Authorised Harley Davidson Dealer Bangkok

[dynabob]

I was in bkk last week and as i ride a harley i went to the"authorised dealer"as you would.Jap or harley the one thing we have in common is we want the latest model of our liking,so you can imagine my surprise to be told"we don't trade in grey area harley's"ie imported as part's.

Only for the shop's that imported hd's this way and people like me who bought them,there would never have the demand to warrent a "Authorised Dealer"and with the jap market established made it all the more diffcult.

I was livid how dare this man insult my bike which i have ridden all over thailand,oil,filter,plug's and tyre pressure was all she asked,in two years and i ride everyday it is my only form of transport not one problem.

I drive a dyna street bob and i wanted to relocate the ignition from the frame to the tank consoul and after lot of research,the best way was to replace the orignal consoul with a 08 fxdl se 2 consoul,my speedo fitted perfect and it was factory drilled for new ignition switch and would look orignal.

I priced the new consoul in motorcycle world phuket,12000thb,i priced same part in Harley-Davidson bangkok 17000thb.

Bewildered and Wise

[Richard-BKK]

Hello Dynabob,

I can understand why they not want to touch your trade-in, it is often that grey imported motorcycles have some "illegal" history. If you read some postings back on the subject of crackdowns, people believed that they where riding 100% legal bikes and still got the bike confiscated by the customs department, apparently somebody from the import company paid under the table, so bike gone...

I not belief that the Official Harley Davidson dealer in Bangkok want to go into that business... Basically, I cannot think of anybody who wants to go for something like that...

The Harley Dealer in Bangkok is not the only one who is anti-grey, most official dealers of other brands, like Ducati, Kawasaki, or trustworthy dealers like Redbaron charge 10,000 Baht or more to allow you to bring-in a grey market motorcycle. (This costs is without touching the motorcycle).

Also going to the Harley dealer is not the cheapest option to get some parts, I can give possible 100 examples of products that cost more if you buy them from the main-dealer/distributor...

Edited May 22, 2009 by Richard-BKK

[dynabob]

Hi Richard.

Sorry man that's a crock of crap ,before i bought my dyna i gave vin no. to the authorised dealer in ireland who i know over 20 years and he came back and said she is what she's ment to be,now the bike is sold and i am buying a 07 bob from phuket,i got vin no. from marc and passed it on to ireland,i could tell marc name of the shop in japan,date it was sold,what extras were fitted and about the recall on fuel intake and she had 3month's HD warrenty left.Authorised dealer's can check the history of the bike.

The clampdown was on unregestered bike's which the duty had not been paid,maybe a few dodgy bike's were found during the clampdown but that was not what custom's were after,they went after revenue and rightly so.

At the first khon khen bike week dealer principle bob said he would take my 06 in on the x bones he had on display,but i changed my mind as i did not want to ride a springer softail and then a year later he said no which is his right.To give the impression that all so called "grey"bikes are dodgey is very misleading and gives the impression we are driving illegal.bikes,i got all the paperwork from shipping company,customs,emmissions and my green book is 100% and in my name.

You say you could give a 100 example's on price difference and i do not doubt you for one minute.Justify it,justify the 5000thb difference on the consoul,both genuine HD parts,if you can justify that you should be pres of america.

I have to call today will i ask for you.

Regard's John

[LivinLOS]

Firstly I agree with you that a main dealer should service that brand of bike.. Without any 'buy in fee' or silly bullshit..

To give the impression that all so called "grey"bikes are dodgey is very misleading and gives the impression we are driving illegal.bikes,i got all the paperwork from shipping company,customs,emmissions and my green book is 100% and in my name.

However.. How does the bike shop know or prove this.. Anyone can come in with a well done grey book and they have absolutely no way of knowing if the book was recycled, if the book came from a bent customs source, if the taxes were paid or bribed, if whatever..

