Motorcycle dealership in Puerto Plata? – General Travel Questions Dominican Republic – Debbie's Carribean Reviews Forums

potatohead 2015-04-22 23:26:27 UTC #1

I will be arriving there in Oct. and would like to purchase a cheap, chinese motorcycle and tour the island for a few months. Would like to contact the dealership from here, in USA; to arrange price, maintanece, ect…If anyone can give me the URL, Address, name or something I can go with that…all i get on google is resorts in DR…thanks…spud

bobfromcanada 2015-04-23 12:21:56 UTC #2

I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I have a few questions

1. Have you been to the DR before?
2. Have you seen the way they drive there?
   Typically we don’t recommend that tourists rent/drive cars, let alone motorcycles. The accident and death rate is extremely high and there are no real rules except the tonnage one. The bigger vehicle wins. And, as a tourist, if something does happen, you’re the gringo and automatically at fault. That said, people have done it and lived to tell about it . . .

potatohead 2015-04-23 17:47:10 UTC #3

I appreciate your concern. I have heard that driving there is dangerous but, it’s what i do. Kind of like a heroin addict that overdoses. Do you say, “It’s alright, he died doing what he loved?”

bobfromcanada 2015-04-23 19:36:23 UTC #4

Not a problem. Just so long as you’re aware.

edit: addendum
I Googled the phrase “puerto plata motorcycle buy” and got a few hits for rental and sales.

bobk 2015-04-24 11:33:13 UTC #5

Not a very comfortable or safe way to tour the country.

The cheap Chinese knock offs are just that…CHEAP and not well built. I hope you are a good mechanic and have some tools with you as well.

bobk

potatohead 2015-04-24 12:32:26 UTC #6

Funny you should mention that. Yes, those Chinese bikes have a lot of wiring problems. In 2013 I toured West Africa on one, Royal 12. Spent a bit of time straightening out the ignition system. But all in all it was reliable. I do agree with you that if you are not a mechanic, or very handy; don’t get one. Serendipitously I spent 20 yrs as a helicopter Mechanic, so the problems were not insurmountable. I also carry a comprehensive tool kit on every trip.

Bad drivers? lol…We provided the Africans with Christianity, without considering the unintended consequences. They have an absolute faith in God. They drive accordingly. They figure their lives are in the hands of Jesus and therefore drive like hell! Nothing they can do to mitigate the consequences of reckless driving, as the outcome is in the hands of God. Got pretty hairy for a big, fat, gringo on a little 125 cc popper. lol…so much so that I wrote a book about it: “Motorcycling in Ghana”.
If I survive DR, I hope to write a sequel about my tour of the island. Maybe bump into some of you folks down there…spud

bobfromcanada 2015-04-24 13:23:28 UTC #7

Well, I know it’s a little off the standard AI resort experience that this forum is normally about, but we’d love to hear about your experiences when you return. Even better, if you get the odd internet connection, maybe even post ‘on the fly’ so to speak. It would also be interesting to hear your comparison to the drivers in Africa.

bobk 2015-04-25 11:51:38 UTC #8

A 125CC will be hard to come by here. Most are 50cc-100cc (about the size of my lawn mower engine ).

The same “go with God” mentality rules the road here as well.

bobk

bigjim 2015-04-28 00:15:36 UTC #9

We just got back from the Dominican in February. We rented a car and drove all over Punta Cana and never had a problem. There are plenty of Kamakazee (sp) type motorcycle riders there it is not unusual to see 5 on a bike we even saw a guy with a 10 foot chunk of lumber cross ways at his feet the lumber took up all of his lane and about a foot in the oncoming lane. Driving in the Dominican is easy if you remember to follow the rules of the road…hint There are no rules. We had a blast and never had a problem. Drive aggressive/defensive and you should have no problem either.

bobk 2015-04-28 10:06:07 UTC #10

Oh such bad advice on so many levels. Glad you were lucky

bobk

editorZ 2015-04-29 00:39:52 UTC #11

Some people enjoy driving in different countries and some people had bad experiences and are more caution. Great comments and advices so far. I never drove in DR as it did not feel ok for me but I drove in different Caribbean Countries and so far did not have any issues. I prefer to hire driver as its cheaper and less headaches in most cases.

bobfromcanada 2016-02-26 17:26:49 UTC #13

Not sure what winning a lottery has to do with it, but if you get from point A to point B in one piece, on a motorbike, then in a sense, I guess you’ve won the lottery.

bobk 2016-02-28 10:42:12 UTC #14

Now Bob that is funny. Too bad it is so true.

Just this week alone 4 motor cycle deaths in the area.

bobk