 4 positive posts & the other 6 pages are horror stories. Did you like the yugo's in the 80’s? Same story different day. I looked at 1 of their road bikes with less than 1300 kilos on it .They engine case blew out cause the wrist pin(the part that holds the piston to the rod was milled at .008 off causing the piston to go sideways instead of up & down & it just blew up.

Honda Kawasaki Suzuki Yamaha will get 40,000 miles or the equivalent in kilos before it even needs rings if you change your oil regularly. Be smart instead of walkin down the road talkin to yourself.

China makes great tea & Herbs for health. Best stick to what they do best!

Not only are they not dominant in the world in the engine world -but I believe they are known for the phrase CHEAP CHARLIE. Even they buy the Japanese bikes rather than be hating life. A good deal is only a good deal if it works, unfortunately it is a BUZZKILL. The Chinese made Jrd line is more of the same.

About 99% of the posters agree the Chinese don't know their azz from a hole in the ground when it comes to motorbikes! Buy now for 19,000 & pray you can get 8,000 baht back a month from now. The Platinum full size bikes lose 50% value the first week. I let you do the Math!

Good luck on whatever you decide. Beardog

[mikethevigoman]

Ill second what beardog has said, if you like meeting mechanics and picking up bits that have fallen off buy one,.as for enduro ! forget it, you probably mean trail riding ,if your idea of fun is stranded in the middle of no where in the blazing heat again go ahead,. realistically budget up to 60-100k and buy an xr250 .proper bike

[torrenova]

I know bugger all about bikes and will openly admit that they scare the crap out of me and I will never own one but I do know what people say here and assimilate all kinds of news. To date, the only positive things which have come forward are the price and the stories of guys who have received a good'un by accident.

I did state that I would buy a second hand one for a maid but that is because the first owner will have had to replace most of it and it will cost next to bugger all. Buying a new one will be like owning a yacht or airplane. Great the day you buy it and even better the day you offload it.

[Beardog]

I know bugger all about bikes and will openly admit that they scare the crap out of me and I will never own one but I do know what people say here and assimilate all kinds of news. To date, the only positive things which have come forward are the price and the stories of guys who have received a good'un by accident.

I did state that I would buy a second hand one for a maid but that is because the first owner will have had to replace most of it and it will cost next to bugger all. Buying a new one will be like owning a yacht or airplane. Great the day you buy it and even better the day you offload it.

Yes you can save a bundle on the depreciation factor & do well if the previous owner was not to much of a maniac & took pride in his ride & kept it up.

some times you can get lucky & get the scenario that the Thai girlfriend is scared to death that she will lose her man in a horrible accident(They do have a flair for DRAMA) & buy a great bike cheap.

One of the usual riders behind where I live sold his nice Honda he had for cheap to please his Girl.....lord only knows why, but a lot of guys got no balls to tell em to f-off

And Mike Right on the money as usual Go with the best you can get cause walking sucks ....especially if you were trial bike riding. I can just imagine what 12 kilos of tough terrain is like having to walk the bike down as it is beating you to death!!!! I had to walk my Suzi Q 250 for a mile in the heat in California to get it to the truck when I laid it down on the oil plate cover & punctured it.

Your not riding if you have never been down, Especially in the dirt scrub & rock climbing!!!!

Edited June 4, 2007 by Beardog

[torrenova]

I stick to 4 wheels in the Pattaya sun.

[Luckydog]

Ill second what beardog has said, if you like meeting mechanics and picking up bits that have fallen off buy one,.as for enduro ! forget it, you probably mean trail riding ,if your idea of fun is stranded in the middle of no where in the blazing heat again go ahead,. realistically budget up to 60-100k and buy an xr250 .proper bike

Yeah I will third it! Absolute rubbish. But what can you expect for that sort of money?

[stevemiddie]

4th,d !!

JUNK ! I had a look at them and in the end went for a 12 year old Honda 600cc for the same money as a new Platinum 250.

No comparison.

Save your money mate and walk away from them

[TBWG]

4th,d !!

JUNK ! I had a look at them and in the end went for a 12 year old Honda 600cc for the same money as a new Platinum 250.

No comparison.

Save your money mate and walk away from them

Hi Rhys

Well that seems pretty conclusive For once everyone on the forum is of 1 mind.

Ignore at your peril!

TBWG

[Badbanker]

4th,d !!

JUNK ! I had a look at them and in the end went for a 12 year old Honda 600cc for the same money as a new Platinum 250.

No comparison.

Save your money mate and walk away from them

Hi Rhys

Well that seems pretty conclusive For once everyone on the forum is of 1 mind.

Ignore at your peril!

TBWG

I have a recent 6 months old Platinum 175 enduro!

