I was in Makro on SriNahkarin road in Bangkok a couple of months ago and I saw a shop selling antiques and also these two BMW which do not seem to be for sale.

That BMW look cool! I would love to own it someday, well maybe just put it on a nice display

I think I have seen a total of two vintage BMW's in Thailand in my life. One was riding on the road as I was going in the car, and the other was when i went to register my bike and had to get it fixed. Someone brought what looked like a small displacement BMW single to the same shop fixing my bike.

As to the first bike, I don't even know if it was a real BMW. There is a bike called a Chiang Jiang (Chinese for the Yangses river). Apparently after WWII Russia seized BMW's motorcycle making equipment and put out a bike called the Ural. When that got too old for the Ruskies, the Chinese got it. And are still making it. It's virtually the same bike as the WWII era BMW's (made on the same equipment). I think it would be a success if someone could import it in from China.

chiang jiang website

article on chiang jiang

There is a bike called a Chiang Jiang (Chinese for the Yangses river). Apparently after WWII Russia seized BMW's motorcycle making equipment and put out a bike called the Ural. When that got too old for the Ruskies, the Chinese got it. And are still making it. It's virtually the same bike as the WWII era BMW's (made on the same equipment). I think it would be a success if someone could import it in from China.

I like it!

I'll have a black one without the sidecar, please.

Buddy lodge Hotel at the end of KSR Bangkok ,have a few old BMWs outside .There currently is an old BMW R26 for sale on GT-rider .com .Expensive though at around 250,000 baht .

There is a bike called a Chiang Jiang (Chinese for the Yangses river). Apparently after WWII Russia seized BMW's motorcycle making equipment and put out a bike called the Ural. When that got too old for the Ruskies, the Chinese got it. And are still making it. It's virtually the same bike as the WWII era BMW's (made on the same equipment). I think it would be a success if someone could import it in from China.

I like it!

I'll have a black one without the sidecar, please.

Yeah my God these are beauties... but if they were to be sold in another country then BMW legal dept. would be all over them. So chances that this gets to Thailand officially are pretty much zero. You could grey import it but then there's that license plate issue....

Yeah my God these are beauties... but if they were to be sold in another country then BMW legal dept. would be all over them. So chances that this gets to Thailand officially are pretty much zero. You could grey import it but then there's that license plate issue....

I don't think BMW's legal department will be an issue. So long as the Chinese don't violate BMW's trademark and put the name BMW and/or the blue propeller symbol, it should be legal. Whatever patents BMW had are now expired in the 60 years following the war. On top of that, there is the issue that Germany and BMW lost the war, and that's how their equipment got snagged.

I think the big issue for importing anywhere would be the emissions. I cannot imagine a 70 year old design being up to par on today's emissions regulations. There are outfits that do ship these bikes into the USA, but the only catch is you have to buy a used one over twenty years old that is exempt from smog.