Buy bike in Cambodia - ride in Thailand & Laos?

[Nata Harli]

I'm pretty sure there's some info on this site about this but I can't seem to find it. So, merge or move this thread as you see fit.

I'm arriving in Cambodia to do the "Ride for Cambodia" along with some others. We plan on buying bikes/scooters in Phnom Penh, doing the "Ride" then selling the bikes back at the end of the ride. However, I'm planning on staying in the area (and so are some of the others) a little bit longer. We were thinking of heading to Chiang Mai and then renting bikes there. My thought is to just keep the bikes we buy in PP, ride to Thailand and Laos, then head back to PP and sell the bikes back to the dealer.

So, is this a feasible plan or would we be better off to return the bikes in PP, find our way to Chiang Mai and rent bikes there?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Lone Rider]

There is a thread on buying a bike in Cambodia here: http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/cambodia-ride-reports/2729-buying-bike-cambodia.html

Your biggest problem appears to be getting the Ownership card (time consuming) which you will need to cross borders.

 

[LivinLOS]

Also I have heard vague statements that small bikes (scooters etc) can cause more issues border crossing.. They seem to have a mindset that large farangs on 'real' bikes are allowed, but that scooters and locals get more grief, even tho theres technically now laws that I know of making it any different.

The ownership card can be sub 1 month, so if your buying, doing the ride for cambodia first, that may give enough time.

 

[Nata Harli]

Thanks for the info, guys. Still don't know what I'm going to do but will probably figure it out once I get there and meet the other riders doing the Ride for Cambodia and figure out who I'm going to hang with.