I have been monitoring the traffic conditions at the Causeway this past few days which had been smooth going. I thought I satisfy my urge of going to JB on my bike on Sat, 26 Dec 2015 at 10pm... the plan was to get to JB and back to Singapore in 15-20 minutes but to my horror, I ended up in a one-hour traffic jam at the Singapore side... judging from the annoyed looks of the Malaysians, this jam was unusual...
I was feeling very anxious as this was the first time that I'm crossing the causeway on a motorbike so I wasn't mentally ready to attempt a ride with traffic that was wheel-to-wheel (as opposed to bumper-to-bumper). It had been barely two weeks since I had gotten my licence and I started to regret this late night escapade. I prayed that I could scrapped through the jam without making a fool of myself, or worse, getting hurt.
Anyway, I survived the thrilling journey. Here's a quick recap of my experience:
1) Ride to Woodlands Checkpoint via BKE
2) Motorbikes use left-most lane
3) If there is a jam at the viaduct (after the Woodlands Road exit), get ready for a 1 hour jam to Customs
4) In a jam, bikes will squeeze in the single lane, queuing in a row of 4-5 bikes abreast.
5) In a jam, most riders will turn off their engines and slowly straddle their bikes towards the Customs...
6) In a jam, keep to your lane... don't be a douchebag by cutting into another lane...
7) In a jam, you can remove your helmet and gloves... some even watch movies on their phones or read a book!
8) In a jam, you will get "high" due to breathing in exhaust fumes... (wear a mask if you like)
9) In a jam, take it easy... there'll bound be riders accidentally stepping on your shoes or hitting your bike mirrors
Finally, be wary of what's in FRONT of you... always be ready to start the bike and move off when the traffic starts to pick up... it was really a thrill to ride abreast with 3-4 other riders... just be ready to brake and clutch in... be SUPER ALERT with sudden braking of riders in FRONT of you... DON'T BOTHER about the bikes beside and behind you. Keep to your lane, follow the bike in front and ready to brake in an instant!
Once you're about to reach Singapore's Customs booth, start the bike engine, ready passport and remove helmet. Hand over passport to the immigration officer. Quickly put on your helmet after the officer has seen your face. Move off after getting back the passport. Check blindspots before moving off...
As I left the booth, I encountered countless humps so I kept my bike to 1st and 2nd gear... once on the causeway, I went at 70-80kph and kept to the left-most lane. 5 minutes later, I reached the Malaysian immigration booth. Handed over my passport, no need to remove helmet, and then moved off... Welcome to Malaysia!!!
Going back, I noticed large signs that said motorbikes are to use the designated entry point. Spent a few minutes finding it. I managed to find the lane and there was no fuss in clearing Malaysian immigration. Same thing, gave my passport to immigration officer (no need to remove helmet), and off I went.
On the causeway, keep to the left-most lane. Upon reaching the Singapore checkpoint, I saw two entrance, the right lane is for manual checking of passport, the left lane is auto-self checking. Since my passport bio-metric, I chose the auto-self checking. Simply scan passport and fingerprint.
Next is checking of vehicle by immigration officer. Need to remove helmet here. The officer waived me off without checking my bike. I then had to "skilfully" manoeuvre my bike over numerous humps and a short while later, I'm on the expressway... sigh... welcome to Singapore... hopefully, my 2nd trip to JB on my bike would not be as "exciting" as my first!
I've provided a link to another rider's video of going through the Woodlands Checkpoint (off-peak). It's pretty much the same thing except that ICA has opened up an extra lane.