Red Flags When Buying A Used Bike

[classix]

Sad that the toyota fortuner crew ride against this nice uniqe thaistyle bikes.i dont like this new zoghurt ninjas .thailand land of the free why not leave like it is.why not just can import a bike from any country.who gets hurt.always some rules can not take care for some important issues sunpowerstations bicycle rails kindergardens windrails.phuketbikeweek lives from this kind free style.with the boats zears ago was the same thing 200 percent importtax then changed better lobby.i forgett to mention airpolution traffic a railway connect airport beaches big c.this are the future for phuket not some old bikes and old bikers like me.i wait for the tatoo hunt.alcohol bann somgkran.let poeple free as long they leave others free.lets enjoy the sundown on this paradise island.carabaow help

hear hear..

That was some of the best 'old timey gibberish' I have heard in these parts for many a year

"...sunpowerstations bicycle rails kindergardens windrails."

That's the hardest I think I have ever laughed reading a Thaivisa post!!!!

yepp,

but still understand what classix is saying.

There is no problem having a unique bike/thai style bike in LOS as long as its imported properly (as a bike, not scrap) or build here, taxes payed and logged in page 18, and emission qualify. Basicly the rest is up to owner

Classic bikes lets say pre 1980.big bike.at that time here in thail. nobody knew about this laws also nobody cares.police checked the bike ....and it was ok you had phuketplates and legal bz police here.that was the usuual way.now after more then 15 years it starts complaining about this books.there are only a handfull kickstartbikes here as many others the cc mostly wrong inside the book for bigger bikes they just put 750 inside the book.even it was only a 600. there should be a chance to make a book here in phuket for a reasonable price.this bkk adventure is unrealistic. also i see no reason for not allowing buying a bike somewhere in the world by ebay and riding and registering it here.also as i saw here at the end it always comes out here fair they just do it here there way so i am sure sooner it will possible to import a classic car or bike or whatelse poeple want.we were riding our bikes through thailand and getting checked some didnt had any papers some had blue books from cars we get as group 40 bikes 2000 baht charged everbody friendly nobody lost face what more do we want.I made the mistake import a classicbike 5 years ago throu a mover intl.company the bike was worth 600 us dollars shipping another 600 us dollars then i need to sent 1200 dollors to customs then i get a invoice which wasnt accepted by phuket DMV.its the only one in thailand clasicbikemagazine thailand featured it soon i nail em to my other 2 kickstart bikes on the wall in my leavingroom anyway its may time ride honda dream and get a policehaircut.See you at phuketbikeweek at the beeroutlet sure we will see thaibikes freestyle

CHOK DEE

[Captain Haddock]

FWIW, my Steed was legally registered in Nonthaburi, bought in Bangkok, and re-registered in my name down south in NST with no problems. I was even offered my choice of number plate.

My 1980ish Yamaha XJ650 Special is still being used by a Thai pal in NST, registered in NST, and the original book has been on sale in Bangkok. As yet, no takers...

[billd766]

Scuba - thanks for sharing, this is most unfortunate! A big bike shop opened up in my neighborhood named www.siambigbike.co.th and none of the all Japanese import bikes comes with rego or book. I asked how much for a Green Book? A: "35,000". Elsewhere, I read that 62,000 is the value of a new green book.

Handing over cash and taking possession is the easy bit. Someone suggested to wait with payment until the title gets transferred at the DMV (I don't know the name over here).

Thank you all,

Chris

A couple of months ago I had a look at a 400cc Honda Steed in SiamBigBikes.

Very nice to look at and it sounded good too.

88,000 baht but no green book. The guy told me a green book would be another 38,000 baht.

From what I read on here it looks closer to 75,000 baht for the book making that bike around 150, to 160,000 baht.

Not worth the money I think.

Edited January 22, 2010 by billd766

[RCP]

A bike being registered in a different changwat is not really a problem..

But it does beg the question WHY is it not registered in the home province ??

Firstly the book should be checked over.. The make model must be correct, then also the age of the bike in the book must be the age that this exact model is, any discrepancy is clearly showing the bike could not be the same as the book.

