Some words about Siam Superbike

Apr 10, 2006
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Hello Guys!

Some weeks ago I asked around which motorbike shop here in BKK is a good place. And I got some fast answers.
All said: Go to Siam Superbike. Go to Peter Reid.
I was there and now I say: Go everywhere, but never to Peter Reid![:(!]

He seems to be really confused when I talk to him. He wasn't friendly. He couldn't give me the prices. He wasn't helpful. He said to me: Yeah, yeah tomorrow I will have most of your parts. I give you a call or a mail.
Now it is ten days later: I sent him four mails about this. I got nothing from him! [:(!]

When we come into his workshop, there was a bigbike lying in oil and coolant fluid on the floor. On the fearing.[xx(] Nobody was interested in pick it up. I asked if I should help, but they don't give me an answer!

Here in BKK we met another german couple on an Africa Twin, Jan and his girlfriend Claudia. They made much more terrible experience with him: They have had a destroyed regulator. They go to him and let check if it is okay or not. They say: Yeah, okay. You need a new battery. They bought one, 20km later the battery starts cooking again. They go back and want to clear there mistake. Peter said: Me and my boys never make mistakes. [?][?][?]Jan doesn't got back his money for the battery....[:(!]

Then we went to Red Baron and that is a much better shop. I really can recommend this shop![:D]
They have a huge mount of stock in the house. Nearly 600 bikes in pieces. They are helpful, nice and friendly as well.[:eek:)]

That is my experience. Sorry for the hard words, but Siam Superbike....

All the Best
Tanja & Christian
[DLMURL]http://www.enduroreisende.de[/DLMURL]
 

pee

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Mar 10, 2006
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Hi,

I live in Bkk and have also heard negative feedback about "Siamsuperbike".
Never had a negative experience with "Red Baron". "Motozone" (RCA)is a good place too.
Interested to hear about your experiences guys...
 

DavidFL

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Tanja & Christian
Sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction with Siam Superbike.
But to be honest you get good & bad service everywhere you go. Everyone has good & bad days, even the old GT Rider himself.

But overall I think that you will find most of the GT Riders who have used Pete Reid & Siam Superbike have had good service & he has always been reliable for us.
If there are other shops that are supposedly good / reliable, we have not heard about them as people dont report them on this site, why I dont know. But it would be good if they did report & contribute.

I see that Pee's just jumped in to suggest Red Baron & Motozone, because he's heard complaints about SS, but he's never contributed road or trip reports so you have to wonder what his experience is. You also have to wonder why there are few reports about Red Baron & Motozone?

Now for the GT Rider recommendations for Siam Superbike, these are coming from riders who do ride & contribute to this board & generally we who do ride have had good experience with Siam Superbike. So "we" think Siam Superbike is ok.

Other contributions are welcome, no matter where you ride or where you shop but I do hope that they come from riders who do ride!

Davidfl
Keep The Power On
 
Mar 11, 2004
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Being called "unfriendly" by a German is wounding blow.
I apologise for probably being a bit distracted that day,having being called out about retiring time the night before to pick up a customers bike who had a altercation with the road on the Hua Hin by pass, so not much sleep the previous night. That sort of explains why the bike you mention was "lying its side covered in coolant and oil in the workshop". Having lost its front wheel and most of the fork assembly it was a little hard to stand upright.

deadbird.jpg


As for the four emails, Just don't know, there is not one in my inbox, I do know that from some email providers, Yahoo being one, I don't seem to receive them, Hot mail works fine, Not technically IT savy enough to work that out.
I must admit to being to having some unpleasant experiences with Bike Travellers, many don't seem to understand the concept that we are a business and require payment for services. On more than one occasion I have done work which has been satisfactory but told afterwards payment would be by way of a favourable mention their website. Sorry! but that don't feed the kids. Its a great pity because I have meet quite a few great RTW people, Sjaak being a recent one, guy on a budget but quite happy to pay for services rendered. As for the allegation "me and the boys never make mistakes" only wish that was true, unfortunately we do make mistakes more often than I would like. But I never duck the responsiblity of a mistake, if I or my staff have made one, I rectify it, but if someone tries to pull a fast one me, I will stand firm.
 
