Agusts

Honda Lead is too small, on my old model Forza, which is usually mocked here... ????, it's very convenient to carry a passenger, it's a heavy and long wheelbase scooter with low center of gravity, it is very stable to ride alone on long road trips at 100kph or even higher, and I have had 65kg passenger (large chica I know ????) without even noticing I was carrying someone..., very smooth and stable . On long trips with a lot of luggage and top box, it's also very stable, my advice is to upgrade to a Forza or Xmax if doing a lot of two up and heavy luggage trips - then upgrade the rear shocks, then will be in heaven...(well, if she's hot... ????).

For OP, answer to your question is complicated because old days and now are different, and, some police and DLT treat British licence differently. In old days, a Brit car license with just 50cc entitlement was good enough for everything, these days, it depends..., sometime okay, sometimes not. Some people on forum reply based on farang logic, but we can get different result in Thailand, as always...! Rental shops never care about licences, can show them anything, DLT office depends on the person behind the desk - they are getting more aware (I heard some paid agents can help there...????), and police, well, depends on the day of the week. But I know for a fact that some Phuket police know about this Brit license issue, 50cc given to all car drivers, but not allowed over 50cc, and now don't accept it any more, a lot of UK tourists are fined on rental bikes here ..., of course some not. I also heard IDP issued on UK car only licence, sometimes had stamp on the motorbike section, in old days..., that was also used to get Thai driving license. It's only £5, used to be, worth getting it (rather than sit full Thai test...????). But make sure he gets correct version of IDP for Thailand, there are two IDP types.

For helmet you really need to try it, can't buy from Lazada and hope to send back, they are sometimes tricky on that, small print says getting the right size is your responsibility... They also refund Cash on Delivery to Lazada Wallet, used to be a pain to get activated for farangs, I heard it's possible now, but I never done it, still have a few hundred bahts in there due to refunds...! I bought a MT flip-up helmet this year, Spanish company, made in China - like everything these days..., it was really solid and fit okay, but after 80kph speed there was a terrible noise on the left side, unbearable, I used it for a long 4 weeks trip, suffered all the way, then after sold it on FB later for a loss... I wish we could test ride helmets, I'm happy to pay money to test one at 100kph just for 5min, will know how good it behaves..., a business opportunity for someone...! I want to try Shark Evo ES next, flips right back behind, so can be open face for town and full face for roads, and it's the same as their Evo GT, but cheaper, around 11.5k baht. Maybe give it a try if in any shop...

Most items on Lazada and Shopee can be ordered for Cash on Delivery, I have never paid in advance, never registered a credit card etc. ..., they usually post and deliver quicker too - to get paid !

I think there's two aspects to a vehicle insurance, one is ease of getting it, quick phone call or online, and easy payment method, renewal and fair and reasonable prices - and the increases every year, etc. The other, and more important aspect, is the "claim" and assistant when needed in an accident. I think people recommending insurance companies should clarify what aspect are they recommending and if they have any experience with a claim - otherwise, could be with a company for 5 years, easily paid and renewed, very good...., but never had a claim situation to know what it's like...!

Nmax has dual channel ABS, disk and ABS on both front and back, this was an advantage over PCX before, which had drum at the back, but I think newer PCX also has disk at the back, not sure about ABS, it might have CBS, combined breaking system, which is different, I'm sure the guys will clarify this in a minute...

I think they can also change digital odo using a computer connected to ECU... So always need to check for signs of high mileage and not entirely rely on odo... But for small bikes and scooters, in 30k-50k baht range, I don't think they can be bothered, now for say 200k-300k baht range, changing odo could make a big difference in price ...!

Glass bottles for long periods, never an issue...

2300km for 7 years...., first thing the buyer would think is that the mileage is fake.... ! ????

Now you worry about warranty, think about insurance...!? In western countries in case of an accident, any car or motorcycle owner could be penalized for having illegal or incorrect tyres...! But don't worry, LOS is a different world altogether...????

CF moto has the same parent company as KTM, they say their engine is copy or very similar on their larger cc bikes, not sure about their 250..., also they are fairly new entity outside China, maybe people heard of them last 5 years or so...! Bajaj has a bit more history, and positive reviews, I think it's number 1 or 2 bike manufacturer in India, their bikes are heavy and not much power, but well built, last longer than the Chinese, apparently...! Parts for these and Chinese also not always available everywhere... That Honda CBR250R is a good bike (also check CB300F), but at 87k km it all depends how many owners it had and how they looked after it..., if trashed then you're looking at engine overhaul, maybe forks/shocks overhaul, and more ... , but saying that things can be repaired cheaply here, not at Honda, but outside..., parts available for these ...., however, it's the hassle of finding a good mechanic and time... Good luck...!

It's Thailand, so nothing is for sure...! But I don't have any experience with pets, however, existence or non existence of swimming pool has been 100% accurate on Google Map filter for me, the prices also shown exact quotes by Agoda and Booking.com etc. as Google just scan those sites and show them once the hotel name is clicked on and dates selected... Saying that I have also called to make sure availability and prices sometimes, but generally it's been accurate and very useful on last 3.5 weeks touring we did in Feb 2023...

