Motorbikes offer a lot of freedom compared to public transportation because you can stop whenever you want to rest, take pictures, and control your own schedule.
It helps if you have a little experience driving a bike but some of the small bikes for rent in some countries don't take long to get used to even if you are new at it.
In Bali your biggest concern will be how well you adapt to the local driving conditions because there are so many vehicles on the road to watch out for that you could get overwhelmed and wreck.
There are also a lot of dogs, chickens, cows and kids be be careful to avoid. I hit a rooster once and feathers flew everywhere. The guy that owned the bird was angry but his mates were laughing so I didn't stop.
Another time a 7 year old child looking back, ran into the street right into my handle bars at the bend in the road by the Bebek Bengil Restaurant in Ubud.
He hit the rubber grip and wasn't hurt, but if it were not for being lucky and seeing him out of the corner of my eye and coming to a complete stop before he ran into the bike he could have been seriously injured.
I found that in places like East Timor having a bike really opens the door of opportunity to explore the country side.
The public transportation is very sparse and it is quite difficult to get off the beaten path without your own wheels.
Keep in mind the further you get off the main trail the more important it is that you understand something about the mechanics of the bike itself because you are on your own out there.
Having a spare spark plug or two (depending on how many cylinders the engine has) is really a good back up plan (have a wrench too). A bottle of motor oil and at least one extra litre of gasoline are invaluable.
Getting a flat tire is the wild card. Most of us don't carry the tools or the repair kit along to fix it on the side of the road. I did get a flat when touring above the Arctic Circle in Canada once and was fortunate because a German couple with all the tools came along and we patched it on the spot.
Another time I once got a flat near the Metamora refugee camp in East Timor and pushed the bike along to a repair station they had set up in one of the tents. They were able to fix it there for 3 dollars.
If you are traveling in the Arctic, it is of utmost importance to have the right clothing in case you get stranded somewhere for a couple of days.
People that live there already know that but if you never lived in a place that gets very cold do a little research before you head out. Wearing oversized raingear over your clothing helps cut the wind.
Your clothing will be even more important that having gasoline (it's sometimes 200 miles to the next pump). You can go a few days without gasoline waiting for help, but you can not live without adequate clothing.
A nice thing about a smaller bike is that you can load it on a boat with the help from the crew. This makes island hopping in the Philippines and Indonesia more interesting to me.
Some of those small 100cc bikes are perfect for that application but they are hard on your back if you are driving over bumpy roads for 8 to 10 hours a day. The lack of suspension can shake your body apart.
Another advantage of small bike is that you can carry it over obstructions or make your own trail through the woods if necessary.
The best one I ever used was a small Australian agriculture bike from Australia that I had rented from the Backpackers Guesthouse in Dili , East Timor.
I took it on the ferry from Dili to Oecussi and never had such good luck with a motorcycle.
It did require having to change the spark plug on 2 different occasions.
Theft - Once in Dili I was having a few beers at the Internet Bar near the circle in the Mandarin area and I managed to get one of Henry's (of the BP Guest house) rented postie bike stolen during the turmoil that was going on in 2006. I did pay for the bike because it was a result of my own carelessness. This old Chinese Yingang bike to the right never let me down either. It was another one from the fleet of bikes that used to be at the guest house in Dili. That picture is near Bobonaro.
I was skeptical at first but this machine went over rough terrain and through water like a dirt bike.
I took this bike all over the south coast of East Timor which is very remote and I was completely on my own. You can get stranded for days at a time down there during the "wet" or rainy season.
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