NHA TRANG, VIETNAM – The story of Nha Trang Easy Riders began around 2000, when Nam Ngô started taking one or two foreign travellers by motorcycle from Nha Trang into the Central Highlands and along the coast. The tours were small and simple, but demand soon grew. Within a few years, motorcycle touring had become a major part of Nha Trang’s independent travel scene.
The First Tours
At the beginning, there was no fleet of large motorcycles and no established motorcycle-tour industry in Nha Trang.
There was simply a rider, a motorcycle and a traveller who wanted to see more of Vietnam.
In 2000, Nam Ngô began organising motorcycle trips from Nha Trang for one or two guests at a time. The routes went far beyond the usual tourist stops, heading towards Lak Lake, Buon Ma Thuot, Kon Tum, Da Lat and Mui Ne.
The first motorcycle was a Honda Wave 100cc.
Today, a 100cc motorcycle may seem small for a long-distance tour. At the time, however, it was a practical choice. Vietnam was still developing, motorcycles were much more basic than they are today, and larger touring machines were uncommon.
The Wave was reliable, economical and easy to maintain.
That was enough to get on the road.
Building the Routes
The early tours were not designed around a fixed commercial itinerary.
They developed from the roads themselves.
A trip from Nha Trang towards Lak Lake could take travellers into the Central Highlands, through areas where foreign tourists were still relatively uncommon. Other journeys continued towards Buon Ma Thuot and Kon Tum, while routes in the opposite direction connected Nha Trang with Da Lat or followed the coast towards Mui Ne.
The experience was very different from travelling by bus.
Guests were riding through villages and agricultural areas, stopping along the way and seeing everyday life at close range. The motorcycle also allowed the route to change according to the road, the weather and what caught the traveller’s interest.
For a small number of foreign visitors, this was exactly what they were looking for.
From 100cc to 125cc
As the number of tours increased, the motorcycles changed as well.
After several years, Nam began using SYM Bonus 125 motorcycles for tours, followed later by motorcycles such as the Honda Master 125.
The larger bikes were better suited to longer journeys and carrying a foreign passenger over mountain roads.
But the motorcycle itself was never the main attraction.
The important part was the journey.
Guests wanted to get out of Nha Trang and experience the country from the seat of a motorcycle rather than through a coach window.
Why Nha Trang Was Different
In the early 2000s, Nha Trang already attracted large numbers of European and American travellers.
Many were independent travellers staying in the city for several days. Once they discovered that they could travel by motorcycle into the countryside and the Central Highlands, interest grew quickly.
There were periods when tours were running almost every day.
One or two guests might leave Nha Trang in the morning and spend several days travelling through the mountains. Other trips headed along the coast or towards destinations such as Da Lat and Mui Ne.
Word spread among travellers.
More visitors wanted to do the same thing.
And eventually there were not enough riders to meet the demand.
The Rise of Nha Trang Easy Riders
This was the point when the motorcycle-tour scene in Nha Trang changed from a small activity into a much larger movement.
Local riders saw the demand from foreign tourists and began offering their own motorcycle tours.
More riders joined.
Teams were formed. Companies appeared. Different groups developed their own routes and ways of operating.
The name Easy Rider also became increasingly common.
Many different riders and groups began using the name, and over time it became closely associated with motorcycle touring in Nha Trang.
This created what became known as the Nha Trang Easy Riders scene.
It is important to distinguish this development from the Easy Riders of Da Lat.
The Nha Trang operation was not a branch of the Da Lat groups, and Nam Ngô did not simply copy what they were doing.
The Da Lat Easy Riders had already become known among foreign travellers, and their existence formed part of the wider background to motorcycle tourism in Vietnam. But the tours Nam developed from Nha Trang were his own work, built around his own routes, his own guests and the opportunities he saw in the city.
Later, as more local people entered the business, Nha Trang developed its own large community of Easy Riders.
Looking Back
From today’s perspective, it is easy to forget how different Vietnam was in 2000.
There were fewer motorcycles, fewer foreign tourists travelling independently outside the major cities, and far fewer businesses offering organised motorcycle journeys.
There was no modern touring fleet.
The first trips from Nha Trang were made on ordinary 100cc Wave motorcycles, carrying one or two guests into places such as Lak Lake, Buon Ma Thuot and Kon Tum.
A few years later came the 125cc motorcycles.
Then came more riders, more groups and more companies.
The demand from foreign travellers helped turn a small idea into a local tourism phenomenon.
For Nam Ngô, the beginning of the Nha Trang story was never about creating a brand.
It was about riding.
There were roads to explore, foreign travellers who wanted to see Vietnam differently, and a motorcycle that could take them there.
That was how it started.
Nam Ngo
10 September 2026
Nha Trang Easy Riders: How It Started – VIETNAMRIDER
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