Also then engine and frame numbers must be checked and exact.. Then the stamps must be straight and correct, I have seen some utter bodges.. Run your hand over the frame area to see that its truly round and doesnt have a flat spot where previous numbers were filed down.

Then look back through the book.. Make sure it didnt change color and engine number at the same time at any point in its history.. A give away that the frame number was shifted to a donor bike.

If bike make model age and numbers all match the book then theres not much the government can say, its in the computer, its numbers match, and it cannot be told apart from a legit one.

On Phuket they are also refusing transfers if the page 18 tax information is not in there. This is a total fuc_k up as the law applied to bikes aged between 2542 and after (IIRC its in some thread I posted) so from 98 onwards, however Phukets DMV illegally apply this rule to ANY bike missing page 18 information and simply say go speak to customs.. Customs again lie and demand money for any age machine, even with a smart lawyer who got many bikes released without payment, they refuse to write 'clearance letters' which the DMV insists on to transfer. Basically they are simply trying to extort money by exploiting peoples ignorance.. Also fact is this information was considered irrelevant and many DMV's simply didnt bother to move it over when they made new books. This is not enforced in any other province I know of but it s major hassle here.

Also Phukets DMV are not transferring bikes that are 'non standard' even down to aftermarket indicators or light clusters.. Just being total dicks about big bike transfers. Again this is here only to my knowledge.

Hi

Where do You go to get a Green Book translated to English. I want to have all of it translated into English Not just the Page with the Year and serial numbers.

Thanks RCP

[bsacbob]

FWIW, my Steed was legally registered in Nonthaburi, bought in Bangkok, and re-registered in my name down south in NST with no problems. I was even offered my choice of number plate.

My 1980ish Yamaha XJ650 Special is still being used by a Thai pal in NST, registered in NST, and the original book has been on sale in Bangkok. As yet, no takers...

Hi Guy's

I am considering buying my first 2nd hand bike in LOS (others have been new) can anyone tell me the procedure, i am planning to take a trip to view and ride the bike and if it stacks up the owner has agreed to go to the transport office with me to change the name, before i hand over any cash.

My question is, the bike is in Tak and i live in Chiang Rai, at the transport office in Tak will they simple add my name to the green book and then i will have to go to the transport office in CR to get a plate or can i do the whole thing in Tak. Also apart from a letter of residence what other stuff will i need to take apart from cash that is?

Thanks in advance.

[RusticCharm]

Jesus! Do you all really need to quote the same lengthy posts over and over again?

F'f*cks sake!

[lee68]

Why? would you buy an unregistered bike,then go through all the process of getting a dodgy book and worrying about it.There is a better choice now in Thailand,than ever before of legal big bikes with green books. I've just bought a Kawasaki er6n all legal with green book in my name and a 2 year warranty.Ok not everybody wants to buy a Kawasaki but there are plenty of other makes street legal.

[LivinLOS]

Why? would you buy an unregistered bike,then go through all the process of getting a dodgy book and worrying about it.There is a better choice now in Thailand,than ever before of legal big bikes with green books. I've just bought a Kawasaki er6n all legal with green book in my name and a 2 year warranty.Ok not everybody wants to buy a Kawasaki but there are plenty of other makes street legal.

Plenty ??? Really ??

So lets subtract anything over half a mil.. And remove 2 pot Kwakers from the equation..

Now remind me of the plenty ?? those would be ??

Theres 100's of big bikes, in the 100 - 300 range, of all ages and conditions.. But the books become the issue.

[lee68]

FWIW, my Steed was legally registered in Nonthaburi, bought in Bangkok, and re-registered in my name down south in NST with no problems. I was even offered my choice of number plate.

My 1980ish Yamaha XJ650 Special is still being used by a Thai pal in NST, registered in NST, and the original book has been on sale in Bangkok. As yet, no takers...

