Rental Shop In Chiang Mai & Mae Sot

[fm2002]

Guys,

Planning a ride with about 3 friends first of February starting Chiang Mai going into Laos and back. Will need to rent 4 bikes preferably D-Trackers or perhaps larger. Can someone point me to the best rental shop in CM to service all my needs ?

Also just got back from doing the MHS Loop, in my truck including Umphang. Will be going back to Umphang in 2 weeks. I plan on driving straight to MAe Sot than onto Umphang. There will be 2 trucks going so I was thinking of driving to Mae Sot throwing my gear in my buddies truck, than renting a bike and doing the drive to Umphang on a bike. Anyone know of a rental shop in Mae Sot ???

[BigBikeBKK]

Biggest (though not necessarily best) bike rental chain in CM is Pop's. They have D-Trackers, KLX250s, ER6n's and Ninja 650Rs. Other good rental shops are Mr. Mechanic and Tony's Big Bike (no relation to me)

Are you hoping to take rented bikes into Laos? Rather tricky...

I've never seen anything other than scooters for rent in Mae Sot.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[fm2002]

Biggest (though not necessarily best) bike rental chain in CM is Pop's. They have D-Trackers, KLX250s, ER6n's and Ninja 650Rs. Other good rental shops are Mr. Mechanic and Tony's Big Bike (no relation to me)

Are you hoping to take rented bikes into Laos? Rather tricky...

I've never seen anything other than scooters for rent in Mae Sot.

Happy Trails!

Tony

I am planning on taking rented bikes into Laos. Are you familiar with the procedures ? Assuming it's pretty straight forward, but have never done it ???

[BigBikeBKK]

Biggest (though not necessarily best) bike rental chain in CM is Pop's. They have D-Trackers, KLX250s, ER6n's and Ninja 650Rs. Other good rental shops are Mr. Mechanic and Tony's Big Bike (no relation to me)

Are you hoping to take rented bikes into Laos? Rather tricky...

I've never seen anything other than scooters for rent in Mae Sot.

Happy Trails!

Tony

I am planning on taking rented bikes into Laos. Are you familiar with the procedures ? Assuming it's pretty straight forward, but have never done it ???

Sorry, never done it but from what I hear it's not simple at all... From what I understand there are very few rental companies will agree to allow their bikes to be taken out of the country. Recommend you check the GT Rider site for more help and information. Good luck!

[Fishenough]

Haven't taken a rental into Laos myself, just my own bike; but friends following the information from GT Rider, printed out forms before arriving, copied the proof of ownership and writing permission letter from Mr Pop and had no issues what so ever at the border. All information they got straight off the GT Rider website, and many a trip report posted in the GT Rider forum.

[LivinLOS]

Biggest (though not necessarily best) bike rental chain in CM is Pop's. They have D-Trackers, KLX250s, ER6n's and Ninja 650Rs. Other good rental shops are Mr. Mechanic and Tony's Big Bike (no relation to me)

Are you hoping to take rented bikes into Laos? Rather tricky...

I've never seen anything other than scooters for rent in Mae Sot.

Happy Trails!

Tony

I am planning on taking rented bikes into Laos. Are you familiar with the procedures ? Assuming it's pretty straight forward, but have never done it ???

It requires the owners written permission and the original of the ownership papers.. Most rental places are not that happy to hand that out.

So first find your rentor who will agree such a deal.. Then if you can find that the rest should be achievable.

[BigBikeBKK]

Haven't taken a rental into Laos myself, just my own bike; but friends following the information from GT Rider, printed out forms before arriving, copied the proof of ownership and writing permission letter from Mr Pop and had no issues what so ever at the border. All information they got straight off the GT Rider website, and many a trip report posted in the GT Rider forum.

Cool, I didn't know Pop would agree to have their bikes taken out of the country- that's great news! Happy Trails! Tony

[FarangCravings]

Haven't taken a rental into Laos myself, just my own bike; but friends following the information from GT Rider, printed out forms before arriving, copied the proof of ownership and writing permission letter from Mr Pop and had no issues what so ever at the border. All information they got straight off the GT Rider website, and many a trip report posted in the GT Rider forum.

Cool, I didn't know Pop would agree to have their bikes taken out of the country- that's great news! Happy Trails! Tony

I would not reccomend POP in any way shape or form I cannot explain here due to maybe liable comments I would make but just to say you run a very big risk renting from them as they have a unique way of turning your 1000 baht a day into 25,000 to 50,0000 baht payoff

my advice anyone but POP

anyone wondered how in this climate they are opening up all over town ? theres a reason

As for going into Laos you cannot take a motorbike over the border at khon kaen no matter what paperwork you have you have to head down the river 120k to a smaller border crossign which you canc ross however you have to have your Laos visa in hand as there is no visa on arrival at that border crossing. additionally you cannot cross over on weekends as customs is closed.

Also you will need to sort out Laos insurance prior to heading to Laos as its a serious crime not to have insurance while driving in Laos.

hope this helps

[BigBikeBKK]

I would not reccomend POP in any way shape or form I cannot explain here due to maybe liable comments I would make but just to say you run a very big risk renting from them as they have a unique way of turning your 1000 baht a day into 25,000 to 50,0000 baht payoff

my advice anyone but POP

anyone wondered how in this climate they are opening up all over town ? theres a reason

As for going into Laos you cannot take a motorbike over the border at khon kaen no matter what paperwork you have you have to head down the river 120k to a smaller border crossign which you canc ross however you have to have your Laos visa in hand as there is no visa on arrival at that border crossing. additionally you cannot cross over on weekends as customs is closed.

