wow thank you thats a lot to take in and brings up more questions...
i.e. if i do get a Thai plated bike can I bring it to Vietnam? China?

What about a Vietnamese plated moto into China?

How about purchasing/renting situation in China?

What is also the situation with importing my moto to Russia, the easter part of it? (Siberia)

The reason I want to start in Thailand is because I want to explore that region of the world as I have been there before backpacking...and have truly enjoyed it. But now I want to do a more complete tour of the land on a motorcycle.

I have already gone down to SA on moto and altough its great I did not find it equally fulfilling.

I have a dream of visiting Tibet, Mongolia and the going West wprking my way toward Europe.


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A thai plated bike into Vietnam I would belive is very very difficult, I havent heard about anyone that has been able to do that other than a very expensive organised tour with guides etc. As I mentioned above - a thai plated bike should go if luck and faith works together into Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia. And Myanmar with a guide and permits of course.

Vietnamese plated bikes into China - well I dont know about that but as far as I know ALL foreign plated vehicles that wants to get into China needs guides and permits etc. And that is very very expensive. You will need to sell a kidney and a lung to be able to afford that if doing that alone.

There was quite recently a man who posted his story about buying a bike in China and riding it around there for some weeks. 100 % legal - absolutely no, easy - definetively not, possible - yes. Worth it - well that depends. For example - it is difficult to find accomodation in China because most hotels, hostels, guesthouses are not allowed to house foreigners as they dont have the license to do that. The expensive ones often have - the ones from 70-80 $ a night, the cheaper ones doesnt have license to house you. Also remember many internetsites are blocked in China such as facebook, Google (me thinks?) etc. Can you read chinese? Roadsigns etc?

Im not sure about asian plated bikes into Russia, I really dont know. Maybe some others can answer about that. I think russian visas are harder to obtain - depending of nationality of course than maybe vehicle temporary imports.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

You can buy a motorcycle freely in Malaysia, reg fees just pennies as is the ins.
Being an ASEAN country will help in getting in, but with the current maybe ?
It was reported in the last few days a couple got into Thailand without the headache, so all is not set in stone yet, donot know the particulars.
In Malaysia money and any address will get you a title in your name.

Several malaysian rider have been riding around the world on their bikes so if one as a foreigner can get a bike registrated in Malaysia that would be great. And also a lot let hazzle in the rest of Southeast-Asia too as in Thailand one would be exempt the new guide and permit nonsense.

How are the prices on bikes in Malaysia compared to for example Thailand?

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Malasian bikes into China without guide?

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NO foreign bikes into China without permits and guides!

Well - although HUBB-member Mika did rode through China without guides etc and you can also find his tripreport somewhere here. But to have the patience, courage and nerves to do it like him is not for everybody....

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

The price of Malay bikes is higher than Thailand, there are certain models that arent available to the Malaysian market.

Someone mentioned throwing some to get a Malay bike registerd, not too much, just like $20 and a passport is sufficient, you can get a Carnet in Malaysia.

I have seen a lot of pictures of Malay scooters in China on fb and instagram, at the moment, its riding season here - I don't know if they are guided or what but they seem to have found a way if not.

I don't know .. really, there is no answer, if you pick up a malay bike, you are limited to 30 days x2 in Thailand (i think thats what its stands up at the moment, my head hurts trying to keep up) you get 30 days in Laos in one hit (?), unlimited in Cambodia, but your not legal, VN is expensive, Myanmar is expensive.

I really think, the best way to do it, get some Moskomoto reckless panniers and just rent or buy some old bike, ride it and return / dump it and move on, SE Asia isn't the place to be messing about at the moment and all i hear is people wanting to travel "on their own bike" cheaply, easily or quickly (or all)- forget it.

Bike prices are higher in Malaysia thats right, but models avalable - I have never seen so many different bikes of all sizes and brands in Asia as in Malaysia.

Anyhow - I agree that it might be the best solution just to rent a bike pr country in SEAsia for the moment. Its too much of a hazzle to cross borders nowadays.
There was just a story that two foreigners had bought a 125 cc scooter each and then crossed over to Thailand, unfortunately they didnt get their paperwork right and risk problems and fines when leaving the country. They were also denied acsess to Laos as they were on small bikes (less than 250 cc) and no way around this.

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

Sorry, I didn't think to be so specific.

They don't have the Honda CRF250, which to my mind, is the ideal solution for a short term purchaser SE Asia, its light, usable straight out of the box, theres always a couple available on Kaidee.com at around 99,000THB for a 2 year old bike, they tend to hold their value. They will roll along at 120-130 on the tarmac. I wish i had one !!

The only Malay option is the KLX250 - D-Tracker, or whatever its called, compared to a Thai CRF, its about 50% more expensive, from what i can see.

Yeah, recent reinforcement of the 250cc rule means that scooters can't cross in Chiang Khong, but I also read reports from Malay guys in the past week who were gaining access with 110cc scoots at Chong Mek.

Recent stories ? You are taking about Caroline, right? Her riding partner lost her temp import form, shouldn't be an issue, the details are logged on the computer. If Cambodian customs take your temp import papers in an effort for you to force you to return to that border, then its not an issue to claim to have lost them when reentering through another border. Its a popular dodge.

Thank you for all the great info! Do you have a link to the post? or title perhaps?

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No sorry - tried briefly to search for it but couldnt find it. Its just approx 2 monts sincw it was posted. The man had a paralysed arm or similar if that makes it easier to find. It should be here somewhere buy I just cannot find it for the moment...

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In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....