Motorcycle Import

[redbyteonline]

Does anyone know how to register a motorcycle purchased in Cambodia in Thailand?

Any info greatly apreciated.

Dan

[ajahnlau]

All it takes is money. Not likely worth the hassle. Import tax,reg.cost.and likely "tea". Go to the import tax page. Likely best to sell in Cambodia and buy another here.

[mog]

All it takes is money. Not likely worth the hassle. Import tax,reg.cost.and likely "tea". Go to the import tax page. Likely best to sell in Cambodia and buy another here.

ajahnlau - i think i want a kawasaki bike, probably the KLX 250 - what should i do, are there importers, can i go and get one somewhere, must i just keep looking for a second one or what? I'd be most grateful for your opinion - mog

[ajahnlau]

All it takes is money. Not likely worth the hassle. Import tax,reg.cost.and likely "tea". Go to the import tax page. Likely best to sell in Cambodia and buy another here.

ajahnlau - i think i want a kawasaki bike, probably the KLX 250 - what should i do, are there importers, can i go and get one somewhere, must i just keep looking for a second one or what? I'd be most grateful for your opinion - mog

Go to www.mocyc.com for 2nd hand, there's a search box just type in what you want. Red Baron or Siam super bike might help as well.

[ScubaDuc]

Go to www.mocyc.com for 2nd hand, there's a search box just type in what you want. Red Baron or Siam super bike might help as well.

Mmmm, I also have a similar problem, I am emotionally attached to my Duc, the love of my life, so I would really like to take it with me if I choose to retire in Thailand. Is it possible? The bike is 10 yrs old with 15k Km on it....Practically still new and it looks like it left the dealership yestersday...

Would really turn heads on the Phuket strip...

[Sojourner]

Scubaduc, yes you can bring your used bike into Thailand but must get permission from the Ministry of Commerce first. Talk with a freight forwarder in Bangkok. They will need to pave the way for you to clear Customs. The duty, VAT and excise tax will kill you but if you really love the bike, it's worth it. Don't ship your bike until you have everything in hand, especially the M of C letter.

[xbusman]

No problem bringing it with you if retire here.

The process is pretty simple. Break it down into about 3000 parts, be sure to drain the oil and petrol before commencing.

Organize the parts into essential and non-essential piles. Non-essential things include items you can buy here or just dont need. For example, you dont need a choke in Thailand. Turn signals should be promptly discarded and every Ducati is grossly over braked for the 5kph you can enjoy in the hard corners in bangkok. Leave at least one or two caliper assemblies in the non-essential pile, you will be just fine with one.

You could probably purchase tires and wheels here so give those bits to your local grocer. The seat is pretty bulky, fine replacements can be found here in a variety of amazing colors. The shocks are going to look great on your neighbors riding lawn mower, you can find replacements here.

Now that you have the essential pile narrowed down, we need to size the parts for shipping. Start with a tape measure. Any part that is bigger than about 24 inches needs to be seperated and resized. Begin with that bulky bugger of a frame. Fairly easy, a chop saw will do the trick nicely. Try to cut the frame in as few places as possible, with todays modern minimalist frames you can often reduce the size simply by cutting in half. IMPORTANT NOTE, do not cut the frame off at the same point on each size. During the collision you can expect while riding here, if the frame is cut at the same place on both sides it will allow the forces to concentrate and collapse the frame on impact. Being that you will be welding the frame back together probably with torch and rod circa 1944 you have to be aware of stress.

Okay, we are disassembled, essential and resized except.... for the tank. Those are a wee bit troublesome. It is recommended that you discard the tank and purchase one here. Any decent Thai mechanic with access to wire and duct tape can install a current model Honda Phantom tank on your pride and joy. About 3 gallons, these beauties include a locking cap. I know you Ducati types though, soooo HiSo, I bet you want the original tank. Okay, here is a handy trick, beat it with a hammer until it can fit inside the carry-on luggage guage at your airport. Now the beauty of carry on luggage is that there is no weight check so you want to fill the tank with all the fasteners you removed during disassembly. You would be amazed how stinking heavy that tank will be when done, maybe 40 kilos. Tape on some lovely handles of kevlar reinforced webbing and your first piece of transport luggage is done.

I know, I know... your thinking "my tank will be ruined", but here is the trick. On arriving in Thailand, fill the tank with water and throw it in a freezer. The frozen water expands and after a few times your tank will be the same approx size and shape as when new. A little bondo and new paint, almost good as new, and quite inexpensive to boot.

The rest of the bits, well just pack them in your luggage, pay the overweight and extra baggage charge and you are home free. The best part!!! No duty, no taxes, no parts lost in shipping. Its a slam dunk. Just reassemble and be on your way, turning heads all over thailand.

