Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - South vietnam on a 125 Honda

Three months.8.000km.Two up with throw overs and rack bag,163kg on a rated for 140 max load Honda Future 125cc Underbone and we had a ball.
Absolutely no problems with the bike except the soft suspension and a slight lack of ooooomph on the big hills.
We tried to stick to back roads/tracks but even with the wife being and speaking Vietnamese finding directions was a nightmare-----very few people actually know which road go where and the one Vietnamese map we found is just wrong lots of the time,rubbish. ipad with maps next time.
Touring on the 125 was fine if the roads /tracks were in half reasonable condition but on the broken up tar surfaced "main" roads that we had to use sometimes it was bad. Bottoming out shocks and forks,even at 15kph and less aint no fun. Dodging buses,trucks and the locals when trying to find a smooth bit of road can be entertaining but----------:eek3:.
Seat,with a locally made mesh cover,was fine,even a 7hr ride day was OK
Enclosed chain was oiled twice,adjusted once.Chain,tyres are still fine.
About 5 oil changes,motor/gearbox(semi auto 4 speed) as new.
The 125 was fast enough for 99% of the trip.Even some main hiways have a 40-50kph bike limit,the best we saw was 60kph.
Handling in the rough was OK as we were going so slow nothing was a problem(except for the lack of suspension)
Will we use the "Future"to continue the trip into the Centre and North of Vietnam next year ??
We found some "better,stronger" shocks on the last day in country & maybe the forks could be set up with a spring/oil change BUT we also found the Suzuki FN150A.150cc of proper motorbike with the petrol tank in the right place for our tank bag,big shocks,bigger and better fork,better & adjustable riding position.It comes without the underbone hinge in the middle has heaps more grunt,6 speeds,FI and should be heaps more fun in the mountains of the North.
The Future is in storage but a trade in is extremely likely when we return to finish the trip next year.
For the job it did under the load and road conditions I would rate it as a 8 out off 10.
A great little bike.:scooter:
Macca