Saigon Scooters Central Vietnam Tour 2025 | FEATURE

This year’s central Vietnam ride was an absolute blast, around 1800 km riding, starting in the old imperial city of Hue and finishing in Ho Chi Minh city over two weeks.

It took us up into the beautiful mountains near the border, along the famous Ho Chi Minh Trail, and down to the sea along sweeping coastal routes between cities and towns, including a blast through the infamous Hai Van Pass. We rode most days, drank most nights, and took in the local food and culture, as well as making fun of our own. Some epic nights out, we spent so much time laughing.

The team

Joining our hosts Pat Joynt and Linh of Saigon Scooter Centre were Bob Mcleland, representing the Lambretta Club of Australia SA branch, Jerry Kurek- Dirty Dastards SC, Shrewsbury, UK and Tino Saachi, Owner and Proprietor of Lambretta IT. As well as myself, Brant Cummins.

The ride is fully supported; there’s a backup van driven by Dao and a local mechanic, Mr Nha, who was also riding with us on a VBB. They handle all the upkeep on the bikes, including filling up at fuel stops and any required maintenance. A cool drink is never too far away.

Vietnam is tropical, and I wear all the recommended protective gear. I’m a long way from home.

Bob with a familiar machine

The scooters

The first day was spent familiarising ourselves with our steeds. I was presented with a VBC, the humble ubiquitous 150 Super, with a few necessary upgrades to make it relevant. 10-inch wheels for the rugged roads, and a sporty barrel and pipe let it keep up easily with everything else on the road, a bike known for its reliability, and known well to Australians, as they were used for the postal service there.

Bob has one of these back in S.A.in its original ‘postal‘ condition; he was also presented with a nice blue one to ride in Vietnam. Jerry got an SX150 and Tino a 200, with Pat on his TV200. The bikes are pretty evenly matched, fit for purpose, with recently upgraded suspension, after the last tours had put a bit of strain on that area.

Familiarisation

That first day, we kept it local and took in some sights, a lunch, a tour of the old city, and a ride out to a defunct water park, which got us used to the way Vietnamese traffic works. It’s not a lot unlike riding at home, but it has its nuances and can be hectic at times. Starting in a much smaller city and moving up to tackling Ho Chi Minh City traffic on a regular day was the right way around, I’d say.

58 million 2-wheelers

Pat’s jewel of advice, ‘predictability is your greatest weapon,’ rang true, and it works on and off the bike, but I stopped short of crossing the road with my eyes shut. There are some fairly interesting and concerning things to see on the road in Vietnam, but this is the greatest scooter country on earth, a way of life for many. An estimated 58 million two-wheeled vehicles are on the road here, and the majority of them are scooters. And it’s great to get amongst it. No sudden moves, keep it smooth, do as the Romans do. If you leave a bit of space in front of you, a family of four on a 125 auto, complete with a live dinner, will drop in on you. It’s all good; keep going.

A friendly beep

Most drivers and riders in Vietnam move with the urgency of transporting someone in labour, especially trucks and buses. It’s pushy and forgiving within the same sentence, with plenty of friendly beeping to let you know they’re there. By the end of the trip, we are proficient and bombing along in packs of 20 or so like a local, HCM City style.

Dunang

Hai Van pass to Danang, made a little more famous by Pat, and the Top Gear TV show, is in the way between Hue and Danang. Absolutely stoked to be getting to ride this, amazing views, winding coastal rainforest roads with sweeping bends and tight switchbacks then postcard views of the city of Danang on the other side. We ride on through Danang with a lunch stop on the sea to the famously beautiful town of Hoi An.

Night markets

It’s not hard to find yourself in a good mood and having a few beers if you walk into the night markets along the river in Hoi An, an armada of colourfully lit wooden boats amongst a sea of floating lotus flower candles are surrounded by an explosion of sound and colour and smells, restaurants, bars, market stalls, it’s a sensory overload and we get amongst it, it turns into a pretty big night out where a recuring them of dancing emerges.