It is an almost exact copy of the early Honda Enduro 175 which is now not made in Japan. In fact the factory that manufactures the parts that are shipped to Thailand and assembled here is an OEM for Honda. The early ones that came to Thailand were not good and the rear shock was a serious problem. The starter motor is still not up to it but a bit of rewiring of the motor for 1,000 baht solved that and it starts great now.

My bike is great. I have no problem with it! Service is really good from head office and they really want to build the brand. The other good thing is that parts like clutches, pistons, gears and the like can be bought from Honda. The Honda clutches are a bit smoother. Parts will never be a problem.

I got mine for 42,000 baht which is a huge discount on an illegal import that you can never be sure will be seized. Goes great and does the job for me.

Sadly the early ones did not a good job of not upholding the name. I have several friends that also have them and they sing their praises. Seems people on this forum have heard the old reputation and this has stuck.

When you buy a new offroad vehicle/bike the first thing you do is go around with a set of tools and make sure that the local assembler has tightened everything up. Then it is party time for a week or more till you go back and do it again. This way you will have lots of fun and no pain.

Badbanker

[jinglor]

Finally, somewhere where I can hopefully get some information. I bought the LG 175 Platinum, which I beieve is the same one as Badbanker is referring too. I only wish that I could write of as happier experience as him.

I bought my machine just over a year ago and have had nothing but trouble from the off. For a start the back wheel was out of round when I drove away from the dealership. I returned it to the dealership in Kanchanaburi where I had bought it for 48,000 baht which included a few add ons. They put the wheel back to round for free but that was the end of anything nice. The list of things that have fallen off is way too long to write here but I will just say that both front and back breaks have had to be replaced with Honda parts and I estimate that I have spent something nearing 30,00 baht in repairs to date. Each time something has failed I have replaced it with Honda parts.

The bike was a complete lemon and a death trap. The swing arm bolt went walkabout at 60 kilometres an hour and it was all I could do to keep the bike upright until I managed to bring it to a stop. I had my good trousers on at the time. In that incident the rear tyre completely disintergrated as it fell out of alignment and rubbed against the red hot exhaust within the wheel arch.

If that wasn't enough I have now been back 5 times enquiring about the Tabien for the machine. It is now over a year and I still have no plate. My insurance is now void and I worry that, if there were an accident in which someone was hurt then I would be responsible.

Mindful of this, I returned yet again to the dealership today with 3 police officers, one of which is a friend, who all very curious as to why I am still without a Tabien and plate after 14 months.

I was returned the 1880 baht that I had paid for registration and advised that Platinum Motorcycles actually still own the motorcycle and that the dealership was also now in dispute with the Platinum headoffice.

I am now to contact Platinum in Bangkok and pursue the matter with them but I cannot for the life of me find any way of contacting them.

If anyone could provide nme with their contact details I would be very appreciative.

Thanx.

[Badbanker]

Sorry to hear of your troubles!   As I said in my previous post some of the early ones did have problems.  Those sold in the past 6 months differ markedly in design and reliabilty. The new one is a PX 175 and is cool!

If you look at www.platinummotorsale.com you will see they have moved head offce from Petchburi Road to Ramkhhang Road not far from the university on the opposite side.  The new office is in the old Mitsubishi Dealership.  I will try and get a phone number for you when I vist the dealership this week.

My experience with the Head Office is, if it is a problem, replace it, no questions asked.  Issue is that the dealer network may not have the same strategy.

BB

Finally, somewhere where I can hopefully get some information. I bought the LG 175 Platinum, which I beieve is the same one as Badbanker is referring too. I only wish that I could write of as happier experience as him.

I bought my machine just over a year ago and have had nothing but trouble from the off. For a start the back wheel was out of round when I drove away from the dealership. I returned it to the dealership in Kanchanaburi where I had bought it for 48,000 baht which included a few add ons. They put the wheel back to round for free but that was the end of anything nice. The list of things that have fallen off is way too long to write here but I will just say that both front and back breaks have had to be replaced with Honda parts and I estimate that I have spent something nearing 30,00 baht in repairs to date. Each time something has failed I have replaced it with Honda parts.

The bike was a complete lemon and a death trap. The swing arm bolt went walkabout at 60 kilometres an hour and it was all I could do to keep the bike upright until I managed to bring it to a stop. I had my good trousers on at the time. In that incident the rear tyre completely disintergrated as it fell out of alignment and rubbed against the red hot exhaust within the wheel arch.

If that wasn't enough I have now been back 5 times enquiring about the Tabien for the machine. It is now over a year and I still have no plate. My insurance is now void and I worry that, if there were an accident in which someone was hurt then I would be responsible.

Mindful of this, I returned yet again to the dealership today with 3 police officers, one of which is a friend, who all very curious as to why I am still without a Tabien and plate after 14 months.

