Registering Motorbike Under Own Name for Foreigners

I've not gone through the process but keep in mind that if you re-register a used bike in your name you will need to pay tax on it again. I'm fairly sure it's at original new price too.

I may well be wrong but I'd check it out first.

If your buying a used bike, it's easier to keep it in the original name, but you should get a letter of transfer to go with it.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly with a clearer view

Yes, you can do, if you fulfill the entitlements for a Vietnamese driving Licence (long stay visa/resident). You will get than a NN-number. Some registration centers, like Hanoi, they do since over 3 years, some like NT since about 1/2 year. Others might do or not (like usual).

A 1 year minimum remaining on your residency documentation; VAT determined by government tables not price allegedly paid.

You will need insurance in your name for the vehicle; often a good idea to get a new number in case bad news is attached to vendors plate.

In larger cities there are registry offices for each district. Remember, soon where you live will determine if you pay road user fees.

Occasionally registry offices ask to see your Pink Book.

Thanks for the advice guys. I've decided to keep it under the original owners name with a letter of sale & transfer from the notary office.

any updates on the ease, or difficulties of this process? i am travelling to vietnam and desire to buy a used motorcycle for a month long tour, and then selling it upon my departure.

what risks are associated with not being licensed or registered?

how much money would a foreign traveler be looking to spend on registration, insuring and licensing ?

thank you

If you read the earlier posts on this thread, in order to buy, register, insure, and be licensed, for starters you need to have a Temporary Residents card. Tourists don't get those.

It has long been a tourist  adventure thing to drive north to south Vietnam on a motorbike. I don't think it has ever been legal. Motorbikes are bought and sold in the backpacker ghettos, hostels, craigslist, from departing backpacker to arriving backpacker.

A financial consequence is the police could confiscate the $400 motorbike, something they like to threaten, but I doubt it happens often. The threat is leverage to get you to pay 200.000 to 500.000 vnd on the spot. Always carry enough and your passport. That is your financial risk. Like anywhere, you risk bigger expenses and jail if you hit something or someone. The inter-city highways are especially dangerous for motorbikes, many fatalities, that is the risk to your health. Vietnam is the #2 country in SEAsia for fatalities after Thailand. The big trucks and buses are terrifying when they blow past your puny bike.

If instead you just wanted to ride a motorbike around a city or town, I think it is a great way to experience Vietnamese life. Automatic rentals are cheap, $6 a day, $60 a month. It still comes with the risks, but outside of rush hour, you can easily flow with traffic and stay under the 40km/25mph speed limit. Take a weekend motorcycle course before you come, get a certification stamp on your driver's license, then an International Driving Permit that is marked motorcycle-certified. You can use that in 200 countries. That is about as legal you can get as far as licensing.

Rent one for a month. Far easier.
No paperwork required.

Just pickup one place and drop off another.

Flamingotravel.com

Check them out. Or find them on facebook.

fresh update on this topic . and from ny understanding :
before 2015 foreigner could buy  new vehicles  without paying the taxes  (around 5% of the total value of the vehicle )  and get a registration plate with a specific number ( nn afair )  then selling to a local needed dto get the taxes paid and number changed , after 2015 the policy changed  ( once the gvnmt figured out that some people used to import or buy , register nn and convert without paying the taxes ( bribing police officer  )

following this the rules changed for a more simple everyone pay the taxes
( there s still way to get it refund if the vehicle is imported and if you take it back on the country checkout )

so registering a motorcycle in your own name is possible once you have a temporary residence card .

i bought a Harley Davidson and actually trying to get over the process with the help of a middleman a power of attorney letter to delegate the paperwork
( signed with 3 part prev owner the middle guy and myself  ) at notary office

the story s not finished yet , the bike is a used hd bought at Harley Davidson of Saigon
( kind of official hd deal , i passed on shady vendor cheaper offer )
the middle man was Harley sale man , the paperwork was supposed to be done after tet , but the guy resigned from hd .. taking over a new job iguess , but seems like he s delaying this a way too much for me ..

wait and see ..  i ll post the end of the story once i ll have it

Unless you are lawyer or diplomat.. then still no tax.. well you get tax back. Rest of us mortals we have to pay tax 😂

finals step of the 6 month process to get my baby registered under my name :

the HD sale man vanished with the paper then HD started over a new procedure canceling the previous one , i went finally to the police station this morning all done they made the new plate and a mechanic tried to fix it on my bike but since HD are us standard inch tools it took some time to figure out how to get it done , if everything goes smoothly  ll have the blue card in 12 days ...  after riding 12000 km in vietnam with temporary papers i ll take the next riding season legally 100% and try to cross the cambodian and laos border ( i got bored doing the same ride all the time 3 time to nha trang 6 to dalat shitload of weekend in vung tau , lagi , mui ne .. North is too far away for a 5 days trip , i ll so extend to Cambodia after the raining season ... i ll post the updates then .. HOW to pass a border on fat 2 wheeler

That border crossing is tricky.. as in reality you would need tour company make a tour.. caravan papers is what you would need, but if you try you might find some flexible borderguar and more likely you find one in south than in north border

I read that cambodia is doable as soon as you got the bike registered in your own name .. but thailand is tricky .. i d like to ride to phnom penh regularly next year tour company is not a better option than regular flight 😶

Yes Thailand is tricky and with those new rules in place that you can't exit province where you entered Thailand. , but for some reason small bikes can exit more freely.. even cars more easy than big bikes.

i should have buy a dirt bike to cross the borders in the jungle .. hahahaha

I'm actually building one right now 😂😂😂

Hi shanghalf.

I'm going to be living in Vietnam for 6-8 months. Do you have any idea where I could find a good deal on a harley davidson? I'm considering buying or renting one for this period of time. I tried to find a second hand website but I can't find anything.

I'll be located in the north, near Hanoi.

@shanghalf Nobody controls your bike papers (its nice to have them though, so called blue card) when you cross into Cambodia, so if you ride almost empty for petrol el cheapo Honda Nuovo 3 from 2007, just like I do, YMMW if you refill it to the top with 95 octans (right before Cambodia border say Ha Tien or Moc Bai) and the values of it will off course, no doubt - accelerate dramatically, which of course like in every law abiding country like Cambodia attracts scrutiny of the law enforcement official on the road and of course you will be subject for document inspection. (Keep rest of your money in your sock apart from these hard negotiated 5 USD in wallet)

Hi shanghalf.

I'm going to be living in Vietnam for 6-8 months. Do you have any idea where I could find a good deal on a harley davidson? I'm considering buying or renting one for this period of time. I tried to find a second hand website but I can't find anything.

I'll be located in the north, near Hanoi.
-@Joosnotjos

Ha HD, nothing less? You sure you not gonna need decent monthly "coffee money" budget?

Narcrepellant -you do realise these posts are from 2018 except one from 2021 don't you?

I love to do reanimation to old threads, in nutshell what essentially changed?