Jul 11, 2006
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On the Subject of Siam Superbike.

I was in Iraq and purchased an R1 from peter via his website, Upon my return I test rode the bike and found the gearbox knackered,and the engine sounded like a bag of bolts,battery knackered and it jumped out of second gear, I called peter and the next day he personally was at my door from bangkok to Udon thani, he admitted not checking the bike himself and I returned the bike to his shop via his pickup. He fitted a new ( secondhand Engine ) the mechanics screwed up the gearbox again and upon returning of the bike to me it left a hugh puddle of oil on the floor ( wasnt impressed ) I called peter again,
Again a vehicle was dispatched from Bkk to me and the bike collected ( again ) this time peter sent me a replacment bike ( a Fireblade 1999 ) excellent machine in mint condition, a week later i decided to ride to bangkok from udon and see what was going on, Peter was his usual laid back self and we chatted and had a beer I stopped the night with his family and left again the next morning, peter does have his problems but hey we are in Thailand not Europe and most of peters problems stem from having shit staff who take him for granted, (same old same old) Thai,s tend to get to thinking they are not replacable and take the piss from all employers, Peter however took much shit from one mechanic and eventually fired his arse through a barrgae of abuse from the Thai in the street, If any one should be sour it should be me through 265000 baht paid out and a bag of shit of a bike delivered , but fairs fair and peter did everything in his power to sort it out and I have now settled on the Fireblade and Peter reimbursed me the difference, So full marks to you Peter, However on the subject of paperwork theres a different story, peter does have a problem there and needs to get it sorted out and quick, i.e. logbooks for bikes and get them sent to the respective owners.

On the whole I would recommend Siam Superbike to any one asking about big bikes and if peter ever needed a hand id be the first of offer it, So to the german couple who had a bum experience ( Shit Happens ) get over it and dont slag someone off for having a bad day.

On a foot note I met two very satisfied German riders when i was at peters shop One on a Blackbird and a damn nice chap too, I refitted his scot oiler for him and and nice lad on a Hornet250 both very satisfied with peters service.

Keep up the good work Peter and dont lower yourself to slagging others off like this pair.

to any one wishing to buy a big bike see http://www.siamsuperbike.com

Dave[:D]
 
Feb 21, 2006
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I guess I should chime in and give my 2 satang as well.

I have purchased two motorcycles from Peter at Siam Superbike and will likely purchase a third as well. The first was a Yamaha TDM 900. I had just moved to Thailand and was naturally skeptical about purchasing a big bike here. I test rode the bike, did my research on getting big bikes registered in Thailand and even researched the 17 digit VIN on the frame of the bike. The bike was indeed manufactured for the Japanese market and wasn’t reported as being stolen from Japan. I bought the bike and was told that I could have my green book in about 6 weeks. 6 weeks came and went but the book didn’t come. I was anxious to do some serious touring and was very uncomfortable riding without a properly registered bike. I began communicating with Peter’s #1 man, Jum, about getting the green book ASAP. 6 weeks turned into 4 months and Jum finally told me that my green book would be here “this weekend”. He said that he had to show the bike to his “friend” that worked at the Land Transport Office over the weekend and I said “while you have the bike, put some new rubber on the front as I’ve worn off the little bit that the bike came with”.

I went to pickup up the bike on Monday and was handed the green book and went home with a smile on my face. Later that day, I was checking the book against the sales receipt and noticed that the frame number (VIN) didn’t match the number in the book. When I bought the bike from Peter originally, I thought it was odd that they didn’t include the VIN on the sales receipt and asked them to include the number on my receipt.