I was returned the 1880 baht that I had paid for registration and advised that Platinum Motorcycles actually still own the motorcycle and that the dealership was also now in dispute with the Platinum headoffice.

I am now to contact Platinum in Bangkok and pursue the matter with them but I cannot for the life of me find any way of contacting them.

If anyone could provide nme with their contact details I would be very appreciative.

Thanx.

Edited July 7, 2007 by Badbanker

[jinglor]

Thanks Badbanker. I am heartened by your response. I will now surf to that site in hope to get the contact details.

Thanx again.

[Hssl]

Same Sh$t different name.................... I stick to 4 wheels but " NO GOOD SAME JRD" one of my workers told me when i was thinking about buying a bike for my guys to run around on for me. Second hand Honda wave for 18k spent all of 900B on it in 3 months inc a service

[Badbanker]

Jinglor

Today I went to the new Platinum show Room on RamKhamhaeng Road.  It is on the opposite side of the Road to the Uni.  It is in the old Mitsubishi Showroom.

I spent some time there and discussed the questions and problems that Jinglor has

Firstly they have sold a couple of hundred of these new model PX 175 last week to Pattaya so look out for them down there.  The lady I spoke to in Thai was Khun Sarinee.  She acknowledged that the older model PX 175 parts were made by a factory in China that they no longer use due to QC problems.  

The newer models are very different in design to the original models and have 1 year warranty.  The problem they face is the dealers do not give warranty even though they will be paid for any service they give.  

Khun Sarinee said that if anyone that owns a Platinum comes to their service center they will have all the service and parts they need and if it is under warranty it will be free.

Sarinee has asked Jinglor to contact her peronally on :

email: [email protected]

Phone: 0891302776

Office: 02 732 2171-5

Fax: 02 736 3727

Please email or fax all the details and numbers of the bike to so she can check who has the real ownership of the bike in question.  If it is with them and you show them a receipt from their dealer and it is obvious that you paid the dealer the dealer has not paid to head office they will help you to

get real title for it.  

If you go to her office in Bangkok with the bike she will assist you in any way necessary.

Hope this helps

BB

[jinglor]

Jinglor

Today I went to the new Platinum show Room on RamKhamhaeng Road. It is on the opposite side of the Road to the Uni. It is in the old Mitsubishi Showroom.

I spent some time there and discussed the questions and problems that Jinglor has

Firstly they have sold a couple of hundred of these new model PX 175 last week to Pattaya so look out for them down there. The lady I spoke to in Thai was Khun Sarinee. She acknowledged that the older model PX 175 parts were made by a factory in China that they no longer use due to QC problems.

The newer models are very different in design to the original models and have 1 year warranty. The problem they face is the dealers do not give warranty even though they will be paid for any service they give.

Khun Sarinee said that if anyone that owns a Platinum comes to their service center they will have all the service and parts they need and if it is under warranty it will be free.

Sarinee has asked Jinglor to contact her peronally on :

email: [email protected]

Phone: 0891302776

Office: 02 732 2171-5

Fax: 02 736 3727

Please email or fax all the details and numbers of the bike to so she can check who has the real ownership of the bike in question. If it is with them and you show them a receipt from their dealer and it is obvious that you paid the dealer the dealer has not paid to head office they will help you to

get real title for it.

If you go to her office in Bangkok with the bike she will assist you in any way necessary.

Hope this helps

BB

Hey Badbanker, I am almost speechless at your incredibly helpful post. I had returned to this forum to again vent my angst and request your help as I got absolutely nowhere with the details on the website that you provided the link to.

This on the day (today) when the front brake broke down for the fifth time. (Pull the lever and it comes all the way to the handlebar yet the bike does not stop.) That and the heatguard on the muffler just fell off. I had to go back and pick it up.

I will now contact Khun Sarinee and explain everything.

I can't thank you enough for your help.

(Note to self: Remember to send Badbanker Christmas cards every year until you are too old to lick the stamps.)

I guess that I owe it to you to let you know how I get on.

I will.

Thanks again.

Jinglor.

[Rhys]

Wow Guys.. Thanks very much for the information... the shop is in Nakhon Si Thammarat... I'll check the make

Back in the day..I rode a SL 350 and SL 100 Honda... KZ 250 Kawasaki..

[jinglor]

In this post I would firstly like to thank Badbanker for his help. It was as a result of his assistance that I was able to meet with Khun Suranee and another lady from the customer service department at Platinum Motorcycles, Khun Bee.

The thot plickened when I met with them and I now understand that the dealer that I purchased my machine from is now in litigation with Platinum Motorcycles Thailand.

