Pre 1989 Bike for SE Asia Travel
 

Hey Guys,

little bit of a tricky question here... I'm planning to be over in Asia for a while motorcycling through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. However I would love to bring the bike back to Australia with me once I am done.

The question is if I were to limit my choices to only bikes 1989 or older (for Australian importation requirements) is there anything thats worth it, or would they be crappy hunks of junk.

The idea is towards the end of my trip I would find a reasonable mechanic and get the bike a little customised so I could use it in Australia as a run around.

Finally i am not sure how tight the restriction is but traveling through Vietnam I need to make sure that the bike complies with their engine restrictions or there is a common workaround to this issue.

Cheers,
Carl

Well, what does 24 years do to a vehicle?? Probably a lot, and especially, if it has spent most of its life in that very humid climate. That said, older and well worn bikes should be much cheaper to buy than newer. So really it depends on how much of a mechanic are you?!?


I remember meeting a couple of Aussies in Malaysia, they had bought two Transalp 600:s from the UK, and ridden them all the way to there. Less than 1000 pounds each - they themselves described the bikes as “heap of s*it!” (and that´s what they looked like!) ..but anyway those bikes had actually taken them that far. That is one bike model I would look at.


But I´m not sure if I´d buy based solely on what I can bring later on to Oz. Just buy and sell when your finished could be much easier.

In Vietnam they have a Honda 50cc motorcycle, like the Honda SS50 moped that was sold in the UK but older and without pedals.
They look late '60s to early'70s in appearance but there are plenty about and some in good condition, I have thought if I ever go back I would like to buy one and have seen one at a classic bike show in the UK.