OR, you might try searching this forum to see the millions of words already wasted on this subject.

Happy riding.

[Gazza]

A few other non-essential parts to consider not bringing.

Reflectors - You can buy multi-purpose ones here that not only reflect light but you can also remove them from the bike and listen to music on them after a good cleaning. Thais call them 'See These' (Thai slang 'See Dese').

Mud flaps - Here they're so prevalent that you would think that they grew on trees. Not your usual black coloured ones mind you but come in various shades of leafy green.

Tank badges, decals, motifs etc. - Don't bother bringing these as you can get the exact same things for any bike and you'd be hard pushed to notice that they're imitations. One thing that is a give away is that Thais spell Ducati, Honda, Yamaha etc. as H-A-R-L-E-Y-D-A-V-I-D-S-O-N.

Side Stands - Park your bike in any mc parking lot here and you'll realise just how troublesome they are for parking in Thailand. Coming back to your bike you'll often find that a kindly Thai has parked his mc so close to the right of your bike that you won't be able to straighten it up enough to put the stand up. So when parking, just lean your bike over to the left against someone elses bike.

[Sojourner]

ScubaDuc, keep it simple, keep it legal. If you can't afford it, don't do it. You will enjoy it better when you have a Thai registration book and a license plate that actually belongs to your Duc. I keep copies of my reg. book as well as the letter from the Ministry of Commerce tucked away in the bike so when I come up on a police roadblock somewhere between Chang San and Chiang Rai I've got everything to prove it's legal and I own it.

[ScubaDuc]

ScubaDuc, keep it simple, keep it legal. If you can't afford it, don't do it. You will enjoy it better when you have a Thai registration book and a license plate that actually belongs to your Duc. I keep copies of my reg. book as well as the letter from the Ministry of Commerce tucked away in the bike so when I come up on a police roadblock somewhere between Chang San and Chiang Rai I've got everything to prove it's legal and I own it.

Thanks all of you for hints and suggestions. Of course I would want to keep the bike legal and surely I will NOT put any mud flaps or other Thai customization: The bike is stock except for a Termignoni carbon slip-on and dynojet kit. I also enjoyed the sarcasm of those who suggested I cut my bike in parts... , for I hope it was sarcasm... For your info, Ducs have tubular frames which are already soldered: Surely the duty on a 10 yrs old bike can't be that much. How do they calculate duty..I mean based on what value?

As far as Thai spelling bikes "Harley"...Here in Europe the ABC of motorcycle is pretty simple:

A= Aprilia: B=Bimota; C=Cagiva; D=Ducati..G=Guzzi....H for Harley comes just before L for lawnmower, which is about how much power they have.... (just teasing back a bit!)

Edit: Arrgh! I forgot the kickstand is spring loaded....

Edited February 22, 2006 by ScubaDuc

[ajahnlau]

ScubaDuc, keep it simple, keep it legal. If you can't afford it, don't do it. You will enjoy it better when you have a Thai registration book and a license plate that actually belongs to your Duc. I keep copies of my reg. book as well as the letter from the Ministry of Commerce tucked away in the bike so when I come up on a police roadblock somewhere between Chang San and Chiang Rai I've got everything to prove it's legal and I own it.

Thanks all of you for hints and suggestions. Of course I would want to keep the bike legal and surely I will NOT put any mud flaps or other Thai customization: The bike is stock except for a Termignoni carbon slip-on and dynojet kit. I also enjoyed the sarcasm of those who suggested I cut my bike in parts... , for I hope it was sarcasm... For your info, Ducs have tubular frames which are already soldered: Surely the duty on a 10 yrs old bike can't be that much. How do they calculate duty..I mean based on what value?

As far as Thai spelling bikes "Harley"...Here in Europe the ABC of motorcycle is pretty simple:

A= Aprilia: B=Bimota; C=Cagiva; D=Ducati..G=Guzzi....H for Harley comes just before L for lawnmower, which is about how much power they have.... (just teasing back a bit!)

Edit: Arrgh! I forgot the kickstand is spring loaded....

The value is calculated on what customs think the bike is worth,not the invoice. If you think it's too much it will cost a fortune to clear and ship back. After all these replies from guys that live here with bikes which we have paid a higher price than back home don't you think we would of tried the import route. Ducs are available here. So you have a choice of listening to the good advice of others with experience or try to prove you can do it a cheaper way. Good luck!

[xbusman]

Well obviously your search button is out of commission.

To import a bike a good rule of thumb is to figure tax and duties to be about 280% of the current retail of a similar model plus shipping, set up, and dont forget the Thammasat college fund.

