San Francisco Ride

Craig, who is back enjoying Davao, emailed these pictures and ride info:

The ride was to San Francisco (Agusan del Sur) on the 16th of November. I think we were 12 bikes including Tong, from Cotobato, who decided to clean some gravel on the side of the road with his shouder!! He was wearing full leathers and only suffered a blow to his pride!! Thank God!! Really good day with no rain, the roads were good and the speed was fast. Ferdie needed a wheel bearing and Michael's bike burst a radiator hose. Both were fixed without too much delay. These picturess were taken by the airport.

Note: San Francisco (near 23 in the map) is at least 150 kilometers away from Davao. After Tagum, it becomes a twisty, interesting ride in the mountains.

Basic Rider Course

Last Tuesday and Wednesday was spent attending the Basic Riding Course at the Honda Rider Education Center in Colton. Passing the course meant that I did not have to take the motorcycle skill test at the Department of Motor Vehicles. (Sample test here. I had earlier passed the written test for both cars and motorcycles.) I learned later that one gets a substantial discount on the insurance premium on a motorcycle after completing this course.

There were seven of us in the class. Most interesting was Dave, a 70 year old Vietnam vet (3 tours of duty, Silver Star, Bronze star) who rides a raked out, hard tail Harley. He has been riding for 30 years without a motorcycle license and only applied for a MC license after the insurance company threatened to terminate the insurance on his bikes. It seems, given the rake of his bike, that he could not successfully navigate the tight turn required in the DMV test even though we was a good and experienced rider. So he decided to attend this course. (After we finished the course, he invited me to drop by his 40 acre farm in Temecula. I hope I get a motorcycle real soon before it gets too cold to ride.)

In the classroom, we were given a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) manual and answered the questions on the back of the manual. We also watched videos that echoed the topics discussed in the manual.

After the pencil work, we were off to the back where a large cordoned area would serve as the practice area. (The school also has a course for those learning how to ride dirt.) For those who did not bring the required gear, the school provided ¾ face helmets and long sleeve shirts. (We were asked to wear shoes that covered the ankle and bring along full-fingered gloves.) For our rides, it was either a 230cc CRF or a 250cc Nighthawk. Under the watchful eyes of our teachers Jeff and Joel, we performed various exercises on the bikes. As everybody had experience riding bikes, most found the exercises were quite easy to perform, except for the slow double turn in a tight space.

All of us passed the written and practical exams. By the way, the course fee is $250.

Congrats to the 2008 Biketobeerfest Organizers

They worked hard, putting in time, effort, money and imagination to make the 2008 Biketobeerfest a huge success. Congratulations to Jerome, Daniel, Roy, Ping, Ronnie and Ohmar (who is not in this picture because he had to leave early) for a job well done.

With these gentlemen bikers at the helm (complimented by the generous support of the Libikers), we are sure that next year’s Biketobeerfest will even be more exciting and impressive. Nice one, boys.

Biketobeerfest 2008: Good job!

Congratulations and thank you to the people who made this year’s Biketobeerfest a roaring success. All members of the Davao Agila Riders were given a liter of motor oil courtesy of Pheonix Oils and were granted free entrance to the party. A cash donation was also given to the Philippine Eagle Foundation in the name of the club.

It seems, though, that some had less endurance compared to the others. Nevertheless, let us give a grand Mabuhay salute to the Biketobeerfest 2008 supporters and organizers!

Biketobeerfest 2008: The Party!

The party started rolling in the evening and the whole night was all about drinking beer, having good fun, and reveling in the comradeship of fellow bikers. Yano and two other bands provided the rockin’ music. Bikers competed in friendly games. Prizes (50 cans of motor oil, umbrellas, bags, t-shirts, and a helmet) were raffled off to lucky bikers. PLDT Land Line Plus SIM cards were given free to the first 200 registrants. The biker groups had an unforgettable night and obviously did not regret joining Biketobeerfest 2008.

Now, did I miss out on anything else that evening?

Biketobeerfest 2008: The Games

Slow drag! Tug-of-war! These were among the hot games held during Biketobeerfest 2008, not to mention Roy’s smokin’ tire burnin’ demonstration.

Biketobeerfest 2008: The Motorcade

Biketobeerfest 2008, held last October 31, started off with a motorcade. Almost 300 riders traversed the city’s main streets to announce to all that there was going to be serious biker fun that day. The riders showed Dabawenyos that they were passionate about motorcycles, proud of their clubs, and were responsible and law-abiding citizens.

Rider Kenneth Lu's Affidavit-Complaint Against LTO Officials

Please click on image to enlarge.

Rider Sues LTO Officials

Motorcycle rider Kenneth Lu, aided by his lawyer Atty. David J. Sunga, filed charges against LTO Officials for abuse of authority and knowingly rendering an unjust resolution. The case arose from his apprehension last October 6, 2008 by a LTO Enforcer Charliemagne Manila, for allegedly sporting a cut muffler on his motorcycle. Mr. Lu immediately contested the apprehension as he insisted that his motorcycle’s muffler is not cut.

