Clicky

Buying a New Motorcycle in Thailand | The Trading Travelers
The Trading Travelers
Sharing is Caring!
honda forza thailand samoeng loop

Buying a New Motorcycle in Thailand

Anyone who has been to Thailand for any length of time soon learns the typically [perceived] easy tasks turn out to be difficult and typically difficult tasks tend to be easier. This principle very much applies to buying a new motorcycle in Thailand. I went into this process, after going to every Honda dealership in Khon Kaen, of which there are about 20. After visiting nearly 20 different Honda shops and asking questions, I gathered enough information to believe that I now knew the required documentation/process of buying a brand new bike. I mean after all it is a brand new bike, how difficult could it possibly be…..?

honda forza thailand samoeng loop

The Hunt for a Honda Forza in Thailand

I should mention that prior to even settling on buying a new bike, I rented and tested the bikes I had been eyeing to see how I liked them. This is important to note because when buying a new motorbike in Thailand, you can forget about a trial/test drive. With many days of renting several bikes behind me, I was set on the Honda Forza 300cc.

Buying a “big bike,” meaning anything over 150cc, in Khon Kaen is much more of a challenge than say Bangkok or Chiang Mai where big bikes are more prevalent. After visiting eight or so Honda dealers and not finding one which carried the Honda Forza, I rapidly became discouraged. I guess this was to be expected as I could only find ONE in stock in Chiang Mai (a tremendously larger city than Khon Kaen). Of the eight or so shops that I visited, I was told no way, not in Khon Kaen will you find a Honda Forza by all eight. Being skeptical, or stubborn by others opinion, I did not give up hope on the hunt for the Forza. Two discouraged days, and 19 dealerships later, I struck gold. I found not only one but TWO Honda Forzas at a gigantic Honda dealership which I have driven past no less that 200 times. How I did not see or think to go into this shop is still beyond me, but besides the point because I found the elusive Forza. Wouldn’t you believe, the price was cheaper than any quote I got from Chiang Mai dealership, which were more than willing to order it for me. Of the dealers in Chiang Mai, prices ranged from 161,000-169,000 baht. This beauty here in Khon Kaen rang the register at a cool 160,500 baht.

I was sold.

Buying a New Motorcycle in Thailand

I sat down with the manager to discuss the proper documentation as well as tried to haggle the price down a wee bit more. He wasn’t having any of that and informed me that there is a 3% surcharge to use a credit card, Ouch.

Here comes the part that should be super easy, but turned into a horrific nightmare: Housing Registration

In order to purchase a new motorcycle as a foreigner in Thailand, you must present a Housing Certificate. This is a document obtained from the local Immigration office which states nothing more than you live where you say you live. Easy enough, assuming your landlord has rented to a foreigner before and completely understands the necessity and simplicity of this document. Unfortunately, this was not the case for me.

In the midst of me asking my landlord for a copy of his housing registration to take to immigration he had a meltdown. Long story short, he did not understand why I would need HIS housing registration. My explanation of Immigration needing it was not cutting it for him. I wish I had video of his meltdown in the condo office because I have never seen a Thai be so angry. The poor woman whom has done all the translation for us up until this point took a verbal lashing. In hindsight I semi-see what his issue was, but the extent of his reaction was a bit much, even for me. After I stood in a tiny office with my landlord and two other bystanders for 30 minutes of screaming I am able to convince him to at least call Immigration and ask for himself. He obliges. Ahhh Ha! The crazy foreigner is in fact NOT trying to pull a fast one and is simply trying to buy a motorcycle. Although my landlord put up quite a bit of resistance, I was able to pry that document away from him and head off to Immigration. It was a piece of cake once at Immigration, just make sure to have all your ducks in a row (this was my second trip that day).

By this point it was too late to go back to the Honda dealer and try to wrap up all the loose ends of buying a motorcycle. Also, I was trying to wait for a transfer of funds from back home to Thailand to avoid that 3% surcharge. During the three day downtime of waiting for the transfer, I located that 20th Honda dealer. The Forza purchasing situation improves!

