Local Honda Agents, Can't Even Change A Tyre (Tire)

[NoshowJones]

I ordered a new rear tyre for my PCX 150 from my local Honda agents. When I asked them to fit it, they said they cannot, they cannot speak English, so I phoned my wife to come and find out what the problem was. They said something like they can only do for a small bike.

They then took the wheel off and took it across the road to a small motorbike repair shop, they then did it no problem. I saw what happened with my own eyes. They sell PCXs, so why can't they change the tyre?

[dave_boo]

555+

I had forgot about that! One time I had ordered some new Pirellis from Charlie and stopped at all of the shops around the moobaan to have them spooned on. No can do too big. They suggested I go to the car shop. They said too small.

Ended up riding the ~90km to Nakhon Sawan with the tyres wrapped around me and b.i.l. to the Kawasaki dealership.

[NoshowJones]

555+

I had forgot about that! One time I had ordered some new Pirellis from Charlie and stopped at all of the shops around the moobaan to have them spooned on. No can do too big. They suggested I go to the car shop. They said too small.

Ended up riding the ~90km to Nakhon Sawan with the tyres wrapped around me and b.i.l. to the Kawasaki dealership.

That's unbelievable Dave, but this is Thailand.

[dave_boo]

555+

I had forgot about that! One time I had ordered some new Pirellis from Charlie and stopped at all of the shops around the moobaan to have them spooned on. No can do too big. They suggested I go to the car shop. They said too small.

Ended up riding the ~90km to Nakhon Sawan with the tyres wrapped around me and b.i.l. to the Kawasaki dealership.

That's unbelievable Dave, but this is Thailand.

Stay long enough and you'll amass a collection of such anecdotes.

My favourite arose when I opened a joint savings account for my daughter. The bank, who I used all the time (just never that customer service rep) asked how "I" had an account in the first place. She then said I couldn't get one if I didn't have a work permit (don't have because work overseas). So I went online, looked up the requirements for a non-foreign currency deposit savings account and then showed it to her. She had the gall to ask "where is that webpage from". <deleted>!

Eventually we had the account made and now my daughter regularly deposits money into it but can not withdraw without my signature. Works really well.

[ll2]

changing tire is not an easy job and if they are just employees, why they bother on something they do not have a gain as they have sold you the tire already.

maybe if you have agreed with them in advance, things might be different.

Plus some of the tire shops does not want to take responsibility. Especially changing the tire of a big bike. I suffered a lot on changing or properly repairing - vulcanizing - flat tires as hard to find a tire shop that can accept you.

[JonnyF]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

[dave_boo]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

That's hilarious.

Wonder what the charging times were like; I know a lot of 'real' chargers quick charge the first 50-75% and then slow down to normal rates.

[eisfeld]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

What are you supposed to do if you buy a new battery and noone has chargers? I never will understand these things around here. But I guess a lot of business opportunities because of it

[seedy]

But tires at a tire shop that can mount and balance motorcycle tires

[NoshowJones]

But tires at a tire shop that can mount and balance motorcycle tires

I live in a village upcountry, and would need to find one first.

[seedy]

I live in a village upcountry, and would need to find one first.

Me in this case - would buy tire levers and do it myself.

[ll2]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

What are you supposed to do if you buy a new battery and noone has chargers? I never will understand these things around here. But I guess a lot of business opportunities because of it

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

[dave_boo]

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

A lead-acid battery will discharge at ~5% per month. So assuming that you put a 12V 30 CCA battery on a shelf it will go down ~360 watts a month (that's Cold Cranking Amps so actual amount will be less...just going with the worst case scenario). The amount of energy used by a large CFL bulb burning for 10 hours. Not daily, but straight.

I checked the last electric bill; 8 baht/kilowatt. So, to float charge that little bit of lost juice costs a minimum of 2.88 baht...for the year. Of course charger inefficiency and blah-blah-blah, but still it's NOT cheaper to buy a new battery every 2-3 years unless you're getting them for 30 baht or less.

[ll2]

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

A lead-acid battery will discharge at ~5% per month. So assuming that you put a 12V 30 CCA battery on a shelf it will go down ~360 watts a month (that's Cold Cranking Amps so actual amount will be less...just going with the worst case scenario). The amount of energy used by a large CFL bulb burning for 10 hours. Not daily, but straight.

I checked the last electric bill; 8 baht/kilowatt. So, to float charge that little bit of lost juice costs a minimum of 2.88 baht...for the year. Of course charger inefficiency and blah-blah-blah, but still it's NOT cheaper to buy a new battery every 2-3 years unless you're getting them for 30 baht or less.

but what if a battery conditioner constantly works? and even on standby, they use some power.

