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IF you're gona ride actual motorways, double check if they allow motorbikes. Because some of them don't. regardless of how big the bike is.
I spent quite a bit of time in Vietnam ( most recently in late 2018) and i mostly rode a Honda XR 250 (great bike) and in some newer motorways with tolls (e.g the motorway that goes north from Hanoi towards near Sapa) they literally don't allow any two wheels, regardless of how big it is, i tried and i got chased by cops and kicked off despite trying to explain that the bike is big enough to go on a motorway and overtake easily.
maybe things have changed since then, but yeah double check that.
Not sure about buying new or used from dealership. Not sure about the ownership/ registration rules of dealership-new bikes for tourists.
People definitely do ride big higher tier scooters in town, seen it in Hanoi and Ho chi minh, seen it more in Thailand when i lived there. People who can afford it will ride a PCX & similar everywhere, no issues. Not sure about how expensive they are in Vietnam though cos i never looked into them.
Riding an XR 250 was a joy and it handled everything i threw at it. Ended up being more comfortable than i thought it would be.
Price wise, from subjective observation from time in Thailand and Vietnam, brand new dealer bikes aren't cheaper (sometimes are more expensive) than UK prices.
lazysuperhero-
Great advise, cheers! Found in some of the 'stans that there isn't a toll price for motorbikes, so in each country was stopping at the toll and asking, everyone super confused, police, bribes asked for etc. Turns out you just ride around the toll, there isn't a price, because its free for MC.
However in other countries or areas, (depending on exactly what toll road it is I guess), MC below a certain size or just all are banned, then as soon as they realise its a westerner questions start getting asked and it gets frustrating. Always been on my own car/MC before registered to country of origin.
Non nationals buying/riding bikes in China is basically a no, you can sort of rent a car in some places but you need someone of provenance to sign for you/ confirm that your not going to get up to no good. Imagine SE Asian countries are a little more lax. If I'm there more than a month will go through to get a driving license as its makes life much easier if stopped by the police or others.
BrickMan
Might end up in Vietnam for a bit, 3-12 months. Standard thing to do there is buy something cheap and crap, but done it so many times before, properly over it. Also now that area of SE Asia is infected with garbage chinese bikes, or the Vietnam/Japan/Malaysian produced scooters + small bikes that were decent enough have been maintained and fixed with garbage fake metal chinese parts for the last 5 - 10 years.
Should I just go to a Honda dealer and buy a 1 - 2 year old PCX. Need to be able to do some motorway work, most semi auto 110cc bikes at 45-50 mph is all they've got. At least a PCX or whatever the Yamaha equivalent is (Aerox?) with the 150 cc engine can sit at 60 mph without blowing up or being very unhappy. Nothing in that part of the world really goes any faster than that, so no need for an actual bike.
Honda Forza is nicer for main roads but bit daft in town, makes you stand out a lot which brings its issues. PCX + yamaha equivalent seen common enough that with some long sleeves shirt/pants you don't get noticed as a foreigner anywhere near as much.
Sensible or do 'higher tier' scooters in that part of the world cost more than they do here?
I remember in Australia + NZ that common basic bikes from Japan/Malaysia/Singapore cost significantly more new than they do in the UK despite much less shipping costs due to the import duties etc?