Bali is small — about 153 km (95 miles) east to west and 112 km (70 miles) north to south — and almost all of the good riding is in the middle, on the volcanic spine between the Kintamani caldera rim and the lakes around Munduk. The south is traffic. The thing to get right before anything else is the paperwork, because Indonesia has tightened what it expects from foreign riders: a full ban on tourist motorbike rental has been floated repeatedly since March 2023 without being enacted, but Bali's Circular Letter No. 7 of 2025, issued on 24 March 2025, now sets out explicit obligations including a valid licence, a helmet and renting from a registered business. Fines under the national traffic law are real, and travel insurance follows the licence, not the invoice. Verified August 2026.
Route at a glance
| Island size | About 153 km (95 miles) east to west, 112 km (70 miles) north to south, 5,590 km² (2,158 sq miles) |
| Best riding | The Kintamani caldera rim, the Bedugul and Munduk lake roads, Jatiluwih and the Tabanan back roads, and the Sidemen valley under Mount Agung |
| High ground | Several central peaks above 2,000 m (6,600 ft); Mount Agung is the highest at 3,031 m (9,944 ft) |
| Licence | Valid national licence with motorcycle entitlement plus an international driving permit, per Bali Circular Letter No. 7 of 2025 |
| Helmet | Mandatory for rider and pillion under Law No. 22 of 2009; a fine of up to IDR 250,000 applies under Article 291(1) |
| Rental | Circular No. 7 of 2025 directs visitors to official, registered rental businesses rather than informal hire |
| Season | West monsoon roughly October to April, with the heaviest rain December to March; drier and less humid outside that |
| Traffic | Drives on the left. Tourism is roughly 80% of the Bali economy and the south is congested accordingly |
Open the central Bali loop in Google Maps — Ubud, Kintamani, Munduk, Jatiluwih and Sidemen, the sequence that keeps you on the volcanic spine and out of the southern traffic.
The rules, because this is the part that has actually changed
What was proposed and what exists. In March 2023 the Bali provincial government announced an intention to prohibit foreign tourists from renting motorbikes, following a run of accidents and widely publicised bad behaviour. That prohibition was never enacted as law. What did follow was a series of governor's circulars setting out conduct rules, of which the current instrument is Circular Letter (Surat Edaran) No. 7 of 2025, issued by Governor Wayan Koster on 24 March 2025 and replacing the 2023 version.
What the circular requires of drivers and riders. Hold a valid international or national driving licence. Wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle. Observe traffic rules and drive in an orderly manner. Use roadworthy vehicles obtained from official rental businesses. Do not drive while impaired, and do not exceed the vehicle's passenger capacity. The same circular sets the tourist levy at IDR 150,000, payable before or during the stay, and directs visitors to use licensed guides at attractions. Violations are described as attracting sanctions or legal processes under Indonesian law, and a public reporting line exists for residents to report breaches.
The licence itself. Indonesian licence classes for motorcycles are set out under police regulation: SIM C for machines up to 250cc, SIM C1 for 250cc to 500cc, and SIM C2 above 500cc. A foreign rider's international driving permit needs to carry the motorcycle category, and the underlying home licence needs the same entitlement — a car licence does not cover a scooter simply because the scooter is automatic. Note also that Indonesia has not ratified an international road traffic convention, so acceptance of an IDP rests on practice rather than treaty; the 1968 Vienna Convention form is the one generally expected. Carry the physical document, not a photo of it.
Fines. Under Law No. 22 of 2009, riding without a valid licence attracts a penalty of up to IDR 1,000,000 and/or four months, and a helmet offence up to IDR 250,000. Riders report intensified checkpoint activity through 2026 on the access roads around Kuta, Seminyak, Legian, Canggu and Ubud. Whatever the enforcement pattern in a given month, the insurance position does not vary: most travel policies exclude a motorcycle claim where the rider was not licensed for the machine, and Bali produces a steady volume of expensive foreign-rider casualties.
Kintamani and the Batur caldera
The single best short ride on the island is the caldera rim road above Lake Batur. Mount Batur sits inside two concentric calderas northwest of Mount Agung; the outer one measures roughly 10 by 13 km and holds the lake in its southeastern side, and inside it an active 700-metre stratovolcano rises straight out of the water. The first documented eruption was in 1804 and the most recent in 2000, and the lava field from the 1963 eruption is still visible as bare black rock against the farmland.
The rim road runs high above all of this with a continuous drop-away view, and it is cold in the morning by Balinese standards. Traffic thins the further round you go from the main Penelokan viewpoint. The descent into the caldera to Toya Bungkah is steep with tight switchbacks and heavy tour vehicle traffic at sunrise hours; go mid-morning instead and it is a pleasant road.
