Buying your own bike or renting one with white plates

nomad4ever

I'm trying to get a reasonable priced scooter bike (Honda Activa, Dio or Kinetic) here in Goa. I'm staying for at least 6 months. Unfortunately everyone I asked, they only want to rent out this tourist scooter with yellow numbers on black plates.

The prices are anything but reasonable, the cheapest I found so far is Rs 150 per day, if I rent for a month (Rs 4.500/month). If I rent for this rate I'd pay for the whole bike basically in 5 months time, which is ridiculous.

The bikes with white plate/black numbers should be cheaper (Rs 50-75/day), but can only be rented out to Indians, so I've been told. So no chance for me to get my hands on a long-term vehicle for a reasonable price?

In Bali I bought my own used bike and sold it after 2 years for 90% of what I initially paid.

Something like that should be possible here as well, no?

In the Honda Shop in Calangute they told me, that they can sell me a 3-year old Honday Kinetic for Rs 20.000, if I can get an exception paper from the Assistant of Transport near Kadamba Bus Stand in Mapusa. That sounds promising and I hope I can find that building.

Has somebody tried that? How much does it cost to get this paper?

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Chris
http://www.nomad4ever.com
Life is what you make it!

patti123

I think you have to be a Resident of India to be able to buy a bike. I bought my scooter but its under a Goan guys name. I am on white plates as i am not renting it . I not been stopped by the RTO yet but if i am i have to say its my boyfriends bike and i am not renting.
My friends are in Goa at the moment and are renting a Honda Activa for 100rs a day .
I think the office you are looking for is at the bus station upstairs . I remember i went in there for change of owner ship papers for another scooter i had bought . But i know there is a little shack just as the buses come out where you get that paper work from now.

nomad4ever

Thanks for the quick response patti123! Where did your friends rent for Rs 100/day? That would give some ease for a start already...

;-)

Kingfisher

Hi again, Nomad. Patti is basically correct; to buy a bike, new or used, and register it in Goa, you need to be a legal resident of Goa.

The white plate/yellow plate situation is not quite as you describe as only bikes with yellow plates can be legally rented to anyone; it is just that an Indian renting such is less likely to be stopped. There should not be the dramatic price difference you quote between yellow and regular plate bikes -- a 5 month rental is highly coveted and you should expect around 3000 per month either way for a good unit. 50/75 per day does not sound realistic to me for anything other than an extreme POS.

BTW, Honda Kinetics as well as the older geared scooters such as the Bajaj Chetak or LML are all 2 strokes and basically have no value these days. Perhaps the Honda dealer was referring to a Honda Activa or Dio but I think 20k would be on the high side for these as well as that is around half the price of a new one.




edit: didn't see your new post before I got mine away. Where are you living? The best deals are usually with local guys like waiters or someone connected to your guest house.

patti123

nomad4ever They are in Calangute . I text him now but probably wont get a answer till tomorrow . I come back when he replies.
I had my scooter for 3 years now and it paid for it self after the first 6 months .The best thing is i never have to argue with a taxi driver over a inflated price .Worst thing is when i go out and have a drink so leave it at the restaurant and then in the morning cant remember where i left it !

patti123

My first scooter was a Kinetic . Never liked it as i was putting in more oil than petrol . So if you rent dont rent a old Kinetic.

nomad4ever

Kingfisher, you are right, the dealer didn't mention specifically a Kinetic. We were actually talking about a good used one, around 3 years old Honda scooter. My bad! I wouldn't mind to get a cheaper one (yellow or white plate), as I'm not afraid to deal/negotiate with Traffic Cops, I even wrote an article about that from my experiences in Bali. Anyway, if you have a specific tip on how to lower my scooter expenses for the 6 months to come - please let me know!!! ;-)

If there are good used scooter for Rs 20.000 sold, than it's really bad, that us foreigners only should be allowed to rent them for Rs 3.000/month or more!? What a great business model for a bike rental here, getting ROI within 6 months...

patti123, lucky you! ;-) I was basically in the same situation at my destination before, so yeah, I'm trying to reduce those costs for long-term here as well. It would be really great, if your contact in Calangute would have another scooter available. I paid my current one until coming tuesday and would be very much open for alternatives. Many thanks for the effort to helping me out!!

patti123

But you can buy a scooter but not on your name .I use to leave mine with the shack owner that had his name on the bike ,only thing is he rented it out when i wasnt there and used it in the monsoon. It was a right mess when i went back and paid a lot of money to get new panels and the engine repaired .
I now have a British couple look after it so its all greased up and covered till i am there .
I just text my friend but he not replied yet .

Kingfisher

[QUOTE=nomad4ever;598958
If there are good used scooter for Rs 20.000 sold, than it's really bad, that us foreigners only should be allowed to rent them for Rs 3.000/month or more!? What a great business model for a bike rental here, getting ROI within 6 months...

[/QUOTE]

Not quite so simple, as there are certain 'hoops' to go through for a local to acquire yellow plates -- in theory this is a safety issue, as to be eligible the bikes must be either new, or go through an annual inspection. Insurance is higher and there is an annual tax involved. Most of the white tag bikes are just privately owned units that the owner makes available for rent during the tourist season for spare cash.

The yellow tag thing is fairly new and previously it was just necessary to say 'a friend lent it to me...' if stopped by police and give them the phone # of the 'friend'to verify. Personally, I've been driving the same (white tagged) Activa for 3 years now and never been stopped but then I'm not a party goer, usually wear a helmet, and don't pass the usual checkpoints where police are looking for backsheesh.

If you are in the Anjuna/Vagator area you might be able to make a deal with the guy I rent from as he is taking delivery of a couple of new Dios next week and will be yellow tagging them; I'm sure he would be interested in a good long term renter. PM me if you are interested and I'll pass on his #.

nomad4ever

Kingfisher, I can't initiate PM yet, as I'm too new to this forum. If you could PM me first, then I can simply reply? 1001 Thanks!

patti123

nomad4ever I have just PM you .

lez

go to molly malones get Maria's number she rent monthly Rs100/day tell her Lez told you the rate

lez

nomad4ever

Kingfisher, patti123and lez - many thanks for the quick help, either here or per PM. Will try to rent a scooter cheaper for now with your support and maybe I figure an alternative out in the long run. ;-)