Vietnam Trip Report

[AllanB]

Part one of our biking trip to Vietnam.

Back from a biking trip around Vietnam, the land of noisy people, millions of crazy bikers, endless roadworks and stunning scenery...oh and people who apparently don't eat.

From Khon Kaen we headed east by "bat out of hell" minivan and then bumpy sleeper coach (as if you could actually sleep) until we reached the modernising city of DaNang. Not at all unpleasant, with half a dozen beautiful bridges and good roads, so they are spending money there then. On the coach we met a Lao student studying at DaNag uni who found us a reasonable hotel where they also hired us a city runabout, call a Honda Future, a Vietnam built Wave 110, chosen purely for reliability for the long trip planned.

With a few miles ahead of us on the road to Hanoi, I headed for a local repair man, changed the oil, got the lights working, fitted a new mirror, repaired the loose instrument binnacle, cleaned spark plug, pumped up the tyres, tightened and lubed the chain and a few other odds and sods, leaving everything working except the speedo/odometer. So we were ready to rock and roll for only a few thousand dong, 650 dong = 1 baht (we went there with US dollars, which turned out to be mistake). This turned out to be a good decision as the bike never missed a beat throughout the trip, just 2 rear wheel punctures, which happened right outside repair shops, both times we had lunch while the bike was repaired, so no time lost.

We took two small rucksacks and two empty roll bags for versatility and rearranged things to fit the bike's limited storage space, leaving the lightweight stuff in Si's (Mrs AllanB) rucksac for her to carry..... and set off. With the rain about to start, the first obstacle the 20km Hai Van Pass just north of DaNang..dressed as the caped crusaders, we looked a "right couple of plonkers", but apart from wet feet and lower legs kept dry..

This first day we made only around 70km, though with no speedo/odometer, poor maps, no town nameplates and very few signposts, it was a little difficult to be sure. This slow progress was due to navigating our way out of Da Nang, the rain, finding some wet weather protection and the slow mountains pass. Plus we were late setting out as I wanted the air filter cleaned, which I forgot at the service. Oh and we did shelter from the worst of the rain in the mountains....chicken!

Day 2. In the morning the weather was still wet, though it did brighten up in the afternoon, unfortunately the roads weren't good and we made only 120km after getting lost trying to get out of Hue. The missing thing on our equipment list was a "compass", which meant that in the rain with no sun visible, it was very difficult to find out way out, once lost.

Day 3 was not looking good either, the hastily chosen hotel was not the best (excrement orifice) and the weather outside was really wet and roads very muddy with all the roadworks, so we had a very very long breakfast hoping for a change. No way, so we set out geared up as best we could and did about 120km on the part built roads, covered in mud and being passed by big trucks and fast moving minivans. Funnily enough I enjoyed the day, but I don't think Si was too impressed, though she didn't show it and had a usual LOS smile at the end of the day, even though the next hotel was even worse than before. That said, the only other hotel in town looked just the same, so Hobson's choice, no idea what the name of the town was. Sorry.

Didn't take too many pictures to start as we were worried about the camera getting wet and just wanted to move on out of the miserable rain and mud.

Day 4 Was a little dryer, though it kept quite overcast, but we started making better progress, around 200km and again ended up in another town with no name, not shown on any map, but with a beach?? This was really odd, we knew roughly where we were but staying in towns that had no names. Lets call them the Clint Eastwood towns.

Each day with the weather and road conditions bad, we kept riding until 4pm and then started looking for a hotel. As it was bad enough riding in the light, suicidal after dark when there were even more big trucks out and the same mad minivan drivers.

Day 5 With the weather better and the roads generally good and the little bike buzzing along, we covered about 300km and found a really nice hotel in Ninh Binh leaving only about 150km to Hanoi for day 6.

We arrived at the outskirts of Hanoi at around noon and as the km to the city centre reduced the traffic got worse and the fun really began, dodging thousands of bikes coming from all directions. "You snooze, you lose."

