Need advice choosing bike for Hanoi-HCMC trip

manyu

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Dec 6, 2012
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Hi all,

I need some help planning a motorcycle trip across Vietnam. My wife & I are currently traveling around Asia and our next stop is Vietnam. It's a last minute plan but we thought it would be good to rent/buy a motorcycle in Hanoi and ride it down the coast to HCMC. We plan to do this over 3 weeks.

I was wondering if anyone here could suggest a bike for us. I am 6'1" and will be riding the bike with my wife as the passenger. We will also need room for a backpack. Total weight load on the bike will be about 190-200kg. Right now, the top options are Minsk, Minsk X, Yamaha YBR 125 or the Suzuki GN 125. Does anyone have any advice about this?

We are also considering the buy vs rent option but we arent sure how easy it will be to buy the bike in Hanoi and then sell it in HCMC.

Are there any recommendations for rental companies if we go down that path?
Flamingo, Cuong, Hanoi Motorcycle, Vietnam Motorbikes are the ones we have come across so far.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

Manyu
 
Apr 22, 2010
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I strongly advise against the Minsk. They are not reliable and I came across more than a few optimistic travelers on my travels (I had a Honda Win) who had not yet travelled half way to Hanoi had already had their engines rebuilt more than once!

I'd recommend the Yamaha YBR125 out of those but the Suzuki GN is also a pretty popular choice. If memory serves me correct Rod Page had a YBR125 and I recall him being quite happy with it. Best of luck and be sure to post up a report when it's done! :D