HANOI, VIETNAM - NOVEMBER 02: Pham Ngoc Thach, 27 - a Minsk motorcycle enthusiast turned into professional engineer, fine-tunes his own Minsk motorcycle in preparation for an off-road tournament that weekend on November 2, 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam. A new generation of Vietnamese have started to ply the roads across Vietnam on the Soviet-era Minsk motorcycle, a smoke-belching dirt bike that was introduced by the USSR in the 1950s. Despite being known for breaking down regularly, the retro looking motorcycle is still favored among Vietnamese students with its economical cost and ability to customize. Costing between $300-$400USD for a well running two-strokes engine motorbike, some riders further modify the Soviet-era relic during off-road races. The primitive Minsk motorbikes have been known to be a reminder of Soviet's influence in Vietnam decades ago, and often nicknamed by Vietnamese at far-flung villages as "buffaloes." (Photo by Linh Pham/Getty Images)