Hi from Saigon, Vietnam

I am a Canadian, Mexico is my home but I am in Vietnam for the next year then I will return home to Mexico.
I have been riding motorcycles all my life or at least the last 62 years, started when I was 10. Up until now it has always been big bikes but since I have been in Vietnam I have been riding a scooter and find I really enjoy the ease of an automatic transmission. So I plan on getting a SilverWing when I return to north America.

I thought maybe you intrepid scooter riders would like to see what it is like riding in Saigon. This is a city of 10 million people and 7 million scooters.

Hi
Does that traffic go on all day?
The most remarkable thing is that I could not see anyone bump into each other...puts motorbike display teams in the shade!

I could never figure out why, if given a choice like you, someone would want to live in an environment like that. I've ridin in Mexico and it isnt much better! I'll take the lonely Canadian highway thanks!

Yes ,riding in the Great white North, or season is a short one . I cant see myself riding waring a gas mask with 3 person on a small scoot .My stress level would be cause for a massive road rage. ( get the fxx out of my way. 

Hi OldBiker,

After watching that video I'm amazed that there were no accidents or brawls. Like hotwings and tinman, I also like the relatively open roads of central Minnesota. Some of the main highways get clogged up a bit during rush hour but out here it's easier to put up with.

Amazing!!! I especially liked the woman wearing high heels. I assume the Harley riders drive the buses.    

To answer your questions,
1. the traffic slows down late at night but it is like that everyday all day.
2. There are some advantages to the lonely highways of Canada. When I ride there or in the States I choose the back roads over the freeways, in a warm jacket, chaps, heated gloves, boots and heavy socks.
3. I am here for the very reason that I have a choice, here or in Mexico, or Guatemala, or Cambodia, or anywhere else I may wander. I have no wish to sit at home watching TV. If I didn't have that choice life would be terrible.
4. I don't really know why they wear those masks. I think it is a holdover from when all the scoots were two cycle and belched smoke. Its not like that now. I have ridden in Mexico City and I thought the smog was going to kill me but here I don't even notice it.
5. I have been riding here for three months now and I haven't even seen an accident let alone a fight.
6. Personally I prefer the short skirts to the high heels but each to his own.
7. The most I have seen on one scooter is a family of four with what could have been a baby in a basket in front of the handle bars.
8. The Harley riders must be in the busses. It is illegal to have a motorcycle over 199cc's.

When you ride on these roads you have to stop thinking like you are on a scooter in traffic. You have to think you are in a crowded airport with people walking everywhere. Some will run to catch a plane, some will walk on the wrong side of the aisle but most will just move calmly towards their destination. Nobody gets knocked down, nobody gets in a fight because there are people ahead of him or her. If someone needs to turn to the left to get to their departure gate they just work their way through the oncoming crowd. If you think like that the traffic is OK.
Thanks for your interest,
Peter

OldBiker, I also like your number 6.

I guess it's the way of life over there so it's pretty much not a big deal. Everybody puts up with it and the kids grow up seeing it every day so they don't feel it's any thing near a traffic jam, it's just how it is.

I didn't think there was a Siagon anymore. Isn't it named something else?

Officially it is Ho Chi Minh City. The name was changed after the American War when the city of Saigon and the surrounding Gia Định province were amalgamated and called Ho Chi Minh City but a lot of the Vietnamese, particularly those that have lived here multiple generations and not moved from the north still refer to it as Saigon. Before it was called Saigon it was Prey Nokor a Khmer sea port. I use Saigon because Ho Chi Minh City is a pain in the a** to type.

Welcome OldBiker. I admire your since of adventure and wanting to travel and meet new people. My wife and I want to see China after I retire. I have owned a ton of bikes over the years but started commuting on a Yamaha Majesty (wonderful scooter) about 5 yrs ago and started liking the no-shift aspect of a scooter. Sold the Majesty, was sorry, then found a 2012 SWing for a great price. So far it has been a great ride. Anyway, again, welcome. This seems to be a great site with great tech info.

OldBiker wrote:

Officially it is Ho Chi Minh City.

It just happened that I was watching a show on TV last evening called "DON'T DRIVE HERE" the subject was Ho Chi Min City. Max cc allowed is 200, not many cars mostly scooters. Family of 4 riding on one scooter, crazy just like the video posted. One disturbing fact that an average of 30 people per day in the city die in road accidents. Yes per day!
They have a hospital that specializes in 2 wheel accident victims.

Welcome, drive safe if that's at all possible!

Chilliwing wrote:

OldBiker wrote:

Officially it is Ho Chi Minh City.

It just happened that I was watching a show on TV last evening called "DON'T DRIVE HERE" the subject was Ho Chi Min City. Max cc allowed is 200, not many cars mostly scooters. Family of 4 riding on one scooter, crazy just like the video posted. One disturbing fact that an average of 30 people per day in the city die in road accidents. Yes per day!
They have a hospital that specializes in 2 wheel accident victims.

Welcome, drive safe if that's at all possible!

I have seen those statistics as well and I don't know how it happens. Sure, there must be a ton of accidents even though I haven't seen any but how do you get killed when the best speed you can do is about 40 km/hr and everyone is wearing helmets. Sadly, the only way I can think it would happen is the babies in baskets in those accidents.

A sudden deceleration from 30mph can snap the brain from the brain stem and tear the aortic arch, both of which are fatal. Brain injury, wearing a crash helmet, can happen at any speed.