Permit for entering Indonesia by motorbike
 

Several travelers reported that you need a "Permit for entering Indonesia by motorbike" which is - as it seems - a letter from the Indonesian Transportation Department (?) in English (?) stating you are allowed to use your (big) motorbike in Indonesia.

I asked about this at the Indonesian consulate in Penang today and after some confusion one of the stuff confirmed me the need for the permit: "you need if you enter with big cc motorbike". She referred me to the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur as "we are not authorized to issue this". I tried to call the embassy in KL - so far with no result, nobody is answering the phone and the answering machines speak Bahasa.

I contacted Cakra Shipping in Penang (they're organizing bike transports from Butterworth to Belawan and I will ship with them) and asked about this. Their statement was pretty clear "all of our customers needed only CPD". So I have to assume that this permit is not needed when entering Indonesia in Belawan.

Nevertheless I'd like to get a bit more info about this permit. I heard of travelers having been asked about this permit with different results, some being allowed in after some negotiations, some being rejected.

Sure this is something everyone who wants to enter Indonesia on motorbike has to consider. Can you guys provide more informations on this? Did anyone ever manage to get the permit? How? Anyone ever been asked about this in Belawan? Anyone being rejected because of this anywhere in Indonesia? Anyone being asked and nonetheless being allowed? How did you manage it?

Thanks & Safe Rides, Jiri

This "permit" seems to be demanded only by customs in Dumai. Read here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ia-to-oz-24932
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ant-info-23686
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ndonesia-23687

Hi beddhist

Yes, Casalindas story, funny to imagine how she got the bike on that speed ferry ;-)

This (Dumai) is one place were we know that at least back in 2006 they asked for that permit. I know of at least one more occasion and that was June 2008 on Timor. Claudio/Globetrotter and Ruth, coming from Dilli, were asked but could somehow talk them selfs out of the whole thing.

As Timor is quite a bit down the road from Dumai it seems that this permit is known all over the country, even the staff in Penang consulate knew about it. There's also some reports around on the net from different sources mentioning the permit (eg here COUNTRY: INDONESIA by MOTORCYCLE. MOTORCYCLING IN INDONESIA. MOTORCYCLE TRIPS BY MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURERS). I also read a story somewhere of a bike been stuck on Jawa (?) because of this.

To me it seems this is not only a "Dumai-thing". Guess they will not ask me for this in Belawan, unless they change the rules :-) But nevertheless, maybe someone has more to report?

Thnx, Jiri

Hey Jiri

We have just travelled through Indonesia.
We started from Dili and entered Indonesian Timor at Motoain, then went through Lembata, Flores, Sumbawa, Lombok, Bali, Jawa and Sumatra.
We were stopped by police a total of 4-5times throughout our 2month tour there and were never asked about this permit.
Some police were adimant that we needed Indonesian registration but once I explained the CPD everything was sweet.
We are on Penang too at the moment. We are staying at Star Lodge on Jalan Muntri, come by aand have a chat if you have time.

We were unable to get our tiny bike on the speedboat ferry from Belawan to Penang. We tried for a good 5hours talking to about 20different people but it was a definate no go on all accounts. Would have been great if we could have.

We used Cakra Shipping to clear our bike in Butterworth. Mr Lim helped us out and was a genuine nice guy. The price of freight was higher than I expected though.

Nathan and Aki

(just rereading: our bike is a small CT 110 postiebike so...)

Hey AussieNat

As it seems that permit only applies for big cc bikes (whatever that means for the Indonesian Transportation Department) so I guess not a prob with your 110cc. But good to hear you came through smoothly anyway ;-)

Looks like you guys are 50m from me, though it's a 5 mins walk around the block. Me on Lebuh Chulia, E&A Budget Hotel. I'll try if you in a bit later or tomorrow, else if you come by Lebuh Chulia go to the reception of E&A Budget Hotel and point to the KTM standing outside, they will know :-)

Or send me a message to 0164952625. I'll be in Penang for another week

See ya later, Jiri

Hi All. Short update on the situation in Belawan: There's definitely no need for this permit in Belawan as of September 2008. No one even mentioned it (but of course I did not ask the customs about it ;-).

Cheers, Jiri