Munduk, Bedugul and the lake country
West of Kintamani the central highlands carry a chain of crater lakes and the roads between them are the most consistently enjoyable riding in Bali: narrow, cambered, running through coffee and clove under forest canopy, with cloud coming and going. The northern slope of the range drops more steeply to the sea than the southern one and is the island's main coffee-growing area, which is why the roads down toward Lovina are steeper and better surfaced than you expect.
Jatiluwih, on the southern side in Tabanan, is the accessible face of the Subak irrigation system inscribed by UNESCO, and the road through the terraces is slow, narrow and worth it. The broader point about central Bali is that the good roads are minor ones, and the map does not distinguish between a sealed lane and a concrete farm track until you are on it.
East, and the roads people miss
The Sidemen valley southwest of Mount Agung is the quiet version of Ubud, with a road that climbs and drops through terraced country with the volcano filling the skyline whenever the cloud lifts. From there the run east to Amed and Tulamben follows a dry, scrubby coast that looks nothing like the postcard south — the north and west beaches are black sand, the south is white — and the traffic effectively stops.
Agung is an active volcano and one considered among the more likely candidates for a major eruption; it erupted in late 2017, forcing large-scale evacuations and temporarily closing the island's airport. Exclusion zones around it can change, so check the current volcano status before planning routes on its flanks rather than assuming last year's map.
Season, weather and traffic behaviour
Season. Bali sits about 8 degrees south of the equator, so temperature barely moves through the year — around 30 °C (86 °F) on average at low elevation with humidity near 85%, and materially cooler with altitude, which is why the caldera rim needs a jacket at dawn. What changes is rain. The west monsoon runs roughly October to April and brings significant rainfall, particularly December to March. Outside that period humidity is lower and rain in the lowlands is unlikely.
What the wet season means on a bike. Not a washout, but afternoon downpours heavy enough to stop you, plus mud and algae on the narrow concrete lanes in the highlands where sunlight does not reach. Ride mornings in the wet months, and treat green-tinged concrete on a gradient as genuinely slippery rather than an inconvenience.
Traffic culture. Bali drives on the left. Traffic in the Denpasar, Kuta and Canggu belt is dense, slow and full of tourists on scooters with two days of riding experience, which is a hazard in its own right. Outside the south, the pattern is the usual Indonesian one: constant scooter flow, overtaking wherever there is a gap, dogs and ceremonial processions on the carriageway, and drivers who pull out expecting you to adjust. Temple processions have absolute priority and stopping the engine and waiting is the correct response.
Gear notes for a small island with complicated roads
Bali does not challenge you with distance, it challenges you with a road network where the good route and the wrong route look identical on a map and are separated by one unmarked junction in a village. Coverage is good in the south and unreliable in the highlands and on the northeast coast, so having the loop downloaded and running on a display you can read in rain, rather than a phone you have to unpocket at every junction, is what keeps a day pleasant — our guide to setting up offline motorcycle navigation covers preparing the island properly, and a JADO S6 riding system puts the route and the cameras on one screen.
The other Bali-specific problem is the rental fleet. Scooters here do very high mileage in a wet, salty climate and tyre pressure is rarely anyone's priority, which matters more than usual on the steep, greasy concrete of the highland lanes — how temperature affects tyre pressure explains the swing between a cold caldera-rim morning and a hot coast road, and a TPMS sensor tells you about a leak before a wet descent does. Highland guesthouses run intermittent power more often than the south suggests, so a bi-directional fast charger that takes power off the bike while you ride is a sensible addition.
FAQ
Can foreign tourists still rent motorbikes in Bali?
Yes. A ban was announced as an intention in March 2023 but was never enacted. What applies now is Circular Letter No. 7 of 2025, which requires a valid national or international driving licence, a helmet, orderly driving and the use of roadworthy vehicles from official registered rental businesses.
Do I need an international driving permit in Bali?
Carry one, with the motorcycle category, alongside a home licence that also has motorcycle entitlement. Indonesia has not ratified an international road traffic convention, so acceptance rests on practice; the 1968 Vienna Convention form is what is generally expected, and a car-only licence will not do.
What is the fine for riding without a licence or a helmet in Bali?
Under Law No. 22 of 2009, riding without a valid licence carries up to IDR 1,000,000 and/or four months, and a helmet offence up to IDR 250,000. The larger exposure is insurance: most travel policies decline motorcycle claims from unlicensed riders.
When is the best time to ride in Bali?
Outside the west monsoon, so roughly May to September, when humidity is lower and lowland rain is unlikely. December to March brings the heaviest rain and the slipperiest highland lanes, though mornings are often rideable even then.
Where is the best riding on the island?
The Kintamani caldera rim above Lake Batur, the lake and forest roads around Munduk and Bedugul, the terraces at Jatiluwih, and the Sidemen valley under Mount Agung. All of it is central or eastern; the south is where you spend time in traffic rather than riding.