Now say they do take the bike in for servicing.. And theres a raid and the bikes confiscated.. Now they have irate customers, bad press, 'authorised dealer caught in raid with illegal bikes' headlines.. and a world of hassle that they simply dont want. While I think every shop should be able to work on every bike, I can also see a real reason why shops above the usual somchai dealer, with a name and rep to protect, are not into having bikes they didnt personally import on thier premises.

Its the system thats at fault.. This stupid setup of crazy high taxes, part imported bikes, reregsitering old bikes in a bunch of different ways. If there was a clear yes no way of having a bikes legality assured, if having a clean book meant you were not in any doubt and once it had been through a DMV for a name change we had proof of ownership without being back taxed for something a decade ago.. There wouldnt be so many of these problems.

[Richard-BKK]

Dear John,

I'm working in the Thai automotive industry, motorcycles to be specific, but I'm not working for the Harley-Davidson or its Thai main-dealer/distributor.

And yes I agree the prices they charge are a bit higher, even the food they sell in the restaurant is not the cheapest. We have a bike which we service there, and service is always done to our satisfaction. Matter of fact service is perfect, not like other repair shops where you leave your bike overnight and things are missing, or they did a very long test ride...

And as I understand it, the fee for accepting the bike for service is not so you pay more, no, this fee is there so you pick your bike and leave (a polite go away suggestion).

[imaneggspurt]

Im also told a lot of main dealers wont service grey bikes as they are scared the police could come in and conviscate it,.there are a lot of good harley non francshise shops and i suggest getting your parts on ebay or similar,sod the main dealers if they dont want your business,.

[dynabob]

Hi Gents.

I think we have crossed wires here.I wanted to trade up to a 08 street bob not get my 06 bob serviced.

If you read my post to richard it explain's the amount of information available to the authorised dealer,this site is purley trade and is not accessable by the general public and link's all authorised dealers to manafacture's of their product.

There is a site where anyone can enter a vin no. and check colour,year,cc and engine type just basic stuff.Every business has bad apples especialy motor trade and i fully understand and support all effort's by dealers to ensure everything is legal for their customers.But if a bike check's out 100% why refuse it as a trade in.Anyway i suppose T.I.T.

But the 5000thb difference for the same part went right up my nose,and yes ebay is the way,i spoke to a guy on a us harley forum who got same part for $150 on ebay.

LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES

[MJo]

Sure you can check the vin numbers from HD databases and it proves you are riding a genuine HD. However it does not prove that the bike has been imported to Thailand legally (unless it shows that the bike was sold as new by authorized thai dealer).

The problem is not getting "pirated" bike but to get a bike that was imported illegally thus there is a risk that it will be gone if found by police.

[LivinLOS]

Hi Gents.

I think we have crossed wires here.I wanted to trade up to a 08 street bob not get my 06 bob serviced.

So you mean they wouldnt trade in your bike ??

Surely thats thier choice ??

If you read my post to richard it explain's the amount of information available to the authorised dealer,this site is purley trade and is not accessable by the general public and link's all authorised dealers to manafacture's of their product.

There is a site where anyone can enter a vin no. and check colour,year,cc and engine type just basic stuff.Every business has bad apples especialy motor trade and i fully understand and support all effort's by dealers to ensure everything is legal for their customers.But if a bike check's out 100% why refuse it as a trade in.Anyway i suppose T.I.T.

Yes and what does that actually prove ?? How does it stop anyone else from cloning that frame number onto any old stole / bent harley from of the same description ??

This is the issue.. Changing bike frame and engine numbers to match books, or to match a bikes recorded history, is childs play and every tin shack has access to the stamps.. If they just had sensible import and regsitration regs none of it would happen.. But they dont and it does.

Hence main dealers, who cannot tell a legit history from a fake one.. Are loath to touch (especially resell) anything they didnt import themselves.

