Royal Enfield 350cc in Thailand

[troubletribbles]

I've seen a couple nice new Royal Enfields cruising around Bangkok lately and I've done some poking around online and found that 500cc models are listed for 180k+ Doe anyone know if the 350cc Classic models are for sale in Thailand, if so any idea of a list price?

 

[bramds]

nope, only the 500 CC models.

[troubletribbles]

bummer.

[JHolmesJr]

If you really wanted one couldn't you ride on in from india via burma?

[troubletribbles]

That would be a wild ride! I've heard import paperwork on bikes is a total pain in the ass though. I am primarily interested in 350cc because 500's are out of my budget.

 

[JHolmesJr]

Swot im sayin....fly to kolkatta, buy a 350 (second hand).... Then ride it back. 

 

By the time you get to thailand it will be so filthy no one will suspect you just bought it. 

[billd766]

14 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

Swot im sayin....fly to kolkatta, buy a 350 (second hand).... Then ride it back. 

 

By the time you get to thailand it will be so filthy no one will suspect you just bought it. 

 

And that would be when the problems start.

 

Having bought the bike second hand in India, making sure of course that you bought a good one and that you are loaded with spares as there will be no dealers on route, you ride into Myanmar, avoiding Bangladesh thus avoiding their Immigration and Customs.  You also have your visa ready plus all the import and export permits for the bike. You then ride all the way down to the Thai border where you arrive from India via Myanmar on an Indian registered bike. They may not be too happy to see you as it means that they will have some work to do,.

 

Assume that they will let you in with the bike. What is your next plan?

 

Register the bike? Off you go to customs who will ask you for the import paperwork. If you don't have that then your problems really start as the bike will most probably be impounded until the Customs come up with their version of the import duties which will be their valuation and not yours and the bill will be about 250% of their valuation plus of course VAT at 7%.

 

If you have stayed the course so far your next problem will be to register the bike and that means it will have to pass the emission test which will cost between 50 and 100,000 baht (probably less for a bike) and if it all works then you have a second hand 350 Royal Enfield on the road at a cost exceeding that of a new 500.

 

Is it worth it? From the point of view of the ride from India. I would say yes if you had no problems. From the point of view of owning a second bike that you paid through the nose for which has a limited dealership in Thailand, and probably no spares for it, you would be better off making a pile of 1,000 baht notes and burning them.

 

There are lots of posts about importing new and second hand cars and bikes and the general consensus is that yes, 2 or 3 people have succeeded and the majority have failed.