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I've ridden a couple around town, don't know of any expats that own one as getting the A2 licence (needed for anything bigger than 175cc) is a bit more complicated so if you're gonna go to the effort of getting an A2 licence most will get a bigger bike.

Your target for the police on your back will get bigger. So will your "Fine/Donation"

Thx for the insight....well, shucks. Scratch that off the list.
back in the States, my son rides a cbr250 to go to/from school. I was hoping to get us on one of these bikes when we come to visit hcmc this summer. I completely forgot that it's be illegal for us to even ride a motor vehicle in HCMC.

jedd wrote:

it's be illegal for us to even ride a motor vehicle in HCMC.

Depending on how long you are here for, it's not illegal for you to ride a motorcycle here. Just nothing over 175cc
And plenty of fun can be had on machines with less than that.

When I first came to Saigon nearly 4 yrs ago I hated riding the scooters around and as I was spending more time in Danang which is more laid back than HCMC I rode a custom chopper style bike which was great for riding over the mountains etc then one day as we were returning from a ride we wound up in the heart of Danang in peak hour and I kept stalling it in traffic or I accidently rode up the back of the bike in front and my VN girlfriend whispered in my ear great bike for highway no good for city traffic. She was right of course so this year I bought a brand new Honda PCX and I cant sing the praises of this bike enough. I weigh 100 kilos and an Aussie mate came over a month ago and he weighs 105 kilos and with the both of us on it I took him through the Thu Thiem tunnel and on the other side with a clear road in front of us accelerated upto a 100klmh in no time. I dont recommend you do that as the speed limit for bikes on the open road is still 50klmh. But the fact is the bike is quite capable of cruising along with two westerners on it at a comfortable pace easily. Plus it handles the peak hour traffic well with its 3 sec cut off when it senses you are standing after 3 secs and switches the motor off saving fuel, pollution and the rising heat from the engine. Brilliant idea.

DirtyPierre wrote:

When I first came to Saigon nearly 4 yrs ago I hated riding the scooters around and as I was spending more time in Danang which is more laid back than HCMC I rode a custom chopper style bike which was great for riding over the mountains etc then one day as we were returning from a ride we wound up in the heart of Danang in peak hour and I kept stalling it in traffic or I accidently rode up the back of the bike in front and my VN girlfriend whispered in my ear great bike for highway no good for city traffic. She was right of course so this year I bought a brand new Honda PCX and I cant sing the praises of this bike enough. I weigh 100 kilos and an Aussie mate came over a month ago and he weighs 105 kilos and with the both of us on it I took him through the Thu Thiem tunnel and on the other side with a clear road in front of us accelerated upto a 100klmh in no time. I dont recommend you do that as the speed limit for bikes on the open road is still 50klmh. But the fact is the bike is quite capable of cruising along with two westerners on it at a comfortable pace easily. Plus it handles the peak hour traffic well with its 3 sec cut off when it senses you are standing after 3 secs and switches the motor off saving fuel, pollution and the rising heat from the engine. Brilliant idea.

Hello,

I second what the above guy says, the new engines are great and the 3sec cut off works like a charm in Saigon traffic. great idea Honda (Idea from bmw?) The new Honda Sh are also more affordable now 80,000,000 for a 150 instead of the 120,000,000 it used to be.


/Thenewguy

Honda PCX is what I picked up new in April. I concur its a great bike. The only downfall is it may be a little wide in the traffic sometimes. I am no small man so that is why I chose it. I think anything over that size is truly a waste in this type of city. A pcx runs around 60 mil vnd (3000$). The Airblade is around 40 mil vnd (2000$)  and the Wave is around 20 mil vnd(1000$) for the sport model.

I love scooters! I have one back home....not a PCX but a Burgman 650. The PCX does have alot going for it, mainly outstanding fuel economy, but scooters in VN are so bland and ubiquitous. Riding a CBR250 in HCMC is like driving a Ferrari in LA traffic. yea, it's overkill, but it's different and certainly more entertaining.

Another thing I should mention about owning a bike in VN. It needs to be a bike that everyone else is riding because if it breaks down at any stage it needs to be a bike that VN mechanics know how to work on. An Expat friend of mne bought a Honda off a departing expat at a price he couldnt resist, now he knows why. Whenever he takes it to a mechanic they look at it with puzzlement on their faces because its a Japanese import and that model never came to VN so no parts available and nobody knows how to work on it.

DirtyPierre wrote:

Plus it handles the peak hour traffic well with its 3 sec cut off when it senses you are standing after 3 secs and switches the motor off saving fuel, pollution and the rising heat from the engine. Brilliant idea.

