Motorcycle Philippines

Another year. Another show. This year, the show had more exhibitors and more vistors than last year with some of the exhibitors reporting unexpectedly high sales. Motorcycle manufacturers at the event included BMW, Ducati, KTM, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Kymco. The 2005 Motorcycle Grand Prix was officially launched at the show just after the first round races the previous weekend. Both the original movie, Faster, premiered last year and the sequel were shown on the big screen.

The new Motorcycle Philippines Federation was also officially launched with introductory speeches by most of the Directors. Tom Mirasol spoke for MAP, Jake Swann for the Motorcycle Riders Course, Pete McCullugh for the National Racing Association, Jojo Medina for the PSF and Frank Woolf for Motorcycle Phillipines. Frank explained that all the above organizations have come together to form the new Federation then King Dayrit of Full Throttle Motors made the closing remarks.

Honda Motorcycles immediately saw the value in working with the new Federation and agreed at the show to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation committing Honda to forming clubs at all their branches and signing up a minimum of 50 members each. More details on this here.

Many of the booths were crowded much of the time so it was difficult to get good pictures. We also tried getting video for the Byk101 TV show but being rank amateurs and struggling with the crowds we won’t be surprised if our video doesn’t make the show.

The only down side was that some riders had problems with parking due to high parking rates. This is a problem that the organizers will make a high priority to solve next time.

Images of the 1st Philippine Motorcycle Show can be viewed here.

MotorcyclePhilippines.com and the Philippine Scooter Federation (PSF) have been the two biggest motorcycle/scooter organizations in the Philippines for some time and have similar philosophies and visions. For a few years they have worked together to organize some the biggest and most successful motorcycle events in the country. During the first part of 2005 the PSF was often asked to either change their name or to start another federation so all types of bikes could take part.

During a meeting held in Early March 2005, PSF leader Jojo Medina and Motorcycle Philippines Publisher/Webmaster Frank Woolf agreed to jointly launch and manage the new federation and then met with leaders of other major motorcycle organizations in the Philippines to finalize plans.

The board of directors of The Motorcycle Advocates of the Philippines (MAP) quickly decided that MAP should be a part of the Federation as this will enable them to use the far greater resources of the Federation and achieve more in the fight for motorcycle rights and equality.

The National Racing Association and the Motorcycle Riders course also volunteered to take an active part in the Federation, sharing their expertise in motorcycle sports and education.

Other groups like the Patrolian Force 117 and the Bantay Turista Foundation signed up next. Hundreds of motorcycle clubs and federations and tens of thousands signed up withing the first few weeks.

The founding directorate of the Federation was:

• Jojo Medina of the PSF – Director of Operations.
• Frank Woolf of Motorcycle Philippines – Director of Administration and Publishing.
• Tom Mirasol of the Freedom Riders MC and MAP – Director for Motorcycle Rights.
• Jake Swann of the National Racing Association and the Motorcycle Riders Course – Director for Motorcycle Sports and Education.
• Tope “Mayor Bandido” Flores – Director for Government Affairs and of Southern Luzon.
• King Dayrit of the Southern Luzon Motorcycle Federation, and The Mad Dog MC – Director for Sales and Marketing.
• Atoy Sta. Cruz of S.C.Kymco – Director for Membership.

Manufacturers and dealers quickkly realized that the Federation could benefit all sides and met with the MCPF Directors. Motortrade immediately signed up the be a major sponsor of the Federation’s first event, the Summer Jamboree in Bicol that was attended by nearly 3,000 riders making it the biggest event of its kind every held in the Philippines. The MDPPA also became partners bringing in Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Motorstar, Kymco and Loncin.

The MCPF does not compete in any way with any existing motorcycle associations or federations. The basic rule is simply for all to help and support each other. Events for road racing, off road, big bikes, small bikes etc will all be supported. All motorcycle federations, associations, clubs and individual riders nationwide and overseas are welcome to join the MCPF. Membership is completely free of charge. You can contact the Motorcycle Philippines Federation by email or by telephone at 8547549 – 50 or 09209500128

The Motorcycle Philippines web site http://motorcyclephilippines.com currently has around 100,000 regular visitors each month representing over 200 motorcycle clubs with over 12,000 registered forums users (as of mid May 2005). These visitors view over 6 million pages each month making MotorcyclePhilippines.com one of the most popular web sites of any kind in the Philippines and the biggest of its kind in Asia.

The Philippine Scooter Federation has around 8,000 members representing over 100 scooter clubs and has the fastest growing membership of any motorcycle federation in the country prior to the start of the Motorcycle Philippines Federation..