Hi Guy's

I am considering buying my first 2nd hand bike in LOS (others have been new) can anyone tell me the procedure, i am planning to take a trip to view and ride the bike and if it stacks up the owner has agreed to go to the transport office with me to change the name, before i hand over any cash.

My question is, the bike is in Tak and i live in Chiang Rai, at the transport office in Tak will they simple add my name to the green book and then i will have to go to the transport office in CR to get a plate or can i do the whole thing in Tak. Also apart from a letter of residence what other stuff will i need to take apart from cash that is?

Thanks in advance.

If you have all the correct paperwork,they will put it in your name in tak,then you just take it up to chaing rai and apply for the plates there.And don't hand any money over until they match the book and the bike together.your going to call me stupid but make sure you take your passport with you,i recently bought a 2nd hand bike in chaing mai and the guy selling it didn't bring his passport,no big problem just a few hours wait while he had to go and get it from his bank.If its thai they only need id card and house papers.

[lee68]

Why? would you buy an unregistered bike,then go through all the process of getting a dodgy book and worrying about it.There is a better choice now in Thailand,than ever before of legal big bikes with green books. I've just bought a Kawasaki er6n all legal with green book in my name and a 2 year warranty.Ok not everybody wants to buy a Kawasaki but there are plenty of other makes street legal.

Plenty ??? Really ??

So lets subtract anything over half a mil.. And remove 2 pot Kwakers from the equation..

Now remind me of the plenty ?? those would be ??

Theres 100's of big bikes, in the 100 - 300 range, of all ages and conditions.. But the books become the issue.

Yes i will give you that,i would of liked a triumph but the half mil bracket was more than i wanted to pay,and i did look at some of the other older ones in the range and they either didnt have a book or were very dodgy.

[honoluabay]

This is all great info, Does anyone know where I can get a side car made for my Motorbike. Would like to get one.

Thanks

[elliss]

i find it hard to believe some silly fkcrs

part with their money for a no book bike.

i was offered a quick sale recently in udon , 20,000 bht, book to follow .

a good heart, is fatal in thailand . :jap:

[mic6ard]

no book no sale, in my opinion. Don't really know why people would pay good money for a 'grey bike' and then either risk the police suddenly checking the details, or spending money to get a proper green book. Might as well spend the money on a legit bike in the first place.

[jarno1973]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2007 imported Kawasaki KLX . It is not in my name yet because the book is a bit dodgy and I am not sure if I should give it try to put it in my own name.

The only thing not correct in the book is the age of the bike. I think it is a 2007 model and the age in the book it is 22 years old. It is the name of a foreigner who has died. The book has page 18 in it and I have paid tax and have พรบ on it. So when police stops me, there will not be any issues as I only have to show the พรบ normally.

The bike is registered in Prachinburi. What would happen if I take the bike to the registration office in Rayong where I am located?

Can I actually change it into my name at the Rayong office when the bike is registered in Prachinburi?

What will happen if the book is found to be incorrect? Will I only be told that I can't change it into my name or might the book be taken of me?

If there is no risk I will just give it a try and if it doesnot work out I will continue to use it as I do at the moment.

Thanks for any answers in advance.

Regards,

Jarno

[wana]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2007 imported Kawasaki KLX . It is not in my name yet because the book is a bit dodgy and I am not sure if I should give it try to put it in my own name.

The only thing not correct in the book is the age of the bike. I think it is a 2007 model and the age in the book it is 22 years old. It is the name of a foreigner who has died. The book has page 18 in it and I have paid tax and have พรบ on it. So when police stops me, there will not be any issues as I only have to show the พรบ normally.

The bike is registered in Prachinburi. What would happen if I take the bike to the registration office in Rayong where I am located?

Can I actually change it into my name at the Rayong office when the bike is registered in Prachinburi?

What will happen if the book is found to be incorrect? Will I only be told that I can't change it into my name or might the book be taken of me?

If there is no risk I will just give it a try and if it doesnot work out I will continue to use it as I do at the moment.

Thanks for any answers in advance.

