Customer stories
Share your Moto Indo memories and comments. What were your favorite ride destinations? Do you like the motorcycle? What suggestions do you have to make the experience better?
(feature photo by Andrew Gasbarri, riding two-up Moto Indo adventure to Moyo, Indonesia)
My friend Max and I had decided to meet up in Indonesia for a month trip not really knowing exactly what we wanted to do. After getting in touch with Colin we planned a 1 month bike tour through the heart of Java, from Jakarta to Bali. Colin was very helpful in helping us organise our trip with MotoIndo, and made the decision to hire bikes a lot less stressful than with other companies. Ms Erwin was also incredibly helpful throughout the entirety of our journey and we can’t thank her enough for her hospitality in Jember.
Max and I cant recommend MotoIndo enough. The ease of both picking up the bikes and dropping them off eased preliminary nerves when arriving into a country we’d never visited before. Good value for money, great support from staff and management and a fantastic country to explore. Huge thanks for making our trip as amazing as it was. Thank you Colin!
Jack and Max
Jack and Max, thanks for posting and thanks for the positive feedback. I wanted to say to visitors on this page (and there are a lot) – these two young guys were out there having a great adventure ride that they will surely be talking about for the rest of their lives. It does not have to cost a crazy amount of money and you don’t have to put your life on hold for years. If you can ride a motorcycle, adventure awaits you…
In March 2023 I did a “reccie” to the islands of Solor, Lembata and Adonara. They are all close to Larantuka, at the southern tip of Flores. I went with a tour guide to get the best information about ferry departures and routes, so that we could travel to the three islands with minimum wasted time, e.g. not turn up at the wrong ferry wharf, or on the wrong day. I travelled for nearly a week without seeing another Western person, so this is really authentic Indonesia, beautiful scenery and challenging volcano hikes. Solor and Adonara have *one* homestay each, Lembata has 2 hotels and a resort. The trip was a great success and I highly recommend it to Moto Indo customers, but ask first and travel with a plan! Especially make sure you’ve got somewhere to stay before committing to an island 🙂
First of all, big up for the team for delivering a bike to Yogyakarta, what is not their standard location.
We used a 225 Scorpio.
We went over 1500km through main roads and some sandy papaya fields (thank you Google).
The bike is comfortable enough for two people and the rack holds 2 60l backpacks well (however it could be a bit wider, for more support).
The bike rides well on the hilly areas, the brakes were really good, so was the suspension.
Keep in mind 225 means you move at 5km/h when it’s very steep 😉
The Scorpio could use some maintenance, as there are some minor issues, like loose screws, not working speedometer etc – it doesn’t affect the comfort and safety tho.
One thing that was bad, was the right mirror, which was loose and I couldn’t tighten it, the screw must’ve been twisted. You really need mirrors in Indonesia 🙂
Other than that, truly satisfied about the experience and the responsiveness of the team.
Being there on your own machine, makes it a memorable experience.
I hired a motorbike and rode from Yogyakarta to Maumere and I would like to thank Moto Indo making everything very easy. It was a fantastic journey and the highlight of my 4 month trip to SE Asia. Colin, Erwin and Yani all made my trip easy and fun. My only regret is a month wasn’t long enough 🙂. I wanted an adventure and I had a great adventure. I will definitely go back to Indonesia to explore more of this great country and I will definitely go back to Moto Indo for any motorbike I want.
I rented a Vario 125 from Moto Indo and drove it over the course of about 2.5 weeks from Jakarta to Bali, where i returned it. Colin and the rest of the crew were super helpful and responsive, and I had decided to do this pretty last minute (within a week) and they made it happen, getting me a Motorcycle to pick up in Jakarta on pretty short notice. Bike was in great shape and ran well, including up some very steep hills en route to Mt Bromo and Mt Ijen. Staff was super helpful whenever I had any questions, was an absolutely beautiful way to see this part of Indonesia. Would highly recommend renting from these folks, it was an awesome way to see Indonesia, sometime in the future I will continue going eastwards to see the rest of this gorgeous country. Thanks!
Having traveled the world on motorcycles I’ve had my share in dealing with bike rentals. MotoIndo is a 5 star experience.
Me and my partner traveled for 6 weeks from Jakarta to Lombok and the highlights are endless. Traveling through Indonesia you will meet some of the friendliest and most genuine people. You will see breathtaking sceneries, ride som really cool roads and indulge yourself with local cuisine.
The bike was in really good condition and handled the steep volcanic hills with two people and luggage like a dream. In case you ever need some assistance Colin and his team always have your back. Especially the Coordinator Erwin. She helped us in every way possible whenever we got “stuck” or had an issue with anything.
