The trip turned from 1 month trip from HCM to Hanoi into 4 months trip in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Budget: about 500$ per month (excluding my motorbike which I bought 9 months before trip)
How to get a motorbike
You can either buy trash Chinese manual Honda Win like everyone does and pay 250-350$ or you can go to local market and get an automatic scooter for reasonable price on the Đường Dĩ An street. There is a huge choice of used motorbikes:
Đường Dĩ An - Bình Đường, Di An, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh
https://goo.gl/maps/qyZQ84qzF5F2
My motorbike - Yamaha Nouvo II 150 cc
I bought my motorbike 9 months before trip as an expat to move around in Saigon. It has customized parts with body upgraded to Nouvo III version.
Price: 240$ (5.3M VND)
Trunk for Yamaha scooters
It took me one day of searching to find a trunk to my bike on my own, I've added trunk extension that I've found at one of the shops for free.
Cost of Yamaha trunk at the store: 16$ (350K VND), welding cost: 1$
Custom trunk made at motorbike workshop can cost even 50$
I've found my trunk here:
146 Bùi Hữu Nghĩa street (it's a street full of shops with motorbike parts)
https://goo.gl/maps/2Q9BwBDhd4p
First day of the trip:
More about motorcycles for travelling Vietnam:
There is a high risk that you'll get ripped off at Vietnamese store if you don't negotiate well. Here you can speak English and you won't be cheated, but you will pay a little bit more:
http://tigitmotorbikes.com/
Next articles:
* How to cross the boarders in SEA on motorbike without having most of the required documents
* How to get away without paying money after being pulled over by the police in Vietnam
* How to hitchhike from HCM to Hanoi in 7 days and spend 0$
* Motorbike trip from HCM to Hanoi
** La Gi
** Da Lat
** Pham Rang
** Nha Trang
** Hoi An
** Da Nang
** Hue
** Ninh Binh
** Ha Long Bay
** Sa Pa
** Ha Giang
** Pu Luong Nature Reserve
* How to sleep for free (no couchsurfing, no tent, no hammock) in Vietnam and Laos
* Laos on motorbike
* Thailand on motorbike
* Hitchhiking and sleeping for free in Myanmar
* How to fix your motorbike on the way
* Hitchhiking in Cambodia
* Cambodia on motorbike