Rick,

AFAIK there is no "cc policy" in Vietnam. Last I heard all vehicles are banned from entering Vietnam, with the exception of the Ha Tien crossing. Do you have other news?

I had the same problem too but that was way back in 2007. 2 wheelers were not allowed.

Vietnam
 

Hey Beddhist I will let you know soon mate as I am going to try from the Southern end myself stay tuned I heard that is the best place to start anyway.
BTW all it seems that Thailand officially acknowledge the Carnet now even though it is not listed as being a participant looks like I have to renew it ....... bugger
:censored:

I'm in the early planning stages to do a similar trip starting in Hanoi, Vietnam. Some quick questions:
How do you register your newly bought bike in Vietnam on a tourist visa and get Vietnamese licence plates?
What paperwork do you need to cross the border to Cambodia? Just proof of ownership?
Is it possible to buy a brand new bike and get it licenced? I was thinking of buying a new Honda Wave and not have to worry about it breaking down...
Thanks for your help guys!

As far as i know what you need are the registration documents of the bike, some kind of owner paper and of course the plate... than i read that everything should be preatty easy if you buy a used bike, i don't know more about buying a new bike and registering it, surely you have to provide a vietnamese addres but many people just use the hostel address or similar.
is there anyone who have more specific info?..
cheers

Thanks Solsil. Finding specific information about this is very difficult... When you do this trip, PLEASE post a small report here on HUBB about purchasing a bike, the documents you obtain and crossing the borders. I'd be (and I'm sure others) extremely grateful.

From what I've read, it's (almost?) impossible to buy a new Vietnamese bike on a tourist visa. Used is far more easier but still illegal. When we buy a used bike, the bike keeps the license plate but the registration and ownership papers of the bike will remain in the name of the Vietnamese person we buy the bike from. Since we are on tourist visas and are not allowed to own a Vietnamese bike, it will be impossible to change the registration into our name.

I'm still trying to figure out how people crossed the various borders on bikes without proper registration or ownership papers. I guess these papers are in Vietnamese so the other countries can't read these documents and just look to see if the numbers on the paper match those on the bike. Maybe they don't even check...
Maybe there is a way to change the ownership and register the bike in my name...

I know I'm making this more complicated than it should be but I just want to know for peace of mind. :scooter:

Hi everyone, i'll post a complete report when i'm back in vietnam, right know i can drop some line about my experience

- buy a bike is absolutely easy, once i find one i liked i controlled it with the dealer, payed. stop. no paperwork, just the ownership paper and the plate

-border crossing to laos has not been a problem, i just went to dien bien phu, then to tray thang and i had no problem in importing the viet bike in laos

cheers

Sil

Just out of curiosity: how is the road from Tay Trang border to Muong Khua? I was there on a Minsk in 2009 and it was just a piste of mud and many river crossings. We had a great time riding it under heavy rains. wet but happy with the spectacular road.
They were building a new, better road starting from Muong Khua and I believe this would make the road less adventurous and more used by trucks and buses (we didn't encountered anything but smilling children and scared wild monkeys).

Tay Trang Border on a Minsk - YouTube

hey vander!

definetely the road got better in these two years, it was tarmac for the first 50% than good dirt road apart for the river crossing wich were quite big (damn rainy season=), we needed to put the bike on a small boat once but for the other river we found small bridges.

Sil

This and a bit more
 

Sorry in advance if this is redundant.
I am planning a similiar trip the end of this year. This is the plan so please tell me the biggest obsticles: buy a Honda XR 400 in Chiang Mai. Tour Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Possibly ship the bike to India and ride India and Nepal. Then return to Thailand.
The problems I foresee are the Carnets for India and Nepal, proper licensing in Thailand, and transport to and from India from Thailand (Phuket). I did just see a post that they may be opening a route through Burma.
Any other glaring obsticles?

Hi Jon,

I suspect that you will find it more than a little difficult to find an XR. When we tried to buy an XR250 3 years ago there weren't any. Plus, most of the older bikes don't have legal plates, so you can't cross borders with them. We ended up buying a new KLX250, which turned out an excellent bike.

To legally register a bike you need a non-immigrant visa and an address. The address needs to be official with documents, so you can't make one up. You will also need somebody who speaks Thai to get you through the bureaucratic jungle. Don't hand over money until you have the Green Book with your name on it in your hand. You will also need to obtain an official translation of this document from the rego office, as nobody can read the GC.

Carnet shouldn't be a problem, check out the Malaysian AA on the carnet page on HU.

I think you can forget Burma and shipping from Phuket. Either fly your bike from Bkk to Ktm or Dhaca or ship/fly from KL.