Hi
Manny
I'm not sure if they're "officially legal" but I can guarantee you one thing. You (and your passenger) will draw lots of attention, both from local on-lookers and probably the police.
Traffic, especially in the southern parts of Bali, is rather chaotic at the best of times. I'm trying to imagine how a side-car would do even in places like Ubud.
Perhaps the reason you haven't seen many so far is because they're only for the super brave (or stupid or uninitiated). Like trailers on cars. Useful things but I wouldn't want to drive
my car with one of them on the back.
Whilst I can appreciate the
idea of riding a motorbike with a side-car, I think it would be even more dangerous than usual. If you value your life, I think I'd forget about it.
I used to ride plain ol' motorbikes in Bali beginning in the early 1970s. Managed to stay alive through the 1980s, 1990s. I eventually gave up mainly because I like to have a decent sound-system to listen to music to. Plus the added "protection" of a stronger metal cage (car), surrounding me.
You might be interested to read the following which I've pinched off a website somewhere. I think that notions of "escape routes" in "emergency" situations here are purely academic.
The dynamics of a sidecar are totally different than a motorcycle's. When you brake, it turns away from the sidecar. Under acceleration, the drag of the sidecar makes the rig turn into it. Turn into the sidecar, and it tries to lift. Turn hard enough, especially with an empty sidecar, and it will flip over. However, you can turn away from the sidecar very hard, until the tires slide. These sort of maneuvers require much more steering force than a two-wheeler.
When you have to swerve or brake hard and quickly in an emergency, a sidecar becomes quite a handful. If you want to swerve hard, you have to quickly apply a lot of muscle, but not too much if you swerve toward the side where the `car is mounted. Panic braking requires you to muscle the steering to keep stay straight. And you can't rely on the two-wheeler's old fallback escape route between lanes of cars. A sidecar's width gives it few more escape lanes than an automobile.
I wish you all the very best, in any case...like good luck!
:ghost: