I rented long term from Lucky on Monivong , you should have a Cambodian license but I never and whenever I was forced to stop by police , sometimes they just spread out and cant be avoided then a dollar or two usually covers the offence.

Stopped me once and took the keys and wheeled the bike off ... that one cost $3 down from the original asking fine of $10. If you get caught dont be a smart arse but dont be a sucker either. I know of one who got caught and $50 was demanded , he paid the $50 and told me it was bad enough getting hit for that amount but worse was when the cop held the $50 up in the air flashing it around laughing with all his mates.

BTW dont stress about leaving your passport...never been a problem for me or anyone else I know.

If you are after a really well maintained, very new, and flash motorbike Two Wheels Only is the place to go. Western owned and run. http://www.twocambodia.com/motorcyclerentals.html

Only place to consider if you are after a 250cc dirt bike for trips into the countryside (don't go anywhere near Lucky Lucky or New New for a big bike, told old and they don't know how to look after big bikes: really not worth the risk). Their "scooters"/100cc bikes are also the best in town...$4/6 a day.

If you want to save a $1 a day renting a 100cc, IMO "New New", which is next door to Lucky Lucky has better maintained motos and as the name seems to suggest Newer motorbikes (although nowhere near as new as Two Wheels). Better IMO than Lucky Lucky (I've known people who have rented from Lucky Lucky and the bikes (brakes in particular) were not being properly maintained...and their have been rumors of the owners at Lucky Lucky reporting the guesthouse address of the renter to local thiefs who then steal the bike to order, and the renter gets lumped with having to pay the cost of the bike)
At New New they will run through a spot check before you take the bike and as their bikes are newer they should be better anyway.
I also think the family which runs the place is more trustworthy.
I have used them in the past to rent bikes from, register bikes that I have bought, and use them to sort out visa extensions. Nice family.

I can second above poster's opinion. New New is a reliable and trustworthy business, even for visas. Don't use Lucky Lucky.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

In 2009 I rented all my bikes from Lucky Lucky and obtained all my overseas visas from them also. The visa applications were much easier through them and they only charged a US$1 commission.

Re the motorbikes. I did have a problem with a Honda XR250 and had to pay to get it from the coast back to them, which wasn't much. The voltage regulator had shit itself, which is not a maintenance issue just bad luck.

I have rented numerous small motos from them with a 100cc bike in good nick costing US$60/month. You could get a smaller bike from US$40/month. I did have an engine problem once and they just swapped the bike over no problem.

As for unsubstantiated allegations of organised crime/theft of bikes concerning the owners/staff at Lucky, take them with a grain of salt. I found the owners and staff always honest and don't believe a word CCCambodia has said re this.

If you are going to accuse someone of theft you better have pretty good evidence! Put up or shut-up!

Devon

I said it was a rumor Devon.

A rumor: "a circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth" OED.

It's bullshit!

A few years ago I had 2 employees locked motorbikes stolen from a guarded parking area.
Both were on long term hire from Lucky.
It seems no one noticed when some one turned up with correct keys and drove them away.
They vanished just as "knock off time chaos" began.
Mr Lucky was holding passports and demanded ridiculous payments for crap bikes as per the contract.
Sorry Devon, but the only "bullshit" here is your opinion.

Nobody noticed somebody (two people I presume) turn up, but they noticed they had correct keys? Sounds like bullshit to me Murray.

Perhaps the sleeping security guard noticed the correct keys but nothing else...a likely story a sleeping security guard would use I imagine.

The ridiculous payments you refer to are written into the contract and must be mutually agreed to prior to hiring the bikes.

The simple solution is supply your own lock and key, preferably an imported quality set.

About 9 or 10 years ago an English expat died down the lakeside. The news got through to Mr Lucky who held the dead guy's passport while waiting for the final payment on a bike.
As a group of the dead guy's mates were removing the body and dealing with the police etc. Mr Lucky turned up in an abusive and threatening manor demanding the expats paid him the money he was owed......He's a class act your buddy Mr Lucky. He was lucky that day somebody didn't flatten him. He even tried to get the money from the embassy before he'd return the passport.

There have been other threads on stolen Lucky bikes over the years on other websites but you obviously don't need me to help you pull your head out of the sand.

BTW. Both bikes I mentioned were stolen around 5pm. Both had their steering locked. Some one had a spare set of keys both times.......Probably just coincidence?
No guards were sleeping.