Motorcycle Philippines and especially the PSF strongly support Philippine tourism by working with and supporting groups like the Bantay Turistsa Foundation and the Philippine Tourism Authority.

The Federation also continues to be at the forefront of the struggle for motorcycle rights and safety that Motorcycle Philippines, the PSF and MAP have long been known for.

START THE YEAR RIDE
The Castrol-Scooterista Rally
January 23, 2005 Sunday 9 AM
Viewsite Restaurant, Tagaytay City
A Great Kick-Off Ride To Another Year

Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:30 a.m.. This was the big day and as we pulled out of our rendezvous point on the West Service Road in Parañaque, we saw the first sign that this was going to be another huge gathering of scooteristas. Passing by on the South Luzon Expressway in staggered formation were the Jet Riders Pampanga Chapter complete with police escorts and a back-up vehicle.

6:00 a.m. As we passed Caltex Filinvest, we saw a large group of scooter and motorcycle riders gathered in front of Starmart. We didn’t have time to stop since we had to be at Viewsite to prepare breakfast for 300 riders (little did we know that this number would be surpassed).

7:00 a.m. Viewsite Restaurant’s parking lot was almost empty, with only a few cars parked to the sides. However, there were already a couple of scooter groups that were there before us. Scuteria Ferrari, with their Ferrari red bikes and uniforms, parked their scoots and motorcycles right opposite the entrance where they would definitely catch everyone’s attention. By 7:30, the parking lot began to fill up. Various clubs and independent riders came in droves. The Villamor Riders, El Caviteños, XRM Riders and SYM Riders Club were just a few of those that we caught a glimpse of as they descended the gravel driveway.

8:30 a.m. By this time, we already had more than 400 registered riders. Breakfast was being served and Viewsite was beginning to look like a military mess hall—the first batch of riders that arrived were midway through their breakfast as the next group registered for the raffle and waited for their turn at the breakfast tables. This simple process showed the camaraderie amongst scooteristas–no one lingered at the tables longer than needed because they knew there were hundreds of hungry riders waiting for their turn.

9:00 a.m. We officially started the program with a big welcome to all the riders (500 and still counting) and a raffle draw of Mossimo shirts, bottles of wine from Arellano Wines and gift packs from our presentor, Castrol.

9:30 a.m. By this time, we already had 600 registered riders, most of whom were still busy having breakfast. It was time to unveil the new magazine cover. Dispensing with the fanfare, Editor-in-Chief Manu Sandejas went straight to the point and gave the audience a glimpse of what they would find in this new issue. The lucky 300 who were able to register for breakfast by getting a copy of the magazine were promptly given their copies. In fact, the magazines we brought with us were sold out in 30 minutes!

10:00 a.m. More raffle prizes to be given away. Hundreds of riders went home with a souvenir t-shirt of the Castrol-Scooterista Rally to Tagaytay. And a lucky rider from Motorhead Taguig went home the proud (and lucky) owner of a Nike Timing watch.

11:00 a.m. The last raffle prize was finally claimed and we all bade each other a safe trip back. Our last count put the crowd at close to 700 riders, backriders and visitors on cars. A great way to start the year and another great gathering of scooteristas. As we took down the last streamer at Viewsite, we talked about how the crowds at our events keep getting bigger and bigger. With summer just around the corner (and another Scooterista event in the works), we’re certainly looking forward to an even bigger gathering of scooteristas!

Thanks to everyone who made it to the Castrol-Scooterista Rally to Tagaytay, especially those who made it possible: Castrol Philippines, Nike Timing, Viewsite Restaurant, MotorcyclePhilippines.com, Arellano Wines, Mossimo, yehey.com and Wave 89.1.

• Davao City
• Cotabato City
• Camp Abu Bakar
• Cagayan de Oro
• Dipolog City
• Zamboanga City

Ride Features :

• Turning over of relief supplies (clothing, food, and medicines) to the inhabitants of
the area of Camp Abu Bakar
• Stopping-over at key cities throughout Mindanao
• Guided tour of the tourist attractions within the route of the ride
• Scenic views, long and winding roads, country side style of ride

Route :

Day One :
Davao City
Digos City
Kidapawan City
Midsayap
Cotabato City

Day Two :
Cotabato City
Camp Abu Bakar
Marawi City
Iligan City
Cagayan de Oro City

Day Three :
Cagayan de Oro City
Iligan City
Mukas Pier
Ozamiz City
Oroquieta City
Dapitan City
Rizal Shrine/Dakak Beach Resort
Dipolog City

Day Four :
Dipolog City
Liloy
Titay
Ipil
Zamobanga City

Day Five :
Zamboanga City
Isabela City, Basilan
Zamboanga City
End of Ride