Motorbike Hunting, HCMC
Here are some tips I picked up while checking out motorbikes in HCMC.
Check out Style Motorbikes
These bikes are decent and we got a nice free lesson in a quiet area of HCM. While expensive, around $500 dollars, they do offer to buy back at around 65% of the price. Still risking a lot of money if you were to crash so it wasn’t our first choice.
It is certainly worth a visit though. I would recommend going here first just to get a feel for what a good bike is like. Especially if you have never ridden one. I left here feeling more confident in both my ability to ride a motorcycle and what to look for when purchasing one.
Where to look
The best place we found for finding new bikes on the market was the Vietnam Backpacker and sales Facebook group. New bikes get offered on here daily. If you post saying you are looking for a bike you will be inundated with replies.
You can also look around the hostels. Hideout hostel usually had a few posters up advertising bikes.
Don’t rush
You want to be happy with your bike. Take your time. There are loads around. Test out as many as you can. As you try more you will begin to recognize the issues if there are any. Pick a bike you are comfortable with.
However, when you are comfortable with it you probably want to snap it up ASAP. Bikes don’t hang around long. Me and Doug found this out the hard way.
Testing Your Bike
Testing bikes is also a great way to become more confident on them. Make sure you get the seller to drive you to a quiet area so you can have a proper go on it. Also, it helps when learning if there is no traffic to worry about.
An Loi Dong is a great place for this. A deserted industrial estate with plenty of road space to practice on. This is where style motorbikes took us.
That being said, from what I have read it is still a punt in the dark. You are probably going to break down, but hopefully, it is only minor.
Check everything works!
The lights, the horn, the Kickstarter. Everything you can think of. Some bikes will come with only one wing mirror but I would avoid these. You need 2 in the big cities at least and I heard that you can be fined if you only have one.
A commonly broken item on the Honda Win’s is the speedo. Virtually none of these work so you are going to have to do without.
Blue Card
Check your blue card matches your bike. If not the police can and will seize your bike!
The number plate, the engine number and the chasis number all need to match. Make sure they do. Obviously the name will be different but this isn’t important.
Price range
Unless you are confident it is a quality bike that is unlikely to break down. AKA similar to Styles Motorbikes bikes. Then I would avoid spending over $250 for it. You have no way of knowing how many repairs you might need and how much they will cost.
Price is rarely indicative of quality.
Best to go cheap and save money for inevitable repairs than risk an expensive bike.
Buying a bike is always going to be a gamble the best you can do is try to minimize the likelihood you will have a serious problem with it.
Good Luck!
