Motobike/Scooter Info

[Pdoggg]

Might buy a motobike if I move.   The main purpose of the bike would be to park near a baht bus and for extremely short local trips.  It would be extremely rare to ride more than 3 kilometers but might be uphill or very windy. I also doubt that I would be ever going faster than 40km/hr given the local nature of the trips.

So what do you guys think about these issues both for me and other readers who might have different criteria?

New vs Used?

Would I be correct in thinking that a bike that would be used sparingly, far less than the average bike would tilt the scale towards Used?  I would think that if I wanted to sell the bike in a few years, the Used bike with few additional miles would fetch more or less the same price as the purchase price while the new bike would see a sharp decrease. 

If Used; how Used?

It would not be important that the bike be super reliable.  Also the older the bike, the less financial hit if stolen.  However, quality/safety is a concern so it would be nicer to have a newish bike rather than an old broken down one.  I also prefer not to deal with repairs and would be doing none of the repairs myself. So what's the sweet spot?

110 vs 125?

I never paid much attention whether bikes I rented were 110 or 125.  If I was going up an incline with teerak on the back would a 125 be needed?  These would be very short trips of just a kilometer though.

Bike vs Scooter?

I guess this comes down to personal taste but given the extremely short trips does this matter?

Spoke vs Cast Wheels?

Googling around I read that Spoke is better for off road while Cast is better for the city.  

Manual vs Automatic

I would think that a manual would be better for longer trip but maybe for short hops an automatic is better.  But if going up and down an incline is there real benefit to the manual given that the trips on an incline would be 2-3 minute trips?

Click Start

This is a must for me but is there value in having both so if the click doesn't work, there would be a way of starting it.  The Honda Wave for example comes with both a click and kick and either could be used.

Exhaust Pipe Cover

This is important as don't want any burned calfs.  Are there certain types of exhaust pipe covers better than others. I was in a bike shop and the new bikes all had metal covers.

Any Other Considerations?

 

 

 

[blind boy grunt]

36 minutes ago, Pdoggg said:

This is a must for me but is there value in having both so if the click doesn't work, there would be a way of starting it.  The Honda Wave for example comes with both a click and kick and either could be used.

think most bikes do PD... With the Honda click 125  the bike has to be put on the centre stand to use the kick start though, If i'm remembering correctly...haven't seen the damn thing for 5 years...

the important thing is...  are you confident riding a mo bike?

[Pdoggg]

2 minutes ago, blind boy grunt said:

the important thing is...  are you confident riding a mo bike?

Good question BBG.  Only in areas with little traffic.   It wouldn't be used on busy Pattaya or Jomtien roads.   It would be used only for very quick trips in low traffic areas.   I was OK on a bike on 3 Thai islands as well as Cambodia though I would never ride in Phnom Penh. 

[dixon cox]

1 hour ago, Pdoggg said:

 I was OK on a bike on 3 Thai islands as well as Cambodia though I would never ride in Phnom Penh. 

Cambodia around 10 years ago (?) .. in search of a chicken farm we'd heard about   We had a really good ride out one particular day past the port and beyond. I still remember that. Was great to feel the wind whistling through my bald head.

If you're permanent in terms of living here then buying is certainly a consideration. I still feel somewhat temporary here even after 9 years and my location doesn't require a bike as it would just sit idle and unused for the majority of the time. I'd rent if the need ever arose, same goes for a 4-wheeled vehicle.

I wouldn't buy new, there's no point. The depreciation can be appalling even before you've got it home. A used auto about a year old would do me, at least 125cc from a dealership of some sort to assist with the necessary legalities and a warranty of sorts. I doubt very much I'd buy privately from a Thai.

If I did buy I would consider a Yamaha Aerox or a mini-bike, such as the Honda Monkey  'cos I think they look nice and for a bit of fun.

Anything below 125cc is almost dangerous in city traffic as you have not-a-lot of power to extract yourself from situations should the need arise, especially with a pillion. Anything 200cc or above is pointless in or around cities. 125 to 175 is the city sweetspot IMHO and will do nicely for open road trips (not long distance), amogo.

There's a balance between getting something ordinary and decent versus getting something so nice that it becomes a target for theft. Blending in on an ordinary run-of-the-mill bike a few years old has it's advantages and wouldn't break the bank. Depending on the bank.

The custom bikes in the bike shop opposite Pattaya City Hospital have got "Steal Me" written all over them, but I couldn't see you on one of those anyway 

[Quietguy]

I've never dared to ride a motorbike in los, but rode a Honda 90 Cub for 3 years while doing the Knowlege to become a London Licensed Taxi Driver, and a Honda 250 for about 7 years after that.

I would get a second hand in good nick from a dealer, with a warranty.

125cc would be better than 110cc, I wouldn't have thought there would be much difference in price, and that bit of extra power can be useful, especially if carrying a passenger.

A bike has a higher centre of gravity than a scooter so is more stable.

I would prefer cast wheels - easier to clean than spokes. And spokes need to be kept tightened.

Manual gives you better control - you change gears as needed without thinking about it after a while. 

[Duncan]

I quit motorbiking in Pattaya around 2012. Just too many maniacs on the road.
Add that to shady insurence contracts, IMO it's not worth the risk.
I stick to the seangteaws dowadays, and walk the rest if nessessary.