So, if your lucky, lets say a current Ducati similar model is in the $18,000 range, you would be looking at about $50,400 in total "governmental" fees to get your pride and joy here.

The good part of the tubular frame is that it can be folded with hydraulics once the engine is removed. I seem to remember that the Ducati uses the engine casing as the lower cradle so it might be a simple matter of folding it once along the upper spine.

Discard the rear view mirrors, its against the law to use them here I think. Throw that silly italian horn into the garbage, you can fit an air compressor and trumpets on when you get it reassembled.

Your going to really, really turn some heads in Thailand.

[Gazza]

Scubaduc, try the link below. The topic was about green books but I posted info of a guy who brought his own bike in from Japan and posted a good account of the import and registration process.

One thing to bear in mind though is that I'm sure the guy was a student. If overseas students should have certain taxes waived when importing then try importing your bike using the same approach.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...6&hl=green+book

[xbusman]

Kids, registration is the easy part. Well not easy actually, more accurate would be acceptably illegal.

Its Customs that will take your life savings away from you. Gazza, if you have any posted stories of people who waltzed past customs without being extorted beyond endurance I for one would be very interested in that path. The only way I have been able to verify is to break the parts down, import as used motorcycle parts and pay the 40% duty on what they imagine the value might be.

My thought is that if your going to all the trouble of breaking your motorcycle down into pieces, stuff it in your carry on.

[ScubaDuc]

Scubaduc, try the link below. The topic was about green books but I posted info of a guy who brought his own bike in from Japan and posted a good account of the import and registration process.

One thing to bear in mind though is that I'm sure the guy was a student. If overseas students should have certain taxes waived when importing then try importing your bike using the same approach.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...6&hl=green+book

Thanks: I have read it and I am now more aware of what it implies. The Ducati importer in BKK is called Ducatisti and my dealer here would create it up. If the importer is italian, I could stand a chance. However, having had nightmares about my Duc looking like a chrismas tree, giant waves looming at the horizon, I started considering buying a souless Jap one...In which case, I might not even move residence and just migrate for the winter. Here is a pic of my pride: Not bad for a 95!!!

[Sojourner]

ScubaDuc, just remember used motorcycles are banned from importation into Thailand. It's plain and simple. Only under special circumstances can one bring in a used motorcycle. You have owned yours for over a year and a half. If you decide to live here, either with a work permit or marriage visa or retirement visa, you can request a letter of permission to import your used motorcycle into Thailand. The Customs guys will decide amongst themselves what the value of your bike is. Then a 90% duty will be added. Then 7% VAT on top of that. Then excise tax on top of that. The cost of shipping your bike is considered part of the value of your import. So at the end of the day you have a tax on a tax on a tax, freight added into the value, 20-30K for the Ministry of Commerce, Customs clearance fees, demarge, freight company fees and so on. If you get a clearing agent first, that person will represent you at Customs and make your life much easier. I've done it and I probably wouldn't do it again. It cost me twice the value of the bike. I polish it religiously and ride it as often as I can. It was worth every baht.

[ScubaDuc]

ScubaDuc, just remember used motorcycles are banned from importation into Thailand. It's plain and simple. Only under special circumstances can one bring in a used motorcycle. You have owned yours for over a year and a half. If you decide to live here, either with a work permit or marriage visa or retirement visa, you can request a letter of permission to import your used motorcycle into Thailand. The Customs guys will decide amongst themselves what the value of your bike is. Then a 90% duty will be added. Then 7% VAT on top of that. Then excise tax on top of that. The cost of shipping your bike is considered part of the value of your import. So at the end of the day you have a tax on a tax on a tax, freight added into the value, 20-30K for the Ministry of Commerce, Customs clearance fees, demarge, freight company fees and so on. If you get a clearing agent first, that person will represent you at Customs and make your life much easier. I've done it and I probably wouldn't do it again. It cost me twice the value of the bike. I polish it religiously and ride it as often as I can. It was worth every baht.

Thanks for your post. It really sums it up well! I have imported a vehicle from the US into the EU and normally there is an exemption from duty if the vehicle has remained property of the owner for more than six months prior to the change of residence. Clearly, Thailand is different but I was hoping that, being the bike over 10 yrs of age, albeit in mint conditions, it wouldn't be soo expensive to bring it in...guess not! I also looked at used ducs in thailand and surprise, there are some! Next time I pass by BKK, I am going to pay a visit to the official Ducati importer and hear what they have to say. Maybe they can bring it in in parts, otherwise, I saw a used monster 400 for about 5k bucks and a 748 for about 15kilobucks....WITHOUT MUDFLAPS