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Cb650r
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Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 27th, 2022, 12:19 pm

Hi guys I'm joe and I was told this is the place for all things car related in Trinidad. I was born in Pos and lived there till I was ten. I currently own a small bike business in Thailand and have been thinking of seeing what life and business is like on the island.

Currently I have a few bikes I am contemplating exporting. So my question is about the market for mid tier bikes like the 2020 cb650r , cbr650, zx6r, ninja 650 ninja 400 and z400. Is there a market even for cheap 125 cc commuter bikes ?

Thailand has a massive bike trading economy. Loans are very easy to get and defaults are somewhat high. This fuels trade in cheap bikes.
So any advice would be appreciated.

My current ride 2021 cb650r
20211218_173002.jpg

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Les Bain » January 27th, 2022, 4:42 pm

In my years making the traffic ridden work commmute I used to envy seeing the bike men effortlessly gliding through the gridlock. I doh have the belly to face idiotic trini driving on anything less than 4 wheels though.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby 88sins » January 27th, 2022, 4:50 pm

It's a very small market here op, mostly dominated by a few well established small scale businesses, so to set up shop you need to come good. That being said, competition is a good thing, so come thru.

I would suggest that in addition to supplying bikes, you may want to consider supplying parts and motors, not just for your own business, but for sale to the public as well.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 27th, 2022, 9:03 pm

Les Bain wrote:In my years making the traffic ridden work commmute I used to envy seeing the bike men effortlessly gliding through the gridlock. I doh have the belly to face idiotic trini driving on anything less than 4 wheels though.


Well it's all about how you ride. If you ride while being alert and expecting the unexpected you are mostly fine. You know the road yo7 travel and how drivers drive. If your lane splitting ( which is the main benefit) you are fine. Higher speed riders here tend to stick to the slowest lane or the emergency shoulder( the smart riders) you know people break lights so you slow down before lights you give your self maximim reaction time, stay far from cars. You see a car approaching at speed move out of his way.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby timelapse » January 27th, 2022, 9:04 pm

You got road worthy quads?

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 27th, 2022, 9:13 pm

88sins wrote:It's a very small market here op, mostly dominated by a few well established small scale businesses, so to set up shop you need to come good. That being said, competition is a good thing, so come thru.

I would suggest that in addition to supplying bikes, you may want to consider supplying parts and motors, not just for your own business, but for sale to the public as well.



Well I would think the main driving force in a market like that would be price and maintenance costs. Do you know the average cost of for example a honda cb650r ? Or a zx6r ? Eg I just bought two 2021 cb650r for little under 30k tt . I buy yamaha aerox 155 2019 to 2021 for about 10k tt. An aerox is extremely economical in terms of fuel and are bullet proof. If faced with a much cheaper option to commute to work and just in general transport to events like the beach ect wouldn't people prefer to have their own transport ? Parts for all these bikes are plentiful and cheap due to the sheer volume of bikes built in Thailand and crashed daily.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 27th, 2022, 9:28 pm

timelapse wrote:You got road worthy quads?


Me personally I don't trade in quads, the demand isn't enough to have a large pool to trade in and look for sales that can make a profit. These can be registered here only 110 cc though.

Screenshot_20220128-082549_Lite.jpg

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 27th, 2022, 9:37 pm

timelapse wrote:You got road worthy quads?


These are very popular here. 300cc large storage space snd loads of after market parts. They put sound systems in the storage They modify the engines for more power use all sorts of rims and wraps. 25k TT is average price everywhere.

Screenshot_20220128-083510_Lite.jpg

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby MaxPower » January 27th, 2022, 9:56 pm

Motorcycle riders are a nuisance in society.

Most of them that is.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby agent007 » January 28th, 2022, 1:18 am

OP, when was the last time you came to T&T? Your business sounds like a good idea here but three things (amongst others) you need to take into consideration:

1. Availability of USD.

When you ship these motorcycles and parts to T&T, obviously you need your invoices settled or to settle your suppliers. You need USD for that and we do have some issues with forex for the last 5 years.

2. TT Customs

Are you prepared for unnecessary bureaucracy and for hold-ups in clearing?

3. Do you wish to operate virtually or traditional brick and motar? I don't know how life is in Thailand but our crime has gotten worse and are you prepared to pay extra for your business and inventory to be protected or to handle the scenes accordingly when it comes to paperwork and taxes etc?

I would say, be cautious and align yourself with an already established player. You can simply be a supplier operating in the background but you will still have direct and indirect challenges as it relates to the above points. No one gets paid unless something is sold. It means if you want something sustainable out of this, you need inventory to move so that your payments will flow steady and not wired to your Thai account on an ad hoc or when it's feasible to do so basis.

