More motorcycles on the roads: sign of the times?

I read in a couple of places that the numbers of motorcycles, hence motorcyclists, are on the rise in America. Gas getting expensive? Perhaps. Sometimes I can't help reflecting on our country's well being.

The reason for bringing this up is because my family came from a another part of the world, a place that was very well known in Southeast Asia where there was a war on 30 years ago when there was still a Republic of Vietnam. Southeast Asia is almost forgotten these days amidst the conflicts in the Middle East. But that's not the real reason for my writing this post...

When I was growing up there I remember being taken to school by our family chauffeur via motorcycle. The scene is hard to imagine these days. In my mind's eye I could still see this sea of motorcycles, bicycles and rickshaws intertwined to get to their destinations from the rear seat of our 1967 Honda S65 motorcycle. Vietnam was a poor country then but now it's very different. I've recently seen pictures of SUVs, sports cars, etc., in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). There are still motorcycles and mopeds around but the communist government is trying to change all that (rickshaws are completely gone). I guess it's part of their progress.



At the moment I have no desire to revisit the place of my origin (although I have a lot of relatives there), but if I do I would love to bring my BMW F650GS motorcycle to tour the central coast from Phan Rang to Nha Trang.

Meanwhile, for us here in America there seems to be change coming also but it seems a reversal. Could Vietnam be heading towards automobiles and excess as we are contracting because of our economy, moving towards conservation and more motorcycles? Or is it because we crave freedom? I hope it's the latter.