If you want to book your next adventure this is the one!
What an amazing experience. Rented a bike from Bali ending in Flores Island for just shy of 3 weeks.
Had an extremely good experience dealing with and using Moto Indo! Was constantly being checked on by Erwin to ensure my trip was going comfortably. Colin was super fast in replies to any questions, also very flexible and helpful in all my different adjustments I made to my trip. It made it much more enjoyable having the flexibility to change my itinerary as different plans came up. The bike itself was in excellent condition I did not have a single issue with it at all! Drop off and pick up was easily arranged to suit my needs. Would definitely recommend using Moto Indo if you are planning a one way Journey through Indonesia.
The trip itself was wonderful, there is so much to do and see along the way. Best thing about one way rental is you can explore way further without having to worry about the trip back which can add an extra week or more of pointless travel time to your journey! It is a really special way to see the country as it feels a lot more intimate and beautiful from a motorbike, the views are mind-blowing on the road! If adventure is what you seek, go ahead and give this a try!
Thanks again for the great service and awesome bike rental, can’t wait for the next one!!
We rented a Yamaha Scorpio and rode from Bali to Flores over 3 weeks. The bike was in great condition and rode well with 2 people on it. We had a great time and would highly recommend MotoIndo to hire a bike. Great communication and we enjoyed reading Colin’s blog to get an idea of what the travel would be like. Colin also gave us lots of good advice before we went especially regarding the ferry crossings.
My mate and I hired two bikes from Colin for three weeks and we had such a great time exploring Bali, Nusa Penida and Lombok.
Colin was incredibly helpful and easy to communicate with, he answered any questions we had and even helped out with the ferries between islands.
The bikes were great, it was so good to have a bike that had decent clearance, manual gearing and soft enough suspension to allow for longer rides. We made good use of the luggage racks on the back of the bike too.
During our time with the bikes, we traveled a loop around Nusa Penida, a loop around Lombok, as well as taking the saddle road through the middle and still had time to relax in Bali for a few days. We spent so many hours every day exploring dirt paths that lead to amazing cliff waterfalls to rocky hill climbs that end in a hidden waterfall, it was really incredible and made the trip super memorable.
I couldn’t recommend motoindo more if you want an adventure on bikes that are going to let you down.
If you’re looking at this web site you are obviously thinking about hiring a motorcycle for your next Indonesian adventure – my name is Andrew and a couple months back I was doing the same homework, this is my story.
I’ve been hiring motorcycles to take me on roads less travelled for some 30 years and I can happily post this message to say Moto Indo is a good place to start with organising the 2 wheels you need.
Although Moto Indo’s “point of difference” in the motorcycle rental market is one way hires, they are also competitive for round trips across islands. My wife and I started in Bali and finished in Bali but in between rode the islands of Penida, Lombok, Sumbawa and Moyo. I was familiar with these islands back in the 1990’s having spent several years working in Indonesia and wanted to revisit them again, on two wheels, to see the change that time and progress brings to what was then destinations of little interest to tourists.
With the aid of Google Maps travelling Indonesia is easy to navigate so I recommend when you arrive drop into one of the numerous outlets that sell Telkomsel sim cards and buy one with enough data to last your trip. If you find part way round you have lost Google Maps the chances are you have used up your data so just call into any shop selling Telkomsel and buy a top up.
Riding these island now is not such a big deal as there are regular ferries to transport you and your motorcycle across water and there’s
a range of accommodation to cater for budgets large and small. The advantage of having your own wheels becomes very apparent when you can jump on your motorcycle and ride off the ferry and be on your way to the next destination without having to hustle up information on transport or wait for transport to arrive.
If you are travelling in the high season and you fit into the fussy type, I’d suggest you jump online and do some pre-booking for your accommodation which also requires some minimal homework on the route you might want to take and the time to travel, taking into account ferry schedules. If you’re more the lay back type that’s not so precious and happy to “wing it” there’s enough options to cover all the necessities, so no need to be too concerned.
Handy tips to give you a head start.
A brief run down on ferries capable of taking motorcycles:
Padang Bai, Bali to Lembar Lombok ferries (the slow RoRo ferry) leaves approx. every hour, the duration is approx. 4hrs and the cost for 2 x passengers + 1 motorcycle is IDR110k. (Make sure you have an International license as it is likely that Police will ask for this when entering the Port).
The ferry from Kayangan Port Lombok to Poto Tano Sumbawa leaves every couple hours, the duration is 1.5hrs and the cost for 2 x passengers + 1 motorcycle is IDR50k.
