Short answer: a street-legal motorbike in Vietnam needs brakes that work, a working headlight, functioning turn signals, a horn, a brake light, a plate light and a usable left mirror. Any one of them missing or dead is a defect with a fine attached — 400,000–600,000 VND per item under Article 14 of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP. Registration papers and plates are separate duties with separate, heavier fines.
The checklist the decree enforces
Article 14(1) of Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP prices the condition defects in the 400,000–600,000 VND band. Riding without a horn, a plate light, a brake light or a working left mirror; without turn signals; without a near-and-far headlight, or with one that does not work or does not meet the design standard; without a braking system, or with brakes that fail the technical standard; or with a light fitted facing rearward instead of forward — each is its own violation, and each stacks with the others on the same stop. The mirror rule is specific: the decree names the mirror on the left of the rider, which is the one lane-changes depend on.
Two layers above that: riding without the registration certificate, or with an expired or invalid one, is 2–3 million VND under Article 14(2); riding without plates, with plates not issued by the authorities, or with defaced or repositioned plates is 4–6 million VND under Article 14(3). Papers and plates are vehicle-identity questions, priced as such — the equipment list above is about whether the machine itself is safe to be in traffic.
What this means for a rental
The practical version of the law happens at handover. Before accepting a rental bike in Hanoi, squeeze both levers and feel the pads bite, check the horn, walk the bike and confirm the left mirror is present and tight, switch on and verify headlight, brake light and both indicators, and look at the plate — readable, un-bent, matching the registration copy under the seat. Five minutes. A shop that maintains its fleet passes this without noticing; a shop that does not was about to rent the rider the fine.
Helmets are a separate duty with their own band — every rider and passenger needs a compliant, fastened helmet, a rule covered in its own article. The equipment list here is about the bike, not the person.
Defects are not defence
An equipment defect explains an accident; it never excuses one. A rider whose brakes fail on Long Biên’s descent is still the rider of a bike that was illegal to operate in that condition, and a rider whose indicators are dead and who turns left un-signalled has usually manufactured their own crash. Post-accident, an officer checks the bike’s condition among the first things — the defect that seemed like a maintenance chore becomes a line in the record deciding who pays.
Information, not legal advice. Verified against Decree 168/2024/NĐ-CP on 2026-09-22.