A Second Rider on a 50cc: What to Ask About Power, Seat Length and Eligibility

Two adults on a 50cc scooter raise three questions: the number of people Vietnam’s road law lets one moped carry, who may ride it, and whether the engine and seat suit a second adult. This article reads Law 36/2024/QH15 as posted on a provincial government site, Kymco and SYM specification pages and a Canadian government advisory, and reports what each says, with dates. The case is a 50cc scooter with a passenger: one rider, one person behind. No page here describes any rental scooter.

What Article 33 says about carrying a passenger

Article 33(1) of the Road Traffic Order and Safety Law (Law 36/2024/QH15, passed 27 June 2024) says the rider of a two-wheeled motorcycle or moped (xe gắn máy) may carry only one person. Four cases allow up to two passengers: taking a sick person to emergency care, escorting a person who has broken the law, a child under 12, and an elderly, frail or disabled person. On that wording, one rider carries one passenger, and a second passenger needs one of the four cases. The text was read on the Nghệ An Public Administration Service Centre site (posted 9 September 2024); Article 88 sets the general start date at 1 January 2025.

Article 33(2) requires the rider and the passenger to wear a helmet that meets the national technical regulation, with the strap fastened correctly. Article 33(4) bars a passenger from carrying bulky items, using an umbrella, standing on the seat or luggage rack, or sitting on the handlebars. Helmet Fit at Motorbike Pickup: A Strap and Size Checklist covers the strap and size side of the helmet requirement in Article 33(2).

Who may ride a moped

Article 34(1)(g) defines a moped as a two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle with a design speed of no more than 50 km/h and, for a combustion engine, a displacement of no more than 50 cm³; an electric moped is capped at 4 kW. A motorcycle (xe mô tô) is every other two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle. A scooter sold as “50cc” is therefore a moped only if both its design speed and its engine size meet that text, and the pages do not say how to check a particular scooter’s design speed.

Article 56(1) asks drivers for a licence but excepts moped riders. Article 56(4) asks a moped rider instead to know the traffic rules, have riding skill and meet the age and health conditions, and Article 59(1)(a) sets the age at 16 or over. Licence class A1 under Article 57(1)(a) covers two-wheeled motorcycles up to 125 cm³. Article 9(7) lists handing a motor vehicle to a person who does not meet the legal conditions as a banned act. Kymco Vietnam’s 17 November 2020 launch page says the rider of its Candy Hi 50 needs no licence, which is consistent with the moped exception, although it predates the 2025 start date.

The Government of Canada’s Vietnam advisory (last updated 19 October 2026) is more cautious. It calls road safety poor across the country and tells people who choose to drive to avoid driving a motorcycle and to have proper insurance and a valid licence. Its Driving section also says a valid Vietnamese driver’s licence is needed to drive a vehicle with an engine of 50CC or more, which it says includes most motorcycles, and that Vietnam does not recognize Canadian drivers licences or International Driving Permits issued in Canada. It does not mention mopeds or scooters or name a licence class. Its “50CC or more” and the Vietnamese moped limit of no more than 50 cm³ meet only at exactly 50, and the Kymco and SYM pages list 49.5 cm³ for their 50cc models, so the Canadian page cannot be set directly against the Vietnamese text.

Power: what two makers publish for 50cc models

Kymco Vietnam (launch page of 17 November 2020) and SYM Vietnam (Galaxy 50 page, undated) publish the figures below. Kymco quotes power in horsepower (mã lực) and SYM in kilowatts, and neither page gives a conversion, so the makers are not ranked against each other.

SYM lists a four-speed gearbox for the Galaxy 50, while Kymco’s Like page says that scooter needs no gear changes, so 50cc models can differ in how they are controlled, and the SYM page does not call the Galaxy 50 a scooter. The pages do not say what load the top-speed figures assume, and none gives acceleration, hill-climbing or speed with a passenger aboard. For the separate question of a speed limit for mopeds on the road, see Vietnam’s 40 km/h Moped Limit: What the Rule Covers and What It Leaves Open for Day Trips.

Weight: what 130 kg and 150 kg leave open

SYM’s Galaxy 50 page lists seating and load as 2 persons and 130 kg. Kymco’s Like page (30 August 2022) says the scooter can bear up to 150 kg, which it presents as room for one more person behind, and gives the scooter’s own weight as 101 kg. Neither page says whether its figure counts both riders, helmets, bags or fuel, and nothing explains why the two makers’ figures differ. As general guidance, not a page’s instruction, add the two riders’ weights and any bag, then compare the total with the figure for the exact model.

Seat length and passenger footrests

Only one page gives a seat length. Kymco’s Like page lists the seat as 820 mm long and 760 mm high and calls the length comfortable and roomy for two, which is the maker’s description with no test method or rider size. Kymco’s launch page gives the Visar 50 a seat height of 770 mm but no seat length, and SYM’s Galaxy 50 page gives neither. No page describes passenger footrests or handholds on any model, so those are questions for the counter; Fold-Out Passenger Footrests: Check Movement and Latch Before a Two-Up Trip deals with checking the footrests.

Questions for the rental counter

These are general planning questions assembled from the statements above; no source says any shop must answer them.

1. Which exact model and year is it, and what do its specification sheet and manual list for people and load?
2. Do its design speed and engine size fall inside the Article 34 moped definition (50 km/h, 50 cm³), or is it classed as a motorcycle?
3. Can the rider and a passenger both sit on the seat at once, without the passenger on the rack or handlebars?
4. Does the passenger position have footrests and a handhold, and do they fold out and latch?
5. Is a second helmet that meets the national technical regulation available, with a working strap?
6. What does the shop ask of the rider on age, health and papers, and do its rental terms allow a passenger?

For other rental questions, see the Hanoi Motorbike Rental FAQ.

What the pages leave out

• Manuals: none of the five pages is an owner’s manual, and none gives passenger settings such as tyre pressure.
• Performance with two adults: no acceleration, hill-climbing or top-speed figure with a passenger.
• Load figures: neither the 130 kg nor the 150 kg figure is defined, and Kymco does not say whether its 101 kg is dry or ready to ride.
• Seat and footrests: seat length for the Kymco Like only, and no footrest or handhold detail for any model.
• Currency: the Kymco pages date from 2020 and 2022 (the 2020 launch post sits on Kymco’s site, but its text names MotoSaigon, so the wording may not be Kymco’s own), the SYM page shows no date, and none describes a rental fleet.
• Law text: read on a provincial portal copy, not the national legal database; later amendments and penalties are not covered here, and foreign licences and international driving permits, which Article 57 and the Canadian page both mention, are outside this article.
• Possible conflict: Canada’s advice asks for a valid Vietnamese licence for an engine of 50CC or more and names no class, while Article 56(1) excepts moped riders (engine up to 50 cm³ and design speed up to 50 km/h under Article 34); the Canadian page does not mention mopeds, and the two texts meet only at exactly 50, so neither page settles whether they clash for a scooter whose maker lists 49.5 cm³.
• Rental terms: no page says which scooters any shop holds, charges for or requires, or whether it allows a passenger.

Sources checked

• Nghệ An Public Administration Service Centre: Law 36/2024/QH15 text
• Kymco Vietnam: Like 50 specifications (30 August 2022)
• Kymco Vietnam: four 50cc models launch (17 November 2020)
• SYM Vietnam: Galaxy 50 product page
• Government of Canada: Vietnam travel advice (19 October 2026)

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