i am opening a new three wheel bike businesses in vn

nickuscdds1 wrote:

i am an expat from usa and love to live in vn.  i am opening a three wheel bike business in saigon.  since vn has alot of accidents, i think we need three wheeled bike to prevent falling off bike and hit the head.

what u think, please give me some feedback

Well just my opinion and not specific to VN. 

Any new business is going to have an entry level of return necessary to get off the ground and continue.  You need to determine the total costs to open and operate the business for 6-12 months to get liftoff.  Next determine realistic model of how many bikes you need to sell to break even by the end of the entry period.   If the second is realistically higher than the first then you can justify doing some testing marketing/pricing on-line by placing ads with good photos and proposed price of your bikes on sites devoted to VN and expats in VN.  Wait and see what the interest level is after three months of on-line marketing.  By then you will have a better idea of realistic success. 

Not doing the above pretty much guarantees you will either fail or get lucky and get hit by a falling satellite that that ejects a small gold brick upon impact without explanation.

Sarcasm aside, I just want to impress upon you that there is no easy money in this world and you will have plenty of competition in short order even if you are selling bagged ice to Eskimos.  So best have your best plan before moving forward. Good Luck either way.

THIGV wrote:

If you think mcuh about the physics, it should be apparent that a three wheeled vehicle with two wheels in the rear and a single steering wheel is inherently unstable in turns at any kind of speed.  The inside rear tire will lift.  The freight haulers you see don't tip because of their weight.

There are other designs like the Piaggio that has two closely spaced wheels in front.  The front wheels tilt slightly as they turn.  This should have more stability going straight than a two wheel design and should corner soundly, but the engineering is much more difficult than simply adding a rear axle.  I have never seen this model except in internet advertising and it is expensive.  You can look it up.  It is called the MP3, like the music player format.

Yamaha Niken

THIGV wrote:

If you think mcuh about the physics, it should be apparent that a three wheeled vehicle with two wheels in the rear and a single steering wheel is inherently unstable in turns at any kind of speed.  The inside rear tire will lift.  The freight haulers you see don't tip because of their weight.

There are other designs like the Piaggio that has two closely spaced wheels in front.  The front wheels tilt slightly as they turn.  This should have more stability going straight than a two wheel design and should corner soundly, but the engineering is much more difficult than simply adding a rear axle.  I have never seen this model except in internet advertising and it is expensive.  You can look it up.  It is called the MP3, like the music player format.

Another alternative that I have seen in Vietnam is what I would call "training wheels."  The weight usually rests on the two wheels but there are small outrigger wheels that improve stability.  All the ones I ever saw were based on Air Blades.  I have no idea how this design works in fast turns but someone in Vietnam is making them.

You are right and 3 wheel ATV's were legally banned in the USA in 1988 because of the dangers and they are not easy to ride due to the ergonomics (leaning in the opposite direction of turning).  Lot of people got hurt and that was the end of them.  There is plenty information available on the internet about the problems with 3 wheelers.  People went to 4 wheelers and they sell like crazy.

However, 3 wheel motorcycles are still sold, but these are full size bikes and do not have the same ergonomic issues.

Bazza139 wrote:

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   ..and you can forget about sneaking down the line of stopped traffic...     

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Easy Bazz....you just crank it up & “mono” the lane split on the back wheel.    110 horses 🐎 under the seat should do that.

Yogi & Boo Boo just use our skate boards........Cool bear dudes,,hey bro.

Bazza139 wrote:

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       Yairs...   Yogi has his ways...  (as in: Always...).   

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Yes, so subtle - in about the same was as a piano falling from the space station and landing on your head is subtle.
However, he tends to score well on accuracy.

mmetca wrote:

I am on Phu Quoc and broke my leg very bad and won't be able to ride a two wheeler. Do you have any idea where I can find a 3 wheeler or trike on the island?

I have no idea where you could find it in Phu Quoc, but if you can buy in Ho Chi Minh city, then you can search on chotot.com with "xe 3 bánh cho người khuyết tật"

https://www.chotot.com/tp-ho-chi-minh/m … %E1%BA%ADt

mmetca wrote:

I am on Phu Quoc and broke my leg very bad and won't be able to ride a two wheeler. Do you have any idea where I can find a 3 wheeler or trike on the island?

Simple enough to build one or get your local motorbike mechanic to do it, should only take a day at most. There are loads of bikes that would be a suitable donor.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Cue the music.. sounds like the A-team
I remeber some years ago seeing a small manufacturing company built a three wheeler bike that the mounted the rear wheels and axle in such a fashion that it allowed the frame or body if you like to lean without causing the outer wheel to lift during corners.

Obviously it won't lean like a proper bike but still a step closer than the fixed frame issue and corners.

Failing that ask The Grand Tour team.. they came here (Topgear at the time) and liked to mess around on bikes here.

Also worth an idea.. if you are a bike rider instead of a scooter person.. why not add a side car

A side car in Viet traffic ? . ..  tempting fate I reckon. The addition of an extra rear wheel is much more practical and easy, don't even need a differential. If the guy doesn't know how then there are loads of kits available on the net. Just look at few, get the idea and fabricate your own. Ordinary steel will do or if you are heavy and carrying passengers just make the rear axle shaft from a piece of suitably bored ASTM 513 DOM or similar.

Sobie wrote:

Would you like to buy an electric Harley and no sound?

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/m … lsrc=aw.ds

Since this thread has been activated, I'll just put in my two cents based upon the experiences my wife and I have been having looking around for three wheelers:

If you want a three-wheel ebike, any moped store can order it for you and then they will be the place that covers your warranty.

It's possible to order them online but then you aren't connected with a local shop that will cover necessary repairs in the future.

As has been mentioned since this thread began, there just doesn't appear to be the demand to justify having one shop that focuses only on stock three wheelers, either electric or gas powered.

I don't know much about how commercially viable this is but I think it's a great idea. There's a huge population of people in their 60s and 70s who suffer from polio and need to get around. Three wheelers are common in Taipei but as these people get older you see less of them.

@oldexpat I have rented from OziMoto in Pattaya, ***  when I return for good, will purchase one from him. He modifies an existing Motor Bike for three wheel independent axel steering for turning stability.  His most popular for foreigners is the 300cc - very maneuverable and he also has a shop in Khon Kaen according to his site......give him a call at

Ozimoto ***.    Peace. BTW my beach home in Thailand is in Jom Tien

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Hello Tunnelrat ... It's been 9 years since that member last visited the website. It is a rather old thread.

Regards

Bhavna