Hi all,

I've booked a flight to Denpasar, Bali and will be renting a motorcycle for 22 days. From Bali I'm heading to Lombok, Sumbawa (HU meeting May 18 to 21) and most likely on to Flores and then back to Bali.

I have found plenty of places online which rent scooters and other bikes on Bali but almost none allow their bikes to be taken off the island of Bali. Then I came across one promising looking outfit which allows their bikes off the island and even kits them out for touring.

I have a quote of USD 20.50/day ($16 for the bike and $4.50 for insurance) for a Kawasaki KLX 150 from Kris at Motor Adventure Bali. I know that I can get a little scooter for much less money but I'm more interested in a proper bike since I extensively ride a BMW F650GS at home.

It comes with luggage racks, electronics holder and USB port. He tells me they have a small service point on Flores.

So the questions are:

Does that sound like a reasonable deal for that class of bike?
They are supposedly 2016 models.

Is that bike fairly reliable?

Do any shorter riders have personal experience with the bike? I'm 168cm tall (5'5.5") and my BMW has a seat height of 780mm.

Does anyone have personal experience with Motor Adventure Bali?

Thanks for any advice.

...Michelle

Hi Michelle , I am going to try to get to that meeting myself . (I live in bali)

The Klx 150 is a small dual sport . If it was in The USA etc , you would market the bike for 16 year olds, as it has low power (but enough for here) and it is much smaller than the KLX 250 version..., which the 250cc would have been a THE far better bike . Even a 200cc Honda Tiger (road bike) would have been more comfy than a klx 150

I am 6'1" and 85kg and for me a klx 150 feels like a little kids toy with far too soft and spongy suspension that dips so much when i brake it nearly throws me over the handlebars..., but if your a lightweight you may have better luck.

If its a 2016 model though it should be very reliable though If it is a genuine 2016 bike the bikes number plate should expire in 2012 (plates last 5 years here before you have to get new ones) the month and year expiry are stamped on the plates.

If you are 5'5" then the bike should be very comfortable for you (except for the seat) to ride and handle .

You are the first person I have heard of who has pre-organised a bike online. The price does sound high and insurance is a myth - ie there is no insurance for a rental bike , only finance insurance for an owner to cover loan defaults to the bank - there is no insurance for a rental bike..., but I guess you dont need to haggle further .



Real story is this - you crash it , or it gets stolen - then you pay in full , and good luck arguing with angry locals and the cops who will back them and not you if things go bad as their bogus insurance wont hold up.

my advice is cover your ass - always use the steering lock when you park it - or better use a disc lock as well - better to be safe than sorry.

But you did get the price online and not on the street , and you are taking the bike off the island which if it breaks down is a real nightmare for and bike owner to retrieve the broken down bike - as they themselves will need to take many days from their work/ lives etc off to cross islands on ferries etc with a truck (all at great expense) just to sort the bike out if it runs into issues..., so thats the reason for the higher price.

Allow to days to get to sumbawa - it can be made in a day is you leave at dawn , but you wont get there till midnight and it'll be a stressful and tiring day .., better to break up the ride with an overnight stop in Lombok

Usually rental bikes are negotiated on the street here in Bali - you can wing it to other islands behind the rental owners back but just make sure you take full responsibility if you do upon yourself to either fix, or get the bike back safely at whatever expense to yourself.

Alternatively you can tell them your intentions and they will surely nego a higher price (as you have already done) but also make sure you get everything in writing regarding the rental and more importantly the written permission from the registered owner that they permit you to take it off the island.

Police checkpoints at ferry crossings will want to check this before you board the ferries , and will want to see your licence , passport, and the bikes original registration papers ..,

tip - keep RP50.000 (about US3.50) ready folded in a top pocket , and the very second you feel a police speech is about to begin (telling you that you have broken an imaginary rule etc ) just save yourself the lengthy sermon the hassles and very discretely slip him the 50,000 rupiah note , smile and say this is for you children's school (or similar) and your instantly on your way.

also bring lots of rope, those skinny bikes have no carrying capacity , and likely not even a tiny rack , so somehow you will need to lash your bag etc down onto the seat with the rope somehow.

Be careful in Bali on the bike , as it is a madhouse of crazy death defying traffic, but very relaxed once off the island to the east

cheers

Thanks for the info.

I toured the Dominican republic on a DR 125 and headed into the Cuban hills on a 49cc step through scooter. So I'm not too worried about the power.