Anyway we made a beeline for the railway station to inquire about a train for us and the bike to Saigon, or HCM city.

Pictures to follow...and Part 2 with lots more pictures.

[Phra Ek]

Sounds like a great adventure - and yes please .... photos!

[ll2]

Nice man. Thanks for the report. Congrats.

[AllanB]

Sorted a few pictures, not the best but a bit of flavour, I hope works, it took me ages.

PS No comments about the police shown in pic 8 and the overcrowding.

Edited February 19, 2015 by AllanB

[Beardog]

Nice thanks for the Pics. You are a trooper for sure Allan. Too bad it rained the whole time. Can't wait to do the trip Myself. Maybe not as many Road miles but a few jet jaunts & then rent the bike. Do they rent 400's or so?

[papa al]

A cheap plastic compass velcro-ed to the gas tank is my poe man's GPS.

[Genericnic]

@AllenB said "we went there with US dollars, which turned out to be mistake."

Curious as to what the problem was with USD and how usable Thai baht is in Vietnam.

David

[AllanB]

Nice thanks for the Pics. You are a trooper for sure Allan. Too bad it rained the whole time. Can't wait to do the trip Myself. Maybe not as many Road miles but a few jet jaunts & then rent the bike. Do they rent 400's or so?

I guess that in Saigon (HCM City) and Hanoi they have everything, Saigon is a lot hotter that Hanoi, but more westernised, but both are surrounded by mountains with lots of stuff to do.

If you have the time and money get a decent 250 and do the whole place, but in the winter, in a few years when the place opens up that is what I will do on my won bike.

Our trip, the first abroad, was a bit tame, but the best so far........I am ready for another trip as this is very infectious.

It really is a case of "it doesn't matter what you ride, as long as you ride"

[AllanB]

@AllenB said "we went there with US dollars, which turned out to be mistake."

Curious as to what the problem was with USD and how usable Thai baht is in Vietnam.

David

The mistake was that everywhere we went they wanted Dong (apart from an overpriced US hotel in Hanoi) and when we exchanged Baht for Dollars and then for Dong we got 650, had we gone there with "my Dong in my hand" we would have got close to 700.

If we tried to pay with dollars, some places wanted to allow us 500ish.

Oh, forget using any other currencies.

One thing to bear in mind, we spent most of the time in the sticks, or in the cities/towns using cheap hotels and eateries. I am a self confessed "Cheap Charlie" but I can afford 5 times as many holidays as "Loads o' money".

[ll2]

@AllenB said "we went there with US dollars, which turned out to be mistake."

Curious as to what the problem was with USD and how usable Thai baht is in Vietnam.

David

The mistake was that everywhere we went they wanted Dong (apart from an overpriced US hotel in Hanoi) and when we exchanged Baht for Dollars and then for Dong we got 650, had we gone there with "my Dong in my hand" we would have got close to 700.

If we tried to pay with dollars, some places wanted to allow us 500ish.

Oh, forget using any other currencies.

One thing to bear in mind, we spent most of the time in the sticks, or in the cities/towns using cheap hotels and eateries. I am a self confessed "Cheap Charlie" but I can afford 5 times as many holidays as "Loads o' money".

i travel with an atm card with a visa amblem on it. best is that and less risky.

[recom273]

Sounds great ., we did the north on a Russian Minsk a long while back but at this time of year. Sounds the same story, mud, roads still under construction, very few signs.

I think a long time ago it was good to carry dollars in VN but I remember getting a decent rate with 1000b notes last visit.

I hope there will be a day when we can ride our bikes through Laos and into Vietnam.

[humqdpf]

Your choice of bike was the right type but the wrong vintage.

For a few years, Honda Futures were manufactured in Japan while Honda was waiting for the factory to be built in Vietnam. Those bikes were fantastic - I was even offered $1,000 by Vietnamese guys for a 5 year old Honda Future back in 2011. Futures that were built in Vietnam did not have the build-quality of the Japanese.

