the 600 & 1000 hire bikes in Phuket, anybody done it???

[Heretic]

we were in Phuket for xmas / new years, i notice they still had all the big road bikes for hire on outside the hotel, cbr600's, 1000's, R1's etc. anybody done this? how much did it end up costing, did you have fun or don't bother??

we used to do scooters in Bali a lot but a bit hard now we taking our young kids, just thinking about if we have mr & mrs Heretic only time there soon

[smitty525]

i didnt, too risky. they can b quite aggressive if something was to happen to it. unless of course u can more than afford wat they'd expect from u if u binned it.

[Noctis]

Yeh and beware of scams. I'm not sure how if it happens in Phuket, but I know of people in Vietnam who got scammed by the guys at the rental place.

What they commonly do is get somebody to follow you with a spare set of keys and when you leave the bike somewhere they take off with the bike. If they give you a disk lock for an extra price, the guy will have that key too. Then you're left footing the bill for a new bike as per the contract you just signed 20minutes ago.

[rabbit]

There are no roads worthy of a 600 / 1000 on Puket just hire a 175 of a local hire company so much more fun and take out insurance.
Enjoy.

As noctis said beware con's, easiest way to over come these scams is not to leave bikes unatended and only hire them for one day at a time so you dont have them over night.

[seandre]

yep, I second what rabbit said. Roads are very tight and twisty with heaps of sand, debris, dogs etc on the road. Most hire sport bikes I saw had badly worn tyres which is never fun in a tropical location with monsoon rains.

The contracts are largely written in Thai and more or less say that you agree to be fully responsible for the bike no matter what.

Most hirers demand you leave your passport as security. For those that don't know, it's actually a criminal offence not to carry your passport (or Thai ID card if you are a Thai citizen) with you at all times in Thailand and the Thai police can lock you up until you prove your identity (difficult to do if you are locked up). Not to mention the head fuck it will cause you if your passport is lost or sold to a gang by the bike hirer.

Beware that most travel insurance policies don't cover you if you ride a motorcycle over 200cc. If you have an accident, not only will you have the repair costs to pay but also the ambulance, hospital and if bad enough, emergency repatriation costs which can be over $25,000 alone.

Finally, licences. Whilst our country has a reciprocal arrangement with Thailand that a local licence with an International accreditation is valid in either country, I have been pulled over by the Thai po-po and have been told that only a Thai licence is valid. They didn't fine me on that occasion but I was told to get a Thai licence if I wanted to keep riding there (seems cops can be cunts no matter where in the world you are).

If you still wanna do it, the charge rates are about 1,000 - 1,500 baht per day which is about $30 - $45 aussie. Cheap but comes with significant risks.

[dib]

Beware that most travel insurance policies don't cover you if you ride a motorcycle over 200cc
.

This should be the only reason you need

[Heretic]

This should be the only reason you need

yep spot on, didnt know the travel insurance thing

that does put an end to it.

thanks guys

[Oz Motorcycle Leathers]

There is no way on earth I would hire one of those bikes

[Dubs]

Scooters only, apart from all of the above they are much easier to park and you dont look like a douchbag falang

Dubs

[cowasaki]

dont look like a douchbag falang

Laffin... how true, Hero's on 1000cc's in 20km/hr traffic being overtaken by whole families on scooters! dodging pot holes, dogs & wayward tourists.

[mattDC5R]

Beware that most travel insurance policies don't cover you if you ride a motorcycle over 200cc. If you have an accident, not only will you have the repair costs to pay but also the ambulance, hospital and if bad enough, emergency repatriation costs which can be over $25,000 alone.

Went through this on a trip to Italy last year, and is correct generally, but if you look around there are policies that don't preclude motorbikes based on size.
I initially went with RAC as they indicated they didn't have an issue, only cancel it after reading through the policy and getting a better understanding of the policy than what they gave me initially.

Went with QBE in the end, as they specifically list motorbikes as a rental vehicle, and had no cc limit of what they would cover.

[emrys74]

world care also cover any motorbike over 50cc providing you have the relevant licence.
have been pretty happy with there service.
https://www.worldcare.com.au/

[shmoo]

^^^^ FYI any (most) of the resellers of Allianz insurance products cover bikes.

[KiwiBiker]

I really wanted to hire one but after seeing horror stories on TV stay well away my friend. Even hiring a scooter is a risk but one we took with some care. You obviously know not to hire jet skies etc. Sorry to put a damper on it mate but we got better sports here anyway.

[emrys74]

least you can buy a scooter if you have too dont want to be trying to cough up for a sports bike