Motor-Biking in South-East Asia | GTAMotorcycle.com

Motor-Biking in South-East Asia

northyorkguy

Well-known member
Hi guys,to start off i've been on this forum for several years now. Only posted on here when I rode in '05 and '08, so it's been awhile since i've ridden, will again in the next few years i hope. Met alot of great people through the rides/hook-up forums.

I'll be heading to SE asia next month, back packing through different countries, have 4 months off from work to do this, 1st timer back-packing/travelling solo. I'll be starting off in thailand 1st, and go from there. Pretty much to sum it up why I'm posting on here, is i'm planning to probably buy a motor-bike there and travel to/through viet-nam, as most people have done it. Don't know if it's worth riding else-where in SE asia?? I know there are alot of mixed reviews about doing something like this, some have said it's dangerous, and some have had great experiences doing what they did, even "Top Gear" did episodes like this. But personally i'll see how things are when i'm down there and will see for myself.

But just wondering, if any of you guys have personally done this as well, and be able to provide some details/ websites, with more infomation regarding this, such as maps, good roads to ride, where to ride too, anything that'll come in handy. I'll do print outs so i have something to refer too while there as well.

thanks, Edwin.
 
Hey man, I spent 3 months backpacking around SE Asia two summers ago. I didnt ride a motorcycle, but almost every place I went I rented a moped and travelled around.

Vietnam would be amazing to travel by bike, from north to south. But there are alot of guided programs that offer this for you. They provide the bikes, all tours and accomodations. Sure it might be a bit more expensive (or cheaper, what if you cant sell the bike afterwards?), but everything is taken care of for you.

Here is a company i regularly ran into while there. Cool A** dudes http://www.easy-riders.net/

PM me if you have any questions about your itinerary
 
Hey Edwin,

Ive spent a lot of time backpacking SE Asia so feel free to ask me about anything related to your trip. In short, it is my favorite region of the world. So much to do, so much to eat and just good value for money.
Buying a bike in Thailand and riding your way around? I think there are some pro's/con's with this. The biggest reason I see for buying a bike and riding it yourself is simply that its more of a challenge which is usually very rewarding once you've done it. You can get off the well travelled tourist trail and you'll have some additional freedoms as well. You'll also spare yourself from some really aweful long distance bus rides.
But, there are some con's too that you should think about. The first would be flexibility. For me backpacking is what it is because you have everything you need in your sack and can go anywhere and do anything with little to no strings attached. Just pick up your bag and go. Having a motorcycle is a bit of a string. If you need to hop on a boat to head to ko <insert island name here> , you are going to need to find a place to stash your bike. Want to stay aboard a boat and dive the Similan islands for a few days? Again you'll need to stash the bike. There will be times when having a bike will be a hassle and much like extra luggage.
Some border crossings like Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xai, Laos will be a bit problematic to use because the usual method to get across is by small motorboat across the Mekong. (unless theyve built a bridge since I was there in 2007) Anything is possible though as money talks but you'll have to organize something out of the norm for yourself.
Further to this point is that really, anywhere aside from Laos, its easy to find a motorbike/scooter/moped to rent for the day or many days for around $5. This is especially the case in Thailand and Vietnam. Everywhere we went I rented a motorbike and did my thing and I had no problems whatsoever. Cambodia was okay too but for some reason in Laos they haven't really jumped on board with the whole renting motorbikes to tourists thing.
Safety is another issue. I wouldn't be worried about violent crime as much as I would worry about a really bad traffic accident and the consequences that would follow that. If you have a bad accident, it may spell the end of your trip. I saw this on a few occasions when we were there. A guy we met in northern Laos, broke his arm, nose, jaw in a motorbike accident and the result of that was an overnight 8 hour 4WD trip on bumpy roads to the nearest hospital, several days in hospital where conditions were not great at all and then finally a flight to the capital and onward to England. The accident ended his trip.
I'm not trying to discourage you from your plans. I think SE Asia is one of the best places to ride but you just need to be prepared and aware of what can happen. When I think of some of the things we did travelling that area, I almost can't believe how stupid I was. You just start to see things differently after a while. You kind of start to go with the norm which isnt always smart.
There will be areas like any Vietnamese city where motorbike is king but there are some areas where cars/trucks/buses are king and they drive fast enough to kill you quickly and you'll need to be really careful in these areas. The real touristy spots can be bad too because any moron with a few dollars can rent a mo-ped/scooter and don't figure out how traffic flows and many of these folks end up as statistics.
Anyway you cut it though, you will have an awesome time! Which countries are you visiting? I will give you some recommendations if you'd like them.
cheers
 