[barrybike]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way ......the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros ,1.4 million for a new fat boy , a friend of mine bought a new one for 17 thousand euros ..he offered this to the dealer and he took it..he wanted more but in big recession he accepted..he was walking out the door and said ok ill go else where and the dealer called him back and took 17 thou cash....... heres a picture of a nice se fat bob taken an bangkok bike fest ..a nice price too 1,658,500 baht

Edited May 23, 2009 by barrybike

[BigBikeBKK]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way ......the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros ,1.4 million for a new fat boy , a friend of mine bought a new one for 17 thousand euros ..he offered this to the dealer and he took it..he wanted more but in big recession he accepted..he was walking out the door and said ok ill go else where and the dealer called him back and took 17 thou cash....... heres a picture of a nice se fat bob taken an bangkok bike fest ..a nice price too 1,658,500 baht

1,658,500 is a nice price?! On what planet?

This bike retails for one third of that in the US...

> Click for Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ specs 2009 Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ Motorcycle

MSRP

$14,999.00

Someone's taking the piss

[Richard-BKK]

For people who find the Harley prices in Thailand not acceptable, buy your bike in Ireland or the US and ship it to Thailand and get it legal. In the process of doing that, I can tell you that somewhere during this process you will think "why did I not just bought it at the authorized dealer in Bangkok".........

Edited May 24, 2009 by Richard-BKK

[barrybike]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way ......the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros ,1.4 million for a new fat boy , a friend of mine bought a new one for 17 thousand euros ..he offered this to the dealer and he took it..he wanted more but in big recession he accepted..he was walking out the door and said ok ill go else where and the dealer called him back and took 17 thou cash....... heres a picture of a nice se fat bob taken an bangkok bike fest ..a nice price too 1,658,500 baht

1,658,500 is a nice price?! On what planet?

This bike retails for one third of that in the US...

> Click for Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ specs 2009 Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ Motorcycle

MSRP

$14,999.00

Someone's taking the piss

expensive alright but in case u didnt notice that was a screaming eagle version i was on about.a cvo model which believe it or not is not too far out on price compared to most places ,around 26 thou dollars this model costs

Edited May 24, 2009 by barrybike

[katabeachbum]

For people who find the Harley prices in Thailand not acceptable, buy your bike in Ireland or the US and ship it to Thailand and get it legal. In the process of doing that, I can tell you that somewhere during this process you will think "why did I not just bought it at the authorized dealer in Bangkok".........

Great post Richard. Import license, customs, import duty, excise tax, interior tax, vat. Then emission alone is 100-500k if its not a new Calif bike. And a few months of hassle. Authorised dealer not that expensive when you ad it all up.

No wonder there are some grey books out there

No wonder the authorised dealers dont want to deal with those grey book bikes imorted as spareparts or scrap.

[LivinLOS]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way......

So am I right in thinking that essentially your upset they wouldnt buy your bike as a trade in ??

the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros

So 1 mil (asking price) against what 700k.. Plus shipping.. Plus import license.. Plus import duty.. Plus registration.. Emissions test.. Time involved.. Capital tied up..

Lot less than I would have expected for a main dealer.

[BigBikeBKK]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way ......the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros ,1.4 million for a new fat boy , a friend of mine bought a new one for 17 thousand euros ..he offered this to the dealer and he took it..he wanted more but in big recession he accepted..he was walking out the door and said ok ill go else where and the dealer called him back and took 17 thou cash....... heres a picture of a nice se fat bob taken an bangkok bike fest ..a nice price too 1,658,500 baht

1,658,500 is a nice price?! On what planet?

This bike retails for one third of that in the US...

> Click for Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ specs 2009 Harley-Davidson Dyna Glide Fat Bob™ Motorcycle

MSRP

$14,999.00

Someone's taking the piss

expensive alright but in case u didnt notice that was a screaming eagle version i was on about.a cvo model which believe it or not is not too far out on price compared to most places ,around 26 thou dollars this model costs

^ Aha! No, I didn't notice it's a CVO, and that certainly explains the price and brings everything back into perspective since the CVO retails for nearly $26,000 in the US.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[katabeachbum]

it seems to me its a good way for the main dealer in bangkok to get the business all his way......