The last Honda dealership I found, located on a side of town that I rarely travel, had one black Forza. Much to my surprise, this Forza was only 160,000 baht and ZERO surcharge to use a credit card. Cha-Ching! I can see the sky miles racking up now.

The motorcycle funny business wasn’t over yet. After no less than 25 phone calls to the “manager,” the paperwork was underway. We sat there for 30-45 minutes and the woman processing the paperwork says “Ok, we go to Condo.” I thought to myself, great, paperwork is done, I’m hitting the streets with some new wheels. Wrong again. What the woman meant was, we needed to get in her car to go to the managers condo to close the deal. Clearly, it made no sense to this dealership for the manager to come to the dealership, rather we should come to her. Dumb foreigner!

A few signatures here, a few more there, and a few more EVERYWHERE, swipe the card and we were finally done. Here’s where the already sweet price deal gets even sweeter. Of the two other Honda dealers that had a Forza in stock (one in Chiang Mai and one in KK) both were going to throw in a free helmet. I guess this is a good gesture for spending so much money. I went ahead and assumed we weren’t getting a helmet because we were at rock bottom price on the motorcycle. Another erroneous Thai assumption. Not only did we get one helmet, we got two! Bonus.

Like I said, some of the easiest of tasks in Thailand can turn into multiple day events. Remember to just smile and keep on truckin’ Heres some shots of the snazzy new Forza. Follow our Honda Forza adventures over on our Trails and Tales page!

About the Author Charlie and Brittany

We are Brittany and Charlie - we traded the 9 to 5 and the so-called "American dream" to live our own dream and see the world. We sold all of our belongings and left the US in August 2013. For 5 years, we lived primarily in Thailand and built our online business and location independent lifestyle while we traveled to over 30 countries. We’ve had house sitting gigs on 3 different continents and we’ve even appeared on HGTV’s House Hunters International.

Related Posts

03 Aug, 2017

Visiting Krabi’s Beaches on a (Slightly) Bigger Budget
11 Apr, 2017

Koh Lanta Comeback at the Crown Lanta Resort
17 Jan, 2016

Why We Decided to Leave Bali
14 Jan, 2016

An Eventful End to 2015
Previous Post All You Can Eat Restaurants in Khon Kaen Next Post Naga Fireball Festival: Fact or Fiction

Leave a Comment:

17 comments
James says October 18, 2013

ready to hit the road! bike looks good, tell Brittany to get her butt on that bike and tackle the city, she can do it!

Reply
Chris and Angela says October 18, 2013

How did the residence certificate not come up in our convo? Sorry you went through such hell getting it. Crazy story about your landlord overreacting…

Kudos to getting a zero surcharge. How the heck did that happen?

Welcome to the Forza club!

Reply
    jmayel & sacha says October 23, 2013

    How comes you needed your landlords house document to get a certificate of residence? The immigration in CM accepted our tenancy contract for our one. Glad you managed to get it all sorted 😉

    Reply
      Trading Traveler says October 23, 2013

      I wish I had an answer. I read online and others have told me that CM accepts the contract. I even went to the Honda dealership and immigration trying to get them to accept the contract, but had no luck. I guess it’s just another thai-style circumstance. I have friends here as well which go for O-Visa, and the requirements change every other day. Mai Pen Rai.

      Reply
Naga Fireballs: Legend, Hoax or Mystery? says October 21, 2013

[…] our big Honda Forza purchase (you can read about that here), we were looking for any excuse to hit the open road. We had recently seen a flyer for the Naga […]

Reply
Kim says October 23, 2013

2 Helmets?? Only you could manage that one Charles. Nice bike though… way to go!!

Reply
Naga Fireballs: Legend or Hoax? says November 28, 2013

[…] our big Honda Forza purchase (you can read about that here), we were looking for any excuse to hit the open road. We had recently seen a flyer for the Naga […]

Reply
Jenny L.S. says July 6, 2015

This is very useful information. My fiancé and I really like this article. Thank you for sharing your experiences with your awesome purchase. 3% is a lot for large purchase. Feel free to share more of your travel wisdom on our community site. http://Www.Facebook.com/shoestringseeker

Reply
    Charlie and Brittany says July 6, 2015

    Glad you found this helpful! Thanks for your comment!

