Two weeks ago, we bought a motorbike in Hanoi. We’ve since driven it about 1100 kilometers on a meandering path through Vietnam’s northwest, visiting Mai Châu, Sa Pa, and Hà Giang. We plan to continue our northern loop, return to Hanoi, then drive south all the way to Ho Chi Minh City.

It’s a 2016 Detech Espero, which is a Vietnamese-made copy of a Honda Win. Wins are very popular in Vietnam and as a result there are a lot of copies. Most are cheap Chinese variants, but two Vietnamese companies, Detech and Sufat, bought the rights from Honda to manufacture Wins and those are generally higher quality. The engine is 120cc, which is small by U.S. standards, but pretty typical in Vietnam where the road speeds are lower (40 or 50 kph).

The odometer read approximately 7750 km when we purchased the bike, which makes it practically new. We originally planned to buy a used motorbike off of a backpacker at the end of their journey, but decided that there was less hassle and guesswork involved when buying from a motorcycle shop. We purchased the bike from Style Motorbikes in Hanoi and enjoyed all our interactions with the friendly and helpful staff. If we arrive in Ho Chi Minh City and decide to get rid of the bike before entering Cambodia, then there is a Style Motorbikes shop there that offers guaranteed buybacks at fair prices.

We’ve had a couple of run-ins with hairy roads, but have come out mostly unscathed. Somewhat relatedly, we’ve found good mechanics in many cities, and have gotten good at scanning signs for “sửa chũa xe máy” — motorcycle repair. This routine (and not so routine) maintenance will hopefully keep us going for many more miles of stunning scenery and fantastic food.