One of my favourite motorcycle vloggers, Freddie Dobbs, under took a 4.5 hour long journey from the southern part of Bali up to the northern coast.
The adventure took us viewers on an exciting ride through the various luscious green landscapes that Bali has to offer. Having been in Bali last year in August I missed out on taking up an exciting adventure such as this. As romantic as the adventure sounds, Freddie mentioned that the journey isn’t a short one. Whilst the ride is roughly less than 90km, the traffic in populous areas are dreadful. Is very easy to quickly point out that Indonesian traffic is terrible. The infrastructure and city design isn’t planned to accommodate growth, especially in Bali.
Once leaving the dense areas, out into the rural districts, Freddie mentions that the roads opens up and the asphalt delivers smooth riding.
Traveling up the mountain, they’ve encountered wild monkeys sitting beside the road. Most likely taking advantage of the locals and tourists feeding them whilst passing through.
Bike – Royal Enfield Classic 500
On this ride Freddie took a 2018 Royal Enfield Classic 500. It’s a 190kg classic looking motorcycle with 27 horsepower. The appeal for this bike is for it’s back-to-basics style and feeling. It has nothing special other than its charming character. The engine is a four-stroke 499cc single single-cylinder that’s air-cooled which really keeps things simple.
Conditions
In the video there seems to be times when the roads gets a bit tight and having a large bike would involve some heavy handling. Having experienced the traffic in Bali you’d want to avoid using a bike that has a lot of power. Powerful bikes tend to ride hot when riding slow, and Bali’s climate doesn’t favour a hot running bike. Small displacement bikes will run cooler and will handle better in slow traffic. I feel that most of the time when you’re on the saddle here, you’ll be riding in heavy traffic. Small lightweight bikes will definitely be the fun and a more obvious choice.
Difficulty: Easy
The roads itself look smooth and won’t present and challenges. It seems like an easy ride based off the conditions shown in the video, but one that involves rider endurance through slow traffic. Make sure you have a comfortable seat, or else your bum is going to get sore.
With the fast weather changes that can occur up in the mountains, it’s smart that they packed rain weather clothing.
Route
From the video I managed to find their starting point and their destination. Going based off assumption and the single road that leads to the north coast I’ve generated a route. It does look as if Freddie and his partner took a few little scenic detours, and I’d recommend the same.
You can download the route to a GPX, KML or GeoJSON file by clicking on details
Personally, I would make this a 2 day trip with a 1 night stay. Head up north on the first day, and on the second day, head west and then south as an alternate route to avoid the double tracking.
The northern coast didn’t look particularly exciting. However, a comfortable resort along coast will make any place more pleasant.