SE Asia Trip 203.jpg

everything Toshison said is very true. There are many times that having your own motorbike will be more of a burden than anything else. There are alot of times and places where you wont be able to have your bike with you. How will you spend 3 nights sleeping on a Junk Boat in Halong Bay, where will you leave your bike? Or on a 3 day jungle trek in Chian Mai?

Not to worry though, every city you go to will rent sweet mopeds. (usually 3-5$/24hrs) These things are so much fun and well suited to the terrain and local traffic. Theres never a need to go over 100km/hr over there anyways. With potholes the size of a miata and water buffalo crossing the roads, you wouldnt want to anyways.

I recommend hooking up with a tour group and maybe doing Vitnam from Hanoi-HoChiMinh on a cruiser. Then moving on with your trip

Damn Im jealous
 
I agree with what some of the others have posted, I wouldn't purchase a bike there, just rent one when you want it and do loops around some of the bigger cities that you end up in. Just take your time and look around and rent only good bikes, there's lots of crap to sift through, but I think they only cost me around $10 US a day if I remember correctly, but it was easy peasy to find something to ride.

I went to a book store and got some detailed topo/road maps and rented both an XR250 and CBR400 in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) and booted around the Golden Triangle for a couple of months. You can see Laos and Burma and Northern Thailand pretty easily and cheap as heck! Hell, I even loved renting the small 125 four stroke scooters and ripping around the Doi Suthep mountain area just outside of Chiang Mai... Even just getting your ride on with those small bikes in the unfamiliar and sometimes hectic traffic flow was great fun.

It's such a beautiful area, just make sure you have some quick spending money on hand to bribe the crooked cops when they stop you, keep your cool at the numerous military check points in the mountains when they point their guns at you and question you with their poor engrish and WATCH OUT for the "lady boys", stay clear of them (unless you're into that kind of thing) as some of those dudes will try anything to get a "date" with you...

One thing to consider is that they have two seasons from what I remember, a wet and dry season. I think their wet season is our summer, but you might want to confirm that. From what the locals told me, when it's the wet season you can't ride offroad because all the "trails" are washed out since they get some torrential downpours.

I've attached some pics for viewing pleasure...
 

Attachments

  • Thailand1.jpg
    Thailand1.jpg
    35.1 KB · Views: 40
  • Thailand2.jpg
    Thailand2.jpg
    51.9 KB · Views: 50
  • Thailand3.jpg
    Thailand3.jpg
    49.7 KB · Views: 44
hey guys, thanks for your response and input.

It never occured to me about, possibly ditching the bike when heading off somewhere bikes are not allowed. So guess it would be a good thing to either rent them or just join a tour as i go along to where-ever, instead of purchasing one and having to worry about it. Can't believe how cheap and convient it is to rent them for 5-10 US bucks a day. Question regarding rentals, what kind of a deposit would you have to leave, heard some sort of ID or even a passport? which i would be totally against, since who can you trust with your important documents, no-one really. So what would be the best item to leave as a deposit? And what issues did you have with the cops, did they pull you over for something you did, or just to hassel and get money from you??

as for my itinerary, i've been doing research and planning months ahead, frequently visit www.travelfish.org, but for me, i find it a bit difficult planning a trip such as this since I've never been to SE asia before, so i'll have no sense or perception or direction of where i am and where to go. You can throw all these names and places at me, but it won't totally sink in. As i'm preparing for this trip, i've printed alot of things to help me out on the road, so i can look at and have a general idea of things. In the end I'm a bit nervous and excited for this trip, as do with many others who are a 1st timer to this. It's all part of the fun, so i totally understand this situation we go through. I plan to meet others as i go along, i' pretty socialable and don't really have issues talking to random people. So that's a plus to this.

