Buying a used scooter in Bali

Ask the seller not to warm the engine before you arrive. A scooter that starts easily from cold, idles without hunting and does not smoke tells you more in thirty seconds than a test ride of a pre-warmed bike.

Most used scooters here live outdoors and near salt air, so look for corrosion as much as for mechanical wear.

• Brakes: lever travel, pad thickness, and whether the disc is scored.
• Tyres: date code and tread, plus uneven wear that suggests alignment or suspension issues.
• Suspension: bounce the front, check the forks for weeping oil.
• Electrics: every light, both indicators, the horn and the starter.
• Frame and welds: corrosion around the footboard and any sign of repair after a crash.
• CVT: a rattle or judder from the belt case on pull-away is a coming expense.

Compare against listings for the same model and year in the same area, and adjust for tax status. A cheap bike with two years of unpaid tax and no BPKB is not cheap.

Insist on seeing STNK and BPKB, and match the numbers against the vehicle before any money moves. If either is missing, walk away — it is a large discount for a problem you cannot easily fix.