Deadly Bus Fire Tragedy Highlights Safety Failures on Thai Roads

[Kf6vci]

Hi Guys,

have you noticed more unregistered bikes coming on the market? One advertisement struck me as dubious. Because if the book exists, just sell it en bloc and get a higher price for the bike. OTOH, if the book does not yet exists, who can possible "arrange" one (by whatever influences, bribes or methods) at only THB 10,000 more? Would it be the real Mc Coy?

I fear we need to look past Green Books and check whether the books are genuine and complete.

There's a nice TDM 850 on Bahtsold for under 100 k, but hey, I'll keep the Africa Twin with book for some THB 45,000 more.

As things stand, riding a bike in LoS is enough of an adventure. (Got any buckets full of ice water thrown at you yesterday?). Perpetual uncertainty about the legality of one's ride with danger of confiscation is too much

Ride on and enjoy Songkran - the party near don Muang is very friendly and fun, they even played great 80s hits!

Chris

[Tigersachsclub]

Hi chris,

I think 10000 thb is actually low ...but the question raised "is it the real green book"? No matter if this green book costs 10000 or 20000 thb i wouldn't touch it. I believe it is not legal. It maybe a re-born book with the Bikes frame and engine nr adjusted to match or simply not matching or some of the data such as model year, cyl, cc not matching also. Both of the possibilities aren't making this a legal bike. I'd rather go for paying a higher price altogether and get a real "green booked" bike...saw one er6n for 180000 thb on Bahtsold ,not a bad price.

You didn't pay 45000 thb more for nothing...if you got it with a real green book than this is a nice deal.

Happy trails,

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[BigBikeBKK]

If it sounds too good to be true, then it USUALLY is!

There can be exceptions though- take for example the GSXR 1000 that I purchased last Monday for only 350K Baht:

Imported as parts and has had two owners in Thailand, (original Thai owner was a cop- so even more sketchy ) and original import papers are long gone, but it does have a green book and the VIN and Engine numbers match. Still... have to be careful and I told the seller that I'd pay in full once the bike was inspected and green book successfully transferred to my name. I recommend everyone do this! Never pay for a bike here until you have the green book in your hands and have verified that it's YOUR name in the green book. If a seller isn't willing to do this, walk away!

To be honest, not even the seller was 100% sure if the bike would pass inspection- it's hard to ever be completely sure with gray market imports in Thailand. Here he is waving goodbye to his baby at the Mor Chit Land Transport Office:

I really thought we'd have a problem with the aftermarket exhaust on the bike but when it actually came time for the inspection they ONLY looked at the engine and frame numbers. Did we get lucky because it was the day before Songkran or is this all they ever check? I don't know. When I've sold my Kawasakis (in Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai) they didn't even do an inspection as inspections are not requires on vehicles less than 2 years old.

But I digress We got to the Land Transport Office around 10am and the updated green book was handed to me 2 hours later- quick and painless! Very friendly staff at the Mor Chit DMV too- they helped us fill out all the Thai paperwork and were very pleasant to deal with.

All in all a great experience and I am one happy camper with my new scoot

Ride On!

Tony

[Muaythaidan]

awesome bike man. lol a little off topic but how is it riding a 1000 in thailand?

[BigBikeBKK]

awesome bike man. lol a little off topic but how is it riding a 1000 in thailand?

Going from ~70Hp to ~170Hp is Fookin' SCARY!

[Tigersachsclub]

I did a switch 2 years ago from an underpowered & overweight Honda shadow 400 to an 1200 vmax (us specs) 140 hp so i know what you mean in terms of the "wow" effect because of a much bigger load of torque and power available. But the Vmax had to leave because no documents just a invoice ...it is important to have the papers right. The Gixxer is some amazing bike and i look forward to see it in "natura" tomorrow .... stay safe on it,

happy trails,

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[Theo007]

Please, how does one get a replacement green book if the original one is lost?

[Tigersachsclub]

Please, how does one get a replacement green book if the original one is lost?

Not sure of the full process...but i would start to report the green book lost or stolen. You should than get some kind of paper from the police which may help you further when you visit the Department of Land transportation iun getting a new green book.

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[barrybike]

If it sounds too good to be true, then it USUALLY is!

There can be exceptions though- take for example the GSXR 1000 that I purchased last Monday for only 350K Baht:

Imported as parts and has had two owners in Thailand, (original Thai owner was a cop- so even more sketchy ) and original import papers are long gone, but it does have a green book and the VIN and Engine numbers match. Still... have to be careful and I told the seller that I'd pay in full once the bike was inspected and green book successfully transferred to my name. I recommend everyone do this! Never pay for a bike here until you have the green book in your hands and have verified that it's YOUR name in the green book. If a seller isn't willing to do this, walk away!

To be honest, not even the seller was 100% sure if the bike would pass inspection- it's hard to ever be completely sure with gray market imports in Thailand. Here he is waving goodbye to his baby at the Mor Chit Land Transport Office:

I really thought we'd have a problem with the aftermarket exhaust on the bike but when it actually came time for the inspection they ONLY looked at the engine and frame numbers. Did we get lucky because it was the day before Songkran or is this all they ever check? I don't know. When I've sold my Kawasakis (in Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai) they didn't even do an inspection as inspections are not requires on vehicles less than 2 years old.

But I digress We got to the Land Transport Office around 10am and the updated green book was handed to me 2 hours later- quick and painless! Very friendly staff at the Mor Chit DMV too- they helped us fill out all the Thai paperwork and were very pleasant to deal with.

All in all a great experience and I am one happy camper with my new scoot

Ride On!

Tony

good story and really nice bike ...not bad money for it either ..............

[Kf6vci]

Congrats, Tony! There will be a 4th bike, I can see it in my chrystal ball!

Chris

[BigBikeBKK]

Congrats, Tony! There will be a 4th bike, I can see it in my chrystal ball!

Chris

Cheers Chris,

You may be right!

Need something for dirt and offroad.

Thinking to trade my Ninja 650R for an ER6n and turning it into a Versys...

Why oh why won't Kawasaki throw FI on the KLR650 and sell it in Thailand?!?!?!?

Happy Trails!

Tony

[BigBikeBKK]

double post...

Edited April 18, 2010 by BigBikeBKK

[billd766]

Please, how does one get a replacement green book if the original one is lost?

Not sure of the full process...but i would start to report the green book lost or stolen. You should than get some kind of paper from the police which may help you further when you visit the Department of Land transportation iun getting a new green book.

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

What I do now with all my important documents including the green book for my bike etc is to scan them into my computer and then back it up to an external drive and keep it separate from the computer.

Also I print a copy and take it with me if I am going long distances.

I have done the same with my licences.