HONDA owns the bike market in Vietnam
...with every other company that copies them.

The Dream. The Wave. The Future. Optimistic brand names in English script with bright colors and graphics from the 80’s American beach scene take riders away from the hard times of today and into the soft tomorrows promised in the pagodas. Dream of the Future and the Wave will take you safely to your grave. Any moment could be a one-way ticket to the hereafter.

For pessimist, or perhaps the realist, jump into the saddle of the Smash. HONDA has even created the Spacy, for those who don’t quite have their dream down, but are hopelessly lost in thought. SUZUKI is probably second best but try harder with the Best. Pay a little less and get the best faux your money can buy: the SURIKA Best. (Notice the fine print in upper left.)

The stickers and the decals may say HONDA, but the truth is stamped in metal on the engine or the back of the seat: HONGDA. Made in China. (Real HONDA: top left photo. HONGDA: next photo down. Note the fine print on the motor in the lower right corner of the photo.)

China Copies and Korea Knockoffs have flooded the market with close-but-no-cigar colors, mismatched graphics and dreamy model names made with random letters lining up after a D at the head of the queue. Drin looks enough like Dream in a passing blur of bikes. Dame has most of the letters of Dream, just in a revised order. Can’t afford to ride the Wave? Don’t want a Dame? Get a Wife. (Check out the wave of illegitimate Waves below.)

The Dream out of your reach? How about a nightmare? There’s an endless army of miscellaneous pieces of the past, loosely lashed together with duct tape, bad solder, plastic bands, paint and prayer. If it has tires, engine and a horn,
it’s road-ready.