Motorcycle servicing
Servicing motorcycles and selling parts. Bangladesh has 4,980,747 registered motorcycles, and 86 percent of all 2025 vehicle registrations were motorcycles.
- Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
- Version 1
Motorcycle servicing
- Starting capital
- ৳50,000 – ৳5,00,000 Editorial estimate
- Manpower
- 1 – 5 people
- First sale
- 10 – 45 days Editorial estimate
- Break-even
- 3 – 8 months Editorial estimate
- Kind of work
- Workshop · Medium difficulty
About the business
Motorcycle servicing means oil changes, chain and brake work, clutch plates, fitting tyres and batteries, and selling the spare parts that go with it. Three quarters of every motor vehicle registered in Bangladesh is a motorcycle: BRTA records 4,980,747 registered motorcycles up to May 2026 out of 6,724,647 vehicles of all kinds. In 2025 alone 289,830 new motorcycles were registered, 86 percent of all vehicle registrations that year. No other vehicle class is growing at anything like that rate. The heaviest work comes from ride-sharing riders, whose bikes run all day: during the March 2026 fuel crunch riders told Prothom Alo they need six to eight litres of petrol a day. Run a bike that hard and the engine oil, chain and brake shoes wear out far faster than on a private machine. Parts prices are known: on Daraz on 16 September 2026 motorcycle batteries were Tk 1,050-1,950 and Timsun tyres were Tk 1,750 in 3.50-12 and Tk 5,700 in 90/90-17. Note that BRTA licenses motor vehicle repair workshops separately - application Form-40, licence Form-41.
Unit economics
| Item | Range | Evidence | Suggest a correction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly working capital | ৳30,000 – ৳2,00,000 | Editorial estimate | |
| Selling price | ৳1,050 – ৳15,650 / unit | Market quote | |
| Variable cost | ৳840 – ৳13,300 / unit | Editorial estimate | |
| Gross margin | 15% – 20% | Editorial estimate | |
| Time to first revenue | 10 – 45 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Break-even time | 3 – 8 months | Editorial estimate | |
| Cash cycle | 0 – 7 days | Editorial estimate | |
| Waste / loss | 2% – 5% | Editorial estimate | |
| Daily capacity | 5 – 20 | Editorial estimate |
What you need to start
- Wrench and socket sets, screwdrivers, pliers, an air compressor, tyre levers and a puncture kit, a battery charger, a bike stand and a multimeter.Equipment
- Engine oil, chains and sprockets, brake shoes, clutch plates, bulbs; batteries Tk 1,050-1,950 (YTX4L, YTX5L, 12N5A, 12N7A); Timsun tyres Tk 1,750-15,650 (3.50-12 up to 160/60-17).Starting stock
- Motor vehicle repair workshop licence from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA): application Form-40 ('Application for a motor vehicle repair workshop licence'), licence Form-41. BRTA does not publish the fee or validity separately; you must ask the circle office.Licence
- Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, plus VAT and signboard fee. Issued in 3-5 working days.Licence
- Stripping and rebuilding an engine, understanding carburettors and fuel injection, and tracing electrical faults. Newer models carry more electronics, so the learning does not stop.Skill
- A wholesale parts market and brand distributors. Telling genuine parts from counterfeits, and holding on to a supplier you trust, is the real foundation of this trade.Supplier
- A covered roadside space where two or three bikes can stand at once, with power and somewhere to keep old oil and used batteries.Workspace
How the work is done
- 1Pick the site. A bike workshop belongs at a market junction, near a bus stand, or wherever ride-share riders gather.
- 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300 and a fee by trade type, in 3-5 working days.
- 3Take the motor vehicle repair workshop licence from BRTA: apply on Form-40, and the licence is issued on Form-41. Ask your circle office for the fee and validity, because the website does not state them separately.
- 4Buy the tools: wrench and socket sets, screwdrivers, an air compressor, tyre levers and a puncture kit, a battery charger and a bike stand.
- 5Decide the first consignment: engine oil, chains, brake shoes, clutch plates, bulbs, and the fastest-moving battery sizes (12N7A, YTX5L) and tyre sizes (90/90-17, 3.50-12).
