What should you check before you accept a rental scooter in Bali?

The two-minute mechanical check

Do this before money changes hands, not after. Many rental bikes are tired, and a soft brake or a bald tyre is your problem the moment you ride away.

• Brakes — squeeze both levers. They should bite firmly well before the lever touches the grip. Spongy or travelling all the way in means worn pads or air in the line; reject the bike.
• Tyres — look for tread and even wear, and check they are not flat or perished. Bald tyres are lethal on Bali wet, oily roads.
• Lights — headlight (low and high beam), brake light, and both indicators. You ride at night and in sudden rain; you need to be seen.
• Horn — it is a genuine safety tool in Bali traffic, used constantly at junctions and blind bends. Test it.
• Mirrors — both present, tight, and adjustable. Cheap shops often leave one loose or missing.
• Fuel — note the gauge level so you can return it the same, and find the nearest petrol station or Pertamini stall.

The STNK: present, and matching

The STNK is the scooter registration certificate. It should be under the seat or handed to you, and police will ask for it at checkpoints. Two checks, not one: that it exists, and — the step almost everyone skips — that the plate number printed on the STNK matches the number plate on the bike. A mismatch can mean the paperwork is for a different or unregistered machine, which becomes your headache at a checkpoint. Keep it dry and with the bike at all times.

The under-told truth: the deposit dispute is the real risk, and video is the defence

The number one problem tourists hit is not a breakdown or a checkpoint — it is a damage-deposit dispute on return. You bring the bike back, the shop "discovers" a scratch, dent or cracked panel you swear was already there, and demands anything from IDR 500,000 to several million rupiah, or simply keeps your deposit. Some operators run this deliberately: they rent a pre-scratched bike, photograph the damage after you leave, and claim you caused it. It happens most around Canggu, Seminyak and Ubud.

The concrete defence costs you two minutes. Before you ride off, film a slow, narrated video of the entire scooter — walk around it, zoom in on every panel, the front and rear, the mirrors, the exhaust, the floorboard and both wheels, and say the date out loud. Photograph every existing scratch, dent and mark, however minor, close up. Then send the whole lot to yourself on WhatsApp or email straight away, so it carries a timestamp you did not set. If a dispute starts on return, you have dated proof of exactly how the bike looked when you took it, and a scammer folds fast against that.

Two more rules that go with it: never let a shop hold your original passport — offer a cash deposit or a photocopy, and walk away if they insist on the passport, because it is pure leverage in a dispute. And if a return argument escalates unfairly, stay calm and offer to call the Bali tourist police; a legitimate shop has nothing to fear, a scammer usually backs down.

Before you hand over any money

Read the rental agreement, especially the lines on damage, theft and the excess. Rent from a shop with real, recent online reviews rather than the first stall by the beach. Check the helmet they give you actually fits and buckles — a helmet that flies off in a fall is no helmet at all.