You can put a windscreen on them - while fuel consumption goes up. the rain stays off, as does the dirt and water from the roads.

It was always difficult to ensure that quality parts were being put on the bike - we used to buy the parts new from Honda in Hanoi and then stand over the mechanic while he put them on.

Alternatively, if you want to spend a bit more, a Honda off-road single pot 250cc is a great bike - there are various versions and they used to be hard to find in Vietnam. I had an imported Honda 230cc single pot which was a beaut and ran really well for years. however, it was always hard to get parts, especially brake pads. With the Future, parts were never a problem.

[ggt]

Loved your story and admire your adventurous spirit...not to mention the misses putting up with all the inconveniences...kudos to the both of you and by all means send us more pictures...

[macka]

Enjoyed your trip on a step through.

looking forward to next stage

Funny when we visited in 08 the hotels would only have prices in yank dollars and had to convert to pay in dong???

[AllanB]

Your choice of bike was the right type but the wrong vintage.

For a few years, Honda Futures were manufactured in Japan while Honda was waiting for the factory to be built in Vietnam. Those bikes were fantastic - I was even offered $1,000 by Vietnamese guys for a 5 year old Honda Future back in 2011. Futures that were built in Vietnam did not have the build-quality of the Japanese.

You can put a windscreen on them - while fuel consumption goes up. the rain stays off, as does the dirt and water from the roads.

It was always difficult to ensure that quality parts were being put on the bike - we used to buy the parts new from Honda in Hanoi and then stand over the mechanic while he put them on.

Alternatively, if you want to spend a bit more, a Honda off-road single pot 250cc is a great bike - there are various versions and they used to be hard to find in Vietnam. I had an imported Honda 230cc single pot which was a beaut and ran really well for years. however, it was always hard to get parts, especially brake pads. With the Future, parts were never a problem.

To be honest we should have rented, or even bought a bigger bike and ventured high into the mountains, but I had a few concerns.

This was my first bike trip abroad with very little information to go on, so playing safe reliability was the key. My missus was a little unsure, so I didn't want to throw her in at the deep-end, or she may not do it again, or even divorce me (just kidding) and I know it is always more scary as a pillion passenger.

I watched Ed March's C90 adventures on Youtube and that made a whole lot of sense to me, much better than the two showbiz <deleted> on their big macho Beemas falling all over the place and needing the help of 3 people just to lift them back up, that was ridiculous. Those bikes are for touring Europe, or similar.

I also have quite a few more trips planned, in Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar...oh and Mae Hong Song loop in a few weeks, so it is "slowly slowly catchy monkey" with the missus, no offence dear.

One bike I really like is the Baja 250, I expect there is a lot wrong with it, especially the ones they rent out in Laos, but is just seems right for the job, a kind of "Dakar bike for wimps"...... and with twin headlamps, so in the dark they think you are a car and give you space. I am sure someone will point out the error of my ways, but I will try one out in Laos.

[AllanB]

Part 2. Okay our intention was to do what the guys at Top gear did, put the bike on the train. Although having already biked from DaNang to Hanoi, we planned to do the first leg of the trip from Saigon back to DaNang next, so completing the Saigon-DaNang-Hanoi journey, but not in that order.

However, we soon found out that the bike went on a different train to us and would take 3 days to arrive in Saigon from Hanoi. Furthermore, we heard from someone at the station that many of these bikes got "lost" and were sold for the parts and since were we unable to travel with the bike, the risk was too great.

The woman (English speaking) at the train station information desk, was very unfriendly, almost rude and utterly unhelpful, pointing "over there, over there" at a poster all in Vietnamese doh! Likewise with the people in the goods office and loading the goods, wouldn't give us the time of day. So with no confidence in the system, we decided to head back to DaNang by bike and with the afternoon marching on set off back down the road we had come up on heading out of the city, but this time in the rush hour.