I'll be heading to hong kong next week for a few days, then around april 11th, head to thailand before the water festival, and few days after that, the full moon party. I got myself a 60 day tourist visa for thailand, but don't think i'll be staying that long, or even 30 days, but will see how things go. I plan to visit Laos, cambodia, vietnam, malaysia, singapore, and the phillippines. That's the plan, but nothing's written in stone, will find out as i go along, and how my time-line is, since i'm not one to make a schedule and stick to it, cause for something like this, it ain't gonna happen. And i know certain coutries have a bad repetation and can be dangerous at times. Just gotta keep my head up high and be cautious of situations that a-rise.

edwin
 
Hey Edwin,

Well i won't get into reason to stay away from buying a bike as I see you've figured out it's just not worth the hassle. About renting them - I'm with the others - it's definitely a great idea and easy to do. My experience is really just in Vietnam where I did most of the riding. In all the larger cities there are plenty of places to rent a bike/moped. Moped is really the way to go as it's dirt cheap (it was $2 a day when i was there) and really you're just using it for day trips within and out of the city - take it back at the end of the day and pick another one up next morning if you wish - no worries about where to put it overnight. I also found that the mopeds blended in better with the locals as most ride these. I don't recall seeing too many 'motorcycles' around - except with tourists on them for the most part. I think that makes them a little less likely to dissappear of the side of the road if you park it to go do a hike or whatever. When i was renting the mopeds there was no deposit nor did i leave them anything of any value to me. all they asked was what hotel i was staying at and how long i wanted to rent the bike for. If i didn't like the vibe of any of the rental places --- just walk down the road a bit and you'll find another one. The hotels we stayed at also helped us out a bit in finding a reputable place to rent mopeds. Can't comment on the cops as I didn't have any run-ins ... maybe that's a good thing. About bike tours - we didn't take any, but met quite a few Aussies/Kiwis who did and the general consensus was that they had a great time and it was worth the extra $$ to take the tours. As I was not really interested at the time, i don't know any companies that i could lead you to.

About making a plan on where you're going - you're on the right track. figure out the general things you think you want to see and go from there when you get there. This was my first time in Asia and I was glad that the gf and I just made some loose plans on what we wanted to see. Once we got there things changed - there were places we like so much that we stayed longer - others we thought we wanted to see turned out to not really be what we imagined and many others we didn't know about until we go there. Either way - I am sure you will have a blast. This is one of my most memorable vacations ... and a place we'll both visit again.

This post is definitely bringing back some trip memories. The gf and I did Thailand/Laos/Vietnam over 8 weeks. We spent the bulk of our time, a month, travelling from the southern to northern tip of Vietnam as, my now wife, if half vietnamese and had never been there. If you are interested in some places we liked PM me and i can give you a quick list.

to quote torontoZX6R below ... Damn I'm jealous ...

Have fun!
 
northyorkguy,

All you really need is a rough directional plan and you can fill in the blanks while you are there. Any visas we needed we got in transit, for Laos/Viet we got them in Bangkok and the Cambodian visa we got in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

My initial plan in 2007 looked like Australia > Philippines > Singapore > Malaysia > Thailand > Laos > Vietnam > Cambodia > Thailand > Malaysia > Indonesia but it ended up changing quite a bit. We threw in a side trip to Japan from Bangkok after coming back from Cambodia, we overstayed our 30 day visas in Vietnam and had to get extensiions. We generally spent a lot more time in each country than we thought we would and as a result we didnt have time to go to Indonesia because we had to move on to europe afterwards.

Here is something we did in Laos that I would recommend to you: google "gibbon experience" (gibbonexperience.org) and look it up and look at google images.. Its basically a network of ziplines and a few tree houses that you can stay in for a few days. These are not chump kiddie tree houses either. They are big (one is 3 stories) and on really big trees usually at the edge of valleys meaning you fall you die. There are many kilometres of ziplines. The biggest one I think is 400m long over a wide open valley really really really high up. This was a highlight in my trip and one that lots of other backpackers didn't know about as it was never in the Lonely planet guides. They also have very limited capacity so its not like everybody's done it before. We heard about it from a couple british guys we met in Oz. PM me if you need more info.

Further to renting motorbikes: A lot of people will ask for your passport as a deposit. Don't really fear it, I gave my passport many times and didn't have a problem. In Vietnam its quite normal for the hotel/guesthouse to hold your passport while you stay there. I was told it was a gov't rule that they have to register it with the police. If you are nervous about it, they can give it back to you after theyve registered it. So, when it comes time to rent a motorbike, most places only care about where you are staying as they know they can get your information there.

