Sawasdee Khrap!

I'm still relatively new to Thailand and am looking for a decent sport touring bike. My first choice is the VFR Interceptor but I'm also intrigued by the Suzuki GSX1400 they've got over at Red Baron.

I keep hearing about fake/altered Green Books and my question is- What is this "Green Book" and how can you tell if it is legitimate or not?

I've seen some nice bikes at Red Baron and Siam Superbike and it sounds like both shops are reputable. Any opinions/feedback on these shops or recommendations for other places I might have missed?

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to getting back on two wheels soon!

Cheers,

SportTouringBKK

The green book is a sort of a passport for your motorcycle. The easiest way to see it it is legit is by checking all the numbers in the book and on the bike.

Also as the book says Honda Wave 400cc and you looking and a Honda CB-400 (CB1) then you not need to be a rocket scientist.

Also if it is a second hand bike go with them to the government office to change the ownership, if this is not possible or you have the idea that they don't want you to tack along, that can be another indication of something wrong. As fake green books are normally impossible to change ownership or re-register in other province.

Thank you!

That is incredibly helpful.

A friend who works for a freight company at the Klong Toey Port told me that most big bikes arrive in Thailand in pieces and are reassembled in Thailand. Apparently the import duty is much lower this way. Does anyone know if this is true? Personally I'd prefer a bike that was not broken down and reassembled...

Cheers

Yes he is right, almost every older bike that are imported to Thailand comes in pieces, but I don't look at that as a bad thing, as long as the people that reassemble it knows what they are doing, because then you will have a bike that have all new gaskets, fittings and so on, and every part will have been cheeked out fore any kind of defects when they reassemble it.

You don't have to worry about fake books if you by off Red Baron, but I am sorry to say I think Siam Superbike is out of business because of bad employers, at lest that's what it says on there web page.

Drive safe

If you are thinking of importing a motorcycle by yourself, you better avoid importing the bike in parts. It would be extremely difficult to get the bike road legal in Thailand.

Most people I know, who did import there overseas bike as parts, have now the feel why we not imported the bike as whole bike. You pay more tax but your bike is much easier to become road legal, and road legal bikes in Thailand are worth twice the price, if not more.

Quote by: SportTouringBKK

Sawasdee Khrap!

I'm still relatively new to Thailand and am looking for a decent sport touring bike. My first choice is the VFR Interceptor but I'm also intrigued by the Suzuki GSX1400 they've got over at Red Baron.

I keep hearing about fake/altered Green Books and my question is- What is this "Green Book" and how can you tell if it is legitimate or not?

I've seen some nice bikes at Red Baron and Siam Superbike and it sounds like both shops are reputable. Any opinions/feedback on these shops or recommendations for other places I might have missed?

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to getting back on two wheels soon!

Cheers,

SportTouringBKK

1400 suzuki gsx there is one i ride last week at siam motercycels near lotus pattaya nice bike lot to choose from i am getting a big yam 1600 more my style good luck

I have a Jan 2000 Suzuki Hayabusa in Singapore that I bought new [one careful owner.... ] and would like to import it into Thailand but I have heard that the import tax is extortionate - does anyone have an idea how much or where I could check it out?

I'm aware that some bikes are stripped down and imported cheaply but how far do they have to be stripped and how much cheaper would it be against importing it in one piece?

Alternatively, where can I find out the price of of a new model?

All suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers
Johnny

Hi Johnny,

I own a 2002 Busa here in Thailand.

You can find new Model Busa K8 at price between 600 to 630,000 thousand Baht. In Red Baron they got 2 Black and 1 White still available last friday 11th. Price displayed was 630,000 thousand Baht.

No information to give you on importing your bike, sorry.

Fred.

Thanks for the quick response Fred, I'll check out the Red baron on the web. What's the servicing like in Thailand [the Busa I mean...]? I''ll be based in Chiang Mai later this year.

Cheers
Johnny

Johnny,

I will say there is not much problem to maintain your bike here, few guys are doing a good job and some shop owners riding the Busa so they know what they are doing exactly.

Now concerning Red Baron, no doubt they are reliable but maintenance is quite expensive (sometime better to pay a bit more for a good job quality), something important to know about this shop and really incredible...They don't maintain any bike which has not been bought from their shop, they enforced this policy 1 year ago.

I was used to maintain my bike in their shop and when I bought the busa from a particular owner after a while I went to see them and they told me about their new policy....Even I was a 3 years old customer they simply refused to maintain my bike...

On one hand I understand as many bike are either stolen bike with no registration or fake registration...but in my case I was very disappointed as I was a previous customer and got a proper bike with registration...

Anyway market is growing over the past two years and many shops are opening like Ducati, Triumph, Yamaha still waiting for the Suzuki one....

Cheers, Fred.

For Chiang Mai I have no idea at all what we can find over there but like all big city should have one Big bike dealer..