Incidentally, later on we spoke to an American guy who had worked in VN and he told us that a friend of his put his bike on a train and they lost it for 4 weeks, so further confirmation then.

Now I will give you all a word of advice, beware of beginning this VN journey in either Hanoi or Saigon, as learning the driving system surrounded by thousands of bikes all cross crossing each other this way and that, is pretty scary. By the time we tackled the busy Hanoi traffic, we were seasoned riders, with 1000km of experience, albeit on the less densely populated roads. So Hanoi was kind of fun, with a system of sorts worked out in my brain.

First of all the Vietnamese have no patience, they won't wait for a gap in the traffic, the just pull out and wait to see who gives way, or chicken's out. Now this applies only to bikes, because trucks and cars are bigger, so obviously they have right of way, unless you want to play chicken with them....and there are those who do.

There is another rule to think about and it stems back to the days when VN was a French colony and those who traveled through France in the pre 70/80's era may remember the "give way to all traffic approaching from the right." rule. Well they still have that, so even on a main road you need to look down every sodding side turning or alleyway to see if someone fancies "popping" out. Oh..and they sometimes do it from the left too, trucks, buses, cars and minivans included.

Anyway we made it out of Hanoi all in one piece and as the mass of traffi fell, the dreaded darkness fell too as we went desperately in search for a hotel. Being buzzed by fast moving big trucks and everything else that figured they could make better progress after dark...was, yes, interesting!

Now having found all the hotels by looking for a "Hotel" sign, we thought that was it, but then Si discovered that some hotels use the Vietnamese, which is "khach san" and began looking for both signs. Sure enough we quickly found a nice place, just before one of us died of a heart attack, as travelling at night on that main road was bloody dangerous.

So a couple of top tips...if nothing else on the bike works, make sure the horn is working, or you will die. Next swap the headlight bulb for halogen, or you will either hit something without lights on and die, or disappear down a pothole and die.

Day 2 of the return journey saw fine weather, unfortunately that mean the sun....and we were now travelling south, so early mornings were a bit dazzling and potentially sunburning all day, so covering up had us looking like Bonny and Clyde.

But we made good progress while the roads were good, with almost 300km clocked up.

Day 3. Aware that we were making decent progress and with the weather now fine, we looked to head inland and find a mountain road, or two. To Que Phong and Nam Cab, but 3 attempts later, each ending up on a dirt track with potentially hundreds of km to the next town, we returned to the main road and with late afternoon approaching we searched for the next overnight stay. This lack of signposts was a real pain and when we did find one there was nothing on the map that correlated with them. I assume the map we bought was actually of Vietnam??

Day 4, We finally found that mountain road, this time to Pheo, there was mile after mile of great tarmac. Hippy Khai Ay Fother Mukker!!.... But that joy too was short lived, as all of a sudden it ending in dust many km of dust and corrugations. After about about 3/4hour of riding and without a single building in site, let alone a signpost saying we were heading for Phoe, we assumed we weren't and turned around...again.

Heading down the AH1 on a nice stretch road there was suddenly a slight bang and the back of the bike started to steer the bike instead of me....puncture. Now we knew that the rear tyre was a bit soft (she who shall be obeyed had warned me!!) which did make for a smoother ride, but that had caused the tyre/tube to rotate and sheer the valve stem off. But as luck would have it, just across the road was a bike workshop and within 20 minutes, we were back on the road. It cost us 40,000 dong (61 baht including a new tube!!!) for my mistake and as we ate our lunch waiting for the new tube to be fitted we lost no time at all.

Day 5 We were heading for another mountain pass, the Ngang Pass, but just before that we found a lovely sand beach, so headed down to take a look. Certainly no tourists, but about 30 fishing boats, out catching, well sort of soft bodied langoustines, see photos. The surf was quite a few feet high, as in turn the curved bottom boats rode in or broke through, on their way to another catch, leaving the mainly womenfolk on the beach to weigh their catch.