I wouldn't worry about cops. The real key is to avoid eye contact and just keep going as if you didn't see them. If you really did something wrong they will go after you, otherwise they ain't gonna bother.

Out of all the countries you are planning to visit, I would say that the Philippines is the one that can be difficult at times while Vietnam is probably the easiest country I have ever visited ever.

Singapore is a modern westernized city. Super clean, super easy.

Malaysia is very developed as well with excellent buses and the people are very nice, straight up and honest. From where we went I would say Kuala Lumpur and the Pulau perhentian were the highlights. Lowlight was probably Penang - its kinda boring. Renting bikes here isn't as common as it is in say Thailand

Thailand is mixed bag. Parts are modern/well touristed, others are not. Transportation can be really good and also really bad. If you are tall you will hate minibuses like I do. They see a lot of tourism in Thailand so petty scams are around but not really a problem. The islands are great and I really like nothern thailand, the vibe is real nice.

Laos. Most people enter from the north in thailand, take a boat along the Mekong to Luang Prabang, then bus it down to Vang Vien and then onward to Vientiane. If you continue south past Vientiane, you will see a lot less tourists but also a lot less to do. We enjoyed the quiet for ab it but didn't find much to do. Vang Vien is really cool with all the mountains/caves. Good place to rent a moutain bike and roam. There is a lot of drugs here if you are into that. Just ask any of the chillout bars and they will hand you a "special" menu. Its actually a printed menu with set prices.

Cambodia. Nice country, sad story. Don't just go to Angkor like many do, check out the other parts of the country. Kampot/Kep was really cool.

Vietnam. At first, I wasn't so crazy about Nam but looking back it was great and really really easy to get around with lots to do. We spent over a month going from top to bottom. People want your business so prices are competitive. Food is incredible, not just Viet food but "international" as well - only place I think in the entire world that you can eat Pork Shawarma (Hanoi).

Im jealous man, you will have an awesome time. keep the questions coming, you can see the rest of us posting in this thread are just flat out jealous that we arent going to.
 
Hey guys,

honestly, i am/was just like all of you, envious of those who travel as well. It's something I've always wanted to do these past several years, and it has all led up to this moment. It's something that I wished i had done in my early 20's when i had the time (now in my 30's - better late than never as they say) but at that age back then, travelling never cross my mind, nor did I care for travelling either, until i started watching these travel shows such as "departures", and believe it or not, riding a motor-cycle as well, as mentioned before, met alot of great people through riding here, who have taken me places such as muskoka, calabogie, barry's bay, etc... places and roads I never knew existed till i experienced it on 2 wheels. What a rush it was. And i will ride again here!

To sum things up regarding this trip, I only have to go to Hong Kong to deal with some personal stuff. I was actually just in hong kong for 3 weeks from jan to feb of this year, and have to head back again, just booked my flight yesterday, leaving april 5th. And i only need to be there for a few days, then i can head back home. But this was the perfect opportunity to do what i always wanted to do, so you know what, just do it, and make it happen. No turning back now. I was only planning to take 3 months or even less for this trip. In the end decided 4 months it is. Now the situation is, I took a leave of absent of work to make it all happen, so it's a win-lose situation as well, months off with-out pay, but some things are worth sacifiricing in the end. If i didn't have a job to come back too, i'd just dis-appear alot longer and travel else-where in the world, but all good things must come to and end. If any of you guys are willing to take leave of absent as well, you are more than welcome to join in on the journey, i could always use a travel buddy..... or if your heading down around the same time as me by chance... feel free...

I know, it'll sound tough trying to visit every country in 4 months, honestly, not much time in my opinion, but do what i can. Some perks of this trip, have relatives in singapore haven't seen in +15 years, met some people in Tai-wan who are from Malaysia, and also friend from work is heading back home to the philippines as well, so looking forward to more sun and more beaches there. Everything else, will see what happens.

With riding around on the motor-bikes, did you wear any protective gear (helmet, goggles)?. All i'm planning to bring with me is a pair of riding gloves, and worry about the other things such as a helmet and/or anything else-there. And I know, not to wear flip-flops or sandals as well. Though I know it will be tempting too, but even when I rode here in toronto in the summer-time, I never squid it, always wear your gear.