The public ferry from Sumbawa Besar to Moyo Island leaves once a day at approx. 11:00am, there is only 1 ferry which can randomly depart from either of 2 locations, Muara Kali Port at Labuan Sumbawa, which is in town, or from Panti Goa which is a 15min ride out of town. My hot tip is to ride to Muara Kali early and ask which of the 2 locations is the ferry departing from – have your translation ready as you may not find anyone speaking English. The ferry resembles something more like a refugee boat, it is only small but they will man handle your motorcycle on board and lash it to a post, the duration is 2hrs and the cost can vary (depending on your level of Bahasa Indonesian) from IDR100k – 200k for 2 x passengers + 1 motorcycle. The return ferry from Moyo to Sumbawa Besar departs at 7:00am daily.
The ferry from Padang Bai to Penida is a once a day service departing around midday although this can vary so get there no later than 11:00am to buy your ticket – look for the yellow ferry, duration approx. 1.5hr. There is currently no ferry capable a taking your motorcycle direct from Penida to Lombok or vice versa. Your only option is Padang Bai to Penida return.
Best locations and accommodation:
In the early 1990’s Senggigi Lombok was the only place that had any tourist industry, now days it’s a bit of an old “has been”, Kuta in the South is where it all happens, it has the beaches, bars, numerous accommodation and food outlets.
On Sumbawa, Maluk is a very nice little town in a good location with great beach options and a waterfall close by – check out Merdeka House for a place to stay. Another location worth visiting on Sumbawa is Sekongkang – check out Castaway Surf Retreat.
If you’re travelling to Moyo you’ll likely need a nights accommodation in Sumbawa Besar, Pondok Daun Homestay has AC, reasonably priced at IDR270k for a double room and close to the Ports.
On Moyo Island the best food by far is at Davi Homestay – Bapak Mahindra’s wife is a legend in the kitchen, the accommodation is basic but ok. Bapak Mahindra can also wise you up on directions to beaches and waterfalls. If you want accommodation with air conditioning you’ll only get it at night as power on the island comes on in the late evenings and switches off early morning, Maryan Moyo Bungalows are comfortable with AC but the food is average.
On Penida the better beaches require some fitness to get to and are best tackled early morning in the cooler part of the day. Kelingking, Atuh and Diamond are the go to beaches. Atuh and Diamond are separated by a headland with numerous steps to negotiate. All mentioned beaches have a long steep decent to the water but well worth the effort.
In summary: I will definitely be in touch with Colin from Moto Indo to hire a motorcycle from him again, the overall condition of the bike was good, their communication excellent and the local Moto Indo team at their Bali warehouse in Gianyar second to none, the most helpful people you will find. I was dropping my motorcycle back to on a Sunday which was an over site on my part as it is a Public Holiday however it made little difference, I informed Mr. Gusti from Moto Indo. of my plans and he was there waiting at the drop off address and kindly organised Grab transport to take me back to my accommodation in Legian. Moto Indo get a 10 out of 10 for service.
Find included with this post some happy snaps of my trip.
I hope you found this helpful, be careful and keep it on 2 wheels.
I have rented a motorcycle for 5 weeks from Jakarta to Bali and I could tell that this was the best trip I have ever had. I rode Java in 2 weeks and then Bali/Lombok and surrounded islands for another 3 weeks. I have been traveling in Southeast Asia and other continents and I would say that it is incredible how much Indonesia has to offer. Nature is incredible with the superb mountains. Locals are super nice and polite and always would want to chat with me when I stop somewhere. If I stop somewhere people would come and ask if I got lost.
The guys that rent these motorcycles are amazing. Top customer service! Still thanking them for this. Colin would always ask if I was ok on the road or if there are any issues with the motorcycle. Only at the end of the trip in Bali, the starter started to work a bit hard and I was offered to switch the motorbike straight away.
If you are looking for your next big trip I would certainly recommend to travel from Jakarta to Bali. Visit Lombok and Gili islands, fly to Flores and visit Komodo/Padarar islands. This is my Indonesia trip video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_yRU4c-ES4
By this time this is the only company in Indonesia that allows to rent and pick up the motorbike in one place an leave it in the other place. I would really recommend renting a motorbike like I did, rather than buy one which you can’t own at the end of the day.
Safe ride!
Amazing trip around Giava and Bali. The possibility to keep the motorbike in one town and to return in another one is really convenient and allows you not to waste time bringing it back.
Colin was always helpful and organized everything as I asked him.
I really recommend Moto Indo.
Ride safe, ride far!
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