Gotta say they have a great set up and the place looks cool…
What is there in the form of public spaces?…….A large retail out let selling a bunch of Deus Motor bikes, a few Bicycles, lots of T-Shirts and Accessories, Surf boards & Skate decks. All produced by Deus. Mostly on site here.
There was a decent sized restaurant come cafe come bar. We had lunch here and the food was pretty good! It was "Taco-n-Tattuesday” when we were there and if you ordered the Tacos you got a free Tatt….. No not a cute little stick on transfer type, the real deal…. permanent... life long commitment stuff. Basically you bring in your sketch and get 20min under the needle free. I think in 1 color. You also had the option to pay for extended service.
I was tempted but having heard the recent news before leaving Australia warning against Bali tattoos due to people having contracted AIDS due to non existent heath and safety practices I declined a little reluctantly.
There is also a small gallery displaying the artworks of the artist in residence program. I believe they invite artists to come and stay in one of the bungalows out back and work on their art for a short period of time. Some of this art ends up on their Surfboards, T-shirts etc. That is my take on it anyway.
There is a lawn courtyard area with some sunbeds etc to lounge on and Deus bike sketch in grand scale covering the back wall. This area is where they sometimes have live bands come and play. To the sides and back of the courtyard are where all the real action takes place, a small photographic studio complete with a cyclorama. The offices and artist studio above. At the back are the workshops where the make the surf boards, wrench on the bikes and have the spray booths. rom what I could see there wasn't anything happening other than one lone soul pottering around a bike.
Deus is owned and run by fellow Aussies to my knowledge however it seemed to be being managed by a bunch of yanks who are friends of the owners. I was greeted by one of them while I had a mouthful of lunch to see if my meal was ok but no further opportunity to talk to them. I did lurk around a few times looking for an opportunity but they seemed a bit cliquey and were busy arguing over what bike a certain tank was off, and ignored me when I offered comment.
I purchased one of the T-Shirts which I thought was cool as a memento. More my style than a Bingtang shirt from the market the tourist seem to think is obligatory! It cost approx $35AUD which I think is cheaper than they sell back home. Although you don't have to make the trip out to Canggu for there clothes. The guys have done a great job of getting their mech into any number of shops and cafes all over Bali.
The bikes on the other hand can only be found at the temple. I could really understand the sales boy his Indonesian accent was very heavy and his english broken, but I think the bikes were around the $2500AUD mark. Could be wrong on that. Also they don't sell spare parts, or accessories like speedos, indicators etc. They do hire bikes but I think it is just the regular scooters typical to Bali and not one of their custom jobs.
What ever your personal stance is on Deus bikes, they are certainly rideable in Bali and not inhibited by the strict ADRs we have back here to deal with. I did see a few Deus built bikes parked on the streets. These bikes are quite conservative by the standards os some of the "Bali Harleys" I saw booting around. I would happily ride a Deus but I wouldn't even ride next to some of those things.
Would have liked to have had a bit of a chat informal interview to confirm some of this stuff but it wasn't on the cards.
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