Renting a Motorbike in Kota Kinabalu

Motorbikes in other parts of Asia are popular modes of transportation.

Kota Kinabalu, however, seems to not embrace the two wheel transport so readily as cars are cheap and road conditions sometimes treacherous. Up until recently, renting a bike in Kota Kinabalu or Sabah wasn’t an option.

One company is turning that perception on it’s head though as now you can rent a motorbike in Borneo, specifically in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Renting a motorbike in KK solves a lot of problems. There’s motorbike parking everywhere, you can slice through traffic and fuel costs are a tiny percentage vs. that of a car.

To get around quickly, cheaply and hassle free, you can’t go wrong with a rented motorbike.

Motorbike Happy Hour

Package: Rent a Motorbike for 5 hours
Includes: Motorbike, helment
Cost: RM20

Monthly Motorbike Rental

Package: Rent a Motorbike 1 month
Includes: Motorbike, 2 helmets, storage box with road bikes
Cost: From RM600 per month

Weekly Motorbike Rental

Package: Rent a Motorbike 1 week
Includes: Motorbike, 2 helmets, storage box with road bikes
Cost: From RM240 per week

2-or-more Days Motorbike Rental

Package: Rent a Motorbike for 2 or more days
Includes: Motorbike, 2 helmets, storage box with road bikes
Cost: From RM40 per day

1-Day Motorbike Rental

Package: Rent a Motorbike per day
Includes: Motorbike, 2 helmets, 2 Givi rain suits, storage box with road bikes
Cost: From RM45 per day

Accessory Rental

In addition to renting a motorbike, you can also rent accessories to compliment your bike. Givi rain suit, wind breaker, bungee rope and net, arm socks for sun protection, gloves and mobile phones are all for rent.

To rent your bike, zip on over to GoGo Sabah’s website.

Taxis in Kota Kinabalu

So plentiful are taxis in KK that you would struggle to find a street corner in the city not crowded by waiting cabs.

They can be found hanging about hotels, shopping centres, one or two actual taxi stands dotted around town or really anywhere where you can flag them down safely (and sometimes not so safely too).

Here’s a short list of fast facts you should keep in mind about Sabah’s taxis:

• standard taxis are white-on-red, with a few yellow or blue ones around.
• Look out for the “Teksi Bermeter” sign on the roof. Teksi bermeter means metered taxi, and for a while there Sabah’s taxis didn’t use meters. Now, however, they are required to do so, unless your destination is to or from the airport – then fares are a set rate.
• Since 1 January 2011 taxis in Kota Kinabalu once started to use their meters. RM10 flag-fall for the first 3km or 9 mins, plus 12c for every 100m or 18 seconds after that. You’ll notice that now short distances will cost you a lot, but longer distances should be a bit cheaper than they used to be.
• The exception is to and from the airport – you buy a coupon for your destination based on the list posted at the taxi kiosk and hand it to the white airport limo at the taxi rank outside.
• Normal taxis are allowed, by law, to carry no more than 4 adults, although bigger taxis with license for 7 passengers are getting easier to find.
• Additional surcharges to and from airports and hotels apply and a 50% surcharge applies to all fares from midnight to 6am;

The prices below apply to and from the Airport’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 2:

Zone 1 @ RM25
Prince Philip’s Park, Tg. Aru Beach, KK Yacht Club, Tg. Aru Town, Sembulan Town

Zone 2 @ RM30
Kota Kinabalu town, Winner Hotel, Jesselton Hotel, Sutera Harbour, Api Api Centre, Asia City, Centre Point, Karamunsing, Jesselton Point Ferry Terminal, HSBC Bank, Taman Fortuna, Sabah Muzium, Colonade Condo

Zone 3 @ RM35
Likas Sport Complex, Signal Hill, Putatan Town, Likas Square, Taman Hilltop, Damai Centre, Lintas Ssquare, Foh Sang

Zone 4 @ RM40
Beverly Hill Apartments, Pekan Donggongon, Bukit Padang, Sabah Golf & Country Club, Inanam Town, Yayasan Sabah, Sabah Medical Clinic, King Fisher Park, Kolombong

Zone 5 @ RM45
Menggatal, University Malaysia

Zone 6 @ RM50
Pekan Kinarut, Kinarut Beach Resort

Zone 7 @ RM55
Telipok, Putera Jaya, Bukit Setia

Zone 8 @ RM60
Sepanggar Bay, ILP, Telipok Jaya

Kota Kinabalu’s City Bus is an exciting development for Kota Kinabalu as it’s a functional, cheap mode of public transport covering the city centre.

For a mere RM0.50, you can hop on any of the 4 routes and get to anywhere in the central business district between the Wawasan bus terminal and Jessleton Point, Sabah Trade Centre or the Bejaya Palace Hotel. Assuming you can find a space, of course, because the service is popular.

With reportedly 15 buses on the route, the target time is a bus every 5 minutes. However, if you know Kota Kinabalu traffic you’ll realise that isn’t always possible, and practically the buses appear anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes.

For the price, however, and considering the air-conditioning of the relatively new buses, the Kota Kinabalu City Bus just can’t be beat.

Zoom in and pan around the embedded map below to see where the Kota Kinabalu City Bus can take you…