Also you will need to sort out Laos insurance prior to heading to Laos as its a serious crime not to have insurance while driving in Laos.

hope this helps

Interesting- I've only had good experiences renting from Pop, both cars and bikes... If your rate went from 1000 Baht/day to a 25,000-50,000 payoff then we must assume you had an accident or damaged the rental in some way and didn't have insurance to cover the damage. Too bad, live and learn.

I believe there is Visa on Arrival service at the Chiang Khong crossing, but closed on weekends. Insurance available for purchase there as well.

Happy Trails!

Tony

[BigBikeBKK]

As for going into Laos you cannot take a motorbike over the border at khon kaen no matter what paperwork you have you have to head down the river 120k to a smaller border crossign which you canc ross however you have to have your Laos visa in hand as there is no visa on arrival at that border crossing. additionally you cannot cross over on weekends as customs is closed.

Also you will need to sort out Laos insurance prior to heading to Laos as its a serious crime not to have insurance while driving in Laos.

Based on this very recent report posted on GT Riders I'd suggest some of your information may no longer be accurate---

"21st december, 2009, I arrived at the Thai border at Nong Khai, not expecting to be allowed northbound across the Friendship Bridge into Laos, without a permit which takes 3 weeks to process/ obtain.

To my amazement, Thai border control and Thai customs said that i didnt need a permit to go northbound across the bridge.

On the return to Thailand from Laos, I had all the Thai TM immigration forms ready and didnt need to fill out any of them myself, everything was done by the Thai immigration and Thai customs, all very simple. You just have visit 2 Thai customs kiosks and 1 Thai immigration Kiosk on your return to Thailand.

Interestingly, the temporary import bond on my bike was 323,000 baht last time, this time the temporary import bond is only 75,000 baht.

"

[FarangCravings]

Interesting- I've only had good experiences renting from Pop, both cars and bikes... If your rate went from 1000 Baht/day to a 25,000-50,000 payoff then we must assume you had an accident or damaged the rental in some way and didn't have insurance to cover the damage. Too bad, live and learn.

I believe there is Visa on Arrival service at the Chiang Khong crossing, but closed on weekends. Insurance available for purchase there as well.

Happy Trails!

Tony

You may assume Nothing

I neither had an accident nor damaged any bike nor would i ever rent from them nor reccomend them

Rent at your own risk I decline to elaborate on this anymore lest to say I live in chiang mai and its a well known scam here in chiang mai where motorbike rentals are concerned.

[FarangCravings]

"21st december, 2009, I arrived at the Thai border at Nong Khai, not expecting to be allowed northbound across the Friendship Bridge into Laos, without a permit which takes 3 weeks to process/ obtain.

To my amazement, Thai border control and Thai customs said that i didnt need a permit to go northbound across the bridge.

On the return to Thailand from Laos, I had all the Thai TM immigration forms ready and didnt need to fill out any of them myself, everything was done by the Thai immigration and Thai customs, all very simple. You just have visit 2 Thai customs kiosks and 1 Thai immigration Kiosk on your return to Thailand.

Interestingly, the temporary import bond on my bike was 323,000 baht last time, this time the temporary import bond is only 75,000 baht.

"

We did a trip mid november 09 so I guess my info is way out of date

Ah well TIT after all

[Johpa]

I would not reccomend POP in any way shape or form

I recently rented a D-Tracker for a month from the Pops location on Ratchamanka, just down from the "Big Bike" shop and not only had zero problems, but found the manager, King, and his staff to be very pleasant indeed.

When things go wrong with a bike rental they can go very wrong, and it is critical, as in any vehicle rental situation, to inspect the vehicle before you rent. But Pops has been around a very long time and over the decades I have never heard of any persistent problems although many people prefer renting from the smaller shops, especially the locals who can more easily develop a relationship with those owners. But considering that Pops is the largest rental agency, I am not surprised that one will hear a complaint more often than the other shops.

[fm2002]

Posted on GT Riders a question about the procedures/forms needed to cross on a rented bike into Laos, but I've received no reply. Does anyone know where I might find this information ???

[LivinLOS]

If you look on GTR (the site also not only forum) theres detailed info on border crossings..

If you use that basic info as a template and then work out what docs and permissions the owner (whose name is in the book) needs to give you thats a good starting point.

Another problem is whatever information someone posts, is not valid at the next border point, the next day or with the next officer.. Rules may be rules but things here are just too fluid to really ever be 100% certain, tho if you get everything else right, read all the best advice, and plan well you can get it to about 95+%.

The south has totally different border interpretations than the north.

[hspfour]

I am in CM 1 month out of every 3 and rent from Tony's Big Bikes. I had one issue with a bike while my father and I were making the loop and Tony's had the problem fixed (in Pai) at their expense with no questions asked and, unasked, also gave me a rebate on my rental for lost time. Both Tony and Jeff are a big help in planning any trip. Jeff takes long trips on a regular basis and is full of information about the current state of roads, etc. One bit of advice, under no circumstance rent the 199 cc engine big bikes, they simply do not have enough power to make for a comfortable drive through the mountains. Enjoy your trip.