Hi all

We're looking into traveling in South East Asia next winter and would love to do it on motorbikes. I'd appreciate any info you've all got about hiring or buying bikes (new or second hand) in Thailand then taking them into Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
What bikes are available?
What are the prices like for renting/buying?
Is it feasible to take bikes out of Thailand into the other countries? Or is it easier to buy or rent in Laos or Cambodia or Vietnam?

Any other tips would be great too.

Thanks in advance

Gemma

you can rent bikes from Flamingo Travel in Hanoik, Vietnam and cross into Laos. Talk to Hung at Flamingo Travel. I did this last year, was great. You can also rent bikes in Chang Mai, Thailand and cross into Thailand. You should be able to google that. Tell me if you want me to dig up email address for Hung but should be easily searchable.

Cheers
Larry

I have rented two different years in Thailand and it is very easy to rent and very cheap. Mostly you will be getting Honda 125 bikes and they are very cheap at like $4 per day. I rented in Chaing Mai and there are lots of places there to rent. I suggest bringing your own helmet and any riding cloths you want as it is not easy to find what you want there. I also rented in Laos at Vientiane and it was again very cheap and easy there. I am not sure about taking them across any borders but just from past experiences and reading on here I do not think you can. That way you need to rent from somewhere and then return it to there so a loop ride works the best. I did not rent in Cambodia when I was there as I was only there 2 days but you could also rent there. I am planning on doing Viet Nam next January as I hear it is as easy to rent there.

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Larry Davis

I've just answered this very same FAQ in another topic. Here we go again:

You can rent/buy bikes in Vietnam and you can go to all the accessible countries, i.e. not China & Burma. You need a paper from the rental co. giving you permission to ride the bike across borders. If you buy it the rego must be in your name. A 125 or a Minsk will be all you can find there.

In Chiang Mai I saw bigger bikes for rent. The Honda 650 Bros is fairly common. However, most bikes in Thailand don't have legal plates, so you can't cross borders on them. You must tell the rental co. that you want to cross borders and it will cost you double. We hired a couple of Honda 250 trail bikes and paid about 1000B/day, no border crossings.

Check out gt-rider.com

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Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

Really good website this - gt-rider.com - thanks

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Reality is something you rise above. - Liza Minnelli (1946 - )

Thailand, Cambodia and Laos are accessible on bikes bought from any of these countries, even though some paperwork will be involved, and as a foreigner, you may have some trouble with language, etc. Probably Malaysia as well, even if it is officially a carnet country.

On Vietnamese plates, it seems to be possible to go to other countries, and return to Vietnam, but getting into Vietnam on foreign plates is unlikely (and there does not seem to be any ´under 175cc = okay` thing, but the net is full of rumours of course).

hi larry
like gemma i plan to do the same tour
im getting to bankok in the 13 of april (10 dayes from now)
on what bike did you ride?
by the way i found flamingo web:
Flamingo-travel

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one life, live it well

ok, by the way my quote should read "rent a bike in Chang Mai Thailand and cross into Laos" for more money, yeah.
I was on a Yamaha enduro on one trip and a Honda 250 Baja on another with Flamingo (once with Hung and once solo) and I also bought a Minsk to putt around Vietnam where I did a volunteer assignment.

Good luck

Larry

We have just returned from Thailand no problem renting bikes in Pataya (just make sure they are registered we had 250's but you could get just about anything. We payed 800baht a day, didnt cross any borders but we did cover 3000 km the road to Mae Hon Son from Chiang mae is a must 1864 bends, dont forget to collect your certificate from the tourist information in the town centre.

One way to keep the costs down is to have more on the bike Thai style like the pic below six on one bike Priceless

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

If you plan to buy and not rent you will have to do it in Vietnam, bikes from there can go to the other countries you list but foreign bikes cannot enter Vietnam, if you fancy a Minsk there always seem to be one or two for sale in Hanoi backpackers.
Also take your own riding gear, what is available there is rubbish, especially helmets.
Mark

I have rented two different years in Chiang Mai and it is very easy. The first year I rented a Kawasaki 250 dirt bike and paid about $14 per day which is very expensive. The second year I just rented a Honda 125 and paid about $4 per day. I rented in Vientiane Laos and paid about the same for a Honda 125. I rented one bike and rode it two up with my wife for about 1000 miles in Thailand. It works out good to headquarter in Chiang Mai and do 4 or 5 day trips and come back to replenish cloths. I just left a big bag at a hotel in Chiang Mai because I did not know you could cross boarders with a rental bike. Makes it harder as you need to come back to the same place but if you are leaving cloths it is not that big of a problem. Larry

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Larry Davis

Hi all

Due to several reasons i cannot take my full motorbike test before i travel out to Vietnam on 8th January. I have a standard car driving license and international driving license and can take a CBT test if need be. I had planned to travel by motorbike down Vietnam from Hanoi, across to the rest of SE Asia. My main query is about safety but also on border crossings and whether a lack of full motorbike license will be a problem and without these, what a typical fine would be if stopped by the police?

I've traveled and hired some motorbikes in SE Asia before but never with insurance or a license and only had one crash which was my fault but i just want to put the question out there on how many others have done the same thing and what you recommend? I am a very safe and cautious driver, intend to wear some good clothing and a UK helmet if i do this trip in full, or just rent and do partial trips in each country but i really want to do some motorbike journeys and so would appreciate any advice, tips, stories and help.

wix

Hi Wix,

If you rent a small bike [125] in Thailand they will not ask to see your licence, if the police stop you the fine will be about 200 Baht [4 pounds]. It is very easy to get a bike licence in Thailand, but you will need a tourist or O visa [both obtained in advance in your own country], then a bit of running around to get a medical and a proof of address [hotel is OK] from immigration. You then turn up at the transport office with photocopies of everything, no appointment neccesary, sit through a few hours of a guy talking Thai, do a few turns around a car park [you can rent a bike on the day] and hey presto they take your photo and issue the licence on the spot, pass rate is about 99%. This should help you in Cambodia, Laos etc.
An alternative is get a International Driving Licence [if you are British] from the Post Office and hope that the person serving you does not know what they are doing [it's happened three times for us] we had all the grades of vehicles stamped, instead of just the car and bike. With an International Licence it is even easier to get a Thai bike or car licence, takes about 30 mins. When you get back to your own country you can drive/ride for 12 months on your Thai licence, but you obvioulsy have to inform your insurers, the AA did not increase our premium.

Enjoy your travels.
Jay

Hi Wix,

Better I think to start your own thread.
This one runs back to 2010, and a lot has happened, and a lot of people have been there since then.

Close this, and copy your question to a "New Topic"

vette

Hi its much easyer to rent different 125cc bikes in each country for 5 dollars per day. This id how i did thailand laos and kambodia:

Ａｄｖｅｎｔ&# xff55;ｒｅ motorcycle tour around the mae hong son loopr