Take these into consideration before jumping onto a scooter/motorbike in Indonesia and Thailand.
- An International Drivers Permit is required. To ride a scooter in Indonesia, you must carry an International Driving Permit (IDP) with you at all times as well as your Australian licence to validate your IDP.
- Ensure you have the correct licence. To legally ride a scooter in Bali, you must carry a motorbike licence in Australia. Without one, you are only legally permitted to ride a scooter that is 50CC and under. Bali tends to only hire out scooters that are 100CC and above.
- Travel insurance cover. Travel insurance companies will not cover you if you do not have your Australian motorbike licence (if you are riding over 50CC), not wearing a helmet, under the influence of alcohol or have not obtained the correct documentation such as an International Driving Permit.
My partner and I rode a scooter in Bali without an Australian motorbike licence. We were pulled over by police who demanded money for not having a motorbike licence stamped on our International Drivers Permit. We had to pay the fine. What we didn’t realise after was that we were never covered on our travel insurance policy for riding a scooter without a motorbike licence. If an accident was to happen, we would have been out of pocket by a lot of money.
