Preparation For The Ho Chi Minh Trail

By Chris de Wagt

In preparation for writing my article "Two Weeks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail" it was simple enough to check out the web for information on the Minsk motorcycle. I had found a photo of one in my motorcycle encyclopaedia, but I'll admit to never having heard of one before signing up for this tour.

Minsk

They are made in Belarus, in the Soviet Union. The information given on the www.minskvietnam.com website states 'The Minsk Motorcycle Factory is one of those glorious Soviet institutions we've all come to love, its products inspiring greased-up fanatics from such diverse Socialist paradises as Cuba and Vietnam. The simple 125cc two-stroke motorbikes constructed there are popular in part due to their wacky appearance, but perhaps mostly thanks to the sturdiness of design. The factory also churns out a range of bicycles, which can be bought for a song in any half-decent sports shop in Minsk. The factory also dabbles in occasional fits of Industrial Tourism.

Britton Motorcycle Adventures

New Zealander's Mike Britton and Angela Bruce (Britton Motorcycle Adventures) run these tours with tour guides resident in Vietnam, mostly ex pat Europeans and Vietnamese guides. For our tour we had an Aussie named Digby and Tran, a Vietnamese brought up in France and who later returned to Vietnam with his English wife. The guides use the 'classic' Minsk motorcycle (the highest cc rating you can use are 125cc), and after all as Angela said "imagine how hard it would be selling a two week tour on a Honda Dream or a scooter to Kiwis?".

These machines certainly look the part; they look like a classic motorcycle, if somewhat basic in design, with a top speed of around 80 kilometres per hour. The bike has no battery and with my machine if it was a choice of using the lights or the horn, the lights lost. The most essential item on the bike is its horn - without it you wouldn't make it out of the driveway!

The website for the Minsk points out "Like other former Soviet classics like the Voxhod, Isch, Ural or Jawa, all you need to do is get a spark, a puff of air and a splash of petrol all together in the same place and you have an engine up and running.

So, no battery, no key, no speedo, kick start - admittedly almost first time every time... which reminded me it wasn't my AJS but the ride was similar. It handled like a rigid, your arse certainly got sore and they vibrate a bit through the front end, but they are the right machine for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. By the end of the 10 odd days on the bike I was sad to leave mine, we'd been a long way together (about 1300 kms) and had bonded, or at least for the first day or so after I'd parted with mine I still felt my rear-end had bonded with the seat and had the bruise to prove it.

Was it a good trip? It was bloody awesome!

Two week and three week tours

Britton Motorcycle Adventures run two week and three week tours, in June - July to avoid the wet season and also the hottest period of the summer. We went in June and temps were in the high 20's low 30's most days, Angela tells me it is hotter on the three week tour which runs about 10 days after we completed our two week tour, although in an email since she said it was actually cooler; shows just how contrary Asia can be!

The main difference between the two tours is the number of free days in any one place, but on the three week option they travel further down country by Minsk (another four and a half days on the bikes). The two week tour is fairly full on with long days riding and early starts. The bikes are left at Hoi An and taken by road back to Hanoi for the next tour group after nine of the 14 days of the tour on them. The non riding days include side trips and a night on board a junk in the World Heritage Site Halong Bay.

Next year ....

I am considering the three week tour with Case next year or even a jaunt into Cambodia with Explore Indochina. Either way its safe, fun and a great way to see a country - give it a go, it's a realistic option instead of Fiji or a trip to Surfers - the climate's great, your money goes a long way, you've got your butt on a motorcycle seat most of the time, someone else takes care of feeding you; what more could you want?

Chris de Wagt

Tour contact details are:
Britton Motorcycle Adventure
5982 Highway 22, RD1, Ngaruawahia, WAIKATO.
Phone: 07 8254558 021 2849047
Email: mike@adventurerides.co.nz

See the article on the trip: Two Weeks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail - Part One