Wonder What's Happening at Red Baron.

[2wheels]

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From time to time I check their website, just to be aware of what is available at what price (and, admittedly, to fantasize just a bit).

I checked tonight and noticed they no longer publish details of the bikes they have for sale.
Instead there's a request to 'please call'.

I imagine a potential customer would need to be fluent with Thai to be able to communicate with them,
or maybe they have competent speakers of English amongst their staff. (I have never received a response from them when I have endeavored to communicate via email).

Wonder what's going on and why.

[Changnoi1]

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When I was there about 2 years ago they had a guy speaking & reading Thai, English and Japanese and I think he will still be there.

[mbox999]

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i noticed the removed price too...i have not recently emailed them, but had at least 3 email responses in the past , which was kinda surprising for Thailand.
One thing that i noticed here, the shorter and more straight forward the email the likelier you get an response.

[KZ25]

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...the shorter and more straight forward the email the likelier you get an response.

That's also my experience. I usually write a very short introduction, then simple, to the point, questions, and mark them 1), 2), 3) and so on.

Most questions can be answered only with 'yes' or 'no'. Avoid questions that can have several answers.

Never ask suggestive questions (like: Is it like this?) because you'll get a 'yes' only to find out later it's a 'no'.

I'll never forget an email I wrote when I tried to order paper cups for my coffee shop.

Someone wrote back that they do sell paper cups but that they are made of plastic.

So be ready for surprises!

Now - back to the topic...

[2wheels]

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I'll try a call tomorrow; about that Honda 400 Silver Wing.
May be able to report their response.

[TonyBKK]

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Khun Vikrom speaks very good English and some of the other staff speak a little bit of English.

Wonder why they took their prices down?

Perhaps their low prices were causing too much embarrassment for the new Suzuki and soon to open Honda Big Bike shops?

I used to think Red Baron was expensive, but compared to the prices the official dealers charge they're a downright bargain!

[madjbs]

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Depends on the bike too I think. The new Super Tenere for 600,000THB was a great deal, but the 5+ year old DRZ400's for 245,000+, not so good.

[Dougal]

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I was there last week. Everything seemed to be running smooth.

Prices are on all the bikes in the showroom so they're not trying to hide anything.

Had a quick look at the big scooters; all in great condition. Don't trust my memory but I think the scoots were between 300 to 400,000.

Agree with Tony on the prices.

[KZ25]

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Whatever the prices are, not posting them anymore is not a good idea. Why withhold information?

There must be phone conversations like this:

"Hello, how much is the '09 YZF-R1?"

"It's 700,000 baht."

"Thank you very much. Bye."

I bet it won't be long until they post them again!

[2wheels]

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Well, I called Red Baron this morning using their 027294132 number.
It was answered promptly by a man who spoke reasonable English.
He was able to tell me the price of the Silver Wing (320,000baht), and that it was a 2009 model
which had done 10,900 kms.
He was not able to tell me why their website did not have that information and suggested I speak to the Manager,
which I might do later.

[TonyBKK]

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Whatever the prices are, not posting them anymore is not a good idea. Why withhold information?

Yet, by Thai standards Red Baron has one of the easiest to navigate and most up to date websites out there.

I rather suspect they had to remove their prices due to pressure from the official dealers who don't like being undercut so badly by a grey market importer.

Anyway, prices shown or not, Red Baron continues to sell a lot of bikes. I rather doubt that taking the prices off of their website will have any effect on their sales.

[brian66]

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I was in Red Barons on the 14th of February.
I know Vikrom very well, as I have purchased 4 bikes from him over the past 4 years.

Vikrom told me news concerning parts imported bikes.
He said that he could only order new bikes for another two months then all parts imported bikes are banned. He claimed that the big four Japs will now be bringing in bikes that he previously brought in. He told me he was informed by the same government people who have been helping him to get these bikes registered over the years. They will no longer assist him.

They are going to make the people who still import bikes in parts pay the full amount of tax so they can put them out of business

He says it will change and probably hurt his business because he will not be able to supply bikes to order. He is going to have to move into the second hand bike market.
I believe the above is the reason that prices have been removed from their web site.

Anyway, why he told me all this was because i ordered a new CRF450F and a 2012 blade from him and both will just get in before the ban takes effect and i will not be able to get Green Books any longer.

He has my stock 2008 blade on his show room floor, that bike has only done 4000 kilometers. 400,000 I am asking.
It is fully registered with a green book.

