Thai Mechanics: Cowboy Stories...

[PeaceBlondie]

Lamphun, Amphur Muang. I roll in with a flat front tire on my first CBR150 - mag wheel, stock IRC tire, tubeless, bias-ply. Mechanic sees puncture hole, nods yes. He dismounts tire and walks it across street to Goodyear car tire shop. 30 minutes, ready to go.

Somewhere out beyond Ciudad Victoria, Tropic of Cancer, Mexico. Battery on my Yamaha Vision 550 dies on side of road. Cattle ranches, desert, deserted. 15-year old ranch hand gets the wee muchachos to bring a big truck battery in a wheelbarrow. Using coat hangar wire, I'm on the road again,

Canal Point, Florida, at edge of Lake Okeechobie. Same Vision 550 (V-twin, 4 cams, 8 valves, water cooled). Front exhaust comes loose in school zone, 120 decibels. I sneak into the nearest gasoline station and ask the 25-year old mechanic, "Hey, can you repair exotic high-tech Japanese bike?" He shouts to his 15-year old brother, who fixes it in 20 minutes.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I only go to one and the same shop every time and do 90% of the work myself, using their tools and getting the parts there. I'm a mechanic myself, too, just don't have much tools for myself (but still enough to do many things at home). I ride an old bike (Yamaha RXZ) which often requires little repairs and i also modify a lot.

That shop always does a good and fast job on all sorts of bikes, but mostly older and smaller ones. Owner is Chinese and speaks English quite well. No, they don't have a torque wrench but never needed one, i never needed one either.

Once i had a flat tyre on a Saturday evening shortly after 10 pm. Near my place is a bunch of those little shops that do nothing but motorbike tyres, one of them was still open and within 20 minutes i had a new tyre and inner tube on it and could continue the trip.

However i have been ripped off (or they tried to rip me off) multiple times when i was still driving my Volvo - things that always worked were broken immediately or very shortly after something else had been fixed, parts were replaced that weren't broken to begin with or simple issues (overheating due to faulty radiator fan relay) were blown up ("you need head gasket, 20,000 Baht to do it") beyond belief.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[LivinLOS]

Seems there is the need for a good foreigner bike mechanic, well I am one. Would love to start something in the south. I noticed the Som Chai mechanics to, but don't want to say much are hurt their feelings. Guys we have to admit, almost none is a real mechanic or know what he is doing. That is even here in The Netherlands...

I have a farang work on my bike, problem is hes too busy as everyone wants his work, and he wants to only work on v twin type cruisers not 4 pot sportbikes

Dont know where 'down south' you are but I will pay western pricing for someone who takes no shortcuts, uses the right tools, gaskets, and does the job right.

[Datsun240Z]

No problem with the inline-4's. Anyhow I'm not in Thailand now! Sorry, cannot help you at the moment.

[sensei]

I went to a gas station the other day because my rear tire is feeling a little soft. I found out that they have stowed away the gas cylinders and pointed me to the direction of a mechanic's shack/shop within the compound of the station.

I pulled up close to the compressor and signaled to the mechanic that i need some air for my rear tire. Everything happened so quickly as I was pulling the bike back to put it on its stand.

I heard a hissing sound as the air inlet on my front wheel broke. I needed air on the rear wheel! He said I broke it and it will be a hundred Baht to have it fixed.

It's like a stickup in broad daylight!

The mechanic's wife said that it will only take ten minutes. Her husband, the mechanic, got into his pickup and drove off. Wife said, "Pep, pep!" Twenty minutes later he got back, dropped a package and drove off again. He got back after another 30 minutes.

He fixed my bike and I handed him a hundred.

This all happened a day after I had my battery replaced at the Yamaha shop. The Yamaha technician did the job of replacing the battery with one hand as he was busy holding a mobile phone with the other.

The worst thing was when he took my bike out for a one-handed test run as he was still talking to someone on the phone!

I had an exciting week...

Edited July 5, 2009 by sensei

[MaiChai]

I have had a few blown inner tubes from petrol station folks inflating my tyres. Now I don't trust them and use a hand pump and tyre pressure gauge at home. Now I check bike tyres once a week at home. What bugs me with alot of these petrol station attendants is that they are not Thai and they don't understand what I say (in Thai)!!! I guess the job is too poorly paid for your average Thai?

I was driving up north the other week and stopped by a petrol station to get my tyre pressures checked. Guy said one tyre had a puncture and he pointed me at the tyre repairer at the back of the station. This sounded odd to me as it looked ok to me, and I was in a rush, so I gave it a miss. Anyway, next day I got it checked out at the tyre place near home, which I have used many times before, and trust. They said there is no problem with your tyre. So it sounded like a scam to 'find a problem' and 'fix it for me', with the petrol station attendant getting a cut. Be warned and vigilant!

[bkkc1976]

While I am here, I notice that in Malaysia and Indonesia, on the Honda Waves, etc, folks put really big tyres on their back wheels. In Thailand, your average racer boy on his Fino tries to put the smallest tyres he can buy on his bike. Might as well buy a bicycle! Now on a 1000cc bike they have huge tyres on the back, for a very good reason! Are these guys so dumb to not realise that they have better safety/traction/more weight carrying ability on a large tyre than a small one? Does fashion and styling take presedence over safety and performance? Am I missing something?