Sad to say but entrepreneurial startups and investment in T&T is a bit tough but if you have the right connections, why not? Fix up and good luck.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 28th, 2022, 3:48 am

agent007 wrote:OP, when was the last time you came to T&T? Your business sounds like a good idea here but three things (amongst others) you need to take into consideration:

1. Availability of USD.

When you ship these motorcycles and parts to T&T, obviously you need your invoices settled or to settle your suppliers. You need USD for that and we do have some issues with forex for the last 5 years.

2. TT Customs

Are you prepared for unnecessary bureaucracy and for hold-ups in clearing?

3. Do you wish to operate virtually or traditional brick and motar? I don't know how life is in Thailand but our crime has gotten worse and are you prepared to pay extra for your business and inventory to be protected or to handle the scenes accordingly when it comes to paperwork and taxes etc?

I would say, be cautious and align yourself with an already established player. You can simply be a supplier operating in the background but you will still have direct and indirect challenges as it relates to the above points. No one gets paid unless something is sold. It means if you want something sustainable out of this, you need inventory to move so that your payments will flow steady and not wired to your Thai account on an ad hoc or when it's feasible to do so basis.

Sad to say but entrepreneurial startups and investment in T&T is a bit tough but if you have the right connections, why not? Fix up and good luck.


Well I haven't been to Trinidad In 25 years maybe more. I was thinking it would be easier to setup a business there as I am a citizen, life is good here . Easy jobs beautiful beautiful women who don't mess around if they fancy you. However competition is very fierce between traders for bike business. Lots of money to be made as defaults on bikes are high. If you cannot make a few payments you can either loose the bike and have bad credit which will make it impossible to secure credit again , or sell it to a shop like mine at maybe 10 15% of value. Dosent matter if you already paid off 70%. If the finance takes it back they will sell it at a profit and you get nothing. So 8k pound bikes frequently sell for 2k pounds.

My thinking is in the current economic climate people are struggling. Cheap affordable reliable transport is big here because people struggle. I figured the same would apply to Trinidad. A bike is easier to repair , fuel is a fraction of the cost compared to a car, it cuts down on your commute. No more standing at the side of the road waiting. Turn your key and your off.

I am used to having endless bs to deal with here in Thailand. It's next to impossible to get stuff done unless you give what is called tea money ( bribe)

Regardless I will be coming at the end of the year to visit and I will bring one bike to see how the shipping is. Like I said bikes here are super cheap if you know where to look and how to deal.

But honestly I don't even know where to begin and who I could talk to. I guess the only option would be to bring a bike or two and stay for a few months.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 28th, 2022, 7:00 am

Make a Facebook or instagram page and join all the local facebook buy and sell groups. It have about 50.

Post up some items there and give people the option to pay with PayPal. Its realistically the only way retail customers can pay you as usd is near impossible to get. With PayPal they can use their credit cards.

Find out whats the local taxes and regulations to register used bikes and work out your prices.
Shipping expensive like hell since covid start so keep that in mind when you calculating prices

Contact some logistics companies to get the prices

If your prices really bess then you would get sales.

If life is good in Thailand I wouldn't advise you coming here to physically start a business. Life in trinidad is dangerous and grimy. You could walk out the road for a doubles in the morning and collect 2 bullet because a man like your cellphone or gold chain.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 28th, 2022, 7:13 am

Also you need to link with a broker here and find out their fees and the customs duties and the regulations etc.

If you are just basically sourcing the item and handling the shipping....the broker here will have to handle clearing and registering the bike if need be and they could tell you the costs associated with everything.

You could also use that broker company name when talking to customers to give them some sort of comfort/legitimacy when they doijg direct business with you.


Again.....I don't advise you physically come trinidad if you don't have to.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 28th, 2022, 7:36 am

Phone Surgeon wrote:Make a Facebook or instagram page and join all the local facebook buy and sell groups. It have about 50.

Post up some items there and give people the option to pay with PayPal. Its realistically the only way retail customers can pay you as usd is near impossible to get. With PayPal they can use their credit cards.

Find out whats the local taxes and regulations to register used bikes and work out your prices.
Shipping expensive like hell since covid start so keep that in mind when you calculating prices

Contact some logistics companies to get the prices

If your prices really bess then you would get sales.

If life is good in Thailand I wouldn't advise you coming here to physically start a business. Life in trinidad is dangerous and grimy. You could walk out the road for a doubles in the morning and collect 2 bullet because a man like your cellphone or gold chain.



Ah sheit I was looking through some of the threads here didn't know it was that bad. I mean I know it has crime but just random violence ? I don't mind accepting tt I think I may even have a bank account my mother setup for me before I left. It isn't difficult to transfer to my UK account.

If you csn reccomend a logistic place would be appreciated.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 28th, 2022, 7:37 am

Phone Surgeon wrote:Also you need to link with a broker here and find out their fees and the customs duties and the regulations etc.