Regards,

Jarno

the DLA might suggest to take the bike to the copshop and get a "clearance" letter before they can transfer a grey bike

this could end up in the bike being seized or a hefty fine being asked for

the problem with thailand is theres no consistancy so the process could run smooth as butter or it could take u to hell and back

[domnam]

Hello Guys

I am interested in buying a BSA motorcycle . I heard there is a guy in Burma had a lot of these bikes. Does anyone have any information about this guy and how to contact him

I saw a posting here on Thaivisa from 2007 from a member saying he was going to Burma to visit this

Here is the forum quote

''Joe I am going to Burma, sorry Myanmar next month to see a guy there who has several old BSA and Triumphs. He also has a large amount oforiginal spares for a lot of the old british bikes. From what Im told he only wants a couple of thousand baht a bike. Will let you know how I get on. Like you I miss having my old bikes to tinker with. The last time the wife was in the USA she brought me some tools as you just cant get anything decent here. Ive got a small 3 wheel bike to play with at the moment but its just not the same.''

This was posted back in 2007

So if anyone know of this guy in Burma let me know

Thanks

[overherebc]

Jesus! Do you all really need to quote the same lengthy posts over and over again?

F'f*cks sake!

+1

[Rolo Tomazi]

no book no sale, in my opinion. Don't really know why people would pay good money for a 'grey bike' and then either risk the police suddenly checking the details, or spending money to get a proper green book. Might as well spend the money on a legit bike in the first place.

I bought a real nice VTR250 from a Thai guy in BKK for 50K. It had only 3,500 original km on the clock and looked liked brand new. Tried to get a green book through a Thai big bike shop who told me they could do it for 50K. That would have been 100K for a "legal", almost new Honda 250, a dream deal in 2006.

But the shop was dragging its feet, it took months and many visits to realize they were scamming me. I got a red plate from the shop and since I did not live in BKK I never had a problem.

After a year I told the shop that I want my money back; it took me that long because they promised they could do it and since I had no problems riding it in the area I hung on. It took another year to get the 50K back, had to threaten with police and force them to make payments. It was a pain in the butt!

Sold it after two years and 10,000km for 45K.

Was it worth it? Definitely! Loved that little bike and and had a great time doing short trips in the area.

Would I do it again? No way! Things have changed, fortunately there are more bikes to choose from, even if your dream bike is not among them.

TIT - make do!

Also in Thailand less is more - I had 1000cc+ bikes back in the US but around here I think that's overkill. Many riders discover here that a 250 can be fun.

Is this thread only about used bikes with no green book?

Edited March 2, 2013 by Rolo Tomazi

[Richard-BKK]

no book no sale, in my opinion. Don't really know why people would pay good money for a 'grey bike' and then either risk the police suddenly checking the details, or spending money to get a proper green book. Might as well spend the money on a legit bike in the first place.

I bought a real nice VTR250 from a Thai guy in BKK for 50K. It had only 3,500 original km on the clock and looked liked brand new. Tried to get a green book through a Thai big bike shop who told me they could do it for 50K. That would have been 100K for a "legal", almost new Honda 250, a dream deal in 2006.

But the shop was dragging its feet, it took months and many visits to realize they were scamming me. I got a red plate from the shop and since I did not live in BKK I never had a problem.

After a year I told the shop that I want my money back; it took me that long because they promised they could do it and since I had no problems riding it in the area I hung on. It took another year to get the 50K back, had to threaten with police and force them to make payments. It was a pain in the butt!

Sold it after two years and 10,000km for 45K.

Was it worth it? Definitely! Loved that little bike and and had a great time doing short trips in the area.

Would I do it again? No way! Things have changed, fortunately there are more bikes to choose from, even if your dream bike is not among them.

TIT - make do!

Also in Thailand less is more - I had 1000cc+ bikes back in the US but around here I think that's overkill. Many riders discover here that a 250 can be fun.

Is this thread only about used bikes with no green book?

I'm sure that the shop you refer to starts with Ter..., they actual are a bit famous for leading people around the block... most riders of exotic motorcycles they sell or for who they provide red license plates are apparently happy... And 99% of the police in Bangkok really don't care about red license plates...

