Where's the best place to buy a new 125cc scooter in Phuket Town

[Andy1958]

I looked at past threads and couldn't see anything appropriate to add a comment, so I thought I would start a thread on this after a frustrating few days so others can maybe avoid the problems I had.

I wanted to buy a new 125 scooter as my step daughter now needs my old Suzuki Skydrive to go to work. I first went to Baan Suzuki near Ocean and asked the girl on the front desk if they had a Skydrive as I found it fast and reliable, and just got "No have", and she carried on writing. She hardly even looked up.

I then went around various Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki stores and got much the same blank response everywhere. No one seemed to want to sell me a bike. All I could get was a price on a calculator (always the same RRP). Also, no Honda garages seem to allow test drives, and you have to go to Thalang if you want to test drive a Yamaha Nuovo 125 (cheaper, but reputably slower and lower spec than a Click, so I didn't.) When it comes to second hand bike shops, the prices are just plain silly and they won't bargain - one one year old Click I asked about was the same price as a new one!

Finally, I went to the Honda garage opposite Honda Big Wing on the airport road (Thepgasatrii Road). Here I was greeted by the charming and helpful Khuen Peung (=Bee), front desk manager, who spoke reasonable English and who (amazingly) wants to sell bikes (!) So I got a Click off her for 50k baht with no problems, and I feel confident I will get good future service from this garage. And the Click is a terrific machine! (Get the cheaper spoked wheels, not the cast wheels as spokes are apparently better for surviving hitting Phuket's bone-juddering holes.)

The main problem was with Immigration (funny old thing!) When I got my Skydrive four years ago, I got a proof of residence in 30 minutes. This time it took me five hours. You have to fill in one form, queue,wait for a coffee break to finish, provide necessary documents and await a piece of paper. Then you must fill in another form, queue again, wait for their lunch break to end, provide a photo and copies of stuff you already gave them, and then you get your (free) proof of residence to give to the garage so you can buy a bike. Phew! At least they don't want any money under the table.

Anyway, well done Peung at Honda. I am, finally, a happy owner of a new 125 motorcycle!

[Andy1958]

Oh, I forgot to include this link, which gives good info on the latest version of the Click.

www.starmometer.com/2015/02/25/10-reasons-why-the-honda-click-125i-is-the-scooter-of-the-future/

[Pinot]

Clicks aren't hard to buy and usually the price is the same everywhere.

Clicks are the most popular automatic bikes. They're the most reliable. Everyone can fix them. They're quick. Not as stable as the YNE and the much more expensive PCX but still just as fast. They also hold their value over the Yamaha and way over the Suzuki.

[papa al]

Sorry, but Yamaha Nouvo SX is more expensive and a

LOT better than a Click.

As indicated above, Click is faster (big deal?)

and less stable ... a poor combination IMO.

Edited September 25, 2015 by papa al

[Andy1958]

Thanks for that, Pinot Yes, buying a Click is a no-brainer. (But, never ridden a Yammy yet...)

What I forgot to mention is that the handling of my new bike was like a pig until I got home and checked the tyre/tire pressures - 50 psi front and 55 rear! They should have been 29 and 33 respectively.

This is typical of Thai garages - I don't know why, but they just seem to love pumping tyres up until they nearly burst!

Edited September 27, 2015 by Andy1958

[Andy1958]

Oh, I got my first 800km service a couple of weeks ago. As there was a free oil offer, it cost me just 17 baht!

God I love Thailand!