Riding Rules & Licenses
Renting a Motorbike in Hoi An Without a License: 6 Legal Rides and How Far Each Goes
Renting a Motorbike in Hoi An Without a License: 6 Legal Rides and How Far Each Goes
You can ride a motorbike in Hoi An without a license if it is a 50cc scooter or a low-speed electric one. Here is what each legal ride really does, and where it runs out.
Every week a few travellers reach our counter with the same slightly nervous question. Their permit turned out to be the wrong kind, or they never had a motorcycle licence at all, and they want to know whether renting a motorbike in Hoi An without a license is still possible. It is, as long as you pick the right machine. Vietnamese law lets anyone aged 16 or over ride a 50cc scooter or a low-speed electric scooter with no licence, and bicycles and e-bikes need none either. What nobody tells you is how differently those six rides behave on the road: how far the battery really lasts, which one is happy carrying two people all day, and which one the Old Town guards will actually let through. That is what this guide is about.
- Can you rent one without a license?
- Which no-license ride fits your plan
- 50cc petrol: SYM Shark and KYMCO Like
- VinFast Evo200 Lite: the real range
- Mini e-scooter and electric bicycle
- The plain bicycle and the Old Town
- Three no-license day loops
- Da Nang, My Son, Hai Van without a license
- Red flags, prices and paperwork
- Frequently asked questions
Can you rent a motorbike in Hoi An without a license?
Yes, but only a specific kind of motorbike. Vietnamese law calls it a xe gắn máy, a moped: a two-wheeler with a design speed of no more than 50 km/h and either a petrol engine up to 50cc or an electric motor up to 4 kW. The rider must be 16 or older, and no driving licence of any kind is required, for Vietnamese citizens or for foreigners. Anything bigger or faster, including the Honda Vision 110cc that fills most rental shops, needs an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 convention with the motorcycle category stamped, plus your home licence.
We have written a separate, detailed guide on whether you need a license to ride a motorbike in Hoi An, covering the 1968 and 1949 permits, the category A stamp and the fines. This page starts where that one ends: you don’t have the right paperwork, so what can you actually ride, and how far will it take you?
| Ride | Top speed | Seats | Real range | Price / day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYM Shark 50cc (petrol) | ~50 km/h | 2 | Refuel as you go | 200,000₫ (~$8) |
| KYMCO Like 50cc (petrol) | ~50 km/h | 2 | Refuel as you go | 200,000₫ (~$8) |
| VinFast Evo200 Lite (electric) | 49 km/h, locked | 2 | 133–205 km per charge (maker’s tests) | 200,000₫ (~$8) |
| Mini Electric Scooter | Town speeds | 1–2 light riders | Town and nearby beaches | 150,000₫ (~$6) |
| Electric bicycle (pedal-assist) | 25 km/h assist | 1 (+ child seat) | ~35 km, then pedal | 100,000₫ (~$4) |
| City bicycle | Your legs | 1 | As far as you like | 50,000₫ (~$2) |
All six are in our fleet at 84 Phan Chau Trinh and all six are legal with nothing but a passport. Prices are our listed rates in September 2026, with two helmets and rain ponchos included on every motorised bike.
The law does not ask what licence you have. It asks what you are sitting on. Choose the bike first and the paperwork question answers itself.
Which no-license ride fits your plan
Most people choose by price or by looks. A better way is to start from the day you have in mind and work backwards. This is how we match customers without a licence at the counter:
| Your plan | Best choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Couple, beach and cafés, want a “real” scooter feel | VinFast Evo200 Lite or 50cc | Two seats, 49–50 km/h, comfortable with two people on the beach roads |
| Couple, want the longest day without refuelling | VinFast Evo200 Lite | One overnight charge covers several days of beach riding |
| Solo, mostly Old Town and markets | Mini Electric Scooter | Small enough to park in a doorway, silent in the lanes |
| Family with a young child | Electric bicycle with child seat | Slow, stable, and you can pedal if the battery fades |
| Rice fields, Tra Que, coconut forest | Electric bicycle or bicycle | Narrow concrete paths where a scooter feels too big |
| Evening in the walking streets | City bicycle | The only one of the six the guards let through during closed hours |
| Day trip to Da Nang or My Son | None of them, really | See section №08 for honest alternatives |
If you have ridden a scooter before, a 50cc or the VinFast will feel familiar within ten minutes. If you have never ridden anything with a throttle, start on an electric bicycle for the first morning. It is the one we trust in the hands of a nervous rider, because pedal-assist only pushes while you pedal.