But the fact is that red license plates are just maintenance/garage or temporally license plates, so when you want to sell you motorcycle it is still not officially road legal. A new law, in the making, will limited the red license plates use for non-legal road going vehicles...

[Rolo Tomazi]

Actually I bought the bike in BKK but the big bike shop was in Hua Hin where I lived at the time. There are plenty of shops all over Thailand who promise they can get bikes legal. This one in particular seemed trustworthy to me but it turned out they couldn't do it, either. As so often it wasn't their intent to rip me off from the start, it's just that there were "complications", understandably, and at some point the money was gone but the deed wasn't done. They greased the right people but there was a snag somewhere. They even asked me for another 10K and who knows, maybe that would have done the trick, but I didn't want to risk it. - At least they provided me with a fun memory I can still laugh about today. After we agreed on monthly payments back to me I showed up at their shop to collect. Often business was bad and they didn't have my payment. When I pulled up and asked for the boss, a young, long-haired "biker", a mechanic closed the door to the work area and told me he wasn't there. I smelled a rat, quickly went outside and looked around the corner into the side street and saw "the boss" running down the alley at full speed! I called his name and he slowed down, then stopped, turned around and came back. The look on his face was worth a few thousand baht!

I know the red plate is not really legal but it was better than no plate at all - the guy I bought it from took it off, it was an illegal one he wanted to keep.

I still have the plate as a souvenir. At the time the whole deal angered me quite a bit but years down the road it's all part of living in LOS!

[losworld]

interesting how easy to take a thai bike and register in cambodia?

[IDL]

It’s a long one guys, but has a huge amount of information to help protect other buyers, in Thailand.

So it started when I saw an advertisement on the internet (2010):

BLA, BLA, BLA…private sale, with GREEN BOOK

I met with (French) owner and had a good look at the machine along with a short
test ride.

Aside from liking the appearance and feel of the bike, the fact that it had a ‘green
registration book’ was the decider in buying it; there were plenty of bigger
and newer bikes available in Thailand, for around the same price, but having
called, none of them had a [real] green book.

NB. The book was in a Thai guy’s name as the seller said he never bothered to get
it registered to his name as he wasn’t sure how long he’d be staying…plausible,
in LOS.

Owner accepted my offer and I purchased it on the following Saturday. Also, the
pre-arranged (above standard 3^rd-party) insurance transfer was completed
in time for riding it legally by 1pm on the day.

A few days later, armed with all the correct documentation, I proceeded over to
one of the Department of Land and Transport (DLT) offices in Bangkok. The
extremely helpful & friendly staff surprised me when they said they will
process both the ‘name change’ and ‘province transfer’ at the same time. So
with the application documents completed, stamps bought & attached and with
only the bike’s VIN/serial number to be authenticated, it was almost ready to process.

Having sat in the mechanics bay for around 30 minutes, I was then approached by a ‘senior
official’ of DLT and told that after scrutinizing the bike’s frame and engine
numbers, he concludes that the bike is not actually the bike that originally
belonged to the green book. Horrified, I told him “there must be some mistake,
it all matches perfectly!”

He explained that the prefixed model/type letter/number of LLNN (on my bike)
actually belongs exclusively to another model, and has been changed at some
point. Very concerned, I suggest that perhaps the engine has been changed?
etc…, but the fact of the matter is if that was the case, it should be a new
number, but still prefixed with my model’s letters. Bear in mind I knew [then]
very little about the crafty ways of the grey/black market in this region, not
least to look for manufacturer’s specific codings.

Not knowing what to do, I called the seller and told him the problem; he genuinely appeared
shocked. He contacted the shop he bought it from (two years before), gave me the
number of a woman (daughter of the shop-owning family) and I spoke to her. The [DLT]
‘senior official’ also had a conversation with her; she vowed to get some
answers for him and justify why things had changed from their original state. I
then returned home and used the internet to investigate all what I had been
told – the story over the VIN number was 100% correct.

