I am on Day 4 of my visit in Ho Chi Minh City and I have had a wonderful
time here so far. I like my little guesthouse where I have a huge double room for about $17 a night (expensive here) and the people who run it and their relatives have been very helpful.

The first couple of days I walked all over District 1 where I'm staying. It is like a big downtown area and the backpacker hotels are all pretty much near me with the skyscrapers about 2 kilometers away and all of the fancy hotels there. I visited a Palace and several museums including the War Rememberance Museum which was very affecting. I also went to the Ho Chi Minh Museum where they were preparing for a special anniversary on June 6th and I was interviewed by Viet Nam State Television. I never saw it on TV so not sure how that came out....

Day three I test rode motorbikes owned by backpackers who rode them from Hanoi. I tested a Suzuki GN125 and a Chinese Honda copy called the Win which comes in a 100cc or 110 cc flavor. The Suzuki is a bigger bike and good for someone my size. It also has more power and pickup for passing and hauling. The downside of this one was that it was beat. Turn lights broken and not working, electric start not working, speedometer not working and would not go into neutral! Plus it just looked bad and poorly maintained. The owner was a nice enough Aussie bloke, but he did nothing to improve the bike. Just rode the hell out of it! The answer when you point out problems like this is either- no one uses that, or, there all broken over here (speedometers), or, they can fix that cheap! (if that's the case,why didn't you fix it?). I liked the size of the bike and the seating, but that was it and the guy wanted $450 for it although I could have bought it for 400 or maybe even 350.

I thanked the Aussie and passed on the bike and waited for my next bike to turn up, the Win.

The Win over here is easily the most common motorcycle of the clutch/non scooter variety. To be noticed on one of these it would have to be on fire at a gas station! So perfect for basic transportation with a broad support network of parts and mechanics. Suzuki would probably be much harder to get parts for even if it was a much better engine than the Chinese Honda copy.

The Win I tested was a 100 cc variety and the seat was coming off on one side! Typically the speedo was busted (no on uses it!) and lights were broken and the engine did not seem really as strong as it should be even at a lower horsepower rating. It was really filthy too.

I am test riding on the road I will take out of town so I can familiarize myself with the area and so I can run each bike at highway speed and check the performance. I let the owner drive me out a bit and then switch off and drive myself back into town. It's fun mixing with the traffic, but you have to always stay alert. They have set aside a seperated area on the right side for motorbikes to keep them from mixing with cars close to the city on the major highways, but outside of town you need to be ready to yield to cars and buses. Not too much different from the road train situation on the Cairns to Darwin Bike ride. They honk (alot) to let you know! That is another important part on the bike- the horn!

The Win I tested was in such bad shape that I had the guy drop me off down the street from my guesthouse and walked, but it was good experience for me for checking out the bike I had my eye on- A very clean Win 100 for sale by the guesthouse across the streets owners. My guesthouse owner, a girl named 'Bic', told them I was looking for a bike and they showed it to me, but it was getting late in the day and rush hour traffic was starting which I wanted to avoid and i was raining so I asked if I could test it first thing the next day. "No problem " was the response so as soon as I was done with breakfast I walked over and got th keys and a borrowed helmet and off I went. What do you know? The speedometer worked! and so did the lights. and turn signals (though the left rear needs some duct tape lol). The engine seemed strong as well- good sound and pickup. These bikes are pretty light so unfortunately you have to deal with a lot of vibration, but this bike smoothed out a bit on the open road. I drove it around 15 minutes in town and out on the highway for 20 minutes and I was sold.

I bought it for 6,090,000 Dong which is about $290. The owner had a nice helmet for me with a clear face shield that fit like a glove for only 70,000 D ( about $6) and she had me follow her 4 blocks to a man that put a larger luggage rack for my big duffle bag for $5. Back at the guest house they arranged tie down straps and got me gas all for under 100,000 D. Later the woman brought me back 20,000 D because her husband told her she had charged me too much for the petrol! I loved that!!

After cooling off I walked to an area that had book shops and bought a nicely bound road atlas very much like the one my buddy Carl uses in Australia with cross referenced map locations on each page and extremely detailed road info. Of course, it is in a foriegn language, but that should spur me to learn a little more and will help when I question locals.

Tonight is devoted to packing and studying the maps for an early departure tomorrow! Wish me luck, Gear Heads! Some pics will be posted for your pleasure soon! Cheers!!!!

1

written by  Mike_Veine on June 7, 2013 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
from the travel blog: Top Gear Adventure 2- Vietnam Boogaloo!
tagged TopGear2, HoChiMihnCity and WinMotorbike
Send a Compliment

---

Hi,
That was a great work from your side.Should continue it for sure.
Regards
Betty

written by  Bettypaul on June 27, 2013

comment on this...