The Ngang Pass was a great run and we made most of the climbs in 3rd and 4th gear, but the twisties were mostly 2nd, or even 1st, due to the load on board and the scaredycat guy at the controls. I will admit it, I ain't the fastest and I don't take ANY chances, especially with the missus on board. I see a potential crash around every corning and every fast straight and this proved to be a good call, as well... neither of us died at all.

Day 6 After an overnight kip in the posh "Green Hotel" costing a mighty 450,000 dong, we went into the hall for our free breakfast and I wished I hadn't bothered. Many of the staff were larking and shouting about like schoolkids and then they started up the sound system at ear piercing volume, playing some VN disco crap. I really lost my rag, 8.30 the morning after a lot of riding and a little drinking, I really didn't need this shit. So I did what most farnags would do, but shouldn't do, I complained shall we say, "with vigour" and at once the volume dropped by 90%, followed by a "sorry". I think when one is paying 450,000 for a nice hotel one expects better.

We headed off with a target of the town of called Hue and made it there on the rough roads just before the dreaded nightfall. This was the town we got lost in on the way up, so I expected the worst, however, from the other direction it was easy, they actually had lots of signposts. So I assume they expect that all the tourists arrive from the north???

Found a nice cheap friendly clean hotel in the centre of Hue, with a great restaurant just next door.

Day 7, after a blissful night's sleep, having stuffed our faces in the nice, but noisy restaurant, we went down to collect the bike, only to find the rear tyre flat.

One of the guys from the hotel, pointed over the road and immediately took the bike and wheeled it across to what had to be the smallest garage/bike wash on the planet, see pictures. He was quite busy with other bikes, but right next door was a food stall selling baguettes with fried egg, so we sat on the wall had a nice breakfast while the man fixed the tyre and washed our now dirty bike...why not?

The tyre repair and bike washing bill was 50,000 dong...or 76 baht..wow!

We were now just a short day from DaNang, but with the Hai Van Pass to cross, but this time in good weather, a much better prospect and a fun ride too.

A lot of other farangs thought so too as we saw quite a few lads on step through's racing up, down and around the twisties, on this now 40km racetrack, overtaking trucks on blind bends. We stopped a couple of times to intake some calories and take pictures, only to see them come back for another attempt at suicide.

They we probably hired the bikes for a days ragging, so glad I didn't hire those bikes, running on the rev limiter the whole time, which is something to consider when hiring.

So we were soon back in DaNang and, thanks to the bridges, easily found our way back to the Hotel, to consider what to do next.

Pictures and part 3 to follow.......

Edited February 20, 2015 by AllanB

[AllanB]

One thing I didn't mention was the coffee..........it was SH1T...so we improvised to at least make it drinkable. The coffee was supplied with it's own little aluminium percolator which had coffee in the top and condensed milk in the cup underneath, which ended up as a very sweet heavy, strong and rather bitter drink. Not my cup of tea at all and because the percolation took about 15 minutes to work, the coffee was cold too, so time for another top tip!!

Buy your coffee and order a big glass on boiling water. Scoop most of the condensed milk out and into the boiling water and then put the percolator onto the big glass and wait for your new, consumer friendly coffee to brew.

We were actually told that because coffee is expensive in VN, this probably wasn't real coffee at all. Rather like Flora margarine, it is just a cheap concoction of nasty chemicals, some of which regularly become banned and substituted for others,... but vaguely resembles the real thing......

It was really hard to real food as well, all the town/village stores sold was crappy junk snacks in plastic bags, or sweet fizzy drinks. So like kids in the west, only worse, the Vietnamese will grow up with no teeth and a shortened lifespan, thinking that this junk is actually real. Left only with the humble baguette, once donated by the long departed French. C'est la vie

Pictures

[In the jungle]

Thank you for writing and publishing your inspirational story.