[BigTel]

13 hours ago, Duncan said:

IMO it's not worth the risk.

I'm with Duncan on this one Pdoggg, I used to ride bikes a lot in Los and when living in Australia, all of this many moons ago.  I reckon you are just fine the way you are without a bike and the uneccessary inherant risks associated with it. 

[Pdoggg]

Thanks for the input guys!  

On 8/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, dixon cox said:

Cambodia around 10 years ago (?) .. in search of a chicken farm we'd heard about   We had a really good ride out one particular day past the port and beyond. I still remember that. Was great to feel the wind whistling through my bald head.

Was a nice day.  My guess is that we actually found the chicken farm but it did not look as expected and some of the ladies we saw were indeed for sale.  Also remember a time I went off road to explore on a narrow path were one can't quickly turn around and encountered a bull.

Any purchase is months off, but I accidentally came upon a Honda shop walking around 3rd Road. and it piqued my interest.  Was trying to get a handle on the differences between various models but my Thai didn't suffice for detailed questions and their English wasn't much better but got an idea of new bike prices which were in the low 50's.

There are also two bike shops on Buakhao and Pattaya Tai, one where the delicious chicken/rice stand is in the evening.   Think the two shops have the same owner.   The one by the chicken stand (not to be confused with chicken farm) also had some used bikes.  Mostly newish used bikes/scooters all for 39K.  At that price I maybe I would go for a new one as a new Honda Click with spoke wheels was 51K and 54K if cast wheels.  Anyone know if new bike prices are generally negotiable in Thailand like car prices are in the USA?

But I am pretty sure that I would want a used bike selling for around 20K.  Even if I overpaid a bit, could most probably sell it a year later for around 14K so am really renting for around 500 baht a month.   They only had one 10 year old Yamaha 135 cc Nouvo Elegance at that price point, 17K.

On 8/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, dixon cox said:

from a dealership of some sort to assist with the necessary legalities and a warranty of sorts.

I would prefer to buy from a dealership so the paper work could be handled by them.  She said they had many more used bikes a few months ago.  Probably had to do with farangs leaving Thailand and selling.  There seems to be 3 extra charges, one of which is government insurance.   These charges came to 1500 baht for a new bike and 2200 for the cheap used bike.  Then is subsequent years there would be a fee of 600 baht for newish bikes but more for older bikes which could be handled at their shop.  Didn't ask ifthey can handle paperwork for a fee if I buy from a private individual.

They said I could take the used bike for a test drive but not the new ones.  I didn't ask about the warranty for either a new or used bike so don't know what is involved.    

[Pdoggg]

On 8/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, dixon cox said:

I wouldn't buy new, there's no point. The depreciation can be appalling even before you've got it home. A used auto about a year old would do me, at least 125cc from a dealership of some sort to assist with the necessary legalities and a warranty of sorts. I doubt very much I'd buy privately from a Thai.

Will most probably buy a cheap motobike.   It will just be used occasionally for very short local trips. Won't be riding into Pattaya on Thappraya Road.  We are both happy with the baht bus (though if you say baht bus to a Thai they have no idea what you mean).  Wifey will probably use it more than me. 

If buying we will put in teerak's name for simplicity. It is not a concern that she could take off with a 15K baht motobike.   I haven't taken a test ride but it just doing a quick check, I found one place that had a 17K bike and another some 18K bikes.  Also for simplicity will buy from some sort of dealer.  I suppose some dealers are better than others as far as dealing with paperwork.   I don't want a trip to the Amphur.  Want the seller to deal with everything.  Getting the best price isn't my objective but rather making the buying process as painless as possible.

But I do want to be aware of exactly what documents and insurance are needed.    Googling around is seems the Green Book is important.   And I think Government Insurance is required.   If anyone knows possible pitfalls and hassles as far as registering the bike please give me a heads up.  

 

[Pdoggg]

Looked at some bikes today ranging from 13K to 15K but didn't take any out for a spin.

One factor that I hadn't considered is helmet storage.   Some of the bikes I looked at didn't have room under the seat to store a helmet.  Trying to figure out if this is a big deal or not as we would be using the bike exclusively local.  The lack of helmet storage then becomes a question of helmet quality as I wouldn't want to leave an expensive helmet hanging on the bike and would opt for the half helmet.

My thinking now is given the same price and the way we would use the bike, I'd rather have a bike that seems better without the storage than an inferior bike with helmet storage.  Thoughts?

[stoolpusher]

6 minutes ago, Pdoggg said:

Looked at some bikes today ranging from 13K to 15K but didn't take any out for a spin.

One factor that I hadn't considered is helmet storage.   Some of the bikes I looked at didn't have room under the seat to store a helmet.  Trying to figure out if this is a big deal or not as we would be using the bike exclusively local.  The lack of helmet storage then becomes a question of helmet quality as I wouldn't want to leave an expensive helmet hanging on the bike and would opt for the half helmet.

My thinking now is given the same price and the way we would use the bike, I'd rather have a bike that seems better without the storage than an inferior bike with helmet storage.  Thoughts?

 Buying a second hand bike is risky as there are not to many that are serviced,  also look at renting one on a monthly basis,  they should be around the 100 bath per day .