So am I right in thinking that essentially your upset they wouldnt buy your bike as a trade in ??

the new bikes there are very expensive1 million baht for a new street bob,the same bike can be bought in ireland for 14 thousand euros

So 1 mil (asking price) against what 700k.. Plus shipping.. Plus import license.. Plus import duty.. Plus registration.. Emissions test.. Time involved.. Capital tied up..

Lot less than I would have expected for a main dealer.

A Big Mac is 65 baht in LOS and how much in Ireland or US? Double or tripple? Why?

Some imported cars have insane calculations in LOS.

But every legal main dealer bike I have calculated have been very reasonably priced here. Actually I suspect them to be imported with low invoice to bring the duties down. The authorised dealers can do, because they set the bikes pricelevels for customs. Excellent work bike-importers.

[barrybike]

im just giving comparisons...when i move there full time i will buy from dealer in bkk ...i wouldnt go through all that hassle trying to import my bike even though my wife worked in laem chabang as a customs officer for 6 years and would have good contacts there if i wanted to.....

[Richard-BKK]

So lets clear it up...

Purchase US$ 26,000 = 884,000 Baht

Transport US$ 1,500 = 51,000 Baht

sub-total : 935,000 Baht

Import/taxes and fees 187.47%

sub-total : 1,752,844.50 Baht

Registering the Bike : 80,000 Baht

Emission test : 45,000 Baht

Needed insurance : 645 Baht

Total : 1,868,489.50 Baht

And people I'm sure I forget a few here and there, depending from where you send the motorcycle, it maybe needs a disinfections treatment... etc. Also this example is without handling charges, and paperwork fee's

This same Harley-Davidson is sold in Bangkok by it's official authorized dealer/distributor for 1,658,500 Baht... That is 209,000 Baht cheaper... (for the difference you can almost buy another legal Kawasaki ER6N motorcycle for home-work traffic so you keep the Harley for the weekends)

Edited May 24, 2009 by Richard-BKK

[Hog Head]

So who do you think is behind the recent crackdown on grey bikes - I bet the official importers are behind it.

Funny but the Official HD Dealer used to be a grey marketer himself!!!

BTW Dyna Bob, Richco in Chiangmai has a brand new 08 Street Bob

[katabeachbum]

So who do you think is behind the recent crackdown on grey bikes - I bet the official importers are behind it.

Funny but the Official HD Dealer used to be a grey marketer himself!!!

BTW Dyna Bob, Richco in Chiangmai has a brand new 08 Street Bob

HD goes from grey to official, Kawa starts making bigbikes in LOS supported by BOI, Yamaha starts selling bigbikes officially, Triumph doing something. And you wonder who is behind greybook bigbikes crackdown??? Me to wonder.....

[BigBikeBKK]

So who do you think is behind the recent crackdown on grey bikes - I bet the official importers are behind it.

Funny but the Official HD Dealer used to be a grey marketer himself!!!

BTW Dyna Bob, Richco in Chiangmai has a brand new 08 Street Bob

HD goes from grey to official, Kawa starts making bigbikes in LOS supported by BOI, Yamaha starts selling bigbikes officially, Triumph doing something. And you wonder who is behind greybook bigbikes crackdown??? Me to wonder.....

There was language in the Japan-Thailand Free Trade Agreement that spoke to cooperation between the two countries to work towards the elimination of counterfeit and grey market goods. No surprise then that Thailand is making a show of cracking down on gray market bikes.

[dynabob]

Well rechecked all my paperwork and all is well .

A couple of year's ago large number's of used jap car''s were being imported into ireland and poised a serious threat to exsisting market as they were great value.

Jap dealers did all they could to to discredit these car's,ran full page ads in papers saying parts not available,refuseing to service them etc etc.All a load balls.

If you do your homework properly you should have no grey area and a nice saving in your pocket

[katabeachbum]

Well rechecked all my paperwork and all is well .

