The Prodigal Scoot

Like most two-wheel enthusiasts, i first learned to ride on a scooter. It was my cousin's Honda dio 50cc two stroker. In those days, you can only ride an underbone if you're: a. Mikee Cojuangco b. wearing a turban. I was responsible for retiring two reliable workhorses, Yamaha Target 90cc and Hyosung EZ 100, before i got myself tangled in the corporate mess. It wasn't appropriate to ride a motorbike in your business attire....or so i thought.

Having a career(yeah, right!) and starting a family needed private transportation. My first few months as a cager were such an ordeal because my cognitive abilities weren't meant for three wheels and above. After a while i was able to drive like a human being but gas price hikes, terrible traffic conditions, ridiculous parking fees and early mid-life crisis prompted me to become what others call a re-entry rider. Naturally, a scooter was the top of mind and i opted for for a higher displacement(150cc) to compensate for the lack of "oomph" that four strokers now offer. Sure, many scooter brands in the market today have 150cc variants but most have already evolved the nature of scoot riding from utility to sporty. Thus, having tiny(or none at all) floor boards. I needed a large floor space to accommodate my laptop bag and my (ahem!) size 11 feet.

And so i went for design and comfort rather than reliability and quality. Now, my 8 month old Ultima Whistler 150cc scoot idles like an 8 year old. It consumes gas like there's a leak(maybe there is) in the fuel system. It consumes flyballs as well(i'm on my 4th set now). You can run it to 80kph if you're lucky and riding it in the rain will give you all sorts of problems. I guess that's how it is if you patronage china made products. Cant blame the guys in the assembly line though. Its difficult to do a good job when your supervisor motivates you with a whip. Atleast i get enough acceleration to overtake smoke belching jeepneys. Because it is heavier that your average pantra (including the side car), it's quite stable at high speeds. It holds it place even when a ten-wheeler passes you by. Spare parts are also cheap and are available everywhere. But servicing should only be done by the dealer's mechanic. I brought it to a different mechanic once and he just gave me a can of gasoline and some matches.

YBR 125G Luzon Tour

I'm not much of a joiner. I prefer doing things through my own means, at my own pace. I shy away from clubs and organizations because camaraderie and compromise don't sit well with me. I ride alone. But the lure of Yamaha freebies and Yamaha girls made me forget about my "lone wolf" image aspirations.

The call came on a Tuesday morning while i was cursing at the universe for not making my coffee cool down quickly enough. Maye of YMPH was on the line and she asked me if i would like to join the YBR Luzon tour the coming weekend. I was confused momentarily because i knew that the Luzon tour was supposed to be held three weeks prior to her call. After she told me all about the activities, the freebies and the accommodations, she explained that they had to reschedule the original date of the Luzon tour because of bad weather. Woohoo! I thanked my lucky stars for the second chance. The initial date for the tour coincided with an out of country family trip and i recall expressing my regrets to one of her colleagues for not being able to join. I was in a good mood in the days that followed that even my back-stabbing co-workers couldn't dampen my spirits. The weekend came and i registered early in the Yamaha Ortigas office. I received a cute YBR t-shirt, a cool jacket, a jolly hot dog meal pack and a number sticker. Of all the numbers from 1 to 60, i had to be given the number 13. Good thing i wasn't superstitious. After a quick orientation we geared up and hopped on our ybie's. The police escort in-charge gave us two simple rules to follow while on convoy, no overtaking and follow the number sequence. Sadly, almost no one complied. It was like riding with juveniles on ubones. The ride to Lake Caliraya resort was enjoyable nonetheless. We took Marilaque and upon entering Laguna, our police escorts signaled us to get off the road and take a right into the bushes. We were immediately faced with an upward slope two stories high (i might be exaggerating). What i thought was going to be another bladder break turned out to be a detour. We entered a real dirt road with all the rocky and muddy surfaces. The YBR 125G can really claim the title "poor man's adventure bike" because it can traverse any type road while your gas meter stays in "F". I was greatly impressed with my bike's power delivery(as long as you stay under 2nd gear) and handling. This noob was able to enjoy riding through the bumpy path (it would have been more enjoyable if i had the good sense of wearing tighter underwear that day) without a single spill. I wish i could say the same for one of our police escorts.

At the venue, riders were greeted by welcome banners and streamers while our beloved ybies were attended by an army of Yamaha mechanics. Before take off we filled our tanks to the brim courtesy of YMPH and when we reached our destination, everybody was surprised to receive free oil change(including Yamalube). Everybody enjoyed the resort's food, accommodations and facilities by just uttering the simple magic words; "charge to Yamaha". Some friendly games and more freebies followed that day. I had a hard time sleeping though. One of my roomies has an open pipe for an esophagus. I was telling my wife about how big a free loader i was the next day when she asked me; "how was the Yamaha girls?" Damn....

Bikers in Belgium

If there's one down side in riding motorcycles in this country, it would be the stereo-types you have to put up with. If you ride a Chopper, people will think that you're a satanist while riding a Cruiser makes you a D.O.M. Ride a Moped or an Underbone and you will be branded as unemployed (especially when you ride wearing shorts and slippers while having a pillion in SM saleslady uniform), or worse, involved in the micro-financing business(5-6). Riding a Dual-Purpose bike will give you hassles in check points because the police will suspect you as a gun for hire. Riding a BIG and FAST Sportbike means you're actually compensating for something SMALL (how else can you ride in that kind of position) and QUICK. Scooters are for girlies and stardard bikes are pantra (pangtraysikel).
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Belgium and i immediately noticed the difference of their motorcycle culture from our own. Since motorcyclists help in the global warming situation by consuming less fuel, Belgians show their appreciation by letting riders park their bikes in the sidewalks for convenience. Special lanes are also provided for small displacement bikes. Riders return the favor by giving priority to pedestrians and by riding like civilized persons. All of them wore helmets and most riders i saw were wearing full leathers or some form acceptable riding gear so that in the event of a spill, some poor guy wont have to clean up the mess on the pavement. I guess the formula is simple. Ride like a human being and you'll treated like one.