A day off

The next day is a lay day, thankfully! Some gentle tourist behaviour: we meet some locals on classics who invite us for some beers by the sea. The food and entertainment in this town are top-level.

After our rest, we pierce west straight into the mountains, the city bustle eases away to patches of forest and rice paddies, we occasionally cross large rivers and continue up into the mountains, joining the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail. It’s a different kind of riding, still frantic and functional, but with larger vehicles to negotiate, the roads are fairly busted in parts, and the little Super’s suspension is bottoming from time to time, but it’s working well, and I’m using all of the travel, so it’s all good.

Off the beaten track

Kham Duc is our stop for the night, the rain comes in the afternoon but we had finished riding for the day. Now this is something I like to do, walk around and check stuff out in totally non tourist places, you know when you’re ‘out there’ when the English signage is gone and the local kids are practising their English on you and there’s weird chickens cruising around your feet while you sip crisp cold Tigers sitting in kiddy chairs. It’s an interesting place; a big battle during the Vietnam War took place here, which the North won, and there are still remnants of the old US base airfield to see.

The next day, we push on along the HCM trail to another regional town, Dac Leng, with stunning scenery through the jungle and mountains following a river; amazing bridges link it all up.

Scooter DJ

Then there’s one of those nights out drinking beer in baby chairs that ends up with ‘Dancing Bob and guest ‘Solid Gold Dancer’ Tino cracking out some moves with the locals in the rain.

A DJ arrives on a scooter with a huge PA on it and parks it in the entrance to the venue. He’s well dressed and smokes seductively; he bursts into local ballads with a wireless mic as the scooter blasts us with tunes. The locals are loving it and have the mic from time to time while he sells linked-up sachets of spiced peanuts, to make ends meet, I guess. The food is typically great, not sure what it was though.

Laying down the law

The next two days are spent getting back to the coast, via increasingly bigger centres, Pleiku and Buon Ma Thuout, great food and accommodation, and a small run-in with the local constabulary is efficiently dealt with by our hosts. The last drop down out of the mountains is a wild and wet affair but we are kept dry by our supplied Givi gear.

Nha Trang is a major tourist draw, quite a large city aimed at beachy tourism with ample nightlife and shopping. After another epic night out we have a day to kick back and rest before continuing down the coast, it’s not long before we are into another coastal reserve where the mountains meet the sea. The bikes eat it up ,winding up and around the escarpments, constantly revealing many bays filled with turquoise water. Lunch is in a quaint fishing village. That night’s accommodation is right on the beach at Sorrento beach club, run by some Australians and facilitating kite surfers, the food and stay is 5-star and an absolute treat.

Party town

Over the next couple of days, we will continue to wind down the coast via Mui Ne, including a rest day and then end up in Vung Tau. It’s a cute coastal party town with a lot of expat Aussies and Brits running hostels and bars, it resonates with Bali for me, and we head out for the evening, entertainment is not hard to find.

Back to HQ

Leaving Vung Tau is via ferry across the bay towards HCM City; it’s a nice contrast to the riding and a different view of Vietnam. Two ferries that day, and then we work our way to the HQ of the Saigon Scooter Centre empire in Ho Chi Minh City. Busy, wouldn’t quite describe it, but it’s challenging and exhilarating. We are all dialled in after two weeks on the bikes, so it’s not a problem, and we finish the ride safely.

Presentations

There’s one more night out to present awards and a bit of shopping for me at Saigon Scooter Centre, plenty to look at and talk about. Pat has built a fantastic business, entering its 28th year. He and Linh are running a world-class affair here and have some amazing projects coming to fruition.

I’d highly recommend taking an SSC tour. If you’re a classic scooterist, it should be a rite of passage to have this experience. You can join a group or book one with all of your mates. Partners and non-riders can be catered for, too. The tours are adaptable and negotiable, can be done on autos, or electric bikes, soon, I suspect, if that’s your thing.

Go on, get in! do it! YOLO.

Words, photos and video: Brant Cumming