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Hi to anyone who's come to this page from the link on the SiamSuperbike site. Selection of big bikes for sale from the place I bought my Honda X-11 from. Before I came to Bangkok I wasn't an experienced motorcyclist. If anyone had told me a few years ago that I would be riding around Bangkok on a motorbike I would have thought they were crazy. I had only ever ridden a bike once, when I was about 14. I had a friend who went trials riding and his father tried, once, to teach me how to ride - I ran him over.
So why did I decide to get a motorbike in Bangkok ? The simple answer is because it's the quickest and cheapest way to get around. I hate being late and if you rely on buses there are going to be times when you are heading to students house and get stuck in a traffic jam. The aircon on the bus stops working effectively and slowly sweat starts dripping down your back. By the time you arrive for your class, you're a sweaty mess. Being late isn't as much of a problem - it's part of the culture here. I got sick of waiting 30 minutes for a bus home at 9 p.m. at night and decided to do something about it. Riding a motorbike is infinitely more fun, even in the rainy season when the road surface has the feel of an oil slick, than sweating on a bus.
Who taught you to ride ? My ( now ex) girlfriend, Pooh. Most Thais from outside Bangkok seem to learn to ride motorbikes when they're young. ( Crawl, walk, ride motorbike, ride bicycle - in that order. ) First, I bought a Kawasaki Cheer - 38,000 Baht, semi-automatic - so it's easy to ride, just have to be able to point it in the right direction. After a couple of days practicing near my apartment I went out onto the streets any lived to tell the tale Although it wasn't the sort of bike that'd impress your mates if you pulled up on it outside the pub - it did the job. What about a license ? What's that ? Nothing important. Thais can get a motorbike license if they pay a 55 Baht fee when they pass their driving test ( or more often just buy their license ). As a foreigner your driving license from your home country is sufficient. But farangs can get hold of Thai licenses fairly easily - see Shinji's site for all the necessary details. I know an Italian man who uses an old Kenyan license from the 1970's, it's long since expired but the police don't mind - so long as it has the words ' Driving License ' on it somewhere in English.
Thais have to carry their license with them every time they drive or ride - the police will expect you to do so as well. Don't worry if you don't speak Thai, there will usually be someone at the test centre who will show you how to complete all the necessary documents. ( i.e. tell you the correct answers ). If you want to hedge your bets - take an English speaking Thai along with you and then they can tell you the answers. Have you had any accidents ? No. Lots of near misses though. If I have an accident I don't think it will be my fault. I know it's easy to blame the locals, but their driving and riding skills leave a lot to be desired. But having said that after a while I found myself happily joining in the red light jumping and swerving through 3 lanes of traffic to save 2 minutes on my journey. There is a subtle difference in driving attitudes here. In Western countries when you drive/ride, you consider it your responsibility to look out for potential trouble caused by other drivers/riders errors. The difference in Thailand is that when you drive/ride, you consider it other drivers' / riders' responsibility to look out for any hazardous situations that you might cause. Is it dangerous? Hell, yes. ( Police statisics) Is the simple answer. I've seen loads of accidents especially in the rainy season. Including bodies laid out by the side of the road. One motorcyclists with body parts scattered over 3 lanes. Saw someone, obviously pissed, (during Songkran 2000), fall off the back of a truck and under the wheels of the car in front of me. At one point last September I saw accidents happen on 7 consecutive days, mainly due to speeding and oily road surfaces. I think about crashing every time I get on my bike and imagine flying through the air protected only by my 200 baht helmet - a bit morbid perhaps but also maybe one reason why I've never had an accident, although I'm pretty sure that it will happen one day and when it does it'll be a bad one. And now ? ( This was in 1999 ) Now I have another bike. Another Kawasaki, a Leo that I bought in October '98. Only a small step- through bike but anything bigger can get stuck in jams and isn't as maneuverable. I paid 32,000 Baht for this - new. The reason it was cheap is that it was last years model. The new model was a different colour and had a rear disk brake, it cost 42,000 - but Thais aren't interested in last years models. March 2000 and I've finally got myself a real motorbike, a Honda CB-1, which, in my humble opinion, is pretty damn sexy little bike. It's a few years old and cost 40,000 Baht. According to the tachometer it's only done 1999 km, I think that may have been tampered with - but there again, most second hand motorbikes in Thailand have been clocked in one form or another. Until late March ' 00 I'd never even sat on a big bike, let alone ridden one around the streets of one of the world's most congested cities. So I was quite surprised by how easy it is to ride. July 2002 - Gone and bought myself the ideal commuting bike for Bangkok. A
black, 2000 model Honda X-11. ( The naked version of a Blackbird.)
Haven't had time to take it out of BKK yet, but plan to soon. Great fun to
ride and leaves pretty much everything else on the road trailing behind
it. Unless your a real enthusiast steer clear of used bikes, bike shops don't have a good reputation and many riders disconnect the speedometer so you can only guess the real mileage. Running costs are cheap, 40 Baht of petrol a week for a small bike, my 400cc bike uses 120 Baht of petrol a week. Well worth paying to save at least half an hour of my time every time I use it. How much for a new bike ? How to buy a new bike. Two ways to do it. Buy it in your name or get someone else, you trust, to buy it for you. Obviously, the former is the better option. But to do this you have to have our old friend, a Non-immigrant 'B' visa. This is because to legally own a vehicle you have to have this visa. ( Read this letter from the Bangkok Post for more details why ) If you buy a vehicle when you're on a Tourist visa you aren't legally the owner. There have been cases of tourists, it should be said all, rich, elderly and male, being convinced to buy a car by their newfound girlfriend, on the premise that they can use it to tour Thailand together and easily resell it later.She kindly fills out the documents in Thai for him and also happens to put her name down as the owner. As soon as she gets the keys it's ' Bye-Bye Baby ' - the car's for sale somewhere in Isaan or over the border in Cambodia if it’s a 4 wheel drive, and he's writing whining letters to the Bangkok Post. Back to buying a bike, the bike shop will take care of registering the bike, road tax, insurance etc. You need to give them copies of your passport, work permit - officially only need to have a Non immigrant B visa in your passport but you could be asked for a copy of your Work Permit too, and officially a letter from your embassy confirming your address in Thailand. The later isn't always necessary, if the address on your work permit is the same as your current address that should be OK. Especially if the bike shop bloke knows someone at the vehicle registration office. It only takes a couple of weeks for everything to be sorted out. To renew your insurance and road tax, the easiest way is to contact your local bike shop. For about 500 Baht they'll do it for you. Just give them your ownership papers - takes a few days. |