50cc petrol scooters: SYM Shark and KYMCO Like
If the idea in your head is “a proper scooter, just legal”, a 50cc is it. Both of ours are automatic, carry two people, have a seat locker for helmets and a hook for shopping bags. The SYM Shark is the sportier-looking of the two; the KYMCO Like has a rounder, retro shape and a slightly lower seat that shorter riders tend to prefer. Both rent for 200,000₫ (~$8) a day.
What a 50cc does well
It cruises happily at 35–45 km/h, which is the natural speed of the roads between the Old Town, An Bang and Cua Dai anyway. You refuel in two minutes at any petrol station, so there is no range planning. And it looks and sounds like every other scooter in town, which some riders find reassuring.
Where it struggles
With two adults on board, a strong headwind on the coast road and the long straights are where you will feel the small engine. On the long, fast Lac Long Quan road towards Da Nang you will be overtaken constantly by trucks and 150cc bikes, which is tiring rather than dangerous if you keep right. Mountain passes are a firm no: we don’t rent 50cc bikes for the Hai Van Pass, and neither should anyone else.
Petrol bikes at our shop, like at most shops in Vietnam, are handed over with a nearly empty tank, and you return them with whatever is left. There is a petrol station within a few minutes of the Old Town in every direction. Tell the attendant how much you want in đồng or say “đầy” (full), stay on the bike, and pay cash.
More on the rules that apply specifically to small petrol scooters is in our guide to 50cc licence rules across Vietnam.
VinFast Evo200 Lite: the no-license e-scooter and its real range
The electric scooter in our fleet is the VinFast Evo200 Lite, and the word “Lite” is the whole point. VinFast sells two versions of this scooter. The standard Evo200 goes faster and needs a licence. The Lite is electronically limited to 49 km/h, a hair under the 50 km/h moped limit, and it stays at 49 km/h in both its ECO and SPORT modes. There is no hidden fast mode to unlock, which is exactly why it is legal to ride with no licence.
How far one charge really goes
VinFast publishes its own range tests for the Evo200 Lite, and they show something every electric rider should know: speed eats range. These are the maker’s figures, not ours:
| Test condition (VinFast) | Range on one charge |
|---|---|
| Steady 30 km/h, 65 kg rider | 205 km |
| Steady 45 km/h, 70 kg rider | 149 km |
| Steady 50 km/h, 70 kg rider | 133 km |
| Mixed riding | 146 km |
Riding flat out loses about a third of the range compared with cruising at 30 km/h. Add a passenger, a hot afternoon and a few stop-start kilometres in town and you should plan on less than the mixed figure. Even so, the whole no-license area around Hoi An in section №07 sits within 8 km of our shop, so for most visitors a full charge lasts several days of riding.
Charging: the part to plan
According to VinFast, a full charge takes about 10 hours on the standard 400 W charger, or about 4 hours on a 1,000 W charger. In practice that means charging overnight. If your hotel has a ground-floor socket and agreeable staff, great; otherwise message us and we will sort it at the shop. The rear-wheel hub motor is rated at 1,500 W, well under the 4 kW moped limit, and the battery sits low under the floorboard, which makes the scooter feel planted at walking pace in crowded lanes.
For the legal detail on why some electric scooters need a licence and others don’t, read do electric motorbikes need a license in Vietnam.
The Mini Electric Scooter and the electric bicycle
Mini Electric Scooter: small, silent, made for town
Our Mini Electric Scooter is the grey, blue or black one with a front basket and a rear box that you will see parked all over the Old Town edge. It is lighter and slower than the VinFast and built for short hops: the market in the morning, An Bang for a swim, back for lunch. At 150,000₫ (~$6) a day it is the cheapest motorised option we have. The battery is designed for town and the nearby beaches rather than long rides; if it runs low, bring it to the shop and we swap it for free.
Electric bicycle: the nervous rider’s best friend
Our pedal-assist e-bikes help up to 25 km/h, weigh about 22 kg and give roughly 35 km of assistance. When the battery runs out you simply keep pedalling, so there is no scenario where you end up stranded. They take one adult, and we have e-bikes with a child seat on the back for families. At 100,000₫ (~$4) a day they are the best value in the fleet for Tra Que, the Cam Thanh paddies and the beach road.
Because it has a motor, an electric bicycle is treated as a motorised vehicle in the Old Town’s walking streets. During closed hours, park it outside with the scooters. Some guards wave a slow e-bike through at midday; don’t build your plan on it.
