Well I finally did it. Last night I bought a brand new red/white Yamaha Nouvo. Chau’s brother and the landlord came along to check out the motorbike before I bought it. Chau took care of the paperwork since I needed to register the motorbike in her brother’s name. Foreignors cannot own motorbikes in Vietnam but the government has been allowing us to register them in another person’s name. We just have to trust the person.

The Yamaha Nouvo is a 115cc motorbike. It is really easy to ride and I should easily be able to cruise at around 50-60 kph on the highway which is the norm here. I cannot ride until I get it registered with the police. This normally takes about 10 days.

I am going to get two-ply tires which are stronger than the tires with the inner tubes. Flat tires are a problem here. The two-ply tires tend to deal with sharp objects better (yes, the boys who repair flat tires DO throw out sharp objects in front of their stalls). I am also going to add a second horn to my bike so people can hear me. I will add ‘sound’ to my signals which beeps loudly so other cars and motorbikes will know I am turning. You have to be in Vietnam to know what I am talking about.

In two weeks, I should be commuting to/from Saigon 6 days a week 🙂

Cross-posted at: http://kevmille.livejournal.com/55895.html