Why Oh Why Do They Do It? (Motorbike Rentals)

[Virt]

Sat at Samui rock cafe last night and enjoyed a few drinks and watched people go by on the lake road.

Think it was like one out of seven or so that had a helmet on.

The local police could make a fortune if they started fining people for not wearing a helmet, and a nice side effect would hopefully be a drop in fatalities,cause people drive like crazy here.

Thank god i havent witnessed an accident yet or been in one,but can understand why so many happens.

Sad that so many accidents happens here.

Another thing that boggles my mind is the way the do their wiring of the electricity. Noticed they built a nice sidewalk on lake road compared to last year,but parked cars are blocking most of it and at certain point the wires are hanging down at chest height. walking there at night is a bit scary.

[phl]

Sat at Samui rock cafe last night and enjoyed a few drinks and watched people go by on the lake road.

Think it was like one out of seven or so that had a helmet on.

The local police could make a fortune if they started fining people for not wearing a helmet, and a nice side effect would hopefully be a drop in fatalities,cause people drive like crazy here.

Thank god i havent witnessed an accident yet or been in one,but can understand why so many happens.

Sad that so many accidents happens here.

Another thing that boggles my mind is the way the do their wiring of the electricity. Noticed they built a nice sidewalk on lake road compared to last year,but parked cars are blocking most of it and at certain point the wires are hanging down at chest height. walking there at night is a bit scary.

sorry but what does your post have to do with people renting bikes yet not being able to ride it?

[Virt]

Just wanted to express my concerns about accidents waiting to happen and found this thread suiting to do so. Sorry if i posted it in a wrong thread.

[Virt]

So much for us not witnessing an accident. Took at walk down lake road near food market and while waiting to cross the road safely ,two thais crashed into eachother and both ended up on the road. Not nice to witness but thank god both got up and could drag their bikes away so we left without interfeering.

Minutes After that we witnessed two guys on bikes driving up on the sidewalk with a somewhat high speed because there was a bit of a trafficjam after accident, and was thinking about how crazy it was,but noticed one of the guys had a go pro camera mounted to his helmet.

I just hope he does not end up filming his own accident waiting to happen.

[phl]

So much for us not witnessing an accident. Took at walk down lake road near food market and while waiting to cross the road safely ,two thais crashed into eachother and both ended up on the road. Not nice to witness but thank god both got up and could drag their bikes away so we left without interfeering.

Minutes After that we witnessed two guys on bikes driving up on the sidewalk with a somewhat high speed because there was a bit of a trafficjam after accident, and was thinking about how crazy it was,but noticed one of the guys had a go pro camera mounted to his helmet.

I just hope he does not end up filming his own accident waiting to happen.

LOL, and again totally unrelated, but thanks for sharing

[BigC]

Sat at Samui rock cafe last night and enjoyed a few drinks and watched people go by on the lake road.

Think it was like one out of seven or so that had a helmet on.

The local police could make a fortune if they started fining people for not wearing a helmet, and a nice side effect would hopefully be a drop in fatalities,cause people drive like crazy here.

Thank god i havent witnessed an accident yet or been in one,but can understand why so many happens.

Sad that so many accidents happens here.

Another thing that boggles my mind is the way the do their wiring of the electricity. Noticed they built a nice sidewalk on lake road compared to last year,but parked cars are blocking most of it and at certain point the wires are hanging down at chest height. walking there at night is a bit scary.

emfirstly the police do fine people who do not wear helmets in road blocks.

secondly. I don;t think faulty elctric can effect people renting bikes. There again this is Thailand so why not warn people when they rent a bit about the fault electric wiring. completly un relatied to bike rentals but funnily related to Thai Style randomness.

[HalfSquat]

I did this once! I hired the bike, took it for a test drive up the track to try and remember the controls and crashed into a tree and fell off.

Luckily no one saw and I was able to take the bike for the day.

[oldsailor35]

I think some Farangs have been taking lessons of this guy !!!

Not sure what language they spoke, but almost identical to my customer

OZZZtralian I think, it's the only English spoken that needs English subtitles on the Telly!

Apologies to those Ozzies that speak proper English!

Streuth cobber, a sound like a bloody fair dinkum yahoo !

[sharktooth]

I think some Farangs have been taking lessons of this guy !!!

Not sure what language they spoke, but almost identical to my customer

OZZZtralian I think, it's the only English spoken that needs English subtitles on the Telly!

Apologies to those Ozzies that speak proper English!

Streuth cobber, a sound like a bloody fair dinkum yahoo !

The above is from an English tv show called "the Inbetweeners."

Many many moons ago I was sitting in a scuba shop in Phangan when two Canadians on one bike completely lost control of their bike, steamed straight through the shop, hit the desk and went over the bars. Completely unfazed, they got up and asked to go on any "deep dive", as they were "experienced." Experienced at being useless XXXXXX I had to agree.

[baco]

I see loads of tourists on mb blocking the road while reading a map and look annoyed when you say something about it

[TommoPhysicist]

I was not talking about the people who think they can ride a motor scooter, but the people who willingly rent to them when they can clearly see right from the start that it is not only a bad idea, but a dangerous one for the tourist.

They make more money from bogus/inflated repair charges than they do from the rental.

The most efficient rental firms would prefer to rent only to those that can't drive.

[BigC]

I see loads of tourists on mb blocking the road while reading a map and look annoyed when you say something about it

they should at least cut holes in the map so they can see whilst driving

[BigC]

I was not talking about the people who think they can ride a motor scooter, but the people who willingly rent to them when they can clearly see right from the start that it is not only a bad idea, but a dangerous one for the tourist.

They make more money from bogus/inflated repair charges than they do from the rental.

