Motorcycle Philippines

By Mikeyâ„¢

Who says chivalry is dead? In these modern days there is a new breed of knights, modern knights with armored riding jackets on iron horses. They are forumers of MotorcyclePhilippines.com who have banded together from different motorcycle groups and clubs that wanted to share their blessings to the less fortunate. These riders are local tourists who mostly take rides along the countryside to get away from the busy urban life we are all used to.

Usually, rides are scheduled on Sunday mornings when the weather permits. Riders meet at a Shell gas station at Marcos Highway around dawn, go up the mountains thru Cogeo and thru Tanay. These riders traverse the twisting and winding roads to get to Laguna or Quezon, enjoy hot meals of bulalo and inihaw or hot lomi soups at a popular bulaluhan or lomi house then go back to Manila thru the same twisting and winding roads. And be back home in the afternoon, and have enough rest to go back to work the next day.
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Club 1600 will be having its Fun Run this July 20, 2008..along with them are the SYMBROS, R125 boys and some guest from different groups outside and within MCP. This is from Pasig to Lucban..details of the run are explained in the Thread of Club 1600 under Club Meetings and Events II.

Thank you and have a safe ride always.

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Vietnam is a motorcycle country. Two wheels (about 90%) greatly outnumber the cars on the road. But hardly anyone there wore a helmet on the road. Thankfully, that’s a thing of the past.

So how did the country get it’s more than 12 million riders to wear one? Well, it all started with ad campaigns such as this:

On December 15, 2007, wearing a helmet became mandatory (Government Decree Number 32 – Mandatory Helmet Law) to all motorbike riders in Vietnam. My recent visit there is proof that indeed, everyone now wears a helmet there and not just in Ho Chi Minh but in the rural areas as well. Our tour guide said not everyone is happy with the new law but all are forced to comply than pay the fine of 200,000 dong or roughly about U$D12.

And since the “coolness” factor ranks high for most Vietnamese riders, some of their helmets (they used to jokingly refer to these protective headgears as “rice cooker”) don’t look like helmets at all! For a rider like me, Vietnam roads was practically an endless showroom of fancy helmets money could buy. There are ones that are shaped like baseball caps, cowboy hats, bowler, sola topee, and knitted beanies. There are colorful visors made of cloth attachable to a plain-looking helmets. At one time, I think I even saw a helmet that looks like the familiar Vietnamese straw hat. You name it, they have it!

• You may see some samples here.