What motorbike/scooter to buy

Try the Honda Airblade. I have owned one for 6 years and it's been a great bike.

(fully) Automatics are the best choice for city & suburbs,
but the bigger (MX?)  bikes for country riding.

Bazza139 - regarding bikes with an automatic transmissions.

This wouldn't be funny at all if someone had gotten hurt or if any damage had been done. That being said, this is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
In 1998 I visited Ha Tien with some friends. One of my Viet Kieu friends was 25 YOA and had never driven a bike with an auto transmission. We were outside of our hotel and we were taking two bikes on a trip to the coast. Khoa was on a bike with his cousin and I was driving a 2nd bike with my girlfriend. Khoa started his bike and grabbed the throttle too far forward. When he went to go, the acceleration caused his hand to roll the throttle full on. He and his cousin shot across the street and he, his cousin, and the bike went right through the front door of a restaurant.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Thank God no one was hurt and nothing was damaged except for Khoa's pride. I'll never forget that.
Just be careful driving a bike with an auto transmission on your first time.

Bazza139 wrote:

(fully) Automatics are the best choice for city & suburbs,
but the bigger (MX?)  bikes for country riding.

Don't care which South East Asian city you name, this is the advice to go with.
The small 110 or 125 CC fully auto scooters are perfect for the job - Apart from ease of riding, they're light and the footwell and fairings are a godsend in lousy weather. The big advantage is after rain when normal bike riders still need waterproof trousers because of the road splash, but scooter riders don't.
The new Yamahas with the special fuel economy engines get up to 70km from one litre of petrol so they cost bugger all to run.

70 KM per liter is an incredible deal. How much could I expect to pay for a small Yamaha?

This is their local site.

http://yamaha-motor.com.vn/xe/nmx

Look for the 'Blue core' label - That's the new fuel efficient series.
I linked to one of the most expensive bikes so anything less is good news, but I strongly advice sticking to a scooter with a footwell.
It'll save you a pile of grief in wet weather.

I don't think you are buying a new motorbike for $1000.  Buying used is OK but who can you trust if you are new to the city and don't know much about motorbikes.

Who can you trust?? In Vietnam??? Nobody!!! 😆😆

THIGV wrote:

I don't think you are buying a new motorbike for $1000.  Buying used is OK but who can you trust if you are new to the city and don't know much about motorbikes.

It seems on every block here I see at least one sign for bikes: "Rent, Sell, Buy" or something like that.

Perhaps OP could rent-to-buy for a short time? Asking. I'm otherwise clueless (he serves up a nice, fat, slow pitch...)

Wald0 wrote:

Who can you trust?? In Vietnam??? Nobody!!! 😆😆

You can make friends in Vietnam with very little effort at all. If you show respect and understanding of their culture and try to speak their language you can make friends at the drop of a hat. That is one of the things I like most about the Vietnamese. Make friends with a mechanic that will help you screen potential purchases. You can get a good bike at a good price and make a friend in the process. How bad can that be???