Indonesians Go Home, by the Millions

The same kind of pressure was partly behind the popularity of the motorcycle, a way to get back home and a symbol of material success.

As many as 1.6 million people are expected to travel out of Jakarta on their motorcycles, typically small models made for short trips, despite the authorities’ attempts to ban their use for long-distance trips. More than 400 travelers died last year, most of them in motorcycle accidents. Each year, local news organizations report on infants dying, sometimes squeezed between their parents as entire families ride on one motorcycle.

Yamaha Motor Kencana Indonesia, a distributor of Yamaha motorcycles here, is organizing a convoy for some 3,000 Yamaha owners. Buses will transport the owners and the families to Central Java, joined by trucks carrying their motorcycles.

Early Sunday morning, Maman, 39, boarded the Yamaha-sponsored bus with his wife and son. Last year, he rode his motorcycle to his village for 12 hours.

Paulus S. Firmanto, a manager at Yamaha, said that as motorcycle sales kept rising sharply along with Indonesia’s booming economy, it was natural that motorcycles became the favorite way to go home for mudik.

“By riding their own motorcycle home, it shows they made some money in Jakarta,” he said.

“In the past, a motorbike would last eight years before an owner got bored with it — now not even five years,” he added. “Some of them are even embarrassed to bring back the same motorbike next Lebaran.”