Across Vietnam on a motorbike.

A few years back (well before I started reading this board) I spent 6 months in SE Asia. Part of that trip was a journey around Vietnam on a 109cc Honda Scooter... with the lady on the back, no less.

Since this board seems to keep the content quality pretty high, if there's interest, I'm willing to share the story. Full day-by-day is posted on ADV rider as well, although it's a bit more emotional as I was posting daily rather than looking back.

Points of (likely) interest:

1. Yes, you can go across a country two-up with a 109cc semi-auto Honda
2. The stupid Top Gear episode bears no resemblance to the reality of riding in Vietnam.
3. You can talk back, run from, or argue with the police.
4. This is basically the worst possible place to learn to ride. Which is what thousands of tourists do every year. I do wonder how many survive...

Absolutely post the story. Touring more of Asia on a scooter is on my bucket list, the 2 weeks I spent rolling around in Thailand simply weren't enough.

OK. I guess I'll start writing.

First thing: Motorcycle tourism in Vietnam is big business. However, doing it in an 'authentic' way is tougher than you'd think. Options include:

-Rent proper (big) bike. Can't buy one as there's technically a 175cc limit and no local will ever be on one. Forget finding parts if anything happens.

-Rent small bike/scooter

-Buy small bike/scooter

There's no actual registration or titling process in Vietnam. Whoever holds the blue card for the bike is the rightful owner, so buying and selling is quite easy. I didn't want to deal with a rental company or any scams that they might pull, so I decided to buy one instead. At the time, I also had the idea of riding into Cambodia and Laos. So I opted to buy.

Not so easy. There's a billion sellers in both HCMC and Hanoi that will sell you a bike, but these guys are all selling to broke-ass Aussie gap-year backpackers. Whom are drunk. I'd walk up to a shop, ask for a Honda, and the owner would say 'yes, these all Honda.'

Look at the engine case? Longfeng. HonGda. I don't even remember most of the names, but there wasn't a single Honda to be found, and this in a city with literal millions of Honda scooters running around. No local would ever ride a Chinese copy unless they were really that poor - which is saying something.

Point being - half the battle is finding a real Honda bike. After that, just roll into a dealership and have em start doing maintenance. I spent something like $50 on an air filter, chain/sprockets, plug, tires, etc. If you plan on riding two-up, you'll need to either buy your shocks in thailand like I did, or get creative finding a supplier. Better bring your helmet too, as full-face SNELL is not a thing. Assume EVERYTHING is worn out and needs repair and that your odometer has been wound back. Mine definitely was. 'Routine' maintenance is not a thing in Vietnam. You run it until it stops moving, then fix it just enough to keep it moving.

not going to lie, the top gear episode absolutely put this on my bucket list, curious to read your side of the story.

grover wrote: not going to lie, the top gear episode absolutely put this on my bucket list, curious to read your side of the story.

Top Gear is entertainment. Cheap entertainment at that. I actually met the guys who ran the local end of the production side. They had mechanics traveling with them, doing repairs, etc. They didn't interact with the locals other than to make jokes at them and they were in and out of the country in a few days. It's a show, not an actual trip.

Remember, it's TV. They need to appeal to the lowest common denominator which means humor and 'the scenery is STUNNING' with some wide-angle shots. I'll be happy to explain the negatives in a non-emotional two-years-removed state. At the time, I really regretted going. Now I no longer regret it because I gained an incredible amount of perspective. But I'm not going back.

Edit: Watching the Burma episode was similarly difficult. I know it's just entertainment but there's SO much more to these countries than what's presented. It's just shallow.

Can you post the link to your adv write-up?

Huckleberry wrote: Can you post the link to your adv write-up?

Whoops. It's more of a daily breakdown than what I'm going to post here. I think it'll be better to read what I think now vs how it felt in person. Plus, spoilers ;)

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/100cc-2-up-vietnam-on-a-scooter.1110085/

I'm so curious to hear your story! I did a two week long scooter trip from HCMC to Hanoi last year, so I'd like to see how things compare.

Im in!

penultimeta wrote: I'm so curious to hear your story! I did a two week long scooter trip from HCMC to Hanoi last year, so I'd like to see how things compare.

Feel free to add your input!

How to ride in Vietnam, version Urban: Slow and smooth. Slow, and smooth (Please don't add my gf on FB). Be OK with rubbing elbows.

Video, Day 1

How to ride in Vietnam, version Rural: SIZE MATTERS.

Truck > BUS > car > scooter > pedestrian. This means pay attention. All trucks have train horns on them and they will use both lanes on 2-lane roads, even in blind turns. To make sure there's not another oncoming truck, before a blind turn the truck will blast its horn. If there's no response horn, don't be surprised when you find a truck in your lane. So if you hear a train horn up again GET OFF THE ROAD.

Also, using headlights is not a thing. Even when there's no visibility:

Zero visibility.

Stay off of any rural roads at night. Drunk driving is socially acceptable and the truck drivers are drinking and driving. Think about that.

Wow

chandlerGTi wrote: Wow

I have to second that.

A young guy that worked for me did a year running around SEA on a bike and had great stories to tell. Excited that you are taking the time to do this.

Slippery wrote:

chandlerGTi wrote: Wow

I have to second that.

This guy slid his truck around every turn for 20 minutes. 'Normal' is very different in Vietnam.

Semi Sliding

Not surprising, but this wasn't an unusual sight either...

Yes yes, more of this please.

After looking at the Road you were On,

     I thought we BLEW that One UP.

Very interesting. A good friend married a Vietnamese woman and lived there for 10 years. I think that it ended up being a mainly love/kinda hate experience.

Kreb wrote: Very interesting. A good friend married a Vietnamese woman and lived there for 10 years. I think that it ended up being a mainly love/kinda hate experience.

The living there or the woman?

Dr. Hess wrote:

Kreb wrote: Very interesting. A good friend married a Vietnamese woman and lived there for 10 years. I think that it ended up being a mainly love/kinda hate experience.

The living there or the woman?

I figured the woman was a given.

Thanks for posting up here; I just re-read your ADV thread again. Among my many regrets is that I wasn't very adventurous back when I could have done cool things and taken the path less travelled. My only non-first-world experience was Slovenia when it was part of Yugoslavia back in the 80s.

Thanks for sharing. I rode a bike around Cambodia for two days, it was an adventure. I did it near Batambang, so not a big city, made things easier than what I saw from the sidewalk in the more urban areas.

Love it!! These trips are amazing ways to see the country. I lived in Thailand for 8 years, so we did a few in various countries in the region, all on 100cc bikes. You get so much more love from the locals when you show up on one of these than when you show up on a touring bike in full gear. I did that once too, and it wasn't nearly as fun.

I kept a couple journals (links below) and the rest I got too lazy to write about.

http://travelhead.com/travels/dreamtrip/

http://travelhead.com/travels/mocyc/

In.

To slightly derail this, a friend of mine just spent a couple of weeks on two wheels in Vietnam and documented it here for your reading pleasure.

Would love to see more of your story.

Regardless if TG was BS (it was and always is) the motorbike Vietnam is on my list.