You aint missing something,,,i bought my honda a year ago and the guy also had this small bycicle tires...after about 50 tubes i was bored and get this ones last week...its like a brand new ride...it wasnt so cheap,about 5000 baht for the 2 wheels,2 tires,1 tube(rear tire is tubeless) and the new front disc brake...but now i enjoy this ride so much and i should have done it a long time ago!

[MaiChai]

However i have been ripped off (or they tried to rip me off) multiple times when i was still driving my Volvo - things that always worked were broken immediately or very shortly after something else had been fixed, parts were replaced that weren't broken to begin with or simple issues (overheating due to faulty radiator fan relay) were blown up ("you need head gasket, 20,000 Baht to do it") beyond belief.

Now we know why Thais don't service their cars

My Mitsu Triton last service was 3400 baht. Its now out of the 3 year warentee so I will be servicing it myself. It only needs a oil/filter change every 10K km, and I will just follow the service schedule in the owner manual. Did this before with my last pickup; only thing I had to change over 10 years was the rear brake calipers, and I was still on the original tyres!

bkkc1976: I did the same with my TZR. It had a 2.5" wide tyre on the back. My NSR has a 3" on the front (why?). I swapped them over and put the 3" on the back of my TZR and now I can really throw it about, as I much better road contact, and I don't need to worry about hitting the rim on speed bumps! Other great benefit of a wider tyre is you no longer need to avoid gaps in the road that they don't fill with tarmac; the concrete roads where they have a gap running down the centre. Those skinny tyres fall into the gap and you feel like you're on a railway track! Is the small tyres Thai logic?

Edited July 5, 2009 by MaiChai

[Datsun240Z]

While I am here, I notice that in Malaysia and Indonesia, on the Honda Waves, etc, folks put really big tyres on their back wheels. In Thailand, your average racer boy on his Fino tries to put the smallest tyres he can buy on his bike. Might as well buy a bicycle! Now on a 1000cc bike they have huge tyres on the back, for a very good reason! Are these guys so dumb to not realise that they have better safety/traction/more weight carrying ability on a large tyre than a small one? Does fashion and styling take presedence over safety and performance? Am I missing something?

You aint missing something,,,i bought my honda a year ago and the guy also had this small bycicle tires...after about 50 tubes i was bored and get this ones last week...its like a brand new ride...it wasnt so cheap,about 5000 baht for the 2 wheels,2 tires,1 tube(rear tire is tubeless) and the new front disc brake...but now i enjoy this ride so much and i should have done it a long time ago!

Finally somebody with common sense

[michael233]

May I suggest you check tyre yourself and anything you can do,do it!!

I had a repeated experience everytime my carbs needed cleaning they changed the spark plugs charging 3000 baht just for them,instead of cleaning them too.The fuel gets clogged up if left for a long time but I found fuel conditioner resolves this problem,put in the fuel tank and leave with fuel full up!!

Edited July 8, 2009 by michael233

[michael233]

WARNING

DONT GO BANGKOK TO GET REGISTERED YOUR BIKE IN CAR PARK NR VECHICLE REGISTER CENTRE!!

THEY TOOK 18,000 BAHT OFF ME WITH IMPORT PARPERS AND NOT DO NOTHING

THEY RIPP OFF FARANGS

THERE IS A WARNING SIGN AT VECHICLE CENTRE ABOUT THIS BUT SAW SO MANY PEOPLE DO THIS I THOUGHT THEY WERE OK,NOT SO,NOW TOO LATE.THEY MUST OF PAID OFFICAL TO DO THERE!!

[BigBikeBKK]

WARNING

DONT GO BANGKOK TO GET REGISTERED YOUR BIKE IN CAR PARK NR VECHICLE REGISTER CENTRE!!

THEY TOOK 18,000 BAHT OFF ME WITH IMPORT PARPERS AND NOT DO NOTHING

THEY RIPP OFF FARANGS

THERE IS A WARNING SIGN AT VECHICLE CENTRE ABOUT THIS BUT SAW SO MANY PEOPLE DO THIS I THOUGHT THEY WERE OK,NOT SO,NOW TOO LATE.THEY MUST OF PAID OFFICAL TO DO THERE!!

What are you on about?!

[MaiChai]

I think he means the Land Transport Dept across the road from Chatuchak Market/down the road from Mor Chit BTS? He should tell us more about the scam and start a new thread?

[bkkc1976]

WARNING

DONT GO BANGKOK TO GET REGISTERED YOUR BIKE IN CAR PARK NR VECHICLE REGISTER CENTRE!!

THEY TOOK 18,000 BAHT OFF ME WITH IMPORT PARPERS AND NOT DO NOTHING

THEY RIPP OFF FARANGS

THERE IS A WARNING SIGN AT VECHICLE CENTRE ABOUT THIS BUT SAW SO MANY PEOPLE DO THIS I THOUGHT THEY WERE OK,NOT SO,NOW TOO LATE.THEY MUST OF PAID OFFICAL TO DO THERE!!

More informaton please!!

[BigBikeBKK]

^ Good luck!