BootsnAll Travel Community

i'm signed up to take a basic motorcycling course. i figure it might come in handy in s america or asia, but would like to know what others think. did you operate a motorcycle on your rtw trip?

In Asia one can rent a motorcycle for less than 8 dollars a day. The motorcyles are small and easy to ride. In Cambodia, I rented one and had very little previous experience and it was fine. I also rented one for a week in Laos to travel in the southern provinces.

Riding a motorcycles is pretty easy. That's why in most countries, you are allowed to ride one (with an L) alone even before you get the license.
The only problem with bikes is, that it's easy to get sucked into 'this is sooooo coool...let's go faster'. If you wear a helmet and ride carefully, then you'll be fine without previous experience. But you'll see on the Thai islands how many people crash because they drive to fast, high or drunk. That is a big nono.

I'd say useful to at least try it once before you go.

Listen to elAdi, only idiots crash on Thai islands.
To my defense, I was not drunk or high. I waited till 9am when the roads weren't too crowded.

Problem is, I was overly careful, too tense and ended up losing control.

I got back on a bike a month later in Chiang Mai and had no problems. This picture makes it look a lot worse than it was. I had a lot of nasty scrapes that took awhile to heal but no broken bones. I have a nice burn scar on my leg, chicks dig it.