tropical bikes

[Ade B]

Some 2 & 3 wheel related snaps from my recent trip to Indonesia:



Working Vespa fuel tender in Brestagi, Toba region North Sumatra (they sell premixed oil/petrol to fellow scooter riders from the roadside). Possible MOT failure due to non working horn.




bumped into a South Sumatran Scooter club on a 5 day round trip to a scooter rally up the road on the Lake Toba ferry - serious miles on eyewatering roads. They knew more about my Vespa than I did... (not difficult when I think about it..)




Vespa chopper military stylee - particularly like the rocket launchers and wing mirrors.




it will catch on in LA




From left to right, other half, brother in law and mate on our first stab at off roading in the hills around Bandung, Java.



Me on the soft stuff after falling off on the hard stuff... Note protective gear . Green laning is the new craze in Bandung, the tracks and scenery are fantastic - the bike was a yamaha 125 stroker with a monster rear sprocket which made 1st gear hilarious - big respect to people who can control bigger bikes in the slippery stuff.. We had a hoot, sweat buckets and ached for days afterwards.



Swamped plod bikes outside football match in Bandung (match abandoned due to inclement weather).

We were there for 18 days, visited North Sumatra, Batam, Bintan, Java and Kualar Lumpur for a night - North Sumatra (on Lake Toba) was amazing. Spent a few days chilling on a beach in Bintan and caught up with family in Bandung. Cracking trip

Next trip plan is to bike across Java from Bandung to Lombok via Bali - will take some kit this time.

Now back to work

Ade.

[Jason M]

What a fantastic tip there Ade - I'd love to get out there one day. Maybe you should organise a boxertix asian adventure eh! I've ridden through Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand on the S but I fancy a bit of a journey on some more 'challenging' roads and machines like those. That would be a right larf providing no hospital attention became necessary

[Ade B]

Maybe you should organise a boxertix asian adventure

It occurred to me, and people would be welcome to tag along as my wife is a native and consequently I get a guide/translator and reduced prices.... Am a bit wary of organising something official though as liability could be an issue if anything went wrong + people's expectations of acceptable sanitation, roads and other road users might be a bit challenged not to mention the local delicacies...

Will post any developments as at the mo' its more of an idea than a reality but it will happen..

Ade

[Jason M]

Maybe you should organise a boxertix asian adventure

It occurred to me, and people would be welcome to tag along as my wife is a native and consequently I get a guide/translator and reduced prices.... Am a bit wary of organising something official though as liability could be an issue if anything went wrong + people's expectations of acceptable sanitation, roads and other road users might be a bit challenged not to mention the local delicacies...

Will post any developments as at the mo' its more of an idea than a reality but it will happen..

Ade

Those things only make it better IMHO - why go so far and expect it to be like home? I'd certainly be interested at the very least

[Ade B]

Watch this space....

How come you had your S so far east in the first place? We're you based in Singapore - its a long way to ride from Blighty

The roads in Indonesia vary from smooth motorway (where bikes are not allowed) to rutted unsurfaced tracks - anything bigger than 200cc would be overkill and probably impossible to find locally...

Ade

[Jason M]

Watch this space....

How come you had your S so far east in the first place? We're you based in Singapore - its a long way to ride from Blighty Ade

I went round the world on it in 2002 - 32k in 3 months. That was the Asian leg inbetween Australia and India. Since then it's been back accross to the states to go NY/Vancouver and back, then last year over to the Black Sea and back. She gets round a bit my lovely old girl. Its about time she was retired really but I see her in the garage and like an old dog, you know she still likes a nice long walk cos she thinks she is still young!

Jason

[Ade B]

most impressive, I bet you've got some stories..

am in discussion with wife re next trip over there - next year is big family birthdays so will have to coordinate with umpteen family members...

the plan would be to fly to Jakarta, pick up bikes in Bandung and ride along the south coast with detours to pick up sights along the way (Borobudor, Perambanan, Mt. Bromo etc.) cross on the ferry to Bali, chill for a few days, maybe get the ferry to Lombok. Not sure how long this will take as I'm currently in two minds as to whether a round trip is preferable to one way as the cost of getting someone to van the bikes back would not be prohibitive (as over here) and the north Java road is full of psychotic long distance bus drivers who would happily run you under an oxcart without blinking...

We got flights for £400 each this year (inc. tax) which were a bargain and I reckon the trip and associated RnR and family would need to be at least 2 weeks to make it worth the schlep. Plus there is breaking down/ getting lost/ tropical belly issues to programme in...

for the last trip we hired a car in North Sumatra and flew everywhere else - we've hired scooters there before (for about £3 per day!) in Toraja, Sulawesi but I imagine that bigger bikes (can't decide between a 125 crosser or a 200cc bandit look alike) will be quite a bit more.

All good fun

Ade