The LTO set the hearing on October 8, 2008 at the office of Mrs. Eleonor Calderon, Chief of Operations, as part of due process should one would contest apprehensions. Mrs. Calderon, after lengthy discussion during the hearing, said that she would base her decision whether to continue to charge Mr. Lu on a report by LTO technical people. The technical experts of LTO inspected Mr. Lu’s motorcycle at a LTO designated inspection area. The official findings of the technical experts were the following: 1. Muffler is not cut nor disconnected. 2. The muffler emits louder sound than the usual motorcycle.

The inspection report, duly signed by Mr. de Guzman, said it all and should have prompted Mrs. Calderon to drop the charges against Mr. Lu. But to Mr. Lu’s surprise, Mrs. Calderon unfairly recommended to sustain the charges against him, hence, the filing of a complaint in the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao.

The 2008 California Bike Week: Images

This should be my last post on the 2008 CBW and I would like to share some of the things that caught my interest and my final impressions of the event. (Pictures described starting from the top:)

1. Tattoos were everywhere. The top picture shows a large one inked on the back of a balding, fiftyish rider. I wondered whether the tattoo was based on a picture of him on a chopper when he was younger and wore his hair long. The next picture shows that not only were the men into body encompassing tattoos, so were the women.

2. Motorcycling on style. While riders are often cast as modern day cowboys, rough, dirty, and travelling light from town to town, there are some who apparently like to travel first class. The third picture shows clean looking gentlemen giving an Ultra Classic Electra Glide, a top-of-the-line Harley Davidson Tourer, with its own trailer, a look-over. Given the Electra Glide’s already spacious luggage, you have to ask what the trailer is for. Tux for the rider and gowns and shoes for the lady back-rider? Or camping equipment?

3. Yes, there are clear advantages of peeing standing up, especially on the road. Among other things, it’s quicker, it’s easier to hide behind the trees, you do not have to worry about itchy grass scratching your bottom, and you do not have to sit on toilet bowls of questionable cleanliness . The fourth picture shows a stall selling a device so that our lady friends can do just that. A question, though. Will vigorously shaking that piece of plastic afterwards remove all the liquid so that it will not become smelly after use?

4. The next three pictures show scenes from the flat track racing that was the highlight of Saturday’s events. Featured were loud, 750cc machines running at more than 100 mph and riders sliding through corners. Sadly after a few races, the distance from the racetrack to where I sat diminished whatever excitement the races were generating. Or maybe it was because this was the first time I saw flat track racing. Hopefully, once I will get more familiar with the sport, its excitement level would also increases (much like my experience with F1 and MotoGP).

5. The last picture is one I took on the way home and shows the parking lot full of Harley Davidson motorcycles. The picture shows only about a fourth of the motorcycles parked; a camera with wide-angle lens would have captured the sight of a sea of motorcycles a lot better.

P.S. Bud light draft large cup at $ (add a $1 tip). I had four even though the sign said beers were limited to two cups per customer. Well, I was not riding a motorcycle. Bought $20 "remembrance" shirt that was a size smaller. Well...

The Agilas at ABS-CBN

Last week, Oct 29, the Davao Agila Riders made an appearance during ABS-CBN's morning show to invite riders to Octobeerfest 2008 that was to be held the coming Friday, Oct 31.

Thanks, Ma'am Mercy, for the video.

The 2008 California Bike Week: Part 5

Harley Davidson

Even though other bike manufacturers participated, the CBW was primarily a Harley Davidson event, the HD dealership in Glendale being the organizer and practically all (98 %?) of the attendees came on HD motorcycles. Harley Davidson had a large booth that featured, among other things, a stationary drag race. The best modified bike contest was also a Harley Davidson motorcycle affair. Too, most of the custom bikes on display used the HD engine in their models.

You could test ride the different Harley bikes, but since I was not qualified (no CA license) I did the next best thing – I sat on ALL the HD models on display that they placed in one long row. I would have loved to have my picture taken as I sat on each of the models, but since I went to the event by my lonesome, no pictures on the Harley’s for me this time. The best I could do was a picture of me with the HD bikes on display in the background (with the focus on the bikes, of course).

The 2008 California Bike Week: Part 4

More Bikes!

Bikes that caught my fancy (starting from the top):

1. I do not know neither the make nor model, but this bike with a different steering arrangement was displayed in the Boss Hoss area.

2. Victory motorcycles. They run a lot a lot of ads claiming to be the new American motorcycle. Most of the models look like souped-up choppers but their touring models have a strange (or radical) look.

3. The BMW R 1200 GS. I wish I had the dollars. $14+ excluding taxes, registration and other fees. Costs more than a million point two depreciated pesos if bought from the BMW dealer in good ole Philippines.

4. The Patriot bike. Built for the US National Reserve by the Orange County Choppers. I saw this featured in the show “American Chopper” aired in the Philippines by National Geographic.

5. The Zero Electric bike. The manufacturer claims in can accelerate from 0 to 50 kph in 2 seconds.