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Big bike rental guide in bali

Unlike scooter rental, which is commonly used among locals and tourists, motorcycle rental is for those, who cannot imagine their life without a bike.

Bali strongly differs in traffic character not only from Europe or the States, but it is also not similar to other cities of Asia. First of all, traffic here is right-handed and nobody exceeds the speed limit. One can seldom see a car or a motorbike driving faster, than 80 km/h. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are very rare.

Low speed is rather a feature of mentality, if you can say so. Balians will do everything very slowly – slowly get in the traffic, slowly accelerate. For example, leaving the alley and turning to a busy street, a local will not try to switch lanes quickly or get into a empty space in traffic. He or she will gradually squeeze in traffic, until nobody can ignore it.

The second feature is a huge number of scooters and a lot of tourists. They fuss around on the roads without letting anyone drive faster than the traffic. They won’t let you pick up speed.

The third feature is the roads themselves – usually narrow – one or two lanes maximum. There are, of course, a few big roads, I will call them “federal”, but they connect the districts, and the local roads are all overloaded and completely narrow. But try riding a motorbike on these “federal” roads and you can feel all the thrill, see landscapes, volcanoes, fields. They’re good, smooth and of high-quality. Traffic lights are rare. The most pleasant road of all is from Sanur to Amed – there are two lanes in each direction, few cars and motorbikes, almost no traffic lights and incredible views.

The fourth feature is small trucks, but big trucks is even more trouble :). Trucks are the most active participants in the traffic. They try to dominate the road and behave brazenly towards other traffic participants.

On Bali, as in some other regions of Asia, there is such a feature of the movement, or, I would say, an unspoken rule: “The bigger you are – the more traffic rights you have.” For example, if you drive a big bus – you can even go into the opposite traffic flow and wait for light-weight cars and motorbikes to move to the side of the road and give you an opportunity to overtake.

“I asked what I could write about in this article, that would be important and interesting. The most popular answer was options (bikes, photos, prices, contacts). So, this is where I start.”

What motorbikes you can rent on Bali?

In general, you can find everything.

But, sometimes, in order to find the proper option, you’ll need to wait and search. It is easy to rent a scooter, but motorbike rental takes time.

“Everyone rides scooters on Bali, because it is cheap”

Usually, motorbikes are rented out by foreigners, less often – locals, who have 1 or 2, rarely 5 bikes. And often most bikes have already been rented. Sometimes you can’t find a suitable motorbike at all.

Another feature is that there is no centralized service on the island, something like AirBnb for motorbikes, so you can see offers from bike owners, compare and contact them. You have to go to groups on Facebook, ask locals and owners.

On getbike, we’ve decided to work in that direction and already posted some bike owners with contacts. We are planning to do a site, where owners can post their bikes with descriptions.

Mostly there’s no insurance on Bali

There’s no official insurance, like we are used to. Earlier, insurance companies insured motorbikes which were rented, but stopped. I think that it is connected with a large number of set-ups and frauds. Most likely, private owners will not give you any insurance at all. They can’t afford it.

However, there are several large enough companies, which offer a certain insurance, but then the price for the bike increases almost twice. Moreover, such companies have no motorbikes, only scooters.

Most likely, before renting, you’ll agree that if something happens, you pay the damage of the motorcycle. And, unlike scooters, the sum can be huge. But everything is very cheap on Bali… therefore, the price tag for repairs will be much lower, than in Europe, Russia or the States, or even lower, than in Thailand.

What to do if you got into an accident or damaged the motorbike?

In case of an accident or fall, I recommend to contact the owner of the bike immediately, to tell him everything, perhaps, he will help to resolve questions with other participants of the accident.

If you have a local acquaintance, who can come to the rescue, it’s more likely that things will be easier. Otherwise, you may also be taken to the police and ordered to pay for the damage of other accident participants, even if you’re not guilty.

“Will I be asked to pay more, than the repair price?”

As for the owners, they are likely to ask you for an amount exceeding the cost of repair. They lose time, they need to take them to work-shop and pick them up. All these are the hassles for which they also expect to receive compensation. So you can boldly discuss the cost, within reasonable limits, of course.

Also, it’s not common to leave a cash or passport bail on Bali. Although, if you rent a motorbike, you may be asked to leave $100-500 as bail. According to the owners, it disciplines those who rent, and I think I will agree with that.

“Can I be prohibited to leave the country, if don’t return the motorbike or refuse to pay for repairs?”

Well, if I didn’t leave a bail or a passport, dropped a bike or had an accident, then maybe I should just leave the bike and pay nothing. Of course, it’s up to you to decide, but I personally believe that you have to take the responsibility. Owners have a proven remedy for this – they go to the migration service, which doesn’t release the tourist on departure if there is a violation or debt. This has serious consequences.

But, as I wrote above, such cases are extremely rare, and those who rent motorbikes tend to behave decently and responsibly. The owner, if he sees your decent attitude, will meet you halfway and will not be harsh with repair price.

