Tuk Tuk Ownership

[Joey Boy]

just after a little advice..

I have a friend whos planning on moving to pattaya, he wants to buy a tuk tuk.. Are these classed as a motorbike or car?

What are the laws/attitude in pattaya regarding tuk tuks? There seem to be suprisingly few around compared with Bangkok.

Thanks

[astral]

Not sure of the licence classification , but they can be owned as private vehicles,

with black plates (black letters on white background).

[chuchok]

Anybody know how much they sell for.Thai price, not farang price please.

[tuktukmike]

It all depends what sort of standard you require.

A basic Thai style ie no seat belts and basic design would be around 140,000 bht.

You may be better off if you are happy with Thai style buying a used one and having it sprayed to the colour of your choice.

Mike.

[chanchao]

> I have a friend whos planning on moving to pattaya, he wants to buy a

> tuk tuk.. Are these classed as a motorbike or car?

Neither. They're a separate category.

> Not sure of the licence classification , but they can be owned as private vehicles,

> with black plates (black letters on white background).

They can indeed be owned as private vehicles, but the license plate you get will be red letters on a white place. (Black is for passenger cars, and tuk tuks that are taxis of course get yellow plates, but currently with green letters on yellow for newly registered tuk tuks. Most of course still have black on yellow just like regular taxis)

> You may be better off if you are happy with Thai style buying a used one

> and having it sprayed to the colour of your choice.

That won't work because used ones by far have all been used as taxi-tuk tuks, and when selling, the owner would also sell the taxi license, making the overall cost higher than a 'private' new tuk tuk. Also, would you really want an old battered taxi-tuk tuk..

Finally, did you ever actually drive one? They drive like warmed up crap.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chuchok]

It all depends what sort of standard you require.

A basic Thai style ie no seat belts and basic design would be around 140,000 bht.

You may be better off if you are happy with Thai style buying a used one and having it sprayed to the colour of your choice.

Mike.

Mike,

is it easy to interchange the 2 stroke engine that they come with to a 4 stroke?

[tuktukmike]

No Problem at all,

You can change any tuk-tuk engine to the Daihatsu or Suzuki 4 stroke engines.

Finally, did you ever actually drive one? They drive like warmed up crap.

Wrong,

If they are built right and fitted with low profile radial tyres there is no problem with handling. we fit Gas shocks to ours and also remember that for some reason the Thais will just throw a pair of leaf springs onto their vehicle which are just not the right weight rating.

I have been exporting for nearly 7 years now and i can tell you the handling was my first priority, it was all down to incorrect parts fitted to this type of vehicle.

This year i start work on a new style which will make the chassis obselete, which in turn will bring the passenger seating down to saloon car level, this means easier access and also by lowering the centre of gravity will result in amazing handling.

Mike.

[tuktukmike]

As you can see just a little thought and even a tuk-tuk can be transformed.

I have the first one ever to get full Hackney license in the UK.

Mike.

[think_too_mut]

I saw this one for sale during the Thai festival in Tokyo.

The price displayed is about 8500US$.

But, look "inside". The gauger shows up to 140km/h. I can't imagine a regular tuk-tuk doing more than 50km/h. Scary.

Been in it once and never again.

[sbkpeterpan]

They can handle quite well, we have a track version parked out at Bira circuit in Pattaya. this one also featured in Fast BIkes (a UK magazine) last year. Loads of fun around corners and almost untippable.

[tuktukmike]

You would be surprised what speed you can get from one.

The one in the picture has the Daihatsu 12valve 650cc fitted to a 5 speed box.

We have also fitted a high speed axle, it has a top speed of around 80-85mph.

I think that works out at around 120kph.

Mike.

BTW, this one will shortly be shipped to the States.

Edited January 17, 2006 by tuktukmike

[think_too_mut]

The one in the picture has the Daihatsu 12valve 650cc fitted to a 5 speed box.

Maybe in your picture.

In mine, it's a 2 stroke 250cc I don't know what engine. That one had 140kph gauger.

That's what I could not believe.

[markuk]

They drive like warmed up crap.

ehhh? never tried it myself how does it handle?

[tuktukmike]

A lot of the Bangkok tuk-tuks do have motorcycle engines fitted.

I was once offered engines called Tiangin made in China, No thanks.

As for the speedometer you can clearly see it has been made for a different vehicle but put into a tuk-tuk.

Also if you look at the recorded miles it has been tampered with as the digits are all out of line.

From the picture i am quite sure this tuk-tuk was built by a company in Bangkok called Expertise.

I heard recently that there was an article in the Bangkok post about one Bangkok company that are going to make green tuk-tuks, and you guessed it, fitted with the same Daihatsu engine i have now used for the last 7 years.

What surprised me was that the Bangkok post published a story of my tuk-tuks many years ago with all the relavant info about clean tuk-tuks.

Never mind.

Mike.

BTW, only built this one with those silly outrider lights as customer ordered even though i told them that it cant pass the EU test with them, so off they came.

Edited January 17, 2006 by tuktukmike

[poorfarang]

got anymore pics?

[Gulliver_in_LOS]

As you can see just a little thought and even a tuk-tuk can be transformed.

I have the first one ever to get full Hackney license in the UK.

Mike.

Nice one By the way, first time I see one with seatbelts

G

[chanchao]

>> They drive like warmed up crap. smile.gif

> ehhh? never tried it myself how does it handle?

They corner sort of like a motorbike with side-cart. The steering was very heavy at slow speeds, a lot of the weight (driver's weight included is on top of that little front wheel. So the steering is kind of like a bicycle, but loads heavier.

Then the rest is mostly due to the engine, I would assume with a decent engine fitted you don't get that shit that the engines shuts down all the time unless you rev it. Gear box is pretty basic too, you feel it clunk. And power/torque is available at a very narrow rev-range. Again, I bet all those things would apply mostly to the cheapest/crappiest of local vehicles, others have already commented that they're also available with far more modern engines/parts.

But do drive one for a while before deciding to get one!

[tuktukmike]

Of course there were many things that had to change when i started as i agree the early ones i drove were awfull.

The steering was sorted by fitting the right tyre for the weight of the vehicle, out here they tend to fit crossply tyres that to be honest are cheap and nasty and belong on a wheelbarrow.

If fitted with an 81H rating tyre then there are no probs with the steering.

The most important thing is , 1 location of the Back Axle as this makes a huge differance as to the spread of the overall weight.

2. As said previously, location of the Drivetrain. Remember the lower the Drivetrain then the lower centre of gravity and this makes a hugh differance to the handling. Older tuk-tuks used to have the engine far to far forward on the vehicle.

Ideally the Drivetrain is best at midships or as near as you can get.

The reason the Bangkok tuk-tuks always seem to idle rough or stall is due mainly to badly regulated Gas systems, I have seen so many engines run on Gas that have blown holes through a piston or just blown the head .

When we convert we do it in the UK with the proper tools and equipment. If there are any people on this forum who have knowledge of this process i am sure they would agree 100%.

Mike.

[chanchao]

Thanks for posting all that, makes a lot of sense. Now stop it or I'll want one.