I managed to find contact details of the previous registered [Thai] owner on the internet
and so my girlfriend called him, armed with a list of questions I had written
down. First and foremost, he said he did previously own a this specific model
and confirmed himself to be the person in the green book that I have. He then
goes on to tell us that he had an accident with the bike, but his insurance company
refused to pay-out for medical expenses because the bike’s VIN/serial numbers
were not real. Another very important thing he informed us of was that he had
bought the bike from the same shop as [my] seller, and then sold it back to them
after the accident.

Later in the evening the seller told me that the shop had further spoken to the DLT ‘senior
official’ and the problem was now fixed. I was instructed to go back [to DLT]
the following morning, collect the authentication document from the ‘senior
official’ and then submit my applications. On arrival, I asked around for the ‘senior
official’ and found him, having his lunch. He kindly took time-out to speak
with me. I said “so everything is OK now? The woman from the shop called you
and explained why the changes were made?”… he replied “I’m sorry, I’ve not
received any calls from anybody regarding this matter. She never called me
back”. So nothing had changed, the
authentication was not granted and my trip was a complete waste of time.

I called the shop and asked what had happened - she didn’t answer why she’d said she’d called, just simply avoided
answering, period! She then said I need to take the bike and green book down to
her and she will get all the
transfers done, down in Pattaya/Chonburi. I had the ‘senior official’ speak to
her again and he said he will inform a [DLT] colleague in Pattaya of the
problem and gave his name as contact.

Tuesday evening my girlfriend also called the shop to confirm that if I bring the bike
all the way down to Pattaya, the whole thing will get sorted, name and province
transfer. She confirmed “YES”.

Wednesday I arrived at the shop around 12:00pm. I met with the woman and asked what will
happen next (I didn’t challenge her again about why she lied because I wanted
the problem fixed). She then said “oh, getting your name changed is very easy,
don’t worry”. “And the transfer to Bangkok?” I asked. “er, ah…what?” she
replied. “I…ah…”. I then told her to stop playing games with me and get this
fixed, like she had told the seller, me and my girlfriend she would. She
responds “but this is not my job, I’m just doing this to take care of my
customers. In fact, my shop has never owned this bike before, we just let the
previous owner ‘park it’ here so that he could sell it. I don’t know anything
about this bike…I’m not responsible for it”. I then mentioned that the seller
said he bought it from her shop. She said he was wrong, he didn’t
understand. I then mentioned the previous [Thai] owner having bought and sold
with her shop, and the insurance not paying out because of the number
changes…she really didn’t know what to say and so just replied “OK, I’ll get it
done.” Low and behold, a few days later she called to say it was all sorted,
and ready for collection. My mate (work colleague), who lived around the corner
from shop, collected the book and brought to me, Monday morning, at work in
Bangkok.

In the coming days I managed to trace the registered [in the book] owner before the
Thai guy, An English woman and living back in UK now. It was slow communication
with her via FB/internet, but she did say she had owned a naked bike (same
engine size) in Pattaya and that she bought it, & sold back to…the same
shop as the Thai guy and [my] seller!

Further communication with her, and the English woman informed me that she only rode it
about 7 times, and owned it for a very short period, before selling it back to the
[same] shop as she couldn’t get the right ‘feel’ (her name as ‘registered owner’
was on the bike for a long period). Further more, and this is very, very
significant, she confirmed that the bike she owned was a XXXX, not my model.

So she sold an XXXX to the shop and the shop sold a YYYY, with the same ‘green book’,

to the Thai guy. Then bought it back from him and sold it again to [my] seller!!!

…still with me???

Many people may have then given up at that point. One of my [many] issues, is I don’t let
go, once the teeth are firmly in. I then had a meeting with a …er…I guess you’d
call a ‘fixer’. This person [unofficially] acted as a mediator between
civilians and officials (what a country!). After our meeting, we then scheduled
a meeting with some ‘top’ [bKK] BIBs, to use the information I’d documented to
get my money back from the shop; the French guy had already left Thailand.