Hey, I'm a billionaire, I can do that. Well in Dong at least.

I have long thought that the huge 'adventure' bikes are a bit silly in this sort of environment. Whatever whizzo gadgets they may have cannot compensate for the adverse effects of the weight once the going gets tough. And somehow I doubt the local bike shops are going to be plugging their laptop into your ECU to do some diagnostics.

Maybe a Wave with knobblies would be the weapon of choice.

[AllanB]

Thank you for writing and publishing your inspirational story.

Hey, I'm a billionaire, I can do that. Well in Dong at least.

I have long thought that the huge 'adventure' bikes are a bit silly in this sort of environment. Whatever whizzo gadgets they may have cannot compensate for the adverse effects of the weight once the going gets tough. And somehow I doubt the local bike shops are going to be plugging their laptop into your ECU to do some diagnostics.

Maybe a Wave with knobblies would be the weapon of choice.

If there were a way of extending the suspension travel of a Wave and fitting decent gas shockers, but keeping everything else the same, it would be ideal. I also wonder about all the weight people carry of these trips, much of it are the tools and spares needed for these big bikes and all the armour protection needed for when they are booting down the motorway between getting bogged down for days in the sticks.

They wouldn't need to go so fast, if they hadn't spent so much time getting out of a swap, or waiting for their mates to arrive to get the bike upright again, or finding a splint for their broken leg. The two showbiz limeys would have got there quicker on a lighter bike, but it wouldn't have looked so macho.

Excluding the clothes were were wearing, we had only around 15kg between us in VN and that could have been less, with quick dry thermals, instead of shirts.

Actually trips to the cold places require most gear and this guy managed it easily on his C90.

It is hard to image how this trip would be faster on a big Bemma, even assuming no spills.

[thaiguzzi]

Excellent article. Makes a refreshing change to the general dross i have to wade through on here. Kudos to the OP and his pillion.

[Gweiloman]

Thank you for writing and publishing your inspirational story.

Hey, I'm a billionaire, I can do that. Well in Dong at least.

I have long thought that the huge 'adventure' bikes are a bit silly in this sort of environment. Whatever whizzo gadgets they may have cannot compensate for the adverse effects of the weight once the going gets tough. And somehow I doubt the local bike shops are going to be plugging their laptop into your ECU to do some diagnostics.

Maybe a Wave with knobblies would be the weapon of choice.

I think it also depends on the kind of "adventure" that one wants to do. Sticking to paved roads and civilisation is one thing, planning most of one's ride off road and camping is another. One needs the right "tool" for the job.

Great write up so far AllanB. Waiting for the next instalment.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Gweiloman

[Genericnic]

Definitely inspired me to get out and do some major travels before the rain sets in.

David

[ll2]

inspires me to quit my job and do a Himalayan tour through India, Nepal followed by a a full tour of All Southeast Asia through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

or to do a round the world trip!

[Gweiloman]

inspires me to quit my job and do a Himalayan tour through India, Nepal followed by a a full tour of All Southeast Asia through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

or to do a round the world trip!

You want inspiration ll2? Read this

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?s=7ce35393737ecaa270250f85057c5cd7&t=834987

[ll2]

inspires me to quit my job and do a Himalayan tour through India, Nepal followed by a a full tour of All Southeast Asia through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

or to do a round the world trip!

You want inspiration ll2? Read this

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?s=7ce35393737ecaa270250f85057c5cd7&t=834987

that is a great journey too, sure it is also very demanding.

world is full of inspirations!

i just need sponsors then:)

[AllanB]

inspires me to quit my job and do a Himalayan tour through India, Nepal followed by a a full tour of All Southeast Asia through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

or to do a round the world trip!

You want inspiration ll2? Read this

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?s=7ce35393737ecaa270250f85057c5cd7&t=834987

that is a great journey too, sure it is also very demanding.

world is full of inspirations!

i just need sponsors then:)

Not if you do it on a Wave or C90. In 16 days we spent just over US$1000 for both of us....or about 32 million dong. Could have done in even cheaper, but you know what a spendthrift a woman can be.