I called Peter and told him that there has been a mistake and he said “No Barry, go check the number on your bike and you’ll see that they match”. Damned if they didn’t match. They had ground off the original VIN and stamped a 10 digit number from a 12 year old Thai bike (to their credit, they did a fine job of altering the VIN – the untrained eye wouldn’t notice it). That meant that I had a recycled book. If I had known that I would be receiving a recycled book up front, it probably wouldn’t have bothered me. I bought a bike with an original VIN and was upset that they changed the VIN without asking or informing me. Peter’s web site had lots of advice on how to buy a big bike in Thailand and warned buyers to watch out for bikes with recycled books.

I met with Peter to discuss this and his response was that this was the only way he had of getting big bikes registered anymore. I showed him the pages from HIS web site advising buyers to watch out for bikes with recycled books and he admitted that he needed to change the web site. The web site was changed rather quickly – to match his current business practices.

In the end, Peter offered me a 100% refund for the bike since he had another buyer that would pay what I did. For me, it wasn’t too bad of a deal. I had the bike 4 months and only put new rubber on the front wheel. I looked hard for another big bike and ended up buying a new BMW R1200GS in Bangkok.

When I rode to Chiang Mai bike week last year, two of my Thai friends (brothers) wanted to take their GS’s for some “off road” riding. My friends were of average Thai height and size and not very experienced in dirt riding. Both brothers dropped there bikes twice in one day and of course, Barry came to the rescue to help them pick their bikes up and I even rode their bikes through the tricky muddy sections for them. It’s funny how BMW markets the GS as a “fundero” when in reality, it’s just a decent road bike that can handle dirt roads and fire trails pretty well.

I grew up riding off road and a weekend of playing in the dirt with the GS was all it took for me to decide that I needed a dirt bike again. I went to Peter’s shop and saw a nice a 2004 Honda XR250 that already had a plate on it. The bike had a recycled book, but I knew it up front. In fact, it’s the same bike that the Swede took to Laos and then Cambodia and wrote a trip report about on this board. So yes, you can take a Thai registered bike with a recycled book into Laos and Cambodia. Malaysia and Singapore? I’m not sure.

I bought the bike and took it home. I quickly that noticed that the bike stalled every time I stopped. Luckily, the bike has electric start so it wasn’t too dangerous in Bangkok but it was still quite annoying. I took the bike back to Jum and left it for a week – I think I was off riding in Laos or somewhere. I called Jum, interviewed him well, what did you do to fix the bike? What did you adjust? What parts did you change? He convinced me that the bike was running well (“no problem” must have been the first English words he learned). I picked up the bike and it stalled at the second traffic light I stopped at. I rode the bike for another day or two before making an appointment to see Peter and have him ride the bike himself. We both agreed that the bike was running rich and needed to be tuned properly. I left the bike with Jum and put the ignition key in his hand because the bike was parked on the street and I didn’t want it to be stolen. Two weeks went by and I called Jum to see if my bike was ready. I interviewed him again about what was changed, what was adjusted, etc. He convinced me that the bike was running fine so I took another B150 taxi ride to pick it up. When I arrived at the shop, Peter was there. We spent some time talking about my Laos trip and Jum was busy taking care of another customer. When Jum got to me, he asked me for the key to my bike. I told him “no, you have my key” and that I distinctly remember placing it in his hand because the bike was parked on the street. He said he didn’t remember getting the key and wasn’t sure that he had it. I had a spare key at home and would have brought it if he asked but then it dawned on me – how the hell could he tune the bike when he didn’t have a key to start it with? Jum was lying through his teeth. I shouldn’t have been surprised and I shouldn’t have trusted his word as much as I did. It’s kinda funny when you catch a Thai lying straight to your face. Jum never admitting lying and kept smiling the whole time. I would have been red faced and embarrassed, but Thai people...

