Buying a bike in Jakarta 🛵💨

After I wasn't able to take the new highspeed train (it's name really is "Whoosh"! 😅), I spontaneously decided to go further east by motorbike. At least Java has good, well kept roads, I've seen, and the freedom of going around by bike is awesome. 🤩
Many travellers say it's common and easy to do it in Vietnam, buy a bike in the north, sell it in the south. So why shouldn't it be possible in Indonesia? 🤔
After going to some bike shops, I realized it's not that easy and I have to be careful, as prices seemed to be quite high.
Luckily I told Andi (the businessman from Kalimantan I've met in the ferry to Java) what I'm planning. His answer was: "Hey, Im your man, my hobby is buying and selling used cars!" 😅
Took him 5 minutes to figure out that there's a bike auction tomorrow, we'll find a bike for a good price, there. 😎
Unbelievable amount of bikes (>730 motorbikes if all types) to see. Took me 3hrs to spot out 8 potential candidates, including my maximum prices, so there will be a small profit (or at least no loss), when selling it on Bali (or somewhere else).
As soon as I met one of the bike dealers, I've visited the day before, at the auction, I was sure that this is the right place to buy a bike. 😬
Bidding was funny, first two bikes went away faster as I was able to react. 😅🙈
Third of my candidates went to a way too high price after 30seconds, but a nice, quite new, Yamaha Gear scooter was my chance. Slow bidding, not many people interested, so after only a few biddings, it was mine! 🥳😎
Paperwork took some time, Andi and I had to walk to a bank office nearby. I took 12 million cash from the ATM (took me 10 withdrawals, 50.000 notes, unfortunately forgot to take a pic of that huge pile of money 🙈), he did the money transfer to the auction's office, and I got my bike and the key. 😬
Felt a little bit like the moment I bought my first vehicle in Austria, without understanding anything of the language... 😅🤣
Going to a helmet shop with Andi first and then saying goodbye to him, thanking him for the huge efforts he took to help me!
Next stop at a Yamaha garage, getting some fresh oil for my bike's engine and, of course, getting to a tuning shop, getting a smartphone-mount for it, so everything was set up properly. 😬
My first own ride on a bike on Jakarta's confusing streets with it's crazy traffic was a little bit scary, but got used to it soon. 😎🛵💨
Our traffic would improve massively, if we would stick to these traffic habits in Austria! 🤗
Looking forward to exploring Indonesia by bike, from now on! 🤩Read more