I'm looking to buy a new Yamaha Elegance, and visited the bike shop that is close to Carrefour,

on the opposite side of the Central Pattaya road.

They quoted me a price like this:

53300 - a red and white 2011 model bike with spoked wheels

1150 - a green book and the mandatory 3rd party insurance

200 - the red registration plate

2700 - optional, a two year theft insurance, first year 85% and second year 65% of the value.

Now, i'm wondering if this is a good price or not? I might opt out from the theft insurance and

get a full coverage insurance from another insurance company, which is more expensive but

might cover a bit more. But is the basic price of the bike (53k baht) about right? Where have you

bought your new Elegances, and how much did you pay for them?

I bought mine for 52000 about 2.5 years ago. The shop is on the East side of Sukamvit South of Pattaya Thai--I believe it's near Thepprasit. This is a large Honda shop which not only has the small scooters but the 500 TMax all the way up to the 1000 c.c. R-1, Yamaha outboard engines, and boats.

The price seems to be reasonable, BUT, I'd seriously consider alloy wheels and tubeless tires. You'd be glad you did.

Jackcorbett, I think I know the shop you are talking about. It's on the other side of sukhumvit road opposite of therappasit road and tesco,

with lots of boats on the front yard. I went there last week to look for used bikes, but didn't yet inquire into the price of a new one.

While I visited them, I picked up a calling card, and on the phone just now they quoted:

52500 elegance with spoked wheels (55500 with alloy wheels)

1500 green book, i think this contained the mandatory insurance as well

(this might also contain plates, because there was no mention of those)

2300 for an insurance against theft, i suppose for two years.

Thanks for the tip, it seems to be slightly cheaper than on Central pattaya road.

Gary A, I've heard before about the debate about tubed/tubeless, but am still unsure of the practical benefits of the alloy/tubeless

on the daily basis. Still, especially in the sukhumvit shop, it seems that the price difference is quite small (3k), so i might go with the

tubeless anyway. However, i've been planning of maybe changing into a wider tire in the future (or right away if the shop offers it

with little extra), the standard ones are 70/80 in front and 80/90 in the back, i was thinking increasing it to 80/90 and 90/100.

But I was wondering, do the alloy wheels limit my options of wider tires?

Jackcorbett, I think I know the shop you are talking about. It's on the other side of sukhumvit road opposite of therappasit road and tesco,

with lots of boats on the front yard. I went there last week to look for used bikes, but didn't yet inquire into the price of a new one.

While I visited them, I picked up a calling card, and on the phone just now they quoted:

52500 elegance with spoked wheels (55500 with alloy wheels)

1500 green book, i think this contained the mandatory insurance as well

(this might also contain plates, because there was no mention of those)

2300 for an insurance against theft, i suppose for two years.

Thanks for the tip, it seems to be slightly cheaper than on Central pattaya road.

Gary A, I've heard before about the debate about tubed/tubeless, but am still unsure of the practical benefits of the alloy/tubeless

on the daily basis. Still, especially in the sukhumvit shop, it seems that the price difference is quite small (3k), so i might go with the

tubeless anyway. However, i've been planning of maybe changing into a wider tire in the future (or right away if the shop offers it

with little extra), the standard ones are 70/80 in front and 80/90 in the back, i was thinking increasing it to 80/90 and 90/100.

But I was wondering, do the alloy wheels limit my options of wider tires?

My experience is that a friend of mine bought a new Honda with tubed tires. My wife has tubed tires on her bike. Both have flat tires on a pretty regular basis. My Elegance with tubeless tires has never had a flat. Another friend has a PCX with tubeless tires and he has never had a flat either. My friend with the Honda had the tire repair guy glue a strip of extra rubber inside his back tire and another glued around the rim to cover the spoke heads. He hasn't had a flat since. I think the problem is that the Thai made inner tubes are incredibly cheap and just don't hold up.