Devon. Please allow me to make a few points.

Two posters here suggested it is best not to hire bikes off Lucky.
Both Stevian and CCCambodia both suggested it is best not to rent bikes from Lucky.
You than come in with your "bullshit and unsubstantiated rumors" comments and basically tell people Lucky is a safe bet for renting a bike.....You also tell people to use your own imported locks?????? If Lucky is so trustworthy, why your own locks?
You also mentioned "you better have pretty good evidence"......You do realise this is Cambodia and for obvious reasons I won't bring the local police into this.

I believe it is irresponsible for you to be commenting so strongly on something you know little about(you mentioned 2009).

Cheers Murray.

PS. The 2 stolen bikes were stolen months apart, not on the same day.
Please excuse my poor writing skills. English is not my first language, I am an Australian.

Thanks to all for your input
I was thinking that we should we start a poll on this - polls would appear here.
http://www.expat-advisory.com/poll

So far we have
* Lucky Lucky
* Two Wheels Only
* New New

Any more to add before we launch the poll?

I am impatient today...its live
http://www.expat-advisory.com/poll/southeast-asia/cambodia/cambodia-best...

a new player (monkeys) has entered the field from the poll

Greasemonkeys Cambodia
Phnom Penh's newest shop; high quality dirtbikes for hire
(Street 51, next to Alien Bar)

Murray

Quite simply the story going around re the theft of rented bikes was written up in the Lonely Planet many years ago. From memory the first I heard of this story was about 10 years ago in Thailand. Now I hear it is in reference to Lucky Lucky. Isn't it great how stories change over time?

As I have said previously, I have rented numerous bikes from Lucky over a period of a year and I am back there in 4 weeks time and will once again rent them from there as I have never had a problem with them and all my dealings with them have been above board. One bike I had had a leaking crankcase seal which I rang Lucky about from Takeo, he told me to take it to a mechanic, I paid the mechanic and then Lucky re-imbursed me on return of the bike. Not bad if you ask me.

It is true that in the early days of Lucky quite a few bikes were stolen, but I guess one could expect this especially given that 90 odd percent of bikes in the provences didn't even have a numberplate and any number of people could see there was easy money to be made selling stolen bikes.

I have given facts as to why you should use them. If anyone has facts as to why you shouldn't use them then they should state them, not conjecture. Bikes get stolen, that's a fact, and hire bikes probably more so simply because of their use.

Regarding the theft of the two bikes, a steering lock can easily be broken with a twist of the bars, especially on a bike 4 years old or more, so it would be wrong to assume that the theif were carrying the correct keys....and some bikes just about any key would start them. If you went back to Lucky's and found the stolen bikes, then hey, that's clear proof, but the rest just appears to be conjecture.

Sorry, but I can't vote on where is the best place to hire a bike.
I have never personally hired a bike in PP.

I can however recommend a few places that I would trust.
Some hire out bikes.
Some do tours.
Of course some do both.
........... and Flying Bikes just sell bikes as far as I know?

FWIW...The places I trust and would recommend are........
Bernard at The Bike Shop on Street 302.
Pov at Flying Bikes.
Tony at 2 Wheels Only.
and Dancing Road Tours.

Just my opinion,
Cheers Murray.

While posting my previous post, it is apparent The Expert on all things Cambodia who obviously lives in another country made a post.

H.E. Devon mentioned........

Lonely Planet....10 years ago.....
He's back in a months time.....
90% of bikes don't have number plates....
Lucky stole bikes in the "early days" but.....

Sorry Mr Galloway, I will log off now before I say negative things about the Brain Dead F*ckwit who posts here under the name of Devon that we all may regret!

Please Suspend/Shoot/Sodomise/Ban/Bar me right now! I QUIT!

Yours affectionately,
Murray.
PS. I am officially now back on the grog!

Murray

It would be a pleasure to meet you. You sound like a pleasant chap.

Try AA Murray. Once you sort the drinking out the rest shouldn't be so difficult.

Devon

Murray

How many first hand dealing have you had with Lucky Lucky Motorbikes? Bike rentals, visas, license or anything else that would be relevant to making comment on them? What's that Murray? I can't hear you.

I have hired 6 bikes, obtained 3 visas (Chinese, Cambo Business and Vietnamese) and a drivers license from them.

Do you always revert to pathetic personal attacks on people when logic and rational doesn't work for you or did I just catch you on a bad day?