Owning A Bike In Bangkok

[gravion]

Hi, there must be those that do not own a bike in BKK and are thinking about getting one?

I do have a thai driving license and have ridden honda wave before.

I live near Bang Na area and I take the bus and songthaws to Bang Pu area. Around 15km... And out the window, I see many bikers going through narrow ways between lanes of cars with heavy exhaust humes... oh dear... It seems those bikers are risking and harming their lives by snorting those heavy exhaust fumes. jeezuz. Also I live in an ghetto apartment without parking. 2500B with aircon and queen size bed, and is reasonably spacious

I looked into honda phantom 80k and tiger boxer 60k, i havent ridden either of them, but they would be hard to go though those traffics right? But scooter would be too slow to drive on bang na, old sukumvit rd to bangpu, and most likely i will be hit from behind by some crazy thai women and men.... they seem to get excited and wet when they start tailgating people

[robblok]

The honda phantom is a nice bike so it the tiger boxer and scooters are fine too. I suggest you driving a few before you select what one you buy. I drive a bike through traffic a lot and it saves a lot of time. Wish more people would do that instead of all those cars.

Im not sure how damaging those fumes are but i do know a bike can be faster as a car.

[starman_tom]

Wear a 3M face mask, they are 20B. I go through traffic with my 1000CC bike every day, so I think you should be able to navigate a Tiger Boxer through it too.

[robblok]

Wear a 3M face mask, they are 20B. I go through traffic with my 1000CC bike every day, so I think you should be able to navigate a Tiger Boxer through it too.

Your facemask (that price) does absolutely nothing if you buy a more expensive one it might work.

I navigate my 400cc chopper through traffic so on a boxer it would be even easier\.

[SlumdogMillionaire]

Hey,

Have you looked at the Honda CBR 150's, I have had mine for nearly 2 years and it really is great for the city.

Faster than the rev and go automatic scooters and not as big and heavy as the phantoms etc.

If I had to buy another bike tommorow I would by the CBR again, top little bike!

As for the traffice fumes its bearable as long as you don't get stuck behind one of those old buses! Co2 overdose for sure!

[AliasJohn]

The honda phantom is a nice bike so it the tiger boxer and scooters are fine too. I suggest you driving a few before you select what one you buy. I drive a bike through traffic a lot and it saves a lot of time. Wish more people would do that instead of all those cars.

Im not sure how damaging those fumes are but i do know a bike can be faster as a car.

I have a bike called Ryuker. It looks like a chopper and is 125cc. I have ridden it to Chonburi on occasion and Its a great bike to ride. They cost new 40000 baht all up and they are currently on display at all Big C store. A big advantage is the 3 year warranty that comes with it.

Check it out!

[gravion]

The honda phantom is a nice bike so it the tiger boxer and scooters are fine too. I suggest you driving a few before you select what one you buy. I drive a bike through traffic a lot and it saves a lot of time. Wish more people would do that instead of all those cars.

Im not sure how damaging those fumes are but i do know a bike can be faster as a car.

I have a bike called Ryuker. It looks like a chopper and is 125cc. I have ridden it to Chonburi on occasion and Its a great bike to ride. They cost new 40000 baht all up and they are currently on display at all Big C store. A big advantage is the 3 year warranty that comes with it.

Check it out!

yeah i;ve seen those bikes at bigc. They even got like a d-tracker looka like.

but im assuming they are made in china and not popular in china aswell?

those bikes look very frail physically and mechanicallly... i can somehow see problems rising when driving it in the rain...

anyways hows the power of the bike? can get upto 80km without high rev?

also im not really sure about "thai" 3 years warranty... it might take them like 3-6 months to bring me back my ride

[robblok]

The honda phantom is a nice bike so it the tiger boxer and scooters are fine too. I suggest you driving a few before you select what one you buy. I drive a bike through traffic a lot and it saves a lot of time. Wish more people would do that instead of all those cars.

Im not sure how damaging those fumes are but i do know a bike can be faster as a car.

I have a bike called Ryuker. It looks like a chopper and is 125cc. I have ridden it to Chonburi on occasion and Its a great bike to ride. They cost new 40000 baht all up and they are currently on display at all Big C store. A big advantage is the 3 year warranty that comes with it.

Check it out!

Before i rode a kawasaki boss they are a bit faster then the Honda Phantom but even this was not fast enough for me. I mainly missed the torgue so i got myself a 400cc big bike. I love the extra torque i don't drive that fast with it all the time but the torque makes for some relaxed riding when you want to pass cars and so on. I doubt you can do that with 125 cc.

Then again if your really in the heart of BKK then you might not need the extra power.

[AliasJohn]

The honda phantom is a nice bike so it the tiger boxer and scooters are fine too. I suggest you driving a few before you select what one you buy. I drive a bike through traffic a lot and it saves a lot of time. Wish more people would do that instead of all those cars.

Im not sure how damaging those fumes are but i do know a bike can be faster as a car.

I have a bike called Ryuker. It looks like a chopper and is 125cc. I have ridden it to Chonburi on occasion and Its a great bike to ride. They cost new 40000 baht all up and they are currently on display at all Big C store. A big advantage is the 3 year warranty that comes with it.

Check it out!

yeah i;ve seen those bikes at bigc. They even got like a d-tracker looka like.

but im assuming they are made in china and not popular in china aswell?

those bikes look very frail physically and mechanicallly... i can somehow see problems rising when driving it in the rain...

anyways hows the power of the bike? can get upto 80km without high rev?

also im not really sure about "thai" 3 years warranty... it might take them like 3-6 months to bring me back my ride

They are made in China but assembled in Chonburi. Dont know how popular they are in China and I have to say they are not popular here either. Thai people like brand names so if its not a Honda etc forget it. Why on earth you see a problem in the rain? I have had this bike over 1 year now and it is a great bike to ride. It cruise at 90 very comfortably, 100 kms it vibrates the foot pedals abit. I had some warranty work done to it last week infact and they had the problem fixed in 2 hours, did a service and not charge me for the oil. Said it was on the house. The only down side is there Showroom is at Ram indra, and its about a hour for me.

I would buy another one with out any hesitation. You should not judge a book by its cover!

Cheers for now

[wlcart]

For what it is worth,

I have an old honda nice I picked up used in 2004 for next to nothing. It is only 125cc, and it is air cooled so it is even slower than other 125s but for BKK it is fine. I use to commute from ratchaparop to ramkamheag everyday never an issue. I change the oil, spark plug, and brakes every now and then, the only other maintenance I have to do is fix those darn flat tires. I like the "disposable" nature of a old bike, something old and beat up might be appropriate to go along with your discount apartment. It is not good for going outside of town but great for commuting within the city.

I avoid smoking buses/tukTuks/motorcycles just like I avoid accidents, I keep my eye out for them and keep a safe distance. Sometimes it can be tough to avoid but keeping your eyes on the road for them will reduce your exposure. I have noticed many Thai motorcycle riders seem almost unaware of pollution, I guess they have grown to accept it, but I cannot, I avoid it.

Finally you didn't mention what kind of license you have, but I have two Thai license, one for a car and one for the bike. They are not the same. It won't matter to a cop who catches you going through a red light, he will be looking for a bribe anyway, but I figure having the correct license helps if you get in an accident. If you do not have the proper license and you get hit by a car, someone will try to exploit that fact and take advantage of you, either the other drive, or the cop who shows up to help settle the situation.

Good luck out there.....