That seems like a fairly good idea but an awfully short time.  It seems to me that something like a full minute would be better.  At 3 seconds it must stop at every red light.  Every time you crank the starter you wear it out the brushes and windings a little. Also every crank is a new stress on engine parts even if warm.  This is why diesel trucks and farm tractors will keep their engines on if not stopped for long. 

Also I think the PCX is water cooled so it should be running at a fairly constant temperature even if idle.  An air-cooled engine will warm up some if not moving but it is designed to run hot. Can't argue with you on the pollution aspect though.

Ok first off the 3 secs is perfect timing as it needs to switch off at every stop in the traffic to be of any use at all.
2nd It uses a modern brushless electric motor and 3rd the argument of comparison to diesel truck engines needing to be left idling has no relevance to a modern Japanese 4 stroke water cooled motorcycle engine what so ever. When I refer to heat I am refering to the ambiant heat rising from the engine when idling in traffic with hundreds of idling bikes around you.

Jedd, you can try to settle for the CBR150 as it only need A1 license to ride it. Getting A1 license is a lot easier than getting A2 as I know quite a few expat already have it.

Suzuki also just launched 2 new bikes in Vietnam that are under 175cc which are EN-150 and GZ-150A. You can take a look at that as well.

Both the Suzuki EN-150 and GZ-150A are great bikes for westerners if living in say Danang where there is little traffic but totally unsuitable for congested HCMC traffic which moves along at a crawl.

go big or let it be...
the A1 is easy to get..
the A2 not.. but possible... i needed 1 year to get it..
however
to sit on the suzuki 250 was not really fun for me....
whenever you want to buy something you would have problems by carry it..
try a 175 sym shark... good to ride and looks not bad..
btw.. its fast enough too

The advantage of the Taiwanese SYM Shark 175cc is they're cheap to buy and when you ding them which is inevitable in Vietnam the parts are cheap to replace. I know of expats who have owned them for up to two years then give them away to Vietnamese friends and bought a new one every 2nd year. You couldnt afford to do that with a Honda PCX @ 60 plus million dong.

Abit late for a reply in this thread but i recently purhcased a new scooter and instead of going for Honda like the 3 previous bikes we have i opted for a Piaggio. Iv been a little "Vietnamesed" during my 6 years in Saigon and i do like the perks of getting a better parking and better service when you pull upp in a "nice" scooter or a bigbike and there arent that many options:

1. The Honda SH (125 or 150cc) cost from 77million for a VN made 125cc to 7000+ for a imported 150cc (ok even 9000usd for the 300cc imported but who cares).

2. The Honda PCX
Great allround scooted, cost at about 60,000,000 (3000usd),
Same engine as the SH just a different look.

3. Secondhand older Honda models, the @ 150cc, The Dylan and the PS. Iv actually had two PS and its the same as a Honda SH but the rims and wheels are smaller and thats not a good thing for potholes and edges) cost from: 1000-4000usd the @ being the cheapest and the PS the most expensive.
I dont recommend buying any machinery at all secondhand iv always been fortunate to be able to buy new things and they come with a guarantee which is a nice thing to have.

4. The Piaggios:
Fly, Liberty or the old Vespa actually made in Vietnam now and still ok.

5. A big bike or any kind.

Iv always driven normal big bikes back in Sweden and drove a scooter when i was 15 hehe so it wasnt that wierd for me when i first got here. Two weeks riding around in a taxi was enough and i got a Honda SH.

Latest bike i bought was my first non Honda one ever a Piaggio Liberty. I do like the design and the machinery just feels better then the Honda but it does take alot of gas(feels like its twice as much as the SH), if you asked me today to go buy another bike i would have opted for the new Honda SH with the 3 sec stop like the previous writer have (same engine).

So if you want a bike here for city traffic go for a Honda, good quality, great service stations and if you get a nice one good parking.

/Andreas

Dear All I just read here that expats cant have A2 license. But one of my Vietnamese friends supported me to get one

Wow thats very rare, i only know of two other foreigners who got one and they payed to get it.

Can you post what steps you did to get one?

What iv heard you need:

To own a Bike over 175cc in your name
Be a member of a motorcycle club
and some things i cant recall now.

But to my knowledge they will just make you refill all the documents and send you around town to different places untill you give up.

/Andreas

Well mate I dont know about others. But its all depend on how strong connections u have in here and just for your info that I am not member of any club. I just share this info cause I wanna tell that Expats can have A2.
Cheers

Ahh ok, so its like before. Was just curious if they changed some rules like the "new" change that foreigners can own a vehicle in Vietnam much easier now, only need a temporary residence card or a workpermit.

/Andreas

Hi Andreas,

Please feel free to create a new topic on the Ho Chi Minh City Forum, as the thread you posted on is from 2012.

Thank you,

David.