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kaz_AZ · Joined: 29 Feb 2012 Posts: 10 Location: Arizona

I have three questions:

1) To ride a motorbike in the city, what licensure do you need, and is this something that I'll need to get there?

2) Would I truly be taking my life in my hands if I were to bike around the city for the first month or so that I was there? I'm an avid biker accustomed to biking in busy city traffic.

3) How reliable is public transportation? Possible to get around for a bit using it? Or is walking a better alternative?

I do intend on getting a motorbike while there, but I don't know how quickly I'll be able to, how long it will take me to learn, and how much the entire thing will cost. Any guidance?

8balldeluxe · Joined: 03 Jun 2009 Posts: 64 Location: vietnam

1) To ride a motorbike in the city, what licensure do you need, and is this something that I'll need to get there?

You wont need it at first, but bring your license from your country so you can start the process, because once it expires you can't get it transferred over.

2) Would I truly be taking my life in my hands if I were to bike around the city for the first month or so that I was there? I'm an avid biker accustomed to biking in busy city traffic.

No, but sometimes you have to pull over and stop and wait until things clear up, or else ride on the sidewalk. Even then you are not safe, as motorbikes frequently jump up and race down there too. Biking is ok in the city but you have to keep looking in all directions from places you would not expect. It will also fill your lungs with fumes so you might want to pick a good time of day to ride when its not as much traffic. Have you ever ridden your bike with a rain poncho on ? You will have to do that and when you carry your school books and dry shoes in a bag with you there is no room on a bike for the rain coat so you have to plan ahead. It also makes you sweaty so you want to carry a dry shirt but there is no room for it. See ?

3) How reliable is public transportation? Possible to get around for a bit using it? Or is walking a better alternative?
It is ok if you live on a route but figuring out what the routes are is a puzzle because of the maps and books which are hard to decode.

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

I lived in Sai Gon, which is comparable in terms of density and size.

1) To ride a motorbike in the city, what licensure do you need, and is this something that I'll need to get there?

Many people ride without licenses. I had an international license when I was there, however I'd heard that the cops laugh at it. Depending on how long you stay, you're likely to get pulled over at some point. If you don't have a license, you may have to bribe your way out of it. Well... it's pretty likely you'll have to bribe your way out of it anyway, but a license helps.

2) Would I truly be taking my life in my hands if I were to bike around the city for the first month or so that I was there? I'm an avid biker accustomed to biking in busy city traffic.

I don't recommend riding when you first get there. I'm an avid biker as well, but the traffic there is a different beast. I've heard the statistic that 70% of the traffic is motorcycle traffic. Car traffic is easier to section off, block by block. Motorcycle traffic is more like moving water. The bike's there are really small and can be grouped close together. I'd spend the first month on the back of a xe om (motorcycle taxi). Give you the lay of the land, what some of the better routes are and an idea of how to handle the traffic. If you go this route, I recommend picking an older driver. In my experience, younger drivers were more reckless.

3) How reliable is public transportation? Possible to get around for a bit using it? Or is walking a better alternative?

I used the bus in my first month there. It was a regularly serviced route, so when it was running it was good. However the buses stop pretty early (7pm? 8pm?) and I hear that figuring out the system can be pretty confusing (I was told which bus to take, didn't need transfers. Was pretty straight-forward).

You don't want to walk too much. While Ha Noi's weather is more variable than Sai Gon's, and perhaps there's a pleasant time of year to be out walking, it can get quite hot and you'll be sweating through your clothes. Not that bad if you're going nowhere special, but if you're trying to make an impression.... Not to mention sidewalks are a rarity and you're out walking in the street... browse through the threads, I know this has been covered in greater detail elsewhere.

I do intend on getting a motorbike while there, but I don't know how quickly I'll be able to, how long it will take me to learn, and how much the entire thing will cost. Any guidance?

You should be able to rent a motorbike fairly cheaply. Maybe $50/month for a Honda Wave, though that price may have gone up. Buying a bike... depends on what you get. A new Wave can cost about a $1200 (I think! I could be wrong!), and you can get a used one for less than half that. I bought a vintage bike and had it fully restored for $700, though I was ripped off. While older bikes have interesting looks to them, I don't recommend them. They are rarely well-looked after and require nearly constant maintenance. If you want problem-free riding, get a new bike.

Good luck!

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

Wonder if you could give some detail on the rip off on your classic bike? I know of two ongoing services who are doing this classic bike sales thing, and I have had some dealings with both of them. I found them both to be questionable, but am not quite ready to say they were total scam artists. I do think everything is relative, and over here it is very hard to say what is truly a scam. The low prices on buying and repairing motos makes me a bit reluctant to say something is a ripoff, even when the work is done poorly. But I sure have had my share of frustrations getting stuff done on old motos. If you would like to discuss bikes, maybe we could get the fairly recent motorbike repair thread active again, I have quite a bit of recent info on the subject I could add, and that thread had a lot of good info on the general topic. I will especially be writing about this increasing number of folks advertising their motos for sale after doing the cross country trip. I would be interested to know where they are buying their bikes to begin with. They seem to follow a real pattern. They mostly are buying (or being sold) Honda Wins, which are not that common here, but that is the bike they most often buy (and then resell). Of course, that has a manual clutch, I think they are told they need the manual for the hills of the north. I sure like a manual when driving in the north, but they can be a pain in the butt in HCMC.

Dekadan · Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Posts: 95

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

Hi Dekadan. I will post some new info on the older motorbike thread, I will put it up today or tomorrow. As that has a lot of detail on these issues already there, anyone who is interested in the general subject of motorbikes will find that a better location to browse. Yes, the clutch is the big point of failure on these classics, I will discuss that in some detail. Also I have some experience with the two main guys selling these in HCMC, will detail that. I will talk about what bikes non purists should be buying. I will also talk about the issue of displacements, which they mostly are misleading us on with these older bikes. Hope to see you over there, we had several guys who were interested in this subject there some months ago, but as most of it gets kinda technical, I think we need to keep the technical discussion in its natural home. I will put the non technical part on top, for people who are just wanting to browse and see info on buying a normal bike here (as opposed to a classic).

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

Thanks, Mark. I'm really interested in reading what you have to share. I'll be buying/renting my own bike in about a month.

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

lets move the discussion on motorbikes to the Wave Convert Fast Like Hell thread that C T Thomas started. That has a lot of technical info on it and is more generally about motorbikes, this one was specifically about Ha Noi I think. I just posted over there, it is a monster discussion on motorbikes, I tried to keep the stuff of general interest on top, when you find it getting too detailed, you have come to the end of the general discussion.