platypus121
Tour Pro
.
Ha Long Bay was neat, and Ankor Wat was pretty good too, but when I remember the trip through
Vietnam and Cambodia, I think first of scooters.
Vietnam is scooter paradise, where Honda is King, Suzuki is Prince, and Yamaha has Dreams of Jupiter claiming
more than its current tiny share of the market.
The dream here really is a Dream - a 125cc fuel injected Honda Dream II, which will set you back $US700.
Posers can ride a Vespa - at four times the price of a Honda.
In the cities, the scooter fleet is mostly up to date with a smattering of battered workhorses
and lovingly restored early bikes. In the countryside, old / older / oldest Honda Cubs rule.
Why park on the roadside when there is a footpath?
Immaculate C70
Truly super Super Cub 50
Not so pristine. This C50, like many older bikes I saw, has a disconnected front brake. How it manages
in the heavy traffic with no front brake Budda only knows.
As with anywhere else, a bike lets its rider dream - though in Hanoi, this guy’s wish is not likely to happen any time soon.
Scooters ... a family affair.
No worries about running out of fuel when every few hundred metres along country roads you can buy petrol from pumps like these …
… or you can get a little top-up from a glass bottle.
For longer distance scooting, nothing beats an extra tank, and when you can’t find one off an XR, a big
water bottle does just as well. Better, really, as you can see exactly how much petrol you have left.
If you need repairs, bike shops are closely spaced, some displaying their speciality.
This scooter renter is on the ball. Realising that most customers are tourists who will need a change of
underwear after hitting the city streets, he runs a post-ride laundry service that earns more than the bike rentals.
Vietnamese scooters really earn their living.
This one is taking a break while its owner is fishing, but judging from the coupling over the seat,
it will soon be back at work …
… maybe pulling a tuk-tuk like this.
Most tuk-tuk couplings I saw were simple affairs, just a ring over a peg, locking nut on top of the peg,
and rubber washers top and bottom to prevent too much rattling. An empty oil container over the top
lowers wind resistance at high speed, and, quite serendipitously, prevents the locking nut from grinding
down the lumbar vertebrae.
This guy has gone all techno with silicon around the ring and the pin pivoting fore and aft on a rubber
mounted horizontal shaft. Just how that fore and aft pivoting does any good beats me.
Whatever, it all works deceptively well - as does the traffic flow, despite the seeming chaos.
Here’s my favourite scooter shot, taken in the old sector of Hanoi.
Inner tubes over the back, cartons in the front .... and x-ray eyes.
PS Didn’t see CT110s in either Vietnam or Cambodia but with the interchangeablity of Honda parts,
I reckon any of the roadside mechanics would be right at home prodding about in Birtles’ interior.
.
Ha Long Bay was neat, and Ankor Wat was pretty good too, but when I remember the trip through
Vietnam and Cambodia, I think first of scooters.
Vietnam is scooter paradise, where Honda is King, Suzuki is Prince, and Yamaha has Dreams of Jupiter claiming
more than its current tiny share of the market.
The dream here really is a Dream - a 125cc fuel injected Honda Dream II, which will set you back $US700.
Posers can ride a Vespa - at four times the price of a Honda.
In the cities, the scooter fleet is mostly up to date with a smattering of battered workhorses
and lovingly restored early bikes. In the countryside, old / older / oldest Honda Cubs rule.
Why park on the roadside when there is a footpath?
Immaculate C70
Truly super Super Cub 50
Not so pristine. This C50, like many older bikes I saw, has a disconnected front brake. How it manages
in the heavy traffic with no front brake Budda only knows.
As with anywhere else, a bike lets its rider dream - though in Hanoi, this guy’s wish is not likely to happen any time soon.
Scooters ... a family affair.
No worries about running out of fuel when every few hundred metres along country roads you can buy petrol from pumps like these …
… or you can get a little top-up from a glass bottle.
For longer distance scooting, nothing beats an extra tank, and when you can’t find one off an XR, a big
water bottle does just as well. Better, really, as you can see exactly how much petrol you have left.
If you need repairs, bike shops are closely spaced, some displaying their speciality.
This scooter renter is on the ball. Realising that most customers are tourists who will need a change of
underwear after hitting the city streets, he runs a post-ride laundry service that earns more than the bike rentals.
Vietnamese scooters really earn their living.
This one is taking a break while its owner is fishing, but judging from the coupling over the seat,
it will soon be back at work …
… maybe pulling a tuk-tuk like this.
Most tuk-tuk couplings I saw were simple affairs, just a ring over a peg, locking nut on top of the peg,
and rubber washers top and bottom to prevent too much rattling. An empty oil container over the top
lowers wind resistance at high speed, and, quite serendipitously, prevents the locking nut from grinding
down the lumbar vertebrae.
This guy has gone all techno with silicon around the ring and the pin pivoting fore and aft on a rubber
mounted horizontal shaft. Just how that fore and aft pivoting does any good beats me.
Whatever, it all works deceptively well - as does the traffic flow, despite the seeming chaos.
Here’s my favourite scooter shot, taken in the old sector of Hanoi.
Inner tubes over the back, cartons in the front .... and x-ray eyes.
PS Didn’t see CT110s in either Vietnam or Cambodia but with the interchangeablity of Honda parts,
I reckon any of the roadside mechanics would be right at home prodding about in Birtles’ interior.
.