Motorcycle repairs in HCMC

Posted by sluicepoint (804 days ago)

I'm moving to HCMC within the next two months, and would like to bring my 2001 Royal Enfield Lightning 535, but am worried about repairs.

I'll be bringing a good supply of spare parts, but need a decent mechanic. Does anyone know if there auto/bike shops in the city who would know their way around a Royal Enfield?

Posted by ldldjr (804 days ago)

VN does have some displacement restrictions on motorcycles. I have heard of people having their bikes hung up in customs for a long time because they exceeded the 175cc (?) upper limit. (I don't know the displacement of your Enfield.) There are big bikes around, and if the Enfield is around 500cc, you should check on the importation requirements, if you haven't already.

Posted by kctran (793 days ago)

Yes, right. You better check the law if you can bring in an over 175c motobike to Vietnam or not. For repairing, you can bring to Bike Care on Tran Hung Dao St. The service there is pretty good.

Posted by sluicepoint (793 days ago)

I've checked, and it seems that I can't get it in. Having said that, I've heard that there are expats with bikes much larger than 175cc. Any idea on how they got them in?

Assuming I can't bring my bike, any suggestions on a good bike to purchase while I'm there? Keep in mind that I'm 6'2, and about 200 pounds!!

Posted by ldldjr (793 days ago)

The most common big bike in Ha Noi is the Ural 500cc police bike, with sidecar. People somehow buy them, restore them, and drive them about. I don't know the details (I have heard prices from $200-$1000). I did speak to one guy who made it a hobby, with some half dozen bikes that he had at the time, and he actually exported a couple to the US (he left VN some time ago).

As I understand it, officially one must belong to the police motorcycle club to have a bike bigger than 175cc. I read an article about it a year or so ago, and there was one expat member. Someone told me that the members of the club are on call - if there is an official event they have to particpate (escorts, etc., I assume). Having said that, every once in a while I see a moderately big bike advertised in Ha Noi on the bulletin boards (most recently a 400cc Honda) and I walked by a 500cc Honda a few days ago. I noticed a shop this morning that appeared to have half a dozen really big bikes on display. I need to go back to check it out - maybe tomorrow. And I saw a big bike on the sidewalk being repaired this afternoon as I was driving somewhere.

Last year I met a guy who had a nice older BMW that he had bought in HCMC and brought back up to Ha Noi. I understand that there are big bikes in the south, dating from the America-war years.

It is possible to bring in big bikes but it is not easy. I bumped into a guy last year who had brought in an older BMW that he had picked up in Africa. It was a beautiful machine.

How do you like that? You can't, but you can, but you can't. Unless of course you figure out how you can! Good luck!


PS - the 125cc Minsk has a big following in Ha Noi among the expat community. Check out the Minsk club website - http://www.minskclubvietnam.com/.

Posted by kctran (791 days ago)

hi,

You can buy a second hand motocycle in SG. It's not very difficult to find a high cc motobike here. The only one problem is that you cannot get a driving license for those kind of bike but don't worry, many foreigners ride them on the street and they had no problem with the police at all. You can drop me an email at chuong_td@yahoo.co.uk. Maybe I an help.