[JonnyF]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

What are you supposed to do if you buy a new battery and noone has chargers? I never will understand these things around here. But I guess a lot of business opportunities because of it

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

The manufacturer for my battery recommends that you charge for 12 hours before using the first time and states that the first charge is the most important. I'm pretty sure the electricity used to charge periodically is negligible compared to the price of the battery as they're not cheap. But it's not really the money anyway - it's the inconvenience of going to ride the bike and finding the battery flat. It's also a pain having to source a new battery.

Due to work commitments, family visiting etc. I might not ride this bike next month so it's quite handy to be able to charge the battery myself every now and then. Plus I prefer to do simple things myself so I know it's been done correctly (I actually asked my mechanic to fully charge it at the last service 2 weeks ago but clearly he didn't as it went flat a week later and when I removed it the connectors/screws were filthy and clearly hadn't been undone since it was installed).

Thanks for the link, looks good...

[dave_boo]

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

A lead-acid battery will discharge at ~5% per month. So assuming that you put a 12V 30 CCA battery on a shelf it will go down ~360 watts a month (that's Cold Cranking Amps so actual amount will be less...just going with the worst case scenario). The amount of energy used by a large CFL bulb burning for 10 hours. Not daily, but straight.

I checked the last electric bill; 8 baht/kilowatt. So, to float charge that little bit of lost juice costs a minimum of 2.88 baht...for the year. Of course charger inefficiency and blah-blah-blah, but still it's NOT cheaper to buy a new battery every 2-3 years unless you're getting them for 30 baht or less.

but what if a battery conditioner constantly works? and even on standby, they use some power.

Peanuts. I have never bought a new battery in LoS (I think that the family bought a new one for the Ninjette...but I'm not sure) so I don't know the prices. However, take the price of a new one, divide it by 3. Let's say that's 100 baht (300baht/3 years of service). Your battery conditioner would have to consume 12.5 kW each year (300 baht/3 years/8 baht per kW) to break even with the purchase price of a new battery (correct my initial cost as needed). That's about 1 kW per month. Or the cost of running that large CFL mentioned earlier an hour every day of the month.

[NoshowJones]

I live in a village upcountry, and would need to find one first.

Me in this case - would buy tire levers and do it myself.

I have never been any good with my hands, apart from playing guitar and keyboards. just not used to manual work.

[seedy]

CTEK XS800 Input 220-240 VAC 0.15 A

24 hours - 3.6 amp

365 days - 1314 amp

Amp to KW assuming a conversion factor of 1 - 315.36 KW per year

We pay 4 baht KW

Cost to plug in for one year - 1,261 baht

BUT - once charged the charger does not stay on continuously - let's say 50%

Cost per year - 630 baht

I think it is on closer to 15-20% - so at 20%

Cost per year - 252 baht

[Gsxrnz]

I live in a village upcountry, and would need to find one first.

Me in this case - would buy tire levers and do it myself.

Ah......those halcyon days.

When every kid worth his salt at the age of 10 knew that spoons were not just for eating dessert.

And he had a dumbbell multi head box spanner, a puncture repair outfit, a spoke key, a spare cotter pin, and a pair of Mum's best dessert spoons in the leather pouch strapped to the back of the bike seat.

[Briggsy]

I keep banging on about this.

In Thailand a motorbike dealer is often simply that, a motorbike dealer. They receive new bikes from a manufacturer and sell them to customers for a gross profit. They also arrange finance for a commission. They have various costs such as rent, depreciation, salaries, etc. They often one have one mechanic whose job it is to put oil in the new bikes. They are the classic Chinese trader.

They are not Honda or any other manufacturer. If you want tyres fitted you will need to go to a shop that does that.

[ll2]

a new battery comes charged and it gets charged when the bike is running.

i sometime think, which one is more expensive? a new battery every 2 -3 years or electricity bills coming from battery conditioner working constantly everyday when the bike is parked.

jonnyf, check these guys as ctek is a good brand: http://www.jumpandcharge.com/ - https://th-th.facebook.com/CtekThai

A lead-acid battery will discharge at ~5% per month. So assuming that you put a 12V 30 CCA battery on a shelf it will go down ~360 watts a month (that's Cold Cranking Amps so actual amount will be less...just going with the worst case scenario). The amount of energy used by a large CFL bulb burning for 10 hours. Not daily, but straight.

I checked the last electric bill; 8 baht/kilowatt. So, to float charge that little bit of lost juice costs a minimum of 2.88 baht...for the year. Of course charger inefficiency and blah-blah-blah, but still it's NOT cheaper to buy a new battery every 2-3 years unless you're getting them for 30 baht or less.

but what if a battery conditioner constantly works? and even on standby, they use some power.