A couple of year's ago large number's of used jap car''s were being imported into ireland and poised a serious threat to exsisting market as they were great value.

Jap dealers did all they could to to discredit these car's,ran full page ads in papers saying parts not available,refuseing to service them etc etc.All a load balls.

If you do your homework properly you should have no grey area and a nice saving in your pocket

So you have every import invoice/custom invoice, and emissiontest in LOS, and a good page 18 in your green book. One of very few.

[dynabob]

Yes i have a file 2"thick that came with bike ,from exporter's in japan,shipping company,thai custom clearance cert,which descibes the way bike was imported,

and lot's more which i studied hard before 1thb was paid

Did same now went throught everything again no grey area.

[katabeachbum]

Yes i have a file 2"thick that came with bike ,from exporter's in japan,shipping company,thai custom clearance cert,which descibes the way bike was imported,

and lot's more which i studied hard before 1thb was paid

Did same now went throught everything again no grey area.

Great. One of the few clean ones.

How does page 18 in your greenbook look like?

And how did they pass emission with a japs HD? You should have a certificate and invoice from emissiontest too.

[barrybike]

Well rechecked all my paperwork and all is well .

A couple of year's ago large number's of used jap car''s were being imported into ireland and poised a serious threat to exsisting market as they were great value.

Jap dealers did all they could to to discredit these car's,ran full page ads in papers saying parts not available,refuseing to service them etc etc.All a load balls.

If you do your homework properly you should have no grey area and a nice saving in your pocket

yes spot on ..a friend of mine went to a toyota dealer for some parts for his toyota (jap import)only difference that time was kms on the clock instead of mph...they told him they wouldnt be able to get the part.......i bought a brand new fireblade in 99.from an authorised honda dealer......the honda dealers brought the prices down 2000 pounds that year to try and combat the huge amount of jap imports (brand new too) coming into ireland...

[dynabob]

Yes i have a file 2"thick that came with bike ,from exporter's in japan,shipping company,thai custom clearance cert,which descibes the way bike was imported,

and lot's more which i studied hard before 1thb was paid

Did same now went throught everything again no grey area.

Great. One of the few clean ones.

How does page 18 in your greenbook look like?

And how did they pass emission with a japs HD? You should have a certificate and invoice from emissiontest too.

do you want me to scan and post them,may as well do my bank ac and medical record's while i am at it.

Katabeachbum,i apprecate your concern,but i am 47 and wear long pant's

[dynabob]

Well rechecked all my paperwork and all is well .

A couple of year's ago large number's of used jap car''s were being imported into ireland and poised a serious threat to exsisting market as they were great value.

Jap dealers did all they could to to discredit these car's,ran full page ads in papers saying parts not available,refuseing to service them etc etc.All a load balls.

If you do your homework properly you should have no grey area and a nice saving in your pocket

yes spot on ..a friend of mine went to a toyota dealer for some parts for his toyota (jap import)only difference that time was kms on the clock instead of mph...they told him they wouldnt be able to get the part.......i bought a brand new fireblade in 99.from an authorised honda dealer......the honda dealers brought the prices down 2000 pounds that year to try and combat the huge amount of jap imports (brand new too) coming into ireland...

and to add insult to injury the manafacture's instructed all main dealers to up hold warrenty and service there brand.

[katabeachbum]

do you want me to scan and post them,may as well do my bank ac and medical record's while i am at it.

Katabeachbum,i apprecate your concern,but i am 47 and wear long pant's

Dynabob, Im only 46 and wearing shorts

Since all the crackdowns seem to be on grey import bikes with all importduties not posted page 18, I was curios on how a genuine book grey import page 18 looked like. No need to scan it or anything else.

From a tecnical point of view I was curios on how your non Calif emission bike could pass LOS emission.

I am not concerned, just curios. If you dont want to share with other TV members how proper bike docs should be like, thats your privilege