andrewrooney

I've had one for about six months now. Very happy with it. I'm also in Bangkok and find it handles the city traffic really well. Light handling, good acceleration, good brakes. It doesn't have the top end power of larger bikes naturally but it is happy cruising around 120-130 with enough power left over for passing. I've taken it on a few trips up to Sangklaburi and it handles mountain roads just fine. Overall I think it's a great bike, especially for the price.

I'm still somewhat of a newbie to bikes compared to many on this forum, but I'll throw my two cents in I guess. The same argument applies to cars also, which I have a little more experience with.

A newer, more technologically advanced vehicle will be more hassle-free most of the time. Much less dicking around with carbs etc., just start it and it runs. Plus there are certain technological advancements that have obvious safety benefits such as ABS.

The downside is when something does go wrong, it's much harder to fix yourself. Some problems can require computers or other specialized equipment to fix, leaving you at the mercy of a mechanic.

So, good and bad to it. Another issue here in Thailand is that with Benzene being fazed out a lot of the older bikes are having more problems as they aren't designed to run on Gasohol. This isn't the fault of the bikes, really, but it is a consideration for anyone living and riding here.

It's not too hard. You need your passport, and then some kind of proof of residence. This can be either a work permit, a yellow house book, or a letter of residence from immigration. If you're buying the bike first hand they'll handle all the paperwork at the dealership. If you're buying second hand you should go to the Department of Land Transport with the current owner and they'll switch the green book over to your name there.

I've got one of the commemorative 80 baht notes from the Queen's birthday a couple years ago. I think the in-laws have a sixty at their house also.

Poking around on the internet I don't see anything about a 10,000 though.

I'm with the poster who said it's probably Lao kip

So if the current system encourages vote-buying, and a directly elected PM encourages more vote-buying, what's the logical conclusion here? That in order to stamp out vote buying for good, all future PMs need to be directly appointed by the military?

I am told you can wind the springs down a little and even buy an adapter to lower them further, but I told him to buy a pair of Chelsea boots with a two inch heel and 1 inch sole. He is currently on tiptoe astride the bike, so the boots will probably fix that, plus the bike is new and the suspension will give a little, the seat foam will give a little and when his wife sits on it too, that should do it.

But, like me he is getting on a bit and would the security of of feet flat on terra-fermer.

A really nice bike though for the money, haven't heard anything about it on this forum.

There's been a pretty long running thread about it, and a couple about the CBR as well.

As for me, I've got the CBR300 and I'm really happy with it. Nice and nimble in traffic, and enough power for longer trips as well. Haven't had a chance to ride the 300f but it's basically the same bike apart from the plastics and the riding position.

The cop trying a key in your bike is a bit odd. Sometimes at checkpoints cops will take keys from bikes. Perhaps someone in a bike that looked similar to yours was stopped at a checkpoint, had his key taken, and then pissed off using a spare key when the cops back was turned? Then the cop saw your bike and thought that could be the one?

Sounds weird, but I really can't see why else he would be trying a key in your bike.

I ride a CBR300. In California, it would be a small bike. Here in Thailand, people call it a big bike.

All relative.

I think I've seen 3 of the R15s in the last week.

I can see why the average Thai would pick a CBR or R15 to show off as something similar to a bigbike but not everyone wants or needs a big bike.

I wonder how big the taxi bike market is?

Has to be thousands of taxi bikes in BKK alone never mind other SE Asian countries.

No taxi bike would roll on a CBR/R15.

They simply can't maneuver well in stopped traffic with the extra weight, higher CoG, and much longer wheelbases.

I think in the past the taxi bikes liked the chain drive underbones to save on gas.

I wonder if the PCX gets better mileage with its auto shutdown feature because I see many PCXs as taxi bikes now.

Have you ridden a CBR 150 in BKK?

They acquit themselves very well in the traffic; stopped or flowing. When I had mine there wasn't any underbones who left me behind. The old carb'd models had a width of 675mm and a wheelbase of 1294mm. That's 15mm wider and 43mm longer wheelbase than the Sonic. Not sure how the new 150s measure up though.

I agree that a CBR can move through traffic pretty well, but you can see why an underbone would be better for a motorcycle taxi bike. In totally stopped traffic the smaller size/shorter wheelbase is better for maneuvering between stopped cars (I'm thinking of stopped traffic such as Lad Prao road at 5pm). Also easier for them to take on the sidewalk etc.

Plus the Sonic would have a bigger seat, easier for passengers to get on and off quicly.

Can't really ride 3 up/4up on a CBR either.

As for the dimensions of the new CBR150 I think it's bigger than the old carbed model. Don't know the exact dimensions offhand though.

I see a lot of CBR 150s in Bangkok. A lot of people here want a sporty looking 'big bike' but the 150 is all they can afford. The Sonic was more a hit with the mocyc taxis and street racer kids. Seems like a different market segment to me. Even if they just brought back the 125 version I would think it would sell well. I think the main reason you don't see many Raiders has to do with Suzuki's lack of marketing/distribution compared to Honda and Yamaha.