[KZ25]

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Finally some facts - thanks for posting them!

Just when I thought that it's good news that more Japanese companies are offering big bikes for sale...

Of course they don't want anybody to offer better prices than their high prices.

The gov is planning to raise the tax rate on unassembled bikes - what about lowering the taxes on assembled ones?

[TonyBKK]

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I was in Red Barons on the 14th of February.
I know Vikrom very well, as I have purchased 4 bikes from him over the past 4 years.

Vikrom told me news concerning parts imported bikes.
He said that he could only order new bikes for another two months then all parts imported bikes are banned. He claimed that the big four Japs will now be bringing in bikes that he previously brought in. He told me he was informed by the same government people who have been helping him to get these bikes registered over the years. They will no longer assist him.

They are going to make the people who still import bikes in parts pay the full amount of tax so they can put them out of business

He says it will change and probably hurt his business because he will not be able to supply bikes to order. He is going to have to move into the second hand bike market.
I believe the above is the reason that prices have been removed from their web site.

Anyway, why he told me all this was because i ordered a new CRF450F and a 2012 blade from him and both will just get in before the ban takes effect and i will not be able to get Green Books any longer.

He has my stock 2008 blade on his show room floor, that bike has only done 4000 kilometers. 400,000 I am asking.
It is fully registered with a green book.

That's rather sad news... I've heard rumors about this ban on various Thai facebook pages, but I thought it only applied to vehicles imported in parts.

But if the ban only applies to bikes imported in parts it shouldn't really affect Red Baron's sales of NEW bikes which they import whole, should it?

I've been there when they've received new bikes in factory crates direct from the US- those bikes shouldn't be affected by this ban, should they?

And it will be a real shame if importers such as Red Baron can no longer supply bikes that the "official dealers" don't offer.

Suzuki, Thailand only offers TWO models, Honda, Thailand will offer only FIVE or SIX (and their CBR1000RR is the restricted Jap-spec version). Yamama, Thailand also only sells about a half dozen models. Etc.

So for folks who want a bike that isn't offered by the "Official Dealers" will they be $hit out of luck once this ban takes effect?

Wow, the more I think about this, the more depressing it is...

[brian66]

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Tony,
Those bikes you see are parts bikes even though they are 95% assembled. Vikrom was able to do this as he had “connections” and an “arrangement”
He could get second hand bikes and he could also get new bikes.
The law on taxes and duties is very clear on what is a distributer-imported bike, which is put on dealer floor, what is a second hand bike and what parts are defined as.
Because of the system my brand new CRF450F cost 470,000 Baht with a green book.
The difference is the people in the right position who can make things work for people like Vikrom
Those connections he had are the people who are being forced out of business therefore, it affects Red Barons business.
My opinion from observing over the years the blitzes that Thai government departments conduct from time to time is that things revert back to Business as usual over time and the cycle continues.

[Viking]

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The new Super Tenere for 600,000THB was a great deal

Just checked. It's actually 690.000 THB.

[TonyBKK]

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Wow Red Baron has filled their showroom with some fantastic new bikes at prices that put the official dealers to shame!

You can pay 799k for a Japan-spec restricted CBR1000RR at the Honda Big Wing or you can buy a brand new USA spec 2012 Honda CBR1000RR from Red Baron for 680k Baht:
http://www.redbaronbkk.com/products/...120331-0000615
They've got a brand new 2012 Kawasaki ZX14R, a couple of VFR1200's and a whole bunch of other new bikes.
The price of the Super Tenere keeps getting bumped up though...

I hope that the independent importers like Red Baron and 59 Bike will continue to provide stiff competition to the overpriced official dealers.
Bravo Red Baron!

[KZ25]

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...it will be a real shame if importers such as Red Baron can no longer supply bikes that the "official dealers" don't offer.

I'm quite sure the "Big Four" were leaning on the government to get a handle on any kind of Japanese imports they don't control.

Every bike Red Baron sells is one sale they loose - can't have that when you're trying to break into the Big Bike market!

Unfortunately it looks like soon we'll only be able to buy what they are offering, at their prices.

If you don't like the models or the price tag it's actually a step backwards from the way it was - no more special orders!

Maybe now is the best time to get what you still can get...

[LivinLOS]

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Yeah theres this rumor doing the rounds of a 'million baht per shipment' fee imposed on big bike imports to penalize the small guys while not hurting the biggest and BOE ones.

What happens we will see.