I want to rent a motorcycle when I go to SEA in September but

Start with a scooter.

I learned to ride a motorcycle in India.

In hindsight, I am incredibly lucky that I didn't wind up getting myself into an accident.

By the time I'd learned to properly start and shift into first without stalling, I had just enough confidence to try taking a ride around New Delhi in the middle of the night. Almost out of the alleyway, I had a cow nuzzle its snout into my shoulder, which brought me close to falling down.

Generally speaking, developing countries are not the place to learn to ride. Traffic rules are lax, road conditions are often poor, and you have to abide by a 'might is right' system that puts motorcycles at the bottom of the food chain.

If you live in the United States, I would recommend, at bare minimum, taking a rider safety course to obtain your motorcycle endorsement. I live in Michigan and the class was spread over one weekend and only cost $50.

I did that after learning to ride, but I still felt like I learnt some good safety tactics that I could apply to riding both at home and overseas.

A lot of Western tourists end up hurting themselves because they try learning to ride in developing countries like India, Thailand, or Vietnam.

I knew a guy in Jaipur who rented a Royal Enfield and had to go to the hospital after hitting a dog - he wasn't wearing any safety gear and skinned his arm severely. Another fellow forgot his kickstand was down and got it caught in a pot-hole, dropping the bike and losing a lot of security deposit money.

>>1273073
I rented one for the first time a month ago. You'll likely be okay on an island like penang, I wouldn't recommend starting off in anything like an urban center like I did. I don't even drive at home so I learned a lot fast to not fuck up hard. Ended up zipping down a one way street for a couple hundred meters the wrong way. heh. The actual mechanics of riding it are really straightforward, but if the place you're riding is hilly at all make sure you get one with solid brakes. Going down a steep hill with 400lbs on wheels between your legs is a bad idea without brakes. Get a simple little automatic 150cc thing. Be careful though. GO around a simple block a few times until you're comfortable enough to do some real travel.

>>1273079
Not OP, but that sounds like solid advice.

I'm planning on going to Vietnam in December and have been floating the idea of riding a motorbike.

Curious, did your motorcycle safety course in Michigan provide a bike for learning on? I assume you wouldn't have to bring your own bike.

>>1273073
Just rent it, it'll be dirt cheap, give it the old college try, if you aren't anywhere close to comfortable with it after 10 minutes in a safe area then simply return it. I don't know how penang will be but everywhere ein Thailand it was like $5 for the day. Really low risk to just give it a quick go.

>>1273084

Yes.

Most BRCs should provide prospective riders with bikes, since it's not legal to ride without a permit or endorsement (which is what rider skills classes are intended to provide).

While I encourage proper safety measures when riding, I should also say that SEA has a much better rider culture than North America.

I'm not fucking kidding. Trying to ride a bike in NA is fucking chaotic.

My advice to anyone doing this is get licenced to ride a motorbike in your home country and then get an International Drivers Permit. For most countries in SEA this is enough to be legal to ride and therefore covered by your travel insurance. Some countries (like Vietnam AFAIK) you technically need to get your IDP translated into a local licence to be riding legally. If you do it uninsured and don't have access to $50-100k in case of an accident than you're an idiot