Then again maybe Honda just figures they have enough models in their lineup already so why bother.

I've wondered why Honda doesn't make the Sonic anymore. The motorcycle taxi drivers and Dek Wan kids all love that bike, seems like they're missing out on a pretty obvious segment of the market. The Suzuki Raider is the only real equivalent being sold now.

Is this for real?

Two Dollar notes?

(rolls eyes) yes, $2 notes are real and legal tender.

Quite aware of that.

I'll clear it up for a couple of posters;

What kind of criminal fool would deal in 2 dollar notes?

A bit bulky I'd say.

Not sure if this is in any way related, but I noticed in Cambodia they like to use US$2 bills a lot. Something about them being good luck?

Maybe this guy had a similar superstition, or maybe some of his money was coming from Cambodia?

Just idle conjecture, obviously, but it is kind of odd.

Is Chuwit still quite pro-Thaksin ? I think he is.

Chuwit is mainly pro-Chuwit.

Honestly I enjoy watching his political campaigns and publicity stunts. Seeing him in parliament was refreshing too, he pushed a lot of people's buttons, etc.

God forbid he's ever put in charge of anything, though.

This is, in effect, another rubber-stamp committee anyhow. Who's on it isn't particularly relevant.

Wanting to hire qualified teachers is all well and good, but more red tape helps nothing. There's only one thing that will work, and that is to START PAYING MORE. Until that happens, Thai schools will have to take what they can get, and all this talk is meaningless.

I ran into this issue trying to register a second hand KSR about two years ago. I had the green book with a signed copy of the previous owner's ID card etc. I took it to my closest DLT and they told me they couldn't register it because the tax had lapsed for 5 years. I was told I needed to first go to the last DLT where it was registered (in this case Bang Kun Tien), pay all the back taxes, get a letter saying I had done so, THEN go to the main DLT at Jatujak to get a new green book and plates. I decided it wasn't worth the trouble as the bike was in pretty poor shape, I'd paid barely anything for it, and I figured it was easier just to make sure I had 200 baht on my person whenever riding it. It was never an issue, I think the police always saw the bike and assumed I had no money.

Anyway, that was my experience, of course things may be done differently at your local DLT, who knows.

Mirrors are required, and in Bankok at least it seems that it's even enforced. My wife dropped my Wave backing it out of a parking spot about 6 months ago. Not a scratch on the rest of the bike, but one of the mirrors snapped off. A short time later, before I had time to replace it, a cop stopped me at a checkpoint. He didn't ask for any money, but he told me I needed to replace the broken mirror.

Outside of Bangkok, on the other hand... when I lived in Nakhon Pathom it seems like roughly half of the bikes on the road had no mirrors, and nobody really cared.

There's a thread here already:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/757143-cbr300-vs-ninja-250sl/

Anyway I've got the CBR300 and I'm really happy with it. The ninja sl looks pretty nice too and it's a great price, I haven't seen any reviews from anybody that has one yet as it's just come out.

Who has owned a cbr 250 and has moved to the cbr 300?

Id like to hear real world experience. I don't think there are many 250 owners who have weighed the cost to upgrade ratio to be feasible.

I've never owned the 250 but I have ridden one before. While you do feel the difference in power with the 300, I don't think it's a big enough difference that any current 250 owners would consider upgrading to the 300.

i dont know why we can buy Honda Dream 125 cc (made in thailand) in Cambodia and only 110 cc in Thailand .

Doesn't the Dream 125 sold in Cambodia have a carburetor? All of Honda's current bikes in Thailand are fuel injected. It could have something to do with Thailand's stricter emission standards and/or the decreased availability of benzine here.

Click is the only fully automatic of the three you mentioned. The Wave and the Dream are both semiautomatic (4 speed manual but no clutch). The Wave is a little nicer than the Dream as it has better suspension and front disk brake.

So for full auto, Click is the one. Yamaha Nouvo or Mio aren't bad either.

I've been getting around the same on my CBR300, around 23 km/L, give or take. Could probably get a lot better if I slowed down a bit

I got married in Bang Kapi last year. At first they said we needed two witnesses and a translator (the translator would be allowed to sign as a witness also). I talked to the people working there for a few minutes and once they were convinced I could speak Thai sufficiently well, they said I didn't need a translator. We got two old ladies waiting for their ID cards to sign as witnesses for us.

I already know these words in Thai, but maybe I can pick up this book so I can learn to cuss in Japanese!

fake/replica same for me and for sure don't care about the yoshi tag....

I'm looking for a black/carbon/kevlar, I hate a shiny pipe on a black motorcycle

The PR2 GP ALLOY BLACK does look and sound good

The PR2 in that youtube video looks pretty good. Do you know the price for it?