I just live a basic normal life, but what is normal right??..lol... I don't do drugs, and rarely drink much or at all, so my having fun will be everything else. beaches, snorkelling, trekking, riding, food, site-seeing, caves, sun-shine, villages, animals, etc.... you get the picture... and no lady-boys either...lol... Thanks for the info regarding the gibbonexperience, checked out some feed-back/videos on youtube, definitly something not too miss out on from the feed-back. Sent them an e-mail, will see and toss it in my itinerary as well. Will also before I fly out, print this topic out on paper, keep it with me, and have this to look back on when needed too.

and i'm jealous some of you guys did a trip like this before me.....

edwin
 
Edwin,

4 months is a crap-load of time, youll be able to see and do everything you want, trust me. By the time is up youll be so ready to come home. Travelling is great, but coming home is always nice too

You said your going to malaysia? I want you to check out one place I fell in love with. They are called the Perhentian Islands.

"
The Perhentian Islands (Pulau Perhentian in Malay) lay approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) offshore the coast of northeastern Malaysia in the state of Terengganu, approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of the Thai border.

South Beach, Perhentian Besar


The two main islands are Perhentian Besar ("Big Perhentian") and Perhentian Kecil ("Small Perhentian").


they are a stunning set of islands, the water is crystal clear and has some of the best scuba diving in SE Asia. and getting certified to dive here is cheaper than anyhwrre else. A hut on the beach is 15$/night

amazing, not to far from Kuala Lumpur, highly recommend to go relax there

PS. riding gloves, i know we all advocate ATGATT here, but i guarantee you, you will be the only one riding with anything other than a helmet there (helmets are provided by every renter) im not discouraging you from bringing them, just saying
 
Departures is a great show - beautifully done. Honestly man, while I did travel in my 20's I wish I started as early as 18 (im 31 now). But you live and learn and do what you can. Travelling in your 30's has its advantages because you will likely have the financial means to do more.

I don't think its a 'win-lose' either, its a win-win because when you are done your trip you will have a job to come back to. In life you can always earn more money but you can't earn more time so from my perspective time is worth more than money. I know people that have travelled a lot but haven't done it in an extended chunk of time -only 1 week here, 2 weeks there sort of thing. Taking a long trip with lots of time to adlib your way around will give you a true sense of freedom. I would say that part of it is a highlight in itself. Thats the part I yearn for, just being able to get up everyday and decide what you want to do and where you want to go. When you go away for a week or two, its not the same as if you want to do anything, you need to come up with a bit of an itinerary..

To echo TorontoZX6R's point, while I advocate safe riding its one of those "when in rome.." type deals. Everybody squids and somehow it starts to seem okay. If you want to play it safe and you have space, you could bring your own half-helmet & gloves. THe helmets out there arent the greatest. I would normally ride in a tshirt, shorts and sometimes flip flops although longer rides I would use shoes. And a lot of times with no helmet at all. In the countryside I wouldnt of felt wierd wearing jeans/boots etc... but along the coast and in the islands it almost seems inappropriate cuz its so damn nice out.
While we were in Hanoi, I did my first "3-up" on a friends bike, my lady in the middle and me dangling off the back in my flip flops with no pegs to put my feet on. Just balancing and trying not to lose my footwear!

Good luck with the Gibbon Experience - remember where you heard it and please come back and tell me how you liked it! I'd be interested to know if it has changed much since we were there. We met people when we did it and we are still friends with them to this day so its a great place to meet some other folks. You will also get to join the 50m poop club too!
 
Thanks for all your feed-back,

Guess this'll be the last post for me, since I have wandered off and gone off topic...lol... but always have the PM button... :)

I was actually planning on get my scuba license down in Koh Tao, seems to be a popular place to get it done. I know there has recently been floods in southern thailand, so as always will see how things are when i'm there. But since you mentioned top notch scuba diving in Malaysia, is it actually cheaper to get it done there than in koh tao or similar?? And a hut on those beaches for that price, can't go wrong, will definitly try/make it part of my itinerary as well. Know any websites related to those.?

As for the gibbon experience, will definitly get back to you if/when I do go there for that.