Peanuts. I have never bought a new battery in LoS (I think that the family bought a new one for the Ninjette...but I'm not sure) so I don't know the prices. However, take the price of a new one, divide it by 3. Let's say that's 100 baht (300baht/3 years of service). Your battery conditioner would have to consume 12.5 kW each year (300 baht/3 years/8 baht per kW) to break even with the purchase price of a new battery (correct my initial cost as needed). That's about 1 kW per month. Or the cost of running that large CFL mentioned earlier an hour every day of the month.

An ok quality batter for honda wave 125 for example is 400 thb and goes like 3 years so charging it for three years will cost you not a lot more than electricity plus hassle of putting it in charge everyday.

For my bigbikes here, never get flat battery but changed my bikes every year. Weather is not cold here too which is a favor for batteries.

And if flat battery, push starting the bike at 2nd gear is always your friend.

[JonnyF]

Some seemingly simple things become really tricky sometimes. Bought a battery from Dr.Bike on Tuesday, asked for a charger for it (didn't want to use a car battery charger). Dr Bike don't have it. So I tried the shop next to Dainese on Prasert Manukitch, no have. Panda Rider, no have, Tesco, no have, Big C, no have, HomePro, no have, Honda Bigwing, out of stock (although I think they knew I was lieing when I said it was for a CBR650 as I didn't want to open up a can of worms by telling them it was for a Suzuki), 4 Somchai bike shops - no have. Mom and Pop hardware store - no have

Ended up taking the battery out of my UPS and charging it off the UPS

That's hilarious.

Wonder what the charging times were like; I know a lot of 'real' chargers quick charge the first 50-75% and then slow down to normal rates.

The battery is 10.5 ah. Generally accepted rule is 1 amp of charging per 10 ah of battery capacity. The UPS was rated at 0.7 amp of charging which is not perfect but much better than blasting it with my car battery charger which is designed for 2000cc cars and provides 12 amp of charging.

Not sure of the charging rate over time but given that UPS are plugged in 24/7 for several years before battery failure I guess they wouldn't overcharge a battery in the short term. I left mine on for 12 hours.

[dave_boo]

CTEK XS800 Input 220-240 VAC 0.15 A

24 hours - 3.6 amp

365 days - 1314 amp

Amp to KW assuming a conversion factor of 1 - 315.36 KW per year

We pay 4 baht KW

Cost to plug in for one year - 1,261 baht

BUT - once charged the charger does not stay on continuously - let's say 50%

Cost per year - 630 baht

I think it is on closer to 15-20% - so at 20%

Cost per year - 252 baht

That's 0.15A max load; i.e. when charging a battery.

I don't have a clue how much the battery test and LED(s) consume, but it's negligible. The only important number is the amount that it has to recharge the battery, not how much it can consume total.

[seedy]

Just an example - using worst case scenario, of how little power they consume compared to the cost of a new battery.

And that is plugged in 24/7. In the real world, bike being used more or less daily, plug in at end of day, I would bet less than 100 baht - and maybe as low as 50 - for the year.

And your battery kept in tip top condition.

[billd766]

555+

I had forgot about that! One time I had ordered some new Pirellis from Charlie and stopped at all of the shops around the moobaan to have them spooned on. No can do too big. They suggested I go to the car shop. They said too small.

Ended up riding the ~90km to Nakhon Sawan with the tyres wrapped around me and b.i.l. to the Kawasaki dealership.

I did the same thing with my Phantom and took the tyres to a place in Lat Yao next to the 7/11. For the Honda CB 400 I took the tyres and bike to my local Honda dealer in the village and came back a couple of hours later. All done nicely.

When I got home I let the pressure of the tyres down from the 50 that they were at to a MUCH safer 32 psi.

I check the tyre pressures every time the bikes come back from a service.

[dave_boo]

555+

I had forgot about that! One time I had ordered some new Pirellis from Charlie and stopped at all of the shops around the moobaan to have them spooned on. No can do too big. They suggested I go to the car shop. They said too small.

Ended up riding the ~90km to Nakhon Sawan with the tyres wrapped around me and b.i.l. to the Kawasaki dealership.

I did the same thing with my Phantom and took the tyres to a place in Lat Yao next to the 7/11. For the Honda CB 400 I took the tyres and bike to my local Honda dealer in the village and came back a couple of hours later. All done nicely.

When I got home I let the pressure of the tyres down from the 50 that they were at to a MUCH safer 32 psi.

I check the tyre pressures every time the bikes come back from a service.

I've used that shop for various things over the years.

[ll2]

Just an example - using worst case scenario, of how little power they consume compared to the cost of a new battery.

And that is plugged in 24/7. In the real world, bike being used more or less daily, plug in at end of day, I would bet less than 100 baht - and maybe as low as 50 - for the year.

And your battery kept in tip top condition.

Still 100 thb per year for three years is equal to the price of a new honda wave battery.

For big bikes sure battery is expensive though so conditioner is a good idea but then i ride my bike everyday anyway.

Edited January 25, 2015 by ll2