America is the land of the automobile, cars are part of the culture. In Indonesia motorbikes, particularly the low power variety rangng from 100cc-200cc have become part of the modern day culture.
People’s mentality surrounding cars and motorbikes varies greatly with culture and I find Indonesian people’s sometimes diametrically opposed to me. Renting my Honda Supra for 400,000rp per month, I leave it to the owner to maintain it and change the oil. Over the last couple of months the oil hasn’t been changed, which is rather unfortunate as I have ridden the bike to north, south, east and west Bali. Someone told me I should change the oil, to which I replied “If I want a bike to worry about I’ll but my own.”
Ask a local what they’d choose if they could have anything right now and most would say a new motorbike. The companies that supply the local market, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki have been extremely active in coming out with new sexy designs, tempting people to part with their precious rupiah. Financing means people can drive off with a new bike for less than the price of 3 months rental (sometimes handing the bike back in after 3 months), a situation which can prove to much to resist for many people.
Locals tend to take great pride in their new ride and will clean the thing religiously. My brother in law cleans my bike, not because I ask him but because he gets to use my parking lot and hose pipe for his own bike. The only down side to this is in his thoroughness, the drum brakes get full of water and don’t work for 48 hours.
Recently I had a discussion with a local about why I don’t seem to care about my motorbike. My point was it is a rental and a drive down Jl. Seminyak means a dirt-bath. Many expats will rent a junker just to get from A to B, realizing a flashy bike can create unwanted attention. This runs counter to local thinking, where your bike is a part of your identity, rather like a car for a Californian. At the moment I can’t give a lot of mental energy over to a rental scooter, maybe after living here for 10 years I’ll start to care.