If you are just basically sourcing the item and handling the shipping....the broker here will have to handle clearing and registering the bike if need be and they could tell you the costs associated with everything.

You could also use that broker company name when talking to customers to give them some sort of comfort/legitimacy when they doijg direct business with you.


Again.....I don't advise you physically come trinidad if you don't have to.



Thanks for the advise mate

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » January 28th, 2022, 7:49 am

it’s a niche market here for sure but worth a try
many local companies source auto and pickup trucks in particular from thailand

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 28th, 2022, 8:57 am

Its going to be very hard to transfer your tt to any sort of foreign currency to any foreign bank.


You have no idea how bad our forex situation is here.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 28th, 2022, 9:08 am

The threads here does most only have the murders.

If you join some of the local fb news groups you will see plenty of the everyday crimes.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Cb650r » January 28th, 2022, 9:28 am

Phone Surgeon wrote:Its going to be very hard to transfer your tt to any sort of foreign currency to any foreign bank.


You have no idea how bad our forex situation is here.


Are there any crypto exchanges ?

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby agent007 » January 28th, 2022, 10:10 am

OP, you mentioned something about a bank account your mother set up for you before you left? Well sorry to break it to ya, but after 25yrs, that account probably doesn't exist with the unethical banking practices that goes on here. Follow up on that pronto, don't wait till you arrive at all. Those bank monthly fees alone could close accounts and they do so even without notification.

If you're serious about doing business in the land of your birth then I agree, you need to physically come and make the necessary contacts. You can't do that via zoom all the time so...there are limits to that.

Now driving in T&T 25 yrs ago is completely different today. There are hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants here. From Venezuela, China, India, Nigeria, Jamaica, Guyana and a bunch of other small islands and countries etc. Then there's a driver's permit racket and countless vehicles on the road with fake plates and no insurance.

In every single road block exercise, police always get those driver's with no dp or insurance. With all that mess on our road network, they don't know road traffic regulations at all.

Every single day with high frequency you always see motorists driving on the shoulder, breaking traffic lights, making illegal u turns, double parking, over taking dangerously, vehicles are very poorly maintained as youth in T&T prefer loud music and LEDs on their cars vs proper tyres. Then there's the commercial vehicles like trucks etc also with smooth tyres. Keep left except when over taking does not exist. Everyday, 60-70% of the driver's in Trinidad drive on the right lane at a speed less than the speed limit of 100kmph. Road hogs and if you give them a horn or some lights, they will speed check you with their brakes. So the fast lane or overtaking lane could be the left or center, it doesn't matter.

Then most motorists do not use indicators and well hand signals died moons ago. If you happen to see an indicator, that means watch out cause I'm switching lanes now. It have nothing like wait until it is safe to do so, nah, just flick the stalk and tilt the wheel to change lanes instantly. Then at night you can say most Trinbagonians have eye problems. 70% of these motorists drive with their high beams on and for those who moved away from halogen and switched to some cheap Chinese made LED bulbs in the multi reflector housing, the light spreads dotishly and cuases more glare. So you have some kind of impairment where glare is concerned at nights. If it's not the driver behind you blasting their high beams it's the driver on the other side of the road ie. Oncoming opposite traffic.

There is no driving discipline here and all trinbagonians are badjohns or gangsters cause we all have illegal guns etc. So one simple bad drive whether intentional or not can land you in a casket.

It's a scary time to launch a motor bike business but make sure you dot your i's and cross your t's properly before you pull the trigger.

I really want to see more competition in this area and wish you all success in this endeavor.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby VII » January 28th, 2022, 11:16 am

Aye allyuh we know it bad too baaaad but not sooooooo so so so bad, and not soooooo ramdom...lol..

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 28th, 2022, 11:29 am

VII wrote:Aye allyuh we know it bad too baaaad but not sooooooo so so so bad, and not soooooo ramdom...lol..
You seeing the kind of random robberies going on everyday these days?
Resist and collect bullets.

It have a crew rolling around in a white tiida through the whole of Central robbing people walking on the road, small shops, any small business they feel they could get easy pickings.

They try to steal one of my padna tiida and shoot up his car when he try to drive off. He collect one in his leg through the car door.

He was just park up waiting to drive in a yard in cunupia.

Trinidad grimyyyyy bad

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby lastminuteaudio » February 12th, 2022, 2:58 am

I’ll be interested in a Honda cb650f depending on the final price landed and licensed here. But I won’t be sending any funds via wire transfer etc, I need to physically see the bike and paperwork in the country to purchase. U can always pm me if u decide to try it out and hav a bike here

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby Rovin » February 12th, 2022, 10:52 am

excellent advice from 007 & PS

here is not peaches & cream as it may seem, all that stuff they posted is very true & not exaggerated, things getting to a worst level

i not in local motorbike circle but to me i hardly ever see a MB here on our roads, its simply not a MB culture here like say in china or india, older used cars here are fairly cheap & physical conditions of our roads is not MB friendly at all

here most ppl wud be more comfortable in a car with with harsh music or ac rather than out in d hot\wet weather

if u ask me id say : sure come for a brief vacation visit but no to setting up business here ...