On Google Map also can filter, very handy to set min / max price (no hostel or 5 star hotels for me..., or select to have swimming pool...., my favourite...! ???? Early this year we did a 5000km round trip, and Google Map was a life saver for route finding, hotels, restaurants, tourists attractions, etc. - even bike wash ! Most importantly for my friend on small gas tank was finding nearest PTT station, remember they also all have Amazon cafe, and 7/11... Learn to use it, and also subscribe to internet data pack, that off-line feature is not as good when searching for the above, maybe just good for route finding...

Check on Facebook marketplace, I think i have seen a few for rent before in BKK, in tourist towns there are for sure available for rent..., for long term rental can negotiate a better rate ... One thing to remember is that they usually don't have proper insurance, so if you drop it or have even small accident need to pay to fix the bike at Honda Big Bike service (even if they don't service it there, they take you there...!) . This could be expensive due this bike, but then it's hard to get insurance for a rental bike here, so have to just accept the risk...

The GPX and older Bajaj don't have ABS as far as I know... Which auctions do you go to, name location would be useful...? Can the bike be started and checked - do they ride it to the bidding spot....? I have bought a few cars in auctions in UK, it was cheap but always had one or two issues ..., I remember the guy rode one to the front and I bid and won it, next day I went to collect, it nearly had no clutch, no idea how he brought it in ...! ???? But I easily fixed it later...! ????

I have noticed this a lot, many tourists from various countries just walk on the road, in the middle, even if pavement is available, and usable...! First I was thinking which small village they came from that probably doesn't have many cars so people walk on the roads without any issue...!? But nowadays I think they consider Patong a village, and think it's fine walking in the middle of the road because there is no other traffic here ???? - it boils your blood when some actually see you but still carry on and not give way...!!! The only way to survive this place is with "Mai pen rai" attitude, otherwise we all had been locked away in asylum a long time ago...????

Must check regularly to see if losing air or not, if not, then okay...

Thanks for digging up all these numbers, very informative, it gives a better picture of just say 80% of death due to motorbikes... As someone else mentioned the km covered by those vehicles would be useful, but more importantly, what percentage of those km are done in dangerous inner city traffic rather than highway miles...! ? There's no denial about dangers on the roads here in Thailand, but accident rates about motorbikes ridden by responsible adults with experience and proper care and equipment is very different in my opinion.... One can cross the road without looking and get run over by a car too...! Same on bikes...

This is a nice stats, wherever you got it from, now this means there are say 4 times more fatalities on bikes than say cars (assume 20% rest are cars)... Now let's see, do you have stats for how much annual traffic is by bikes on the road here...!? This is the key you need to add to understand this statistics...! If say there are 10 times more traffic by bikes than cars, which could be an underestimate in this country, then on half bike/car breakdown we should have more fatalities than 80%..., So 80% is actually low...!?!? Stats are hard to understand without full data...!

Just teach kids to look at side mirrors every 10 or 20 seconds, rather than throw them away, simple, that alone reduce risk of bike accident here by 25%...., next look before around turning anywhere , another 25% , a few more and risk reduced to the same as doing dope on a night out - try stopping that...!!! As the chicks say in Thailand, side mirrors are for doing makeup, na ka....!? ????

This is a good place for me to ask, so 2am is a bar closing time in Phuket, what's the restaurant closing time...!? We have a restaurant in our soi that has music louder than any bar, and they blasting it until 12 or 1am sometimes..., they operate it like a bar really , with all drinking late and not eating much...!

The riding and driving licence test is a joke here, I was at DLT a few months ago for a friend computer test, so watching the practical tests outside...., If you see them how they qualify, you laugh...???? Even truck drivers were there, I couldn't believe it, is it really what they have to do to get a truck licence....!!!? Just reverse straight, and go around a few bends at 10kph....! I hope this is not for big trucks..., it's shameful comparing to say a UK test...???????? Thai government should really wake up and do more ...!

I'm not sure about statistics here, they say there are a lot of motorbike accidents, but comparing to what, which other countries...!? Are they dividing the number by kilometers ridden by bikes annually in this country...? Do they even know that number..., say if that is X in some western country, then it is million times X here...., There are so many people ride bikes here, it's not comparable...! So it's more risky, as oppose to what, smoking, drinking...? Now on another note I think bike accident numbers are actually really low here considering the riding and driving habits of Thais, it's a miracle, I can see them every day, just a millisecond or a few centimeters here or there and they should smash to each other, only Buddha saves them....!!!!!? As for OP the license or even helmet won't save anyone on bike, specially in a hard accident..., 3 things save her, training, experience, and cautious riding...., Try to provide that...!

I think you can make it with some care, it's not like going through a hilly twisty road, and you have the main front brake to use anyway...

Story or not I say let's learn a lesson...! Keep your belongings safe from pick pockets... And I would never engaged in such a situation, just shout loud at them and they would run off... Thieves like that probably have weapons, knife, guns etc. , and Thais never fight fair and attack in numbers....! Credit Card and even bike can be replaced, ruptured kidney or liver can not...., it could be the end, and not worth it...! ????