Suffice to say that the hour long meeting that I had with Khun Suranee and Khun Bee resulted in a lot of promises that have amounted to nothing as today my Thai partner had a lengthy discussion with Khun Suranee n which Khun Suranee agian offered to take my motorcycle away their factory for a month to repair it.

I had refused this gracious offer when I was in their office as I found it completely unacceptable that no replacement vehicle was offered. Quite apart from the fact that I have spent almost 30,000 baht on Japanese motorcycle parts in repairing the machine since I bought it new only 15 months ago now.

It would be folly for me to allow them to undo the repair that I have made and paid for that actually work, with parts that I know will fail.

This saga just gets more laughable as the days go by.

I have now found it neccesary to contact a lawyer and fully intend to pursue this matter as far as it is financially viable.

I have tonight, again, written to Khun Suranee explaining my intentions and it is my earnest hope that she will realize that platitudes and promises do not make a motorcycle work.

I am unaware of Thaivisa readership figures but as I understand it, Thaivisa is possibly the largest online forum available to expats in Thailand and as such, if you are reading this and in the market for a motorcycle then perhaps you should think twice before you purchase what appears to be a bargain priced machine.

Platinum Motorcycles are shiny and priced to undercut the market but owning one comes at a cost that you may not have yet considered.

jing jing

[dchi2031]

I don't know anything about Platinum Motors and have nothing against them. But most chinese made bikes are low quality and use the cheapest material they can. I have met the Owner of the shop, he runs a pizza joint too. I don't go there anymore, the toppings are very thin.

Edited August 9, 2007 by dchi2031

[ultybaby]

hi i have a monoco platinam 250cc,chopper bike,i have had it for two years,only use iy when im in thailand 4 months a year,the only problem i have with it is,it is very slow,my friend has a boss 175 and he can pass me no problem,has any body got one

[chavy]

hi i have a monoco platinam 250cc,chopper bike,i have had it for two years,only use iy when im in thailand 4 months a year,the only problem i have with it is,it is very slow,my friend has a boss 175 and he can pass me no problem,has any body got one

Read the rest of the thread & another one on these bikes & you'l get your answer. Most of the time cheap is most definately not cheapest

[jaideeguy]

I am hesitant to buy most Chinese products from past experiences. in the past, I have bought cheap Chinese tools and electronics and can safely say that most were 'throw aways' and good for short time use only. Now when i buy a tool or fan or dvd player, i will go the extra baht and get branded Japan or even Thai made is better most times as Thailand [and other SE Aia nations] is the 'dumping ground' for the worst products that China makes.

I have looked at the Platinum motorcycle line and from a distance they look cool, but look closer and you will see the details, like poor castings, bad fit, and can only guess that the insides are the same as those cheap Chinese tools and appliances that get thrown away after short time use.

My prediction is that the Platinum will be a headache and a throw away bike and if you are into throwing away machinery, then go for it..... but if you want service, reliability and resale value, then get a Honda, or a Yahama....you won't regret it.

[mikethevigoman]

4th,d !!

JUNK ! I had a look at them and in the end went for a 12 year old Honda 600cc for the same money as a new Platinum 250.

No comparison.

Save your money mate and walk away from them

Hi Rhys

Well that seems pretty conclusive For once everyone on the forum is of 1 mind.

Ignore at your peril!

TBWG

I have a recent 6 months old Platinum 175 enduro!

It is an almost exact copy of the early Honda Enduro 175 which is now not made in Japan. In fact the factory that manufactures the parts that are shipped to Thailand and assembled here is an OEM for Honda. The early ones that came to Thailand were not good and the rear shock was a serious problem. The starter motor is still not up to it but a bit of rewiring of the motor for 1,000 baht solved that and it starts great now.

My bike is great. I have no problem with it! Service is really good from head office and they really want to build the brand. The other good thing is that parts like clutches, pistons, gears and the like can be bought from Honda. The Honda clutches are a bit smoother. Parts will never be a problem.

I got mine for 42,000 baht which is a huge discount on an illegal import that you can never be sure will be seized. Goes great and does the job for me.

Sadly the early ones did not a good job of not upholding the name. I have several friends that also have them and they sing their praises. Seems people on this forum have heard the old reputation and this has stuck.

When you buy a new offroad vehicle/bike the first thing you do is go around with a set of tools and make sure that the local assembler has tightened everything up. Then it is party time for a week or more till you go back and do it again. This way you will have lots of fun and no pain.

Badbanker

Early Honda is correct ,35 years earlier !. its basically an XL/TL motor form the early seventies and its not built/asembled by Honda, the chinese bought the parts,i suppose if you look at it like you have bought a new 35 year old bike for a cheap price then maybe its ok,but the cycle parts are not honda and finish is awful,you get what pay for, and in some cases you dont,.