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....