One of the first things you’ll notice when you arrive in Vietnam are the sheer number of motorbikes on the road! In Saigon alone, there are an estimated 8 million motorbikes on the streets every day! It’s not unusual to see four or five motorbikes riding alongside each other, giving the streets the impression of being a sea of motorbikes.
Despite the apparent chaos, motorbikes are still the best way to explore Vietnam! Their size allows you to get into narrow side streets and market laneways. Plus you’ll get a full sensory experience! Rather than being in a car where you just view from the window, being on a motorbike allows you to hear the street sounds, smell the food cooking at roadside stalls, feel the changing temperatures as you move from urban to rural roads and, of course, see a lot more.
On KIX Saigon scooter tours, you don’t have to worry about navigating the busy streets. Our expert host drivers take you through the city while you can relax, soak up the views and snap photos!
Here are some fun facts about motorbikes in Vietnam:
How many motorbikes?- As of 2020, there were 65 million registered motorbikes in Vietnam and a few more million are estimated to be unregistered. That’s a lot of motorbikes for a country with a population of just over 80 million people!
Cargo– The vast majority of Vietnamese do not own cars so motorbikes are used to carry all sorts of goods for home and the workplace. It’s not uncommon to see entire families (4-5 people) on one motorbike. Nor to see a driver carrying an unusually large object, like a TV, refrigerator or even pigs!
Road rules?- There are traffic rules and traffic police in Vietnam. Although it may look crazy to outsiders, there is an organized system to the way (most) people drive in Vietnam.
What type of motorbikes? Most motorbikes you see on the roads are 125-cc, semi-automatic bikes. Both Honda and Yamaha have factories in Vietnam so these are among the most common brands. There are also a fair number of Minsk motorbikes, which were imported from the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s and a dwindling number of vintage Vespas and Piaggio from the French Indochina era of the 1950s-60s
Interested in exploring Vietnam by motorbike? Be sure to include a KIX Tour on your stay in Saigon. Click here to discover more about our Saigon scooter city tours!