- 6Go after ride-share and delivery riders. Their bikes run all day - in March 2026 they said they need six to eight litres of petrol daily. That much running needs frequent servicing, and one such customer returns many times a year.
- 7Write down each bike's number, its odometer reading and the work done. Telling the owner when the next service is due keeps him from drifting to another shop.
- 8Bill parts and labour separately. Rolled together, the customer feels cheated and you cannot see which of the two is actually making you money.
- 9Stay away from counterfeit parts. Fitted cheap, they come back within a month, and then you refit them for nothing.
- 10Train up an assistant. With one mechanic, the shop closes the day he falls ill, and customers who move on once rarely come back.
Seasons
- JanNormal
- FebNormal
- MarNormal
- AprNormal
- MayNormal
- JunNormal
- JulNormal
- AugNormal
- SepNormal
- OctNormal
- NovNormal
- DecNormal
Where it works well
- Strong fitChattogram · A large city and port area with many ride-share and delivery riders.
- Strong fitDhaka · The biggest concentration of ride-share and delivery riders in the country, each returning many times a year.
- Strong fitGazipur · Motorcycles are the main commute for factory workers and staff, and work is easy to find along the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.
- Strong fitNarayanganj · An industrial belt with a dense bike population and Dhaka's wholesale parts market close by.
- PossibleBogura · The trading centre of the north, where motorcycles carry most upazila-town travel.
- PossibleCumilla · On the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, where long-distance riders stop for work en route.
- PossibleJashore · A border and trade-route town with heavy bike traffic and easy parts supply.
- PossibleMymensingh · A divisional and university city where student and salaried bike ownership is rising.
- PossibleRangpur · Heavy rural use of motorcycles, though customers' spending power is lower.
- PossibleSylhet · Remittance households own more bikes and a higher proportion of expensive models.
Risks and cautions
- HighWorking capital: The money sits on the shelf. Parts do not transfer between bikes: battery sizes differ, tyre sizes differ, clutch plates are model-specific. Without the fast-moving size the customer walks next door; stocking every size locks up a large share of the capital. Ten batteries and ten tyres alone tie up about Tk 50,000.
- HighDependency: A large share of the income comes from ride-share and delivery riders, whose own income depends on fuel. When Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation capped motorcycles at two litres per fill in March 2026, riders told Prothom Alo their earnings nearly halved because they need six to eight litres a day. When the rider's income falls, servicing is postponed and the shop's work dries up.
- MediumOther: Counterfeit parts. Genuine and fake sit side by side in the wholesale market at very different prices. Fit the cheap one and it fails within a month or two; the customer comes back and you replace it free. A couple of those and your name in the neighbourhood is gone, and a small shop runs on its name.
- MediumCompliance: Running a motor vehicle repair workshop requires a BRTA licence - application Form-40, licence Form-41. Many shops run on a trade licence alone, which is not enough when an inspection comes. BRTA does not publish the fee or renewal period on its site, so the cost cannot even be budgeted in advance.
Sources
- Collected: 16 Sept 2026
Supports: Starting capital · বাংলাদেশ
বিআরটিএ — সারা বাংলাদেশে মোটরযান নিবন্ধনের সংখ্যা (বছরভিত্তিক), মে ২০২৬ পর্যন্ত
Collected: 16 Sept 2026Supports: Daily capacity · বাংলাদেশ
সিটি কর্পোরেশন থেকে ট্রেড লাইসেন্স প্রাপ্তির ধাপ সমূহ
Collected: 16 Sept 2026Supports: Starting capital, Time to first revenue · বাংলাদেশ
What changed
No corrections have been published yet.
Questions and answers
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Stories about this business
Started at 14, two years in another man's garage, now five workers and 15,000 a month
Both his legs have been non-functional since birth; at 14 he chose motorcycle repair and spent two years learning in someone else's garage. His own workshop now has five workers, brings 15,000 taka a month and supports a household of seven.
- Reasons
- Skill gap, Loyal customers
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