At the time I posted I hadn't secured anything on line yet. But in the meantime I actually did go ahead and give them a deposit after recommendations from others who had rented from this outfit. When I really thought about it I almost had to laugh. The bike is already so inexpensive that the savings for a 22 day rental such as mine, if I were to negotiate it on the street, would have been no more than a half day's work for me. It's a small price to pay to be dealing with an outfit who actually encourages renters to take the bike off the island and kits them out with racks and tools and has a support agreement with someone in Labuanbajo. Of course everyone comes at it with a different approach, but I just can't be bothered. Put me in a hot, noisy, crowded place and all I want to do is get the bloody bike and ride into the countryside

I'm aware that the price is probably somewhat higher than what I could have gotten "on the street". But their prices for scooters are pretty much in line with what other's have told me they've gotten "on the street". So I'm not too worried about a few dollars a day. The bikes come with luggage racks and I always travel with a few bungee cords for my Ortlieb bags anyway.

I'm a big believer in honouring agreements. So taking a bike off the island behind the owner's back is out of the question for me. Do unto others ....

Thanks for all the caveats and tips about ferries, paperwork, traffic, etc. I have no intention of lingering on Bali and hope to spend almost all my time on Sumbawa and Flores. I'm picking up a bike on the 11th and will take a full week to get to Sumbawa Besar for the HU meeting, with lots of detours and exploring along the way. Hence the dual sport to avoid being limited to good roads only.

I hope not to have to bribe a cop but been there, done that in Nicaragua and life went on

Maybe we'll meet in Sumbawa Besar at the HU meeting.

Please don't give this advice to people. People like you spoil it for the next gringo.

Cheers




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Sounds like you have a great tour planed out ahead, It is great once you get out of Bali for riding , you actually get a chance to relax so much more on the bike and take in the scenery , the pace is slower 100 fold.

Sounds like your bike has your biggest concerns nicely covered too , and sounds worth the few extra dollars .., Salamat Jalan

So here's how it went.

I highly recommend Motor Adventure Bali. It's worth the extra cost for peace of mind. They are HU Bikers and they run their business for bikers.

Kris, the owner of Motor Adventure Bali picked me up at the airport (for a fee) and dropped me off at the little hotel right beside his shop. The bad news, which turned out to be good news, was that the KLX 150 which I was supposed to get was still on Sumba Island. So he set me up with a more powerful Honda CB150R with luggage rack, cell phone holder and tank bag instead. After seeing the KLX150 I was happy to have gotten this bike instead. My concerns about unpaved roads were unfounded since I almost never ended up on dirt roads anyway. He loaned me a free scooter and helmet for the first two days before I took delivery of the bike. He dropped the bike off the day before my rental was to start and I ended up bringing the bike back one day late. He didn't charge me any extra for this.

Even though the CB150R was more powerful and faster than about 90% of the bikes/scooters I encountered along the way, it was a little underpowered in the mountains but you can't really drive very fast on most of these roads anyway. On the flat stretches on Sumbawa and a few elsewhere I did manage to cruise comfortably at 80-90km/h whenever the road conditions permitted.

The bike was in top notch condition with only 4000km's on the odometer. The only issue I had was with the clutch needing to be adjusted half way through the trip. Just normal maintenance after a few thousand km's.

Kris, the German owner of Motor Adventure Bali basically "self-insures" the bikes. When you purchase the daily insurance you are covered for damage to the bike with a $300US deductible. The rest is covered by his built up fund from those who opt to purchase the insurance. Of course there is a certain level of trust required to buy into this system since this isn't underwritten by an actual insurance company and one has to trust that the agreement will be honoured by both sides. I felt quite comfortable with this after meeting Kris and some of his associates and a contract was signed.

Along the way I met others who had rented motorbikes and scooters for much less than I had paid. I'm sure most made their trip trouble free on these less costly bikes. Unfortunately some had "shit" as tires, one was broken down by the roadside and one, on top of having "shit" tires, also had its turn signals go out altogether, along with a piece of the rear view mirror missing. You get what you pay for.

Everyone has their own way of doing things and the amount of risk they're willing to accept. I have limited time and don't want to risk wasting a day or two trying to get a bike back on the road when I'm over a thousand km's away from the bike's owner. So I'll gladly pay more for peace of mind

All 6 ferry crossings were fairly smooth but the loading is almost comical to watch. It can take them 2 hours to load a ferry. We have ferries here that are more than twice the size and we load them in 15 to 20 minutes. Granted, we don't pile crates of produce, fish and bananas on the car deck either

I was only asked for the STNK (registration papers) once and that was coming off Lombok to Bali, on the Bali side. The officer was smiling, professional and only doing his job. Since my bike was properly registered and legit he thanked me and wished me selamat jalan.

Believe it or not, I was right at home and thoroughly enjoying driving in Bali and Denpasar. It may seem chaotic, well Ok it is, but there is a give and take which we don't really have back home. I once rubbed legs with another rider and once someone pulled out in front of me without looking and our mirrors touched. We both simultaneously apologized, smiled, adjusted our mirrors and moved on.

...Michelle

Great report, Michelle! Glad you're still getting out exploring, and glad you're reporting back with such clarity. Interesting that I've been sneaking short riding holidays in some of the same places--DR, Cuba, etc. I guess the options look similar from your side of the 49th parallel.

best,

Mark