The plain bicycle, and why it wins in the Old Town
A 50,000₫ (~$2) city bike sounds like the budget option, and it is. It is also the only one of the six rides that is welcome in the heart of the Ancient Town while the streets are closed to motor vehicles. Anything with an engine or a motor, including an electric bicycle, has to park at the edge; a bicycle can roll in at walking pace, which on busy evenings means pushing it.
Hoi An is flat, the distances are short, and the lanes behind Tra Que and through the Cam Thanh rice fields are narrow concrete strips where a bicycle is simply the right tool. The only real enemies are the midday sun in May to August and the heavy rain of October and November. Our Hoi An cycling routes have loops worked out for both seasons, and the exact closed hours are in our guide to Hoi An Old Town vehicle restriction hours.
Three day loops on a motorbike in Hoi An without a license
The good news for anyone without a licence is that almost everything worth seeing around Hoi An sits inside a small circle. We measured these one-way distances with Google Maps directions from our shop at 84 Phan Chau Trinh:
| Stop | Distance from the shop | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Tra Que vegetable village | 3.2 km · ~10 min | All six |
| An Bang Beach | 4.6 km · ~13 min | All six |
| Cua Dai Beach | 5.9 km · ~16 min | All six |
| Bay Mau coconut forest, Cam Thanh | 6.4 km · ~15 min | All six |
| Ha My Beach | ~7.6 km · ~17 min | Scooters and e-bikes; a stretch on a bicycle |
Loop 1: Old Town at dawn, Tra Que, An Bang
Leave before 7am and ride through the Ancient Town while it is still open to scooters and empty of crowds. Head north to Tra Que for the gardeners watering their herbs, then carry on to An Bang for a swim and breakfast on the sand. You are back by 11, before the heat. Best on a 50cc, the VinFast or an e-bike.
Loop 2: Cam Thanh coconut forest and Cua Dai
East along the river road to the Bay Mau coconut forest in Cam Thanh, then on to Cua Dai for a late lunch facing the Cham Islands. Every stretch is flat and mostly quiet. On a Mini Electric Scooter or an e-bike this is a relaxed half day.
Loop 3: sunset on the rice fields
From about 4:30pm, follow the concrete paths between the paddies west of Tra Que as the light turns gold. It is short, slow and made for an electric bicycle or a city bike. Carry a small torch or use the bike light: the paths have no street lamps.
Da Nang, My Son and Hai Van without a license
This is where the no-license options start to run out, and we’d rather tell you now than halfway up a hill.
- Da Nang (Dragon Bridge, 27.2 km, ~46 min on the fastest route). A VinFast Evo200 Lite has the battery for a return trip, and a 50cc has the engine for it, but the Lac Long Quan coast road is fast and busy and you will spend an hour being overtaken. It is legal, just not much fun. The public bus between Da Nang and Hoi An or a Grab car is the calmer choice.
- My Son Sanctuary (38.2 km, ~1h05). Possible on the VinFast, tiring on a 50cc, out of the question on an e-bike. Most unlicensed visitors are happier on the My Son shuttle bus from Hoi An. We don’t run that bus; that guide compares the options honestly.
- Hai Van Pass. Not on a no-license bike. The pass is steep and long, and 50cc engines and 49 km/h scooters are not built for it. We won’t rent one for the trip.
If Da Nang and the passes are the heart of your holiday, the honest answer is to sort out a 1968 IDP with the motorcycle category before you travel, or to ride as a passenger with a licensed driver.
A shop may offer you a Honda Vision “no problem”. The fine for riding it without a valid licence is 2,000,000–4,000,000₫ under Decree 168/2024, the police can hold the bike, and your travel insurance almost certainly won’t pay for a crash. Our guide to Vietnam motorbike license fines has the full list.
Red flags, prices and what you need to rent
Three red flags when a shop says “no license needed”
- A “50cc” sticker on a 110cc scooter. Some bikes sold as no-license are ordinary 100–110cc scooters. The registration card (the cà vẹt) shows the real engine size; a good shop hands it over without being asked twice.
- An electric scooter with no spec. If it reaches 60–70 km/h, it is an electric motorcycle and needs a licence, however quiet it is. Ask for the model name and top speed. Ours is the Evo200 Lite, capped at 49 km/h.
- “Police never stop tourists.” They do, and checkpoints move around. A shop that says this is telling you what you want to hear. Here is what really happens at a police stop in Hoi An.