I cornered Peter about this and he agreed that Jum’s story was a load of buffalo dung. It was at this point that it became clear to me that although Peter is the owner of the shop, he really wasn’t in charge of what was happening at Siam Superbike. His boys lie to him as much (or more) than they lie to their customers. I went home in a taxi (again) and insisted that Peter ride the bike for a day before calling to say it was ready to be picked up. True to his word, Peter did test ride the bike and it has run perfectly ever since. Jum said he had to change to carburetor to get it to run correctly. I was a little confused since the Swede who owned the bike before me never complained of this problem. I can’t confirm if the carb was changed, but if I had expensive goodies on my bike and took it to Jum for repair, I’d check to make sure that they were still on the bike when I picked it up.

As macattack said, TIT (this is Thailand). Peter knows what good customer service is and does his best to provide it but there are 4 or 5 Thai boys working there and only one Kiwi (Peter). Would I go back there again? Yes (as long as Peter doesn’t show this posting to his employees!). Would I recommend this shop to another farang? Yes, as long as they know about my experience and they know what to expect.

Peter said that he’s had some unpleasant experiences with “Bike Travelers” and I guess that’s to be expected. If you live here in Thailand you quickly realize that things aren’t the same as they are at home in the UK, EU, OZ or US. Although my experiences having my GS serviced at the dealer in Bangkok have been pretty good, they weren’t what I would have expected at a BMW dealer in the US.

As far as the Germans being unable to contact Peter, I’ve never had a problem getting a hold of him – except when he was out of the country. How many businesses do you know where the owner puts his cell phone right on the home page?

If I sound a little down on the Thai boys at Siam Superbike, I’m really not. I would use the same precautions when doing business with them as I would when doing business with any other Thai mechanic. Think about it, how far should you trust a Thai bike mechanic that’s wearing more gold around his neck (Jum) than you?

Barry

If I wasn't doing this, I'd be doing something else.
 
Aug 16, 2003
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"If I sound a little down on the Thai boys at Siam Superbike, I’m really not. I would use the same precautions when doing business with them as I would when doing business with any other Thai mechanic. Think about it, how far should you trust a Thai bike mechanic that’s wearing more gold around his neck (Jum) than you?"

Wow, these last words turned out to be profetic! I'll spare you all my own bad experiences with our friend Jum.
 
Sep 26, 2006
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For the time being I'd stick with Red Baron or Motozone for bike related business until old Peter can get his business up and running properly. from what I've seen he's a nice bloke, been kicked in the balls by wanker locals, and needs to pick up the peices. Good luck Peter...

From My experinence Red Baron are the BEST when it comes to Bike servicing, however my new purchase came from Motozone so I'll be trying them from now on...
 

mussen

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Nov 14, 2005
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quote:

Originally posted by ivan the terrable

i bought a bike off ss bikes about 6 months ago..found peter a friendly and help full person..no probs








I bought mine a year ago and still have no book. I have received lots of BS to keep me going, no apologies, and Peter has now left the country so I'm left dealing with Thai middle men who are as useless as all ####
 

dotcom

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Nov 14, 2006
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As of about a week ago Red Baron will only service (work on) Bikes purchased from them.

Feel free to flame me if you want to. That is the company policy - orders from Tokyo.

Many of you won't believe me. no problem. Go ask them yourselves.
 
Oct 17, 2006
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quote:

Originally posted by dotcom

As of about a week ago Red Baron will only service (work on) Bikes purchased from them.

Feel free to flame me if you want to. That is the company policy - orders from Tokyo.

Many of you won't believe me. no problem. Go ask them yourselves.








They have supposedly had this policy for about 2 years but I think its flexible , they will work on customers bikes first , and if they have time they will work on others.

jerry
 
Sep 26, 2006
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I've had work done on my bike there, and didn't buy it there, I'll do future servicing at Motozone as that's where I got my current ride, the French bloke who runs it is a nice bloke too.

Red Baron can be very hot and cold with their Farang punters, the mechanics know their stuff though.