The BIBs were extremely interested (of course they were-hmmm) and said this will be easy
because of the documented copies (including transcripts of all conversations) I’d
given them…three days later, the ‘fixer’ called and told me the BIBs didn’t
realize, but it’s out of their duristiction! Keeping lips tight right now,
better all-round.

The conclusion: the DLT official (whom I kept close contact with, throughout the
episode) must’ve taken pity on me, noted the lengths I went to to make
everything squeeky-clean, and figured it’s better to have a ‘legal’ bike on the
road [as opposed to an illegal one], so on calling him he agreed he’ll pass the
inspection approval and see that the process goes smoothly.

Next day, I rode out of the DLT office with a brand new green book (in my name) and new [reg]
plate. Have since changed the colour of the bike (and successfully updated the
change in the green book), and now sold it, with zero issues over the transfer.
FYI, I disclosed all the above to new owner.

Be careful out there,
it’s a jungle!!!

[Neilly]

It’s a long one guys, but has a huge amount of information to help protect other buyers, in Thailand.

Next day, I rode out of the DLT office with a brand new green book (in my name) and new [reg]

plate. Have since changed the colour of the bike (and successfully updated the

change in the green book), and now sold it, with zero issues over the transfer.

FYI, I disclosed all the above to new owner.

Be careful out there,

it’s a jungle!!!

I admire your perseverance...well done

[Shurup]

Good for you IDL for the afford you put into that bike. Just have one thing to comment on: you had no rights to demand anything from that lady shop owner (told her to stop playing games with me and get it done). She didn't sell the bike to you, there are a lot of bikes with bogus books, she made it work and in the past it used to go through with land transport. All your complains should have been taken to the seller you got the bike from, nothing to do with her.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[IDL]

I hear you shurup, though can't agree100%.

My issue was [you are absolutely right] with the seller. However, her games were lies (I had all the evidence, including three previous owners/customers willing to support my case, that her shop had 'owned' the bike over several years - never wanted it to become a 'court-case', just wanted to ride the bike I bought, to work, legally), her shop was the very place that bent the rules and cloned the bike to match a green book, and most importantly of all [to me] she had requested I go to her to sort it all out. She took it upon herself to stay involved (including telling the DLT officer she would). Had she said "bugger-off" in the first place, my focus would have reverted back to the seller.

All's well that ends well, my article wasn't intended to get sympathy, just enlighten many [interested] parties as to the antics/hurdles when buying older bikes.

[Chazchallenger]

i have exactly the same problem, with a 400 shadow i own, ive now learnt that for years and years most imported bikes have been given donor log books, from other bikes and other models. i have a legit green book issued to the last falang owner, with all correct chassis numbers and engine numbers. on trying to transfer to my name i was simply told not possible, this is newer model and not same bike. the problem seems to be that now all the dlt s are issuing there inspectors with iphones and they simply went into google, typed in honda the first four digits of the chassis number and hey presto, make and model of the original chassis numbered bike, even then pressed images and show me a picture of the vfr 250 that my chassis represents....just so we all know i purchased my bike through collingbourne auctions pattaya, where at the start of an auction you are told that you pay an indemnity fee on top of the selling price to ensure that all the paperwork is in good order. i took it back to the auction and was told that they had an agent that could put this right, but it would cost me 6000 baht. i agreed and 6 months on was told impossible to do. when confronting the auction about the situation, i was told that i must of upset someone at the dlt and it was my own fault. but what about personal assurances from the auction....well all i can say is there not worth a <deleted>.k. anyway i have my bike i just have to keep it in the previous owners name an keep hoping we can carry on taxing it in this way....the one thing that does worry me a little is i am moving from chonburi to hua hin, and im hoping that chonburi plates are not going to attract the attention of the police there, who seem to be a lot more on the ball than pattaya police. any comments on that would be interesting.

