What do you like to do when you get the chance to travel? Whether you have a little time to yourself on a work travel trip, or you’re getting to travel just for fun, chances are good that you have certain little things that you like to experience when you can. If you’re reading RideApart, we think it may just be possible that you like visiting custom bike shops wherever you are, if given the opportunity. If that’s you, then you’ll probably appreciate this peek into Treasure Garage, a custom shop located in Bali, Indonesia.
Moto traveler Freddie Dobbs is currently posting from Bali, where he recently picked up a new rental scooter for himself and also had the opportunity to take his camera inside Treasure Garage for a look around. Unfortunately, he said, he managed to crash his rental Honda Scoopy (it’s unclear if he’s one of the tourists that Bali’s mayor is talking about with its proposed rental motorbike ban later in 2023), so he ended up with an upgrade to a Yamaha NMAX 155. While the UK only gets 125cc versions due to licensing differences, Indonesia offers a variety of 155cc scooters and motorbikes, including the very popular Yamaha XSR 155.
Anyway, after a few minutes spent telling us about the new scoot, he hops aboard for a ride out to Treasure Garage. As with many motorcycle shops in the area, it does a little bit of everything. In addition to custom bike and scooter builds for its customers, it also rents motorbikes (including a load of the aforementioned XSR 155s) to tourists.
There’s also a fair selection of apparel, from t-shirts to helmets and gloves. Plenty of custom bike parts are also available on-site, for those who want to change up their lights or other bolt-on pieces for something new. Most (if not all) of the items that the shop sells, Dobbs says, are made in Indonesia.
After a look around the retail portion of the shop, we move to the back wall, where there are big picture windows that let shop visitors have a look at what’s going on in the mechanic’s bay. Five or more people are back there, working on a slew of different machines. Some are in for service or maintenance, while others are custom projects in various states of completion. A nice mechanic walked over to Dobbs and told him that he could come into the bay and walk around with his camera, so he takes us on a quick look around, trying not to get in anyone’s way.
As is the case in many countries in Asia (and especially in Southeast Asia), small-displacement scooters and bikes are the most popular, and are what you’ll see almost everyone riding. Some bigger bikes are around, but they’re prohibitively taxed—so they’re just not what you see every day. According to Dobbs, the custom scene in Bali is pretty impressive—so here’s hoping he shares a bit more of it with his viewers since he’s planning to stay for a bit longer on this trip.
