Platinum Monaco 250

[Issangeorge]

Hi, I am thinking of buying a Honda Phantom Bike, but before i do I would like to know more about the Platinum Monaco 250, after all it is about 15,000 baht cheaper than the Phantom, and I read somewhere that they use a Honda Rebel engine. Does anyone have one or know somebody who has one and have they heard good or bad. Thanks Issangeorge

[OneeyedJohn]

There was a discussion some months ago concerning these bikes, and the consensus was they are cheap poorly made Chinese made bikes. They look pretty but will not last or hold their value.

A friend here bought one of the same brand dirt bikes ( 150 cc) and has had suspension problems from the outset.

I wouldn't touch them.

[Little Black Duck]

Hi, I am thinking of buying a Honda Phantom Bike, but before i do I would like to know more about the Platinum Monaco 250, after all it is about 15,000 baht cheaper than the Phantom, and I read somewhere that they use a Honda Rebel engine. Does anyone have one or know somebody who has one and have they heard good or bad. Thanks Issangeorge

Do yourself a big favour take a test ride on a Kawasaki Boss before you decide..

I wouldnt buy a Phantom after owning a Boss..

[Issangeorge]

The Boss only has 150cc does it not? Is that powerfull enough for Thai Country 2 lane highways? Can anybody dirrect me to the discussion on the Platinum, I did a search, but came up with nothing. Thanks, Issangeorge.

[gpt]

The Boss is 175, my wife and I had many trips on it. I found it powerful enough with two up.

[Little Black Duck]

The Boss is 175, my wife and I had many trips on it. I found it powerful enough with two up.

I rode my Boss from Pattaya to Phuket with a big Back pack sat on 100kpm

never missed a beat it has also done the Samui to Phuket run seven or eight times

even did a run from Samui to Had Yai to Phuket and back to Samui..

70,000 km now with no break downs, just regular maintenance..

[Issangeorge]

I just checked out a Phantom today, I really like the bike, but my cash is tight right now so I wanted to finance it over two years, they wanted 88,300 for the bike, to finance it they wanted 26,300 down and 3,700 per month for 24 months. That works out to over 37% interest. Is there not a law about interest that high? Issangeorge.

[Issangeorge]

Change of plan. I have decided the interest rates are just too high so I am looking to buy something I can pay cash for. Since 90% of my riding will be in a small city I have decided on an automatic scooter. A firend of my wife's has a Suzuki Hi-class Step 125 and I drove it the other day and really liked it. It had good brakes a comfortable seat and cruising power for 80 klicks, pluss it handled surpisinly well in a stiff wind for such a small baike. Of course as is normal my wife does not like Suzuki and likes Honda, all things being equal I prefer Honda better, but their automatic scooter (the Click) only has a 110cc engine, I did not get a chance to drive one but I think it would be under powered. The two Yamaha automatics I test drove (the Neo & Nouva) were also under powered and were 115cc, although the Nouva almost had 80 klick cruising speed, but was about 8,000 baht more than the suzuki. Does anybody have any opinions on the automatic motorbikes available in Thailand? Its not my first choice, but sometimes I have to listen to my wallet, and I must admit in city driving will probably be more pleasent on an automatic. Issangeorge.

[pianoman]

George,

I have owned a Honda Phantom for almost 4 years and have enjoyed it totally.. Last year purchased the wife a Yamaha Mio (automatic) to try and teach her to ride / drive.. She refuses to ride any further than just down our Soi, so it has been up to me to keep the battery charged on the Mio by running it once or twice a week... Although I don't really like the Step Thru Style, it is a very nice little bike... No problem doing 80+ with both the wife and myself on it... Much easier to run and park around town, but I would not want to ride it any more than about 1/2 hour at a time....

The New Yamaha Fino's have kind of a Retro Look that I really like, but have not even stopped to price them as two bikes are more than enough considering that I am the only rider...

Pianoman

[CHdiver]

Change of plan. I have decided the interest rates are just too high so I am looking to buy something I can pay cash for. Since 90% of my riding will be in a small city I have decided on an automatic scooter. A firend of my wife's has a Suzuki Hi-class Step 125 and I drove it the other day and really liked it. It had good brakes a comfortable seat and cruising power for 80 klicks, pluss it handled surpisinly well in a stiff wind for such a small baike. Of course as is normal my wife does not like Suzuki and likes Honda, all things being equal I prefer Honda better, but their automatic scooter (the Click) only has a 110cc engine, I did not get a chance to drive one but I think it would be under powered. The two Yamaha automatics I test drove (the Neo & Nouva) were also under powered and were 115cc, although the Nouva almost had 80 klick cruising speed, but was about 8,000 baht more than the suzuki. Does anybody have any opinions on the automatic motorbikes available in Thailand? Its not my first choice, but sometimes I have to listen to my wallet, and I must admit in city driving will probably be more pleasent on an automatic. Issangeorge.

The Suzuki Step is a good Scooter. Powerful (ok for a Scooter) and yes, the Brakes are very good, better than any other Scooter I drove. My Ex GF has one and I much prefered her Suzuki over my Nouvo. Quality is good. No big difference to a Mio lookwyse. The open Stepthroug is pratical when you have a bigger bag to transport too. If you need more transportspace, just ad a Topcase at the back (I personaly don't like the little baskets in the front, they hide the Headlight, might be dangerous, specially at nighttime. Many Thai don't like Suzuki, so a thief will be more interessted in Honda and Yamaha. Go for it, you will be happy with this.