Another helmet question. It is very fragile, glass (visor) can be easily scratched. As a rule, motorbikes are more expensive and so are the helmets. You shouldn’t lose it or break it – you’ll have to pay for the purchase of a new one. But even the most fancy helmets are cheap by Russian standards. For example, a good helmet with a hinged jaw can cost only 2000-3000 rubles.

Helmets are often stolen on the island, so you always have to take them with you.

Strapping it to the bike won’t help! Even the oldest and cheapest helmets can be stolen.

“One day my helmet was stolen, it was one of the simplest, the price was about 700 rubles for a new one. And thieves hung their own helmet on the mirror instead of mine. They just renewed the helmet.”

Medical insurance is mandatory. It is mandatory not in the sense, that you will not be given a bike, but in the sense that medicine on Bali is good, but very expensive. And it’s better to know that in any case, you’ll be provided with quality treatment. Insurances aren’t expensive now, you can buy one for 5 thousand rubles. http://partners.cherehapa.ru?ref=084236299b9eed1ebbcdfef2a54edc9dbb4f423a

That’s Bali!

Where are the gas stations and what fuel to use?

Fueling a motorbike could bring even an experienced motorcyclist to a standstill. The thing is, Bali doesn’t have the usual gasoline brands. Only one state oil company, Pertamina, operates on the island.

Fuel prices (as of February 2019)

Pertalite – the same as Regular fuel. Price is 7.650

Pertamax – the same as Regular fuel. Price is 9.850

Pertamax plus – the same as Mid-grade fuel. Price is 10.500

Pertamax Turbo – the same as Premium fuel. Price is 11.200

Premium – the same as Unleaded fuel. Price is 7000. I don’t recommend to use it at all.

I recommend to use only Pertamax plus or Pertamax Turbo.

It’s important to know that gas stations start closing up at 10 in the evening. At midnight they are all closed.

Fueling from a bottle

Bottled gas on Bali

Almost everywhere on Bali you can find bottled gasoline, the cost is bigger than at a gas station. Typically, the bottles are filled with Pertalite. They say, it’s still often diluted. So I recommend filling up only at big gas stations.

Attitude of local police

To drive a motorcycle you need international driving liсense. If you have the international license, you and your passenger have helmets, you don’t need to think about the police. You won’t have any problems with it.

On Bali you can be fined only for driving without your license or without helmets.

In Indonesia, the authorities are aware of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Since 2011, driving license obtained in the United States, the European Union and other signatory countries have been considered national and are invalid in this territory. Although if you have patience and time, you can try to prove the opposite – it depends on your skills.

Police raids

Local police raid

The police are constantly carrying out raids, they’re called checkpoints. They practically block the whole road. Sometimes it’s 2 or 3 motorcyclists. They can also be big woth 20-30 police officers. They stop everyone, locals and tourists – locals are stopped randomly, but they stop every tourist.

For any violation there is a payment – 50,000 rupees. It’s a standard. But it depends which category the officer will assign you to.

You are not stopped for drinking, speeding and petty violations. But they can suddenly start to do so. Or they can stop you and demand to pay a fine. Then you should offer them 50,000 rupees.

Don’t ever give a motorcycle document and a license to a cop. After that, you will no longer be able to negotiate the amount of the fine. He’ll just put them in his pocket, his glove box or anywhere else and say, that the fine is a million, so he will return them when you pay.

Raids tend to happen in the same places, so if you live in the same place, over time you will know all of them and avoid. Even if you’re doing well, try to get around them.

Q&A

What to do if you’re stopped by a police officer?

Behave normally, calmly and respectfully. If everything is okay with the documents and you are wearing a helmet, you will be released immediately and they’ll wish you a safe trip.

When you show your license – 90% of cops “read” them without even turning them over, just a demonstration of it completely repels their interest in you!

It often happens that after stopping, you silently open the glove box, pull out the documents, and the police officer, even without looking, waves you to go.

If something is wrong, it is your fault, so behave politely, but be confident, otherwise you will be charged with a big fine.

Can I drive with a Thailand License? One cannot do this according to the law, but does the police fall for that?

International Thailand driving license are not valid in Indonesia, but ordinary Thailand license is. I was told, that Thailand license is valid in 10 Asian countries and Indonesia was among those 10.

Thailand temporary license works, though legally it shouldn’t. I was stopped twice by the police, showed them this license and everything went smoothly.

And what about the Ukranian driving license?

Ukranian license is not valid, you need to have an international license (get it in Ukraine).

Where can I buy a helmet?

At first, I used rental helmets, but then I started buying them. As I already wrote, they are quite inexpensive here and for 1000-2000 rubles you can get a good one.

Main locations:

– Careful supermarket on the 3rd floor (Kuta)

– Harleys supermarket (Nusa Dua)

– Denpasar (street are full of helmets for sale)

In the end, you can sell it or give it to the bike owner for free, he will be pleased. s you can buy a good and new one.