The most efficient rental firms would prefer to rent only to those that can't drive.

i think they do make some money of the crashes but not muc when u take into account time off the road plus the damaged they are a business. if people did not crash then they would not have to pay.

it is a shamethat us as people need to be told what to do by someone in authority to do the right things which means that norchy is floored. unless people exept they own desissions that they make

as for having a motor bike business that replies on crashes. that sounds like a head ache in itslelf. there must be some easier profiting businesses. or maybe not.

Us a humans are like monkeys.We know already that the chances of wearing a helmet could save our lives. we know that driving drunk increases chances of killingsomeone or being killed meaning either death or jail. yet we still do it then blame the police for not nannying us.

If the police are shit or not most of us are clever enough to use common sense as to not need them for half the shit that goes on here.

As forvioletncrimes and being attacked well one can only try to avoid trouble i know easy said that done.

If we always reply on the police for everything then when they are really needed they shallbe busy with a car crash after crash after crash

Edited September 2, 2012 by BigC

[TommoPhysicist]

I was not talking about the people who think they can ride a motor scooter, but the people who willingly rent to them when they can clearly see right from the start that it is not only a bad idea, but a dangerous one for the tourist.

They make more money from bogus/inflated repair charges than they do from the rental.

The most efficient rental firms would prefer to rent only to those that can't drive.

i think they do make some money of the crashes but not muc when u take into account time off the road plus the damaged they are a business. if people did not crash then they would not have to pay.

it is a shamethat us as people need to be told what to do by someone in authority to do the right things which means that norchy is floored. unless people exept they own desissions that they make

as for having a motor bike business that replies on crashes. that sounds like a head ache in itslelf. there must be some easier profiting businesses. or maybe not.

Most repairs are done the same day, pair of Honda wing mirrors 150bht, rubber grips 20bht a pair. Seat recover 300bht.

Plastic panels 400bht each (or less). Look at the guy who rolled the new Click, they settled at 20k for repairs.

You could replace the entire bodywork for 3k in about two hours, so that's 15k profit for 1 day off the road.

Edited September 2, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[Tropicalevo]

Most repairs are done the same day, pair of Honda wing mirrors 150bht, rubber grips 20bht a pair. Seat recover 300bht.

Plastic panels 400bht each (or less). Look at the guy who rolled the new Click, they settled at 20k for repairs.

You could replace the entire bodywork for 3k in about two hours, so that's 15k profit for 1 day off the road.

Sad - but so true

[sharktooth]

The rental shops have their number written all over the bikes for a reason. You drop it, then get it fixed yourself, the mechanic phones the rental shop and tells them. So you pay to get it fixed, but then get humped by the rental shop because they have a clause in your contract that only they are allowed to do the repairs.

The bikes are so cheap to rent cos they expect you to drop the bike, then pay the crazy prices they have quoted in your contract.

[carmine]

The rental shops have their number written all over the bikes for a reason. You drop it, then get it fixed yourself, the mechanic phones the rental shop and tells them. So you pay to get it fixed, but then get humped by the rental shop because they have a clause in your contract that only they are allowed to do the repairs.

The bikes are so cheap to rent cos they expect you to drop the bike, then pay the crazy prices they have quoted in your contract.

Thats not strictly true. Not everyone rips customers off and the number on the bike is also for the customer to use if they have a problem

[BigC]

I was not talking about the people who think they can ride a motor scooter, but the people who willingly rent to them when they can clearly see right from the start that it is not only a bad idea, but a dangerous one for the tourist.

They make more money from bogus/inflated repair charges than they do from the rental.

The most efficient rental firms would prefer to rent only to those that can't drive.

i think they do make some money of the crashes but not muc when u take into account time off the road plus the damaged they are a business. if people did not crash then they would not have to pay.

it is a shamethat us as people need to be told what to do by someone in authority to do the right things which means that norchy is floored. unless people exept they own desissions that they make

as for having a motor bike business that replies on crashes. that sounds like a head ache in itslelf. there must be some easier profiting businesses. or maybe not.

Most repairs are done the same day, pair of Honda wing mirrors 150bht, rubber grips 20bht a pair. Seat recover 300bht.

Plastic panels 400bht each (or less). Look at the guy who rolled the new Click, they settled at 20k for repairs.

You could replace the entire bodywork for 3k in about two hours, so that's 15k profit for 1 day off the road.

i understand both sides but a rental business is a business if one causes damage to a rental vehicle then i would not exept the business to act tlike a charity and give mecost price foreverything obviously there is a limit as to how much profit they make but they do need make money and put food on the table.

if you rent the bike ro car and return it in the same condition thenthere should be not problem.

If you are being charged for something that u have not done then one isbeing ripped off no doubt about it thats why i take photos and get the rentalperson topoint to themarks on the vehcile before i rent

[sharktooth]

If you cannot produce a bike license from your home country or international license, you should not be allowed to rent a bike. Would save a lot of heartache at the end of the day.

[insertmembernamehere]

If you cannot produce a bike license from your home country or international license, you should not be allowed to rent a bike. Would save a lot of heartache at the end of the day.

A "legal" rental would not negate those unscrupulous folks who want to shake you down for minor damage.

[sharktooth]

If you cannot produce a bike license from your home country or international license, you should not be allowed to rent a bike. Would save a lot of heartache at the end of the day.

A "legal" rental would not negate those unscrupulous folks who want to shake you down for minor damage.

Why didn't you just quote my post #76 when I made that precise point? My most recent one was with regard to safety of the zero experienced riders who hire bikes and have no idea what they are doing... until a parent gets a call saying they are either dead or in jail.

[baco]

My experience is that the ones who say I've 10 or 20 yrs my mb license are the ones who come back with a damaged mb