Motorcycle Books

[ray23]

Anybody been running with out them if so what has your experience been

I was looking at some bikes down town 400 CC to 1200CC great bikes, good prices but not one with a book.

The lady at the shop told us no problem as long as you stay in Thailand. Met a farrang there who said he had been running without a book for ten years three diferent bikes and never had a problem, But it sure makes me nervous. We are not talking about a few thousand Baht here. Supposedly they can get a book for 70k but you could tell they really didn't want to.

[jdinasia]

I THINK you can get the insurance without the book BUT not pay taxes on the bike without it. Meaning you are subject to fines every single time you ride the bike.

It is a pain in the butt to get all the paperwork in order to get the book for your tags ... buy a bike with proper registration instead.

(PS ... the cost to get a book is less than 1k baht)

[Aussie Andy]

I think it definately pays to have the correct paperwork. Done both, and have to say it gets annoying trying to avoid the boys in brown during the day. If your paperwork is all in tact then they have less to try and slug you for. If you buy one that doesn't have it then you decide you want to get the paperwork it can be costly.

oh yeah... I have a HONDA VFR400 for sale, with the books. The price I have listed IS negotiable.

Cheers

Andy

[HDRIDER]

Hi

Here in Phuket you would not like to have a bike without book thats for sure, they have asked to see my book twice in 3 years, its a harley but i guess it dosent matter if they want to see the green book, one time in Kathu i had to leave the bike and go home after the book.

[xbusman]

The times are a changing.

For many years Thailand was the hub of stolen bikes, mostly from Japan. The Japanese insurance companies were none to pleased about that state of affairs and came down on Thailand with some serious horsepower. Of course, you guessed the rest, a CRACKDOWN. This one however has teeth. There is some serious intention afoot to combat and control this problem. Many of the unregistered bikes are stolen and very difficult if not impossible to register currently. The supply of stolen bikes coming into this country has seriously dwindled and the police have been looking to get as many as possible out of circulation.

As an aside, whatever the Thais choose to do is their business. As guests of the kingdom, I think it is in our best interest to obey the laws whenever possible. Buying and riding unregistered bikes that might be stolen property does not seem to be a very bright idea. If you want a grey market bike, get one with all the right books and registration or dont get one. Check the serial numbers of both the frame and engine against the import docs. Do you homework and play safe while a guest.

[ray23]

Surprising to me that yuo can in fact get insurance on the bikes but that i waht the lady said, if I were to buy one I want the book one way or another, I want a legal ride. Howver it really threw me that the farrang was saying he has ridden for years with no prblem. Me I would rather wait and have the peace of mind.

[xbusman]

Well, you can buy insurance here for a Liberian registered ship owned by the vatican, the point is they will gladly take your money for insurance but the chance of ever collecting anything on a motorcycle without the book is rather slim. They will void your insurance the second you have a problem and need it. Have to take future promises of service here with a very large grain of salt.

Lots of illegal things were perfectly acceptable here for many many years. Thailand has really made some huge strides to conform with international standards, this tightening up of the stolen bike market is a perfect example. Motorcycles here are enough trouble when everything is legal, I think your making a good decision holding off until everything is correct.

[jdinasia]

Surprising to me that yuo can in fact get insurance on the bikes but that i waht the lady said, if I were to buy one I want the book one way or another, I want a legal ride. Howver it really threw me that the farrang was saying he has ridden for years with no prblem. Me I would rather wait and have the peace of mind.

re: the insurance ...... this is the minimum req'd stuff that they insist on ... making a personal claim on it would be inpossible.

you can get real insurance from other companies ... who knows about how they pay out though ... I think mine was less than 2000 baht for the year including theft and increased payouts should I hurt someone

[JCCR6]

How much are the fines we are talking about for not having the correct paperwork?

[jdinasia]

100-1000?

Just a guess but I bet they COULD decide to impound a vehicle that wasn't legal! <<I don't see this happening ... but ...>

Edited September 6, 2006 by jdinasia

[ray23]

You know I see he Udon Cops tossing small bikes in the back of pickups all the time. Now I have no idea why they are doing that, but is does happen often. I have noticed some of the local cops running wound on some nice mid range bikes. Heck maybe they bought them I don't know. But the answer is yes they can impound motorcycle or any vehicle for that matter.

When we had an accident a year or so ago, they impounded the guys pickup first thing and he didn't get back until I signed off on an agreement. It was very clear no mattter how long it took he was not getting the pickup back until everything was agreed upon, or the court made a decesion.

By the way he was Thai.

[davidgtr]

Anybody been running with out them if so what has your experience been

I was looking at some bikes down town 400 CC to 1200CC great bikes, good prices but not one with a book.

The lady at the shop told us no problem as long as you stay in Thailand. Met a farrang there who said he had been running without a book for ten years three diferent bikes and never had a problem, But it sure makes me nervous. We are not talking about a few thousand Baht here. Supposedly they can get a book for 70k but you could tell they really didn't want to.

I think that it all depends on where you live & ride. There are different practices for different parts of the country.

I live in Chiang Mai / North Thailand & have ridden bikes with / without plates for years. It does not seem to matter until you are stopped at a police checkpoint & they are looking to make some money. But generally (up country & not in the city) when they see a farang coming on a big bike, they just wave you through & let you go, probably assuming you are just another dumb farang tourist on a unregistered rental bike. But I don’t think you can get away with this in Bangkok / Pattaya / Phuket.