Back to related topic, will just bring my gloves, and if anything, purchase what-ever i need down there.

and that's it for me, thanks once again.

Edwin
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all your feed-back,

Guess this'll be the last post for me, since I have wandered off and gone off topic...lol... but always have the PM button... :)

I was actually planning on get my scuba license down in Koh Tao, seems to be a popular place to get it done. I know there has recently been floods in southern thailand, so as always will see how things are when i'm there. But since you mentioned top notch scuba diving in Malaysia, is it actually cheaper to get it done there than in koh tao or similar?? And a hut on those beaches for that price, can't go wrong, will definitly try/make it part of my itinerary as well. Know any websites related to those.?

As for the gibbon experience, will definitly get back to you if/when I do go there for that.

Back to related topic, will just bring my gloves, and if anything, purchase what-ever i need down there.

and that's it for me, thanks once again.

Edwin

Incase you are at some Internet cafe and bored enough to read this. I got my Padi Open Water at a place in Kata beach in Phuket. Ko Tao is known for churning out diving certificates like clockwork. When we did ours in Phuket the Mrs and I had the instructor all to ourselves so we had lots of personal attention which is always a good thing for a course like that. It didnt cost much more than the going rate at the time in Ko Tao. I think if you go to Ko Tao you can probably expect a really low price and probably a higher instructor-student ratio which you might like since you are travelling solo. Ko Tao is a cool little island. I recommend you spend a few extra baht and eat at Thipwimarn which has become a little bit upscale on the island. The food is exceptional and at the time, the best on the island.
 
hey guys,

well i've been back home since august 1st, and didn't bother to care to up-date this page. but recently decided i should update on how things went, and too finish what i started on this topic...

from beginning to end, south east asia was and is the greatest trip i have ever done, and it's something you just have to experience yourself to get the picture and feelings of life on the other side of this world, just like riding a motor-bike.

i never got my padi open water, as i decided to just stick with snorkeling instead, as it was more than good enough for me. On perhentian island which "torontozx6r" recommended, i spent about 10 days there, which wasn't the plan. it was super cheap to live there, and the people i met there make it even better. and plus you can just snorkel just along the beaches and see coral, sharks, clown fishes, and the list goes on for the marine life ther... even snorkeled with a giant turtle as well... incredible!

back to the related topic of motor-biking. i had a super fantastic time riding in northern thailand. as someone i met in krabi recommended some great riding roads i should check out, and these places weren't on my list of places to visit. except Everyday was a new day for me, get feed back through word of mouth from everyone i met. the route that was suggusted is from chiang mai to pai to mae hong song, you can also keep going from mae hong song and do a complete loop back to chiang mai, but i didn't have enough time for that. But riding from Pai to Mae hong song was unbeliaveable, i did a Round trip from *Pai - Mae Hong Son - Pai* = 218 KMS, 2204 Curves and some of the most beautiful scenery out there. an i did this on a 125 CC scooter equipped with a basket on the front...lol.. and in flip flops.. Hopefully some of you guys might have experienced this, and can agree as well.

on the down side of this trip, i never had a chance to visit vietnam at all... but this gives me another reason to head back to south east asia again in 2 to 3 years i hope and do it all over again and some more...

edwin
 
Sounds like you had a nice time. Happy to hear that.

I been to Indonesia half a year ago... and when I first saw how people ride their bikes/scooters mainly I was shocked.... most of them wore very little protection.... some bare foot.. some slippers... 20 bikes next to each other at light... but in the end... i think i have only witnessed 2 accidents the whole time I was there... people do know how to ride better than here...
Also I had a chance to ride some nice KX250's in the mountains...it was one of the greatest experiences ever... we had a guide so he did give us a few tips .... none the less it was very challenging with all the mud and going through lakes ... just amazing.

Hopefully my next trip will allow me to visit Thailand or Singapore...

Do you have any biking pictures from the trip?

Thanks
 
I rented a baja 250 in Vientiane Laos, and went north up road 13 for 5 hours.....best day of that trip C:

2011-07-29 13.35.09.jpg

there are alot of rentla places in Vientiane Laos, but I think you can only get mopeds in Luang Prabang, which is what I rented for a day.

2011-07-31 17.00.40.jpg

both are very cheap to rent, but you do need to leave your passport with the rental company.
 

Back
Top Bottom