First time Motor Bike Purchase in Thailand

[BillBilous]

Hi All

Thanks to everyone who offered ideas on which Bike i should buy.....

my first Bike here in Thailand ( but rode lots in Europe )

I live in Huahin

 

I have decided to buy the Honda CB500X  - from Bigwing in Bangkok

 

So now i have decided on the Bike, can anyone clarify for me 

exactly what documents and the purchase procedure is ???

 

specifically 

 

• What documents i need to show at time of purchase 
• Do I need a letter from immigration 
• Can I drive on a UK licence 
• if the answer is no ....... what do i do ?
• Does anyone recommend a good Insurance company in HH - or do i get it with Honda BKK ?
• Is there a Motor Bike recovery service in thailand  
• where in HH can I buy quality gloves jacket helmet etc  
• Security  .... i live in an apartment........ what is the best method of securing my bike

Sorry for lots of questions

but as ever .....your assistance is greatly appreciated

 

As a newbie to HH , i look forward to joining any riders / bikers soon 

 

Thanks 

 

Billy 

[yankee99]

Passport

Certificate of residency

Money

UK license depends on the police

Insurance is sometimes included with the price ask the dealer

Security: maybe a disc lock, chain and insurance of course

[ll2]

And i assume you spared some cash for protective riding gear?
You dont need to show any license to buy a bike. Same as in our countries.
Basicly you only need money, passport and certificate of residence as yankee stated.
And bigwing offers 1st class tokio marine insurance which is good and cheapest around. Just get it from them, no hassle.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app Edited August 7, 2014 by ll2

[BillBilous]

thanks for your words of wisdom

you certainly make life easy 

 

regarding good protective gear.....

will i be able to buy this in Huahin...or is BKK better option 

 

Once again a sincere thanks 

[cariden]

what taxes do you pay to get the license plate and the title?? is there tax on it or do you pay that when you buy it??

[GAZZPA]

You will get lots of replies on most of these. I just wanted to comment on the license and insurance,, 

 

Just buy the insurance from the dealer, its cheap and it takes away the hassle. 

 

For your license, yes you can use your UK or International license for 3 months, after which you need a Thai license. But here is the good news,, take you UK license to the registration office (not sure of address in Hua him). As you have a UK license they will do a simple colour blind test and reaction test (really easy and nothing to worry about) and they will then issue you with a Thai 1 year license,, after that expires you then get a 5 year license.

 

You might as well get your car done at the same time,, I did as it is very cheap to do so.

 

To be very honest the system here is silly, it is very easy to get a license and you can see why there are so many bad drivers on the road.

 

Good luck, be safe on your new bike.

[Shurup]

^ to add to the above, you have to have a UK bike license to be able to get Thai bike license. I heard you can use your car license for smaller cc bikes in UK, but this rule isn't applicable here. However since you rode a lot in Europe I'm guessing you have a proper bike license?

[tomyumchai]

all the clothing you need can be found *somewhere* in BKK. i had a load of high quality UK spec summer clothing for sale but mostly gone now. if youre a small to medium guy then theres a lot of stuff around but bigger stuff is hard to find.

[maximillian]

Don't forget to join the worldwide CB500X forum. Lots of good advice, plenty of nice chaps there.

 

http://www.cb500x.com/index.php?action=forum

[ll2]

Don't forget to join the worldwide CB500X forum. Lots of good advice, plenty of nice chaps there.

 

http://www.cb500x.com/index.php?action=forum

 

i think much more advice at www.cbr500riders.com 

it is a larger forum.

[Max in Udon]

I purchased a Honda CB 500 F last January from Honda Big Wing in Udonthani.  All I took to the shop when I wanted the bike was the money.  Took confirmation of residency from Immigration to them a few days later.  Tried to find reasonable insurance, but the best I could find was with Tokio Insurance, arranged through Big Wing.  Just over 8,000 baht for 1st class insurance.

Big Wing do have a good range of clothing and boots, but as the jackets are leather, they are expensive. I went to the local Kawasaki shop and puchased a synthetic jacket, but with all the elbow, shoulder, and back protection, for 10,000 baht.  My helmet is a Shark, kevlar and fibre glass,  very good, but cost 18,000 baht.  But.........when you buy the bike from Big Wing, you are entitled to discounts, so that equaled 20% off the helmet.

I hope this helps you a bit.

[misterphil]

Passport

Certificate of residency

Money

UK license depends on the police

Insurance is sometimes included with the price ask the dealer

Security: maybe a disc lock, chain and insurance of course

 

Good points especially "UK license depends on the police" If the police know that you own the bike they will want to know why you don't have a Thai licence, as you are not just a tourist if your spending that type of money here.  

 

[darkian]

Some really useful advice in this thread. I'm also looking at buying a bike, and will be a first time bike buyer here. I have some good Thai friends who I'm sure can help me with the actual purchase. I do have a few questions of my own though:

 

Where is a good place to buy a helmet? Preferably not a bike shop, as in my experience their stock is limited and the staff know f-all. This isn't a major issue as I'll be visiting Europe and US soon, so can buy one there. I'm looking for a modular helmet, full-face but with a flip-up front.

 

What is a certificate of residence? Is this what I need to visit my embassy for? And can I get one with a B or ED visa? If I need to show funds or anything like that it's not a problem.

 

I have no bike license despite riding (off road) bikes for 25 years, since in my home country I only used cars to get about on the roads. This year alone I've done 10,000km of leisure riding in India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Nepal. My European driving license only covers up to 125cc, although my international license says bikes up to 450kg. In addition to this I am red-green colourblind, and find the notion of a colour blindness test here absolutely ludicrous, since being red-green colourblind does not mean you have any difficulty telling stop/go traffic lights apart!

 

Am I best off just making do with my international license and accepting that I'll have to pay bribes like I have done several times in Cambodia? Getting a European bike license is something I want to do, but the time and cost has put me off in the past given I don't live there. I had always assumed that they wouldn't really check the classes here for bikes/cars when applying for a local license, but I guess I was wrong!

 

I'm looking at buying a CRF-250M, and then maybe later an off-road wheelset. Do most dealers allow test rides if you leave passport/deposit, etc? And I'm guessing that any bike purchased from a genuine Honda dealer will have the correct registration documents so that the bike cannot be seized etc?

 

Finally, last one! If I wanted to take the bike into Cambodia or Laos for a ride around, how hard is it crossing borders?

 

Thanks!

[Wong!]

^ to add to the above, you have to have a UK bike license to be able to get Thai bike license. I heard you can use your car license for smaller cc bikes in UK, but this rule isn't applicable here. However since you rode a lot in Europe I'm guessing you have a proper bike license?

I got a bike license based on a standard UK license having a provisional bike/scooter section. I got a car one at the same time.

This was in Udon around a year ago.

[casualbiker]

Op. Just try and get the Thai license it actually helps with ID at hotels and at national parks. Panda rider in Bkk have a good range of gear (not cheap but authentic) 320sp are cheaper but check quality if happy. Ok.

There are many others as well depending on your budget.

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