Maintaining a motorbike in Vietnam is surprisingly hard. Maintaining an off-road motorbike in Vietnam is virtually impossible. Mechanics in Vietnam don’t have the skills, training or parts of fix most motorbikes. The locally made motorbikes can be fixed in local service centres, but imported high capacity machines are rejected. Leaving you, and your broken motorbike in a deep dark place.
Choose the correct model of motorbike
Plan ahead and check the internet for parts before you buy the motorbike. Vietnam has no parts and the parts that are here are usually Chinese. Therefore it is important we can find the parts we need on websites such as Ebay.com
A motorbike like the Suzuki DRZ 400 has parts readily available across Ebay. It is possible to get any part eventually.
A motorbike like the Yamaha Tricker which has a small international scene is going to be far harder to find parts.
A motorbike like the Honda XR 150 shares parts with locally made motorbikes such as the Honda Wave. How convenient!
Check out the off-road motorbike gear Chrunix rides with!
If in doubt, go Honda, as Honda motorbikes share parts across their models and it eventually possible to find parts.
Find the problem early
In Vietnam, we are used to owning locally made scooters like the Honda Airblade. When it breaks, we pop it down to the Honda store and it is magically fixed again within minutes. With our beautiful dual sport motorbike things are not quite so convenient.
We must plan ahead, test drive and feel the parts that are beginning to fall apart. The good news it that this brings us closer to the motorbike. We are looking for problems, we are trying to feel the problems, we are questioning why the motorbike is performing differently.
Asks friends for advice, talk to people and see if you can figure out what is going to break before it does!
When something does break the part might take a month or more to arrive. Get it ordered before it fails!
Follow the Manual
Every mainstream international motorbike will have an online version of the manual. Download and follow it.
Use the correct oil, not just use oil that says “Honda”.
- Change the oil regularly.
- Change the oil filters regularly.
- Change the air filters regularly.
- Watch the condition of the clutch cable, accelerator cable and brake lines.
Avoid Chinese parts like the plague
Chinese parts are what got Vietnam in a situation where nothing works. Chinese parts don’t work, they never have and never will.
There is no point going down to the “local garage” to “fix” your motorbike with Chinese parts. Give it 200km and it will be broken again.
If you can’t diagnose the motorbike yourself, then use a mechanic to help you. Once you know what is wrong, go away and order the part yourself online and wait for it. Do not use the parts the mechanic is trying to pawn off on you.
Find a mechanic that knows what they are doing
Good mechanics will be realistic about not having the parts. They will likely give you a long wait time for the servicing of the motorbike. This is because they are finding the parts online.
In Saigon, Moto Laurie is your best chance at fixing the motorbike.
It may also be worth begging www.TigitMotorbikes.com to fix the motorbike, although they don’t always accept clients.
If you do find a “good mechanic”, please let us know!
A mechanic is only as good as the parts they have.
The motorbike is only as good as the mechanic.
Going deep and performing the impossible
Still unknown to us, but considerations for maximum performance. Dual Sport motorbikes should have the suspension oil changed regularly, estimated at every 8,000km.
Bearings such as neck bearings and swing arm bearings should also be changed at intervals. Good luck finding a mechanic that will do this though!
Conclusion
Choosing the correct model of motorbike is critical to your long term enjoyment of the motorbike. Having a motorbike no one can find parts for is going to be no fun. Help yourself by downloading the manual and changing the oil regularly.
Be prepared to join a lovely and friendly motorbike community in Vietnam where everyone is waiting to give advice. Breaking down and learning is part of the fun and part of the journey!
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