Philplop Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 (edited) I bought this in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam a couple of days ago for 6,700,000 Dong or thereabouts, from the man on the right, who is the brother of the bloke who runs this garage/hole in the wall. It's 100cc or 110cc, I don't really know. I took it for a test ride through the park, but had to get onto the pavement to work it through the gears. The speedo and odometer doesn't work, and the suspension seems fairly knackered. The seat is very uncomfortable. I got a luggage rack fitted to the back. It's held on with a piece of wood and some rope. It carries our two rucksacks quite well though. After about 5 hours the clutch cable snapped. I did a few wheelies trying to pull away before I decided it would be best to push it. Found a garage a minute up the road that fixed it for 60p. And I think he overcharged the silly white man. Other than that, it carried us through the mental traffic of Ho Chi Minh City and the black smoke belching lorries of Highway 1, sailed us past the scooters carrying pet dogs, motorbikes and cows with ease, overtook the traffic police's Dodge Chargers without bribes, and made it to the beach at Mui Ne 6.5 hours and 140 miles later without incident, other than the sunburnt forearms, exhaust burnt right legs and sore arses. Back on again tomorrow to ride 112 miles up into the mountains to Da Lat, on a new road that seems to be unheard of. Hope we can find it.And only 1000 or so miles to Hanoi for Christmas! Edited December 6, 2012 by Philplop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Could you get me a stick of napalm please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 (edited) Certainly. How about some half-developed foetal eggs to wash it down with? Edited December 6, 2012 by Philplop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 No, but a "Huey" tail blade to hit it with would be good.I love the smell of Napalm in the morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 (edited) This is a taster of the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City:http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g217/philip_wilkinson1/?action=view¤t=6B6B8F81-1E9D-41B9-8587-C792815D6005-461-0000008C127E169B.mp4I took it on the way across town, where we dined on clams, eel, flowers and the foetal eggs. I didn't have any foetal eggs. Or flowers actually, but the eel was alright. Edited December 6, 2012 by Philplop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor... and surviving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I took a guess what they were quotes from, but I had to google it to check. It's on my list of films to watch when I get home, along with The Killing Fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 My orders say I'm not supposed to know where I'm taking this boat, so I don't! But one look at you, and I know it's gonna be hot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 I take it from your comments that it is worth watching then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another. Youtube Video ->Original VideoThe horror... the horror... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 The Killing Fields is also an epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 You should add Full Metal Jacket to that list too:Today... is Christmas! There will be a magic show at zero-nine-thirty! Chaplain Charlie will tell you about how the free world will conquer Communism with the aid of God and a few Marines! God has a hard-on for Marines because we kill everything we see! He plays His games, we play ours! To show our appreciation for so much power, we keep heaven packed with fresh souls! God was here before the Marine Corps! So you can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the Corps! Do you ladies understand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTIChris Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 That video looks crazy but well done for braving it This is my rifleThis is my gunThis is for fightingThis is for funrepeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koop Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 These are great days we're living, bro's. We are jolly green giants, walking the Earth with guns. These people we wasted here today are the finest human beings we will ever know. After we rotate back to the world, we're gonna miss not having anyone around that's worth shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I haven't watched any Vietnam war films, so I can't join in your quote game, I'm afraid. We didn't make it to Da Lat. A late start, a couple of stops, road works and rain in the mountains meant we only made it to Di Linh. Will do the last 50 miles tomorrow morning to "Le Petite Paris". It's canny nippy here, gonna drop to 16 degrees tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koop Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I haven't watched any Vietnam war films, so I can't join in your quote game, I'm afraid. This is a shame considering your appropriate location So...any modifications planned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I can only think that's a good thing considering his location....This could be Cambodia, but hey that's classified... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 It's got me interested in learning some more about it! And I want to see if they are totally pro-American. I know Good Morning Vietnam (I have seen one!) wasn't. The deformities caused by Agent Orange are still apparent though. Got served by a lady with 11 fingers the other day, and there's quite a few with misformed arms. Nasty sh*t. I stuck a Vietnamese flag sticker on my petrol tank, and I plan on getting the luggage rack re-welded so it doesn't bounce about everywhere. Does that count?Or I could buy some pink spray paint and get some locals to help me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 I went to the Killing Fields and Khmer Rouge prisons/concentration camps in Cambodia. I think I'd choose Vietnamese prisons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koop Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Youtube Video ->Original VideoThe deformities caused by Agent Orange are still apparent though. Got served by a lady with 11 fingers the other day, and there's quite a few with misformed arms. Nasty sh*t. Fuuuuuuck I stuck a Vietnamese flag sticker on my petrol tank, and I plan on getting the luggage rack re-welded so it doesn't bounce about everywhere. Does that count?Or I could buy some pink spray paint and get some locals to help me...#winning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartagram Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 wood & strings is a proper belt and braces job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philplop Posted December 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 (edited) Got the rack rewelded as it had snapped in two places. Another 60p. This bike's getting expensive!It got a bit cold in the mountains, good job we had a micro fleece each. And I was thinking we were stupid for bringing them! The roads were crap though. I was driving through the amazing scenery of the Vietnamese countryside and mountains, but couldn't take my eyes off the road, watching for potholes, gravel, rumble strips, oncoming buses on my side of the road around blind corners, that kind of thing. To a bus or lorry, a road full of motorbikes is a clear road, and you have to get out of their way. On a bike with knackered suspension and something seriously out of balance, on cack roads, this isn't the best. Leaving Mui Ne a few days ago a lorry came flying up behind us and blared his horn for us to move. I moved over, to where the road was made of deep gravel, tank slappered a bit and hit the floor, hoping that our heads weren't about to get squashed. We weren't going fast, so didn't really hurt ourselves in the impact, but Sophie burnt her leg on the exhaust. Kicked the gear selector back straightish, but I couldn't do anything about the skew-whiff handlebars. Continued to Di Linh after an hour or so in a very unprofessional hospital full of bike crash victims, then on to Da Lat the next day, an finally 80 miles to Nha Trang, where this happened. I sold it. Got half the money back, which isn't too bad considering I bought a knacker in the first place and then crashed it. I was surprised to find it is only 3 years old! I thought it was an early 80's bike! It must have had a rough life. Our next stop would have meant a three day journey on the bike, and we were planning on putting it on the train just after that anyway, so it's no great loss. The roads are crap condition though, even on a brand new stretch of dual carriageway a pothole that an elephant could have hidden in still appeared. And they drive like nutters. The bikes are nothing to worry about, and driving in town is fine, even with no rules and unsignalled crossroads where nobody slows down and miraculously doesn't hit anybody else. The main problem are the buses and lorries. They just don't care if you're there. It's up to you to get out of their way, and if that means driving into a pile of gravel, that's what you have to do. Saying all that though, I'm glad we did it, it was an adventure, and we still did nearly 400 miles, so I don't feel too bad about wimping out. I think if the bike was ok we'd have been fine, but it was an absolute death trap. It was so unstable over bumps it was ridiculous, meaning us averaging about 20mph. Edited December 12, 2012 by Philplop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koop Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Nice zorst rash, ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver! Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Wow, poor Sophie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris260 Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 You don't have much luck with bikes. Collar bone last time, now this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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