[IDL]

i have exactly the same problem, with a 400 shadow i own, ive now learnt that for years and years most imported bikes have been given donor log books, from other bikes and other models. i have a legit green book issued to the last falang owner, with all correct chassis numbers and engine numbers. on trying to transfer to my name i was simply told not possible, this is newer model and not same bike. the problem seems to be that now all the dlt s are issuing there inspectors with iphones and they simply went into google, typed in honda the first four digits of the chassis number and hey presto, make and model of the original chassis numbered bike, even then pressed images and show me a picture of the vfr 250 that my chassis represents....just so we all know i purchased my bike through collingbourne auctions pattaya, where at the start of an auction you are told that you pay an indemnity fee on top of the selling price to ensure that all the paperwork is in good order. i took it back to the auction and was told that they had an agent that could put this right, but it would cost me 6000 baht. i agreed and 6 months on was told impossible to do. when confronting the auction about the situation, i was told that i must of upset someone at the dlt and it was my own fault. but what about personal assurances from the auction....well all i can say is there not worth a <deleted>.k. anyway i have my bike i just have to keep it in the previous owners name an keep hoping we can carry on taxing it in this way....the one thing that does worry me a little is i am moving from chonburi to hua hin, and im hoping that chonburi plates are not going to attract the attention of the police there, who seem to be a lot more on the ball than pattaya police. any comments on that would be interesting.

Mate, I feel for you...my whole fiasco has come flooding back to mind!

Firstly, I'm sure you know that Pattaya (not unlike Samui & Phuket) has what seems to be it's own law/officialdom. Though [in my experience] anything first authenticated/stamped in the capital [bkk] seems to be honoured/undisputed country-wide, for things (vehicles in this case) local-fied (such as the 3 abovementioned areas) I would anticipate no end of being targeted.

Then there's the matter of how good your insurance is (as described in my post), when needed.

If I were you, I would do whatever necessary to get the book sorted, or, if it simply isn't possible, sell the thing [in Patts] and get another one (with the benefit of hindsight and all the official stuff sorted before final payment).

Didn't mean to make any of that sound 'easy', just you like I have been burned before, we gotta learn something, right?

Good luck, Sir

[Siriam]

i have exactly the same problem, with a 400 shadow i own, ive now learnt that for years and years most imported bikes have been given donor log books, from other bikes and other models. i have a legit green book issued to the last falang owner, with all correct chassis numbers and engine numbers. on trying to transfer to my name i was simply told not possible, this is newer model and not same bike. the problem seems to be that now all the dlt s are issuing there inspectors with iphones and they simply went into google, typed in honda the first four digits of the chassis number and hey presto, make and model of the original chassis numbered bike, even then pressed images and show me a picture of the vfr 250 that my chassis represents....just so we all know i purchased my bike through collingbourne auctions pattaya, where at the start of an auction you are told that you pay an indemnity fee on top of the selling price to ensure that all the paperwork is in good order. i took it back to the auction and was told that they had an agent that could put this right, but it would cost me 6000 baht. i agreed and 6 months on was told impossible to do. when confronting the auction about the situation, i was told that i must of upset someone at the dlt and it was my own fault. but what about personal assurances from the auction....well all i can say is there not worth a <deleted>.k. anyway i have my bike i just have to keep it in the previous owners name an keep hoping we can carry on taxing it in this way....the one thing that does worry me a little is i am moving from chonburi to hua hin, and im hoping that chonburi plates are not going to attract the attention of the police there, who seem to be a lot more on the ball than pattaya police. any comments on that would be interesting.

Same problem, same bike... After experiencing the same treatment by the transport department officer I went back to the guy who sold me the bike and he dragged me in the place where he bought it, a well known big bike dealer in Phuket, in theory they are taking care of my book, but after 3 months I start to be a bit worry about this unpleasant unexpected situation. I love my bike but this is such a PITA

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[liddelljohn]

When u buy secondhand in Thailand , make sure the green book appears on the Land transport dept BANGKOK computer regardless of what province u are in then it will be OK , if it is not on the main BKK computer the book is most likely a fake/stolen or has a major issues .A good agent can check this for you .

[Katie Luo]

What is going on the bike