If I have in any way inspired someone to get out there, that's very gratifying. There are so many places to go, my "bucket list" is on page two now and as with the film, that's the way I want to go.....in about 25 years time. I have already kissed the most beautiful girl in the world, but I won't post that photo, they don't like jubnoi in public here.

I have to say I felt fitter when I got back, no problem with my arthritic knee ( a bit if shrapnel still in there) and my bronchitis was fine too despite the road pollution.

Anyway I hope to read some more stuff from others, maybe a little more adventurous than ours....Don't wait it is going to be hot soon and then wet.

[AllanB]

Thank you for writing and publishing your inspirational story.

Hey, I'm a billionaire, I can do that. Well in Dong at least.

I have long thought that the huge 'adventure' bikes are a bit silly in this sort of environment. Whatever whizzo gadgets they may have cannot compensate for the adverse effects of the weight once the going gets tough. And somehow I doubt the local bike shops are going to be plugging their laptop into your ECU to do some diagnostics.

Maybe a Wave with knobblies would be the weapon of choice.

I think it also depends on the kind of "adventure" that one wants to do. Sticking to paved roads and civilisation is one thing, planning most of one's ride off road and camping is another. One needs the right "tool" for the job.

Great write up so far AllanB. Waiting for the next instalment.

I think Ed March would take issue with you there and having seen a few of his videos, I would concur. He is currently riding from northern Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina on his old C90, accompanied by his GF on hers. Done a lot of other stuff too.

People do these journeys on horseback, on pushbikes and even walk, so a C90 would be a doddle.

Travelling light is the key to success, on 2 wheels, 4 wheels, or even 4 hooves, especially when the going gets tough.

I once competed in the Ladoga Trophy in Russia and the Quads walked it, the little Suzukis and Ladas skipped it, but the big stuff got bogged a lot, as did I in my LR90.

[Lokie]

Great post, exactly sort of thing I want to do in a year or two when i retire in SE asia, thanks for posting your experiance

[BKKdreaming]

is there a better used bike that is made in Vietnam to buy ?

I know Honda made trail 90s with the same motor ,

But you really need something that is a common bike so you can get it fixed on the spot ,

I really enjoyed your journey , I also enjoyed the Top gear special but they had a crew of 20-30 so had a lot of back-up

[AllanB]

The bikes in VN are much the same as Thailand, but not many big bikes, i.e. over the usual 100-125cc step throughs. This means having a bigger bike serviced anyway, especially in the countryside, isn't going to happen.

They may change you oil...maybe, but I can't see them doing anything else, communism is relenting but is still the philosophy there. My view of that is that you either drive a commoners bike or you have a lot of money and have the Ducati parked in the driveway to impress...see photo taken at the hotel in Hue, belonging to the hotel owner.

The other problem is that if you get one that has been used for touring it may not have been serviced during the rental period and may have been ragged too. We did two oil changes one at the start and one in Hanoi and I think it needed it.

We met up with 3 big lads from Brum and they said their bikes, purchased in Saigon, were constantly falling to bits.....One guy did hit two potholes in quick succession and hit the tarmac after the second, so they were a bunch of Likely Lads. A good laugh too.

Remember I am one person, hiring in DaNang and talking to only a few others, at the end of the day, carry out a decent bike inspection and go for what you think will work for you. If you are unsure, hire it for a day and give it a good hard run, you can also use that bike to take you around and look at others and compare. Either way, take your time deciding, it can be a long, long, long walk if you get it wrong, something I couldn't afford with an arthritic knee.

It also depends on how much you want to pay too, but it may be cheaper to buy than hire then.

Also take your own helmets, we have our slightly modified to keep the sun off, which after 16 days riding is a good idea, especially for a Thai woman.