Renting at Anh Khoa without a license
Our shop is at 84 Phan Chau Trinh, a short walk from the Ancient Town. We don’t take a deposit and we don’t hold your passport. Collection at the shop is free, and hotel delivery in Hoi An is 30,000₫. Every motorised bike comes with two helmets and rain ponchos, and our roadside line on +84 766 766 087 answers 24/7.
| No-license bike | Price / day | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| City bicycle | 50,000₫ (~$2) | Old Town, rice fields |
| Electric bicycle | 100,000₫ (~$4) | Tra Que, Cam Thanh, families |
| Mini Electric Scooter | 150,000₫ (~$6) | Town and An Bang |
| VinFast Evo200 Lite | 200,000₫ (~$8) | Couples, several days of beaches |
| SYM Shark 50cc / KYMCO Like 50cc | 200,000₫ (~$8) | A familiar petrol scooter |
Weekly and monthly rentals are cheaper per day; the live price is in the booking box on each bike’s page, and the whole fleet is on our motorbike rental in Hoi An page. Our damage waiver covers the bike, not personal accident or medical costs, so keep your own travel insurance; the details are on motorbike insurance in Hoi An. To book or ask a question, message us on WhatsApp at +84 935 206 306 or Zalo 0935 439 306.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent a motorbike in Hoi An without a license?
Yes, if it is a moped: a 50cc petrol scooter or an electric scooter with a design speed of no more than 50 km/h and a motor of no more than 4 kW. Riders aged 16 and over need no driving licence for these. Electric bicycles and ordinary bicycles need no licence either. Anything bigger, such as a 110cc Honda Vision, needs a 1968 IDP with the motorcycle category plus your home licence.
Is the VinFast electric scooter legal without a license?
The VinFast Evo200 Lite we rent is. It is electronically limited to 49 km/h in both ECO and SPORT modes and its motor is rated at 1,500 W, which puts it in the moped class. The standard Evo200 and faster electric models are electric motorcycles and do need a licence.
How far can a no-license electric scooter go on one charge?
VinFast’s own tests for the Evo200 Lite give 205 km at a steady 30 km/h, 149 km at 45 km/h, 133 km at 50 km/h and 146 km in mixed riding. With a passenger and some stop-start riding, plan on less. A full charge takes about 10 hours on the standard charger, so charge it overnight.
Can two people ride a 50cc scooter in Hoi An?
Yes. The SYM Shark 50cc, the KYMCO Like 50cc and the VinFast Evo200 Lite all take two people. With two adults a 50cc feels slow into a headwind and on the fast road to Da Nang, and none of them should be used for the Hai Van Pass.
Can I ride into Hoi An Old Town on a no-license bike?
Only a plain bicycle, and only at walking pace, during the hours the Old Town is closed to motor vehicles. 50cc scooters, electric scooters and electric bicycles all have to park outside the walking streets during those hours.
Can I ride to Da Nang or My Son without a license?
Legally, yes, on a 50cc or a VinFast Evo200 Lite: the Dragon Bridge is 27.2 km from our shop and My Son is 38.2 km. In practice the coast road to Da Nang is fast and busy, so most unlicensed visitors take the public bus, a Grab car or the My Son shuttle bus instead.
Do I need a helmet on a no-license bike?
Yes. Riders and passengers on 50cc scooters, electric scooters and electric bicycles must all wear a fastened helmet, and the fine is 400,000–600,000₫ per person. We include two helmets with every motorised bike.
Do I need to leave a deposit or my passport to rent without a license?
At Anh Khoa, no. We don’t take a deposit and we don’t hold passports. Collection at 84 Phan Chau Trinh is free and hotel delivery in Hoi An costs 30,000₫.
Updated September 2026. Licence rules summarised from Vietnam’s Road Traffic Order and Safety Law 2024 (in force 1 January 2025) and Decree 168/2024/ND-CP. VinFast Evo200 Lite range, top speed, motor and charging figures are the manufacturer’s published tests (VinFast: how far the Evo200 Lite goes), not our own measurements. Distances measured with Google Maps directions from 84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An. USD amounts are rounded approximations. Rental prices are our listed rates at the time of updating. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Anh Khoa rents motorbikes, electric scooters, electric bicycles and bicycles; we don’t operate buses, shuttles or tours.
More Bike Options in Hoi An
E-Bike · No license
Pick your ride in Hoi AnChọn xe cho chuyến đi Hội An
Scooters, electric bikes and bicycles from one shop in the Old Town — delivered to your hotel, helmets and roadside help included.Xe máy, xe điện và xe đạp — giao tận khách sạn, kèm hai nón bảo hiểm và hỗ trợ dọc đường.
Not sure which one fits? Message us on WhatsApp and we’ll recommend a bike for your plans.
Chưa biết chọn xe nào? Nhắn Zalo 0935 439 306, tụi mình tư vấn theo lịch trình của bạn.