    Reply
Al Macpherson says July 13, 2015

Hey Chuck! Living it up here in Thailand too and very keen to get myself some wheels as well, this weekend in fact in taking the 5 hour bus ride to CM to get a new Yamaha. (I live far out of the way, little village called ‘Chiang Muan’ in fact.
Because I’m going on such a journey to get the beast I have to make sure my ducks are in a row.
What did you need to be able to get a bike? Passport obviously, brandishing what stamp and VISA? the housing papers I can get from my landlord. What about licensing? Did they want any form of license proof from you? And last question, did they care what VISA you currently have?
Final thing, how was the immigration with giving you a proof of residence? Smooth I hope!

Sorry for all the questions!
Enjoyed the post.

Reply
    Trading Traveler says July 14, 2015

    Hey Al,

    Thanks for reading!

    You got most of it I think…. The housing document needs to come from immigrations though and needs a stamp. (Just making sure you realize this is separate from your lease) Its a two day process as well (usually) drop it off one day and pick it up the next. Make sure you have your standard headshot photographs (usually 2 needed) In regards to licensing, no they never asked me. Although, I would recommend getting your Thai Drivers License if you can. It can be a life saver and technically you’re supposed to have it in order to insurance to cover you.

    No, it doesn’t matter what kind of visa you are on. Are you buying a new or used bike? If its new, the dealer should do all paperwork for you. The Greenbook and Plates can take a few weeks to receive, but you’re free to drive without them while you wait. If its a used bike, you’ll need to go to the Transportation Office, but thats pretty straightforward as well.

    The housing document for me was a nightmare mostly because my landlord refused to sign the document because he didn’t understand what it was. I think he thought I was somehow sneakily trying to take ownership of his house….. After countless sessions with a Thai Translator friend of mine he signed it. At immigration though its a breeze. In and out in 15 minutes. They usually give the first one free (or they did for me) and I think its 100-500 baht after that. Its a luck of the draw it seems. If you’re getting the housing document in CM, I suggest you go to the Immigration office out near the Promanada Mall. Its a “Burmese Immigration Office” but thats where they handle the housing documents now, and that was super easy.

    Hope it goes smoothly for you and congrats on the new bike. Let me know if you have any other questions.

    Good Luck!

    Charlie

    Reply
Nung says July 24, 2015

Good luck with your bike, hope you still have it. I was searching the net for the CBR 650r and came across your blog. Are you still in Thailand? I left my 9-5 life in New York as well…once again, good luck with everything.

Reply
    Charlie and Brittany says July 27, 2015

    Thanks, Nung! We actually left in May after almost 2 years and, sadly, had to part with the bike. It treated us well and we miss it though. I’m sure we won’t be able to stay away from Thailand too long – we will be back 🙂 Thanks and good luck to you too!

    Reply
tommy says January 27, 2016

Was there a fee to register the bike in your name? The greenbook and tag?.

Reply
    Charlie and Brittany says January 30, 2016

    If you buy second-hand there is for the transfer but I don’t think its much. I bought new from the dealer and they took care of it.

    Reply
Tran Van Mong says September 8, 2016

hello everyone
i am Mong coming from Vietnam
i am searching the Thailand market and i will import many kinds of good made in Thailand.
who can help me how to do?
first of all, i need to buy 2 Exciter 150 GP.
If you can supply pls contact me as info bellow
hotline: +84 1225 914 078
(zalo.viber.whatsapp.line)
skype: richard.lee434
email: mong.container@gmail.com\

Reply
    Sunny says November 20, 2017

    Hi Mong

    I just email to you.

    Pls check and if any inquiry ,pls feel free to me.

    Tks

    Sunny from THAILAND

    Reply
Add Your Reply