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby nick639v2 » February 12th, 2022, 10:59 am

Cb650r wrote:
agent007 wrote:OP, when was the last time you came to T&T? Your business sounds like a good idea here but three things (amongst others) you need to take into consideration:

1. Availability of USD.

When you ship these motorcycles and parts to T&T, obviously you need your invoices settled or to settle your suppliers. You need USD for that and we do have some issues with forex for the last 5 years.

2. TT Customs

Are you prepared for unnecessary bureaucracy and for hold-ups in clearing?

3. Do you wish to operate virtually or traditional brick and motar? I don't know how life is in Thailand but our crime has gotten worse and are you prepared to pay extra for your business and inventory to be protected or to handle the scenes accordingly when it comes to paperwork and taxes etc?

I would say, be cautious and align yourself with an already established player. You can simply be a supplier operating in the background but you will still have direct and indirect challenges as it relates to the above points. No one gets paid unless something is sold. It means if you want something sustainable out of this, you need inventory to move so that your payments will flow steady and not wired to your Thai account on an ad hoc or when it's feasible to do so basis.

Sad to say but entrepreneurial startups and investment in T&T is a bit tough but if you have the right connections, why not? Fix up and good luck.


Well I haven't been to Trinidad In 25 years maybe more. I was thinking it would be easier to setup a business there as I am a citizen, life is good here . Easy jobs beautiful beautiful women who don't mess around if they fancy you. However competition is very fierce between traders for bike business. Lots of money to be made as defaults on bikes are high. If you cannot make a few payments you can either loose the bike and have bad credit which will make it impossible to secure credit again , or sell it to a shop like mine at maybe 10 15% of value. Dosent matter if you already paid off 70%. If the finance takes it back they will sell it at a profit and you get nothing. So 8k pound bikes frequently sell for 2k pounds.

My thinking is in the current economic climate people are struggling. Cheap affordable reliable transport is big here because people struggle. I figured the same would apply to Trinidad. A bike is easier to repair , fuel is a fraction of the cost compared to a car, it cuts down on your commute. No more standing at the side of the road waiting. Turn your key and your off.

I am used to having endless bs to deal with here in Thailand. It's next to impossible to get stuff done unless you give what is called tea money ( bribe)

Regardless I will be coming at the end of the year to visit and I will bring one bike to see how the shipping is. Like I said bikes here are super cheap if you know where to look and how to deal.

But honestly I don't even know where to begin and who I could talk to. I guess the only option would be to bring a bike or two and stay for a few months.


Feel free to let me/us know what bikes you’re intending on bringing and what you supply.. Recently I’ve been watching dual sports or trail bikes to have a weekend hobby.

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby BUG » February 14th, 2022, 9:53 am

Cb650r wrote:
Les Bain wrote:In my years making the traffic ridden work commmute I used to envy seeing the bike men effortlessly gliding through the gridlock. I doh have the belly to face idiotic trini driving on anything less than 4 wheels though.


Well it's all about how you ride. If you ride while being alert and expecting the unexpected you are mostly fine. You know the road yo7 travel and how drivers drive. If your lane splitting ( which is the main benefit) you are fine. Higher speed riders here tend to stick to the slowest lane or the emergency shoulder( the smart riders) you know people break lights so you slow down before lights you give your self maximim reaction time, stay far from cars. You see a car approaching at speed move out of his way.


In Trinidad you can be the safest rider in the world but that doesn't change the way others drive. My friend recently had a head on collision in his car, in gridlock traffic, because a car driver was forcing themselves the wrong way up a one way road and wouldn't yield.

The levels of selfish and moronic driving here are off the charts. It's just a matter of time before a rider is scraping something off the road or the hood or side of someone's car. Take it from someone who has an international motorcycle licence, Trinidad is not the place to ride.

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Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby nick639v2 » February 15th, 2022, 10:25 am

Bringing in bikes is same process as cars?? Or I could just load up one on a container and sea freight it?

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby RedVEVO » February 16th, 2022, 1:15 am

It's an excellent business venture ! Hmm .. Mate !

You can bring in scooters and family type bikes like in China .

Car sales are down in T&T but still cars are VERY expensive .

Motor bikes are a good substitution .

If you need an investor PM and we can talk further :wink:

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby gundeleroy2k » March 4th, 2022, 1:32 pm

Are hero bikes good starter bikes

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Re: Popularity of motorcycles in Trinidad

Postby zoom rader » March 4th, 2022, 2:38 pm

gundeleroy2k wrote:Are hero bikes good starter bikes
They are made in India.

Yes, always buy a cheap buy to lean on.

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