Now up till 2-3 years ago you could even take the unregistered bike out of the country into Laos / Cambodia at many border crossings. But then they got computers at the borders & could not put the details in as they (the local officials) would be questioned why they were letting unregistered vehicles out of the country.

Regarding insurance, yes you can get the minimum 3rd party insurance for an unregistered bike and at least in the North they do pay out on it – I’ve witnessed this several times at rental shops & with mates getting banged up. The 3rd party insurance does pay out!

My guess is that those who say they don’t are not speaking from experience.

My tip for the insurance on the bike is to place the sticker on the front of the bike, where the cops at checkpoints can see it clearly & perhaps not worry so much about the rego sticker. Remember with a bike they have to look at the rear end of the bike to see the plate & if you are already on your way, then it’s most likely too late.

Riding up country (anywhere between Chiang Mai & Ubon) when I approach a police checkpoint I always slow down a little, flick up my visor so the cops can see it is a farang, then pick up a little speed & they normally wave you on. Don’t deliberately scream to a halt every time you see a cop beside the road or a checkpoint, as you are just begging the cops (some of the Thais call them begging dogs) to stop you & make a few baht.

In Chiang Mai city I once had them ask for a licence, passport, work permit, in that order when they stopped me & were just looking for any excuse to make a few baht. And this case they got nothing. I had nothing on me - not even my wallet, it was a Sunday morning & I was just slipping over to a mates house 3 kms away to pick up a CD – I refused to give them anything, after 15 mins of BS asking me to go to the police station, they gave up & let me go. But what a crock of &lt;deleted&gt; asking for work permit, as well. It just goes to prove they are only looking for money!

Now my tip here is to carry a laminated colour photocopy sheet with your passport, driving licence, biz rego, work permit & insurance card on it. Mine measures 16 x 14 cms, is waterproof & folds up nicely in my wallet. Flash this & 99% of the time they are happy. The laminated colour photocopy also works brilliantly for checking into hotels / banks / anywhere they ask for your ID. No need to carry originals & run the risk of losing them. I’ve even crossed into Myanmar once with the colour photocopy ID!

Re stolen bikes, IMHO Thailand is still a hub for stolen vehicles (bikes & cars), although Cambodia is probably catching up fast. Those who say it is not probably don’t look at the Thai bikes mags & see how many shops are dealing in big bikes these days. There are scores if not hundreds of em, all over the country, & most of the bikes they sell don’t have plates. Check your bike & if it has a broken steering head lock, then there’s a very good chance it has been knocked off from somewhere overseas.

If you’re buying a bike, try to get one already with a plate, or buy from a reputable shop that is already selling bikes with plates. If you deal with a shop that is not selling bikes with plates, they are not probably not right inside the system dealing with bike rego. And after you have plonked down your money for the promised bike rego, they may well encounter problems beyond their control & either ask for more money or delays in supplying the rego. It took me 5 months to get my bike registered, after an initial stuff up buying an old book for an Africa Twin that was in Laos, but still registered in Chiang Mai – on the advise of the rego experts, after they had even inspected the book. And in the end this book did not work & they had to get another book to recycle. It’s a funny system but it works & all the officials – customs / immigration / vehicle rego office – say it is all ok & legit now. I reckon Thailand’s a great place to live & ride a big bike!

Last but not least a proud Taksin sticker adorning my bike fairing

Some of the cops laugh at it & are confused what to do / say.

[thedi]

It is a pain in the butt to get all the paperwork in order to get the book for your tags ... buy a bike with proper registration instead.

(PS ... the cost to get a book is less than 1k baht)

The cost of a registration of a big bike are much higher. The 1'000 Baht is for standard bikes as they are sold in any shop: they are tested once per type; the book is then about 1'000 Baht.

Big bikes are imported individually. There are two kinds of registrations:

The cheaper type starts with the book of an old bike. One by one the registration will be changed to come close to the new bike (which naturally is also second hand): color, engine etc. Finally the number on the frame of the bike is changed to to number of the registration. This kind will be between 30'000 to 50'000 Baht. This could be called a half faked registartion.

The real thing would be a real registration of your bike. This costs about 70'000 Baht of fees and needs someone who knows where to go and what to do. An other point would be, that all import papers would have to be available,

The 70'000 Baht kind of registration is the only one to recommend. But be sure that they do not sell you a half faked registration for the price of a real registration.

I guess it is not only a pain in the ass to make a real registration for a big bike. You probably have no chance to do it yourself whithout any connections. So as said by the previous poster: buy a bike with proper registration - but double check that you get a real registration, not the half faked one.

Regards

Thedi

[HDRIDER]

Hi

I know that here in Phuket you can buy book and number plates for 5000, fake of course

And dont ask me where, i am not telling you..........

[jdinasia]

“Traffic police have the authority to fine people at their discretion. According to Thai law, anyone who has a vehicle that is not taxed can be fined up to 2,000 baht, and up to 10,000 baht if the vehicle is not insured.

The Department of Insurance at the Ministry of Commerce has been recommending to police stations that they adopt a set 500 baht fine for a first offence, but the final decision lies with each police station. ”

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 Pol Lt Sutham Rattanasawangwong, Deputy of Traffic Police of Chalong Police Station.

http://phuketgazette.com/issuesanswers/details.asp?id=766