this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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Wat.
My motorcycle cost about 5500$ US, and that was an amazing deal; '12 Honda CBR600RR with 18,000mi/30,000km on the odometer (I've maintained the motor well, even if the body doesn't look great). I've never seen a working motorcycle cost less than 1000$ US, and tires alone are a minimum of about 100$ US/ea. Given that I'm usually riding on mountain roads at, um, about 80mph/125kmph, I would never consider riding with less than a full-face helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots. And 95% of the time, riding pants as well.
I'm from Vietnam. We have the highest per-capita motorbike ownership in the world (last I checked), and have the 4th largest market for motorbikes! This creates some... interesting situations.
Our motorcycles are typically for commuting so have lower engine capacity than most American ones. My Honda Air Blade 2022 is 125cc and cost a bit under USD 2000 brand new. A Honda Wave 50cc (technically 49.9cc) can be had around USD 700 new. A lot of students drive those, because anything under 50cc generally does not require a license here.
Then we've got used bikes. An OK used Wave is probably 300$. Most people don't update the registration on sale though and this creates a mess for the police.
Then... we have "ghost bikes" made from a mess of parts, these are the ones around 100-200$. These are technically illegal, as the motor serial generally won't match the chassis serial -- which means stolen parts. They are the least safe vehicles I've ever seen, and typically driven as a 'disposable vehicle' by people who won't or can't obey the law. So, you'll see them outright driving the wrong way down highways, while text messaging, and carrying steel bars like they're jousting. (No helmet of course). The police know that they can't auction the bike for much, and they have no money on them to pay fines, so it's a net loss for the department to deal with it.
A growing problem is tourists on the roads. No license, no insurance, driving like it's a video game. If they hit you, they run home to avoid consequences. Hope you have money for medical bills!
My daily commute looks like something out of a Mad Max film. I see maybe a few people die per year. This is pretty much why our speed limits are generally 50km/hr (31 miles), even on highways. During peak hours, I'll probably average about 10km/hr.
On the bright side, it's very affordable and convenient! My petrol costs are like 3-4$ a week, and parking is way easier than if everyone had cars.
Anyway, that's a slice of life here! Hope you found it interesting!
That is very interesting, and sounds... Well, like what the US could devolve into if the anti-regulation political right-wing had their way.
I'd prefer to ride a bicycle, but I'm just too far from where I work now.
I see what you mean -- but in our case we generally have this whole set of completely normal (and generally reasonable!) laws -- however the enforcement budget is not high (limited resources!), and compliance is this huge educational problem where a lot of people moved from rural areas to the big city this generation. It feels likely that the USA had a point in it's history like this!
It's getting (a lot) better with time, but this is a common story in the developing world: No enforcement, so few people obey laws. Few people obey laws, so people lose faith in public institutions because of the mess. This leads to low tax compliance, so there's no budget to enforce laws.
I'm an immigrant though, so the compliance expected of me is quite high by comparison and I'm under more scrutiny. Which has worked out to my benefit, because now I know how to effectively use government services!
On a positive note, a lot of people still ride bicycles here! Since most traffic is two-wheeled, it's somewhat more bike friendly than most places I've been in north america. Rush hour sucks though, because you're constantly accelerating + stopping. In moderate traffic, you're going about as fast as everyone else though. Da Nang is an absolutely lovely city to bicycle in.