Buying A Mid Sized Trials Bike In Thailand

[kunash]

hi, i will have a letter of residence and be entering the country on a non imm o type visa. so i think i am covered to buy a bike. where i am , surin, all i see are mopeds for sale. i want to buy something a little bigger. maybe a 350cc trials bike or 500cc trials bike. nothing to big.

would i have to travel to bkk to buy one, or could my local dealership get me one if i asked?

it was suggested i could buy a KLX 250 kawa - as this would be the biggest bike i could buy in thai - but could i contact my local kawa dealership and could they get me one, in surin

[ttakata]

I guess you just gotta go to the Kawi dealer and ask.

There are larger bikes sold throughout Thailand but they cost a lot to be fully legal.

You should read the various threads related to "used, imported, big bikes, green book" and you'll get an idea as to what you're in for.

This site is good for what's sold new and legally in Thailand, but Kawi is pretty much the best deal going.

http://www.motorcycle.in.th/staticpages/index.php/Motorcycle-prices-in-Thailand

If money isn't an issue, a KTM 690 is probably the best enduro you could easily buy new in Thailand.

[LivinLOS]

Theres no legal trials bikes sold here.. But do you really mean trials ??

A KLX is an enduro, a trials bike is a little rockhopper like a gasgas etc.

If you mean a off road trail bike, like the KLX, then the obvious choice is the KLX due to legal supply.. People have got 331cc big bore kits working with them and theres a 351cc big bore but not read thats been tested with an EFI model.

If you want bigger the DRZ400 is not uncommon, but then its grey market bikes with the usual book and parts problems.

[Richard-BKK]

Theres no legal trials bikes sold here.. But do you really mean trials ??

A KLX is an enduro, a trials bike is a little rockhopper like a gasgas etc.

If you mean a off road trail bike, like the KLX, then the obvious choice is the KLX due to legal supply.. People have got 331cc big bore kits working with them and theres a 351cc big bore but not read thats been tested with an EFI model.

If you want bigger the DRZ400 is not uncommon, but then its grey market bikes with the usual book and parts problems.

KLX an enduro? No legal trails bikes sold here? If you mean with legal, a greenbook, yes they not sell trails bikes like that. Without lights this would be a bit funny. But you can buy bikes like this without any problem... Direct from Kawasaki...

[thaicbr]

Theres no legal trials bikes sold here.. But do you really mean trials ??

A KLX is an enduro, a trials bike is a little rockhopper like a gasgas etc.

If you mean a off road trail bike, like the KLX, then the obvious choice is the KLX due to legal supply.. People have got 331cc big bore kits working with them and theres a 351cc big bore but not read thats been tested with an EFI model.

If you want bigger the DRZ400 is not uncommon, but then its grey market bikes with the usual book and parts problems.

KLX an enduro? No legal trails bikes sold here? If you mean with legal, a greenbook, yes they not sell trails bikes like that. Without lights this would be a bit funny. But you can buy bikes like this without any problem... Direct from Kawasaki...

Richard you have got what Livin's post a bit mixed up. He said you can not buy a trials bike NOT a trails bike. A KLX is a trails bike (or enduro) This is a trials bike

In the UK you can buy these with lighting kits registered for road use.

[LivinLOS]

Is the term a trials bike not universal globally.. Trials ridin is sort of the the freestyle BMX of the bike world.

I tried trials riding when I was a kid, some mates were really good, doing nationals and stuff, I was comparatively awful, but its good fun and a very different skill set than motocross or trail / enduro.

Trials bike

Enduro / trail bike, can be with road legal bits or without.. think RMX250 / RM250 from the motocross side.

Very different

EDIT ::: Much better image comparisons

http://www.betwsmotors.ltd.uk/newbikes.cfm

Edited August 6, 2010 by LivinLOS

[kunash]

thanks for replies guys. call me old school or call me uninformed, lol, your choice, but back in the day ( late 1980's or around 1990 ) i owned a klr 650. it was a road bike, but it was also a trials bike, as it could go off road. i did have road tyres put on it though. i prefer the ride of a trials bike, compared to a racing / road bike. ( i think a trails bike - is purely off road )

i would love to own a gs1200 bmw. but a little expensive i think. i did go to hua hin recently, i saw a guy from germany there on a gs1200. it was on german plates. i asked him how much it cost him to import, and he said nothing, he did it through his work. i forgot to ask him what job he did, though he worked in bkk.

but yes, i am after a trials bike.

edit; as i said i call a trials bike - a bike that can go off road and also on roads - like the gs1200 - maybe i have my terminology mixed up ( trials, trails, enduro.... ). if i do, i apologise,

Edited August 6, 2010 by kunash

[Richard-BKK]

The problem is that we (including me) mixed up two different words, first you have a trial bike and the other is called a Trail bike. The first (Trial bike) is a motorcycle with small fuel-tank and basically very soft tires, stiffer suspension and huge amounts of torque to do magical things from standstill. The second is the Trail bike, in trail as in forest trail, and this is the more off-road/enduro style (often with lights) motorcycles like the KLX250. Then you have the real dirt-diggers motocross motorcycles, which hardly have lights often are still two-strokes (with exception of the new Japanese offerings).

And if the confusion is not big enough, you have motorcycle models which probably will fit in more than just one of this descriptions... :D <_<

[LivinLOS]

thanks for replies guys. call me old school or call me uninformed, lol, your choice, but back in the day ( late 1980's or around 1990 ) i owned a klr 650. it was a road bike, but it was also a trials bike, as it could go off road. i did have road tyres put on it though. i prefer the ride of a trials bike, compared to a racing / road bike. ( i think a trails bike - is purely off road )

i would love to own a gs1200 bmw. but a little expensive i think. i did go to hua hin recently, i saw a guy from germany there on a gs1200. it was on german plates. i asked him how much it cost him to import, and he said nothing, he did it through his work. i forgot to ask him what job he did, though he worked in bkk.

but yes, i am after a trials bike.

edit; as i said i call a trials bike - a bike that can go off road and also on roads - like the gs1200 - maybe i have my terminology mixed up ( trials, trails, enduro.... ). if i do, i apologise,

No worries.. As I said, I suspected you didnt mean trials and meant trail as most trials bikes these days are very lightweight and a 350 - 500 would not be a mid size.

Your options for a road legal trail bike are klx250 (or the d-tracker if motard wheels and road tyres appeals) direct from Kwaker with full legal parts supply chain and legal green books.. Prices a bit over 150k new and although they are a bit weak as standard theres some tweaks and hot ups that can be done over time.

Or in the grey bike market, where parts are harder to find, and ownership papers more questionable theres a few DRZ400's in both enduro and super moto / motard wheels options, maybe you could find an XR400, etc etc..

Theres also a new addition to the market in KTM but they are up in the high altitude pricing, from memory a KTM 690 was about 600k ???