Motorcycle Philippines

Although we Filipinos are not nearly as ‘talented’ as our Vietnamese brothers in fully utilizing the two-wheeled vehicle over and beyond its intended use, the image below just yearns to be shared.

The photo was taken with a phonecam by a rastaman while driving his SUV along C5 road (a national highway, mind you!) this morning. He said, the bike was running at around 60-70 kph and never slowed down even while cornering.

It looks dangerous though. I bet it’s like watching a circus act. Dangerous but amusing none the less!

Here in Manila, a helmet is required by law for all riders and backriders. The thing is, the law didn’t specify if it applies to other species in the animal kingdom as well.

(photo courtesy of Calvin Tang) Here in Philippines, when one talks about a motorcycle mounted with a sidecar, the image of the good ol’ tricycle would immediately pop to any Filipino’s mind. The three-wheeler is essentially a mini-version of the more popular jeepney. It’s a workhorse that carries cargo and passengers which can easily fit narrow streets and alleyways unlike the other bigger public transports (more info about Philippine tricycles here).

Yesterday, Eugene, a ride buddy and founder of Scoot66 (a riding club composed of Vespistis mostly based in southern Manila) posted in vespaclubph forum a couple a pictures of another “trike” not usually seen in the streets of Manila. It’s an immaculate white Vespa PX with a bullet-shaped, Cozy sidecar attached to it. My fascination with single seater, open and roofless sidecars may have been nurtured at a very young age while watching Star Rangers daily in the late 70s. But seeing the picture of those five superheroes now, I realize that their chosen mode of transport looks no different from the mobile patrol of the Barangay tanod (neighborhood peacekeepers) in our area. hahaha!

Here’s the front view of this drool-worthy Vespa sidecar:

So could this thing fit a grown man for a side passenger? Check out the sideview photo and see the legroom.

October 11 marked the grand opening of the Levi’s Philippines flagship store in newly opened Trinoma mall. It opened with a bang by staging a very unique fashion show. When the event organizers got in touch with me looking for six Vespa scooters and riders, I didn’t had a hard time finding volunteers — I, being one of them! Who wouldn’t? It’s a rare chance to parade a scoot in a show, the rider gets to have a gorgeous babe as his backride and he even gets paid for it! Franky, I would’ve agreed even if it was for free!

Here’s the complete lineup of the Vespa boys who took part in the show:

And here are the Brazillian babes who modeled for the brand:

Check out how these models backride on a Vespa. No two poses are alike, I tell you.

• SEE MORE PICS HERE.

Beautiful art collection of motorcycles made out of parts from ordinary wrist watches:

More pictures here.

Manila’s Mod band — Juan Pablo Dream (JPD) — invited the local Vespa riders to the shooting of their fourth music video for the song “To The…” from their debut album, Soul Up!

The shoot was held last Sunday (March 11) along Macapagal Ave. There were about 20+ scoots which joined the shoot. That day, three scenes were shot. One with the band against a green wall for post-prod effects; the second is the scooter and Volkswagen convoy; and the last to be shot was a party scene.

>> Read the rest of the story with pics from the shoot