Why do I need a motorbike?

After I arrived in Hanoi I booked many Grab rides, Vietnamese Uber, in the first few weeks, to get to me to places like the table tennis club I had joined, supermarket, the eye Hospital, my girlfriend's house etc. Although very cheap I decided the best option would be to hire a motorbike.

Potential pitfalls

That in itself had a couple of big problems. Firstly have you seen the traffic in Hanoi, it is estimated there are around 8 million motorbikes, and probably the biggest problem was I had never driving a motorbike in my life.

So, I decided to book some motorbike lessons. I looked in various Expat and local Facebook groups for any recommendations. A company close to my apartment had excellent reviews - Chicks n bikes. Ok I'm not a "chick" but the reviews were good and they were only 10 minutes from my apartment. 

Motorbike Lessons Costs In Hanoi (2025)

I contacted them on Facebook messenger and decided to book an initial lesson for 750,000 vnd or about £22 for an hour. 

Lesson 1:

We met at a Cafe in Tay Ho. We had a 10 minute chat what I was looking to get out of lessons ie was I just going to be driving round Hanoi locally or touring Vietnam etc. He then drove me on the small Honda 50cc semi automatic motorbike, I would be using, to a local quiet park. The rest of the lesson was in the park, he explained how the bike worked, how to change gears, the horn, the lights and how to ride it.  I spent the rest of the lesson riding round the park, albeit not very fast, but safe getting used to the bike. Mainly on straight roads going up and down the gears, how to stop properly. I progressed on to turning dripping the gears and turning round to come back. 

I did ok, for a first time rider, if I say so myself. But I had problems changing gears with the foot pedal. I was struggling to do it without looking down at the pedals, which isn't the best thing to be doing while riding.

But I felt confident enough to book another lesson the following week.

Lesson 2: 

That lesson I drove around the same park again but this time going further increasing the speed and practising more gear changes and turning corners. But I continued to struggle with gear changes.

Lesson 3 -5: 

So for my 3rd lesson he suggested we swapped over to an automatic bike, which I was happy to try. We had 15 minutes or so riding round the park, I felt immediatly more comfortable, so much so the instructor decided to take me out on the main roads. Luckily he took me to some of the quieter streets to practice on. But made it more realistic having to avoid other bikes, a few cards and stray dogs!!

My 4th and 5th lessons progressed to busier roads, hills starts, how to ride safely down the many small alleyways, there are many in Hanoi, and how to mount kerb sides for parking etc.

What next?

After these 5 lessons I felt more confident or should I say less worried. These lessons didn't make me an expert - but they took me from "absolutely no chance to "maybe I can do this"  so much so I agreed to renting a motorbike to continue my journey.

My next Blog, and Part 2: of this 3 part series, will tell you my experience of renting a motorbike.