Having a Motorbike in the Philippines, in my case, a "Chinese one" -Experiences-

Really appreciated this write up Guenther, excellent!

I must admit I was very dubious about the Chinese brands they were so clearly knock-off copies and I had huge concerns about the build quality, so the constructed by wimps theory gives me all the info I would need to fix a bike up if I were to buy one.

So chain tensioning is still as important as ever and sprockets still wear out quick ah some things never change.

150cc seems like a sensible size for Philippine roads, it's not as if there are many roads you could enjoy a high performance machine on, what you want is the actual transport from A to B and a bit of reliability.

I never personally owned a large really powerful bike, my biggest was a Honda 250 G5 but I did drive a couple of monsters on a few occasions like the Kawasaki Z1a that my mate owned, if I had ever had one I would have killed myself so I am glad I never did but I have fair experience of smaller machines like the CB125S and CD175. The first thing I ever drove was a CB92 Honda Benly that belonged to my pal, I dropped it at the first corner after 300 metres but things got better after that

As you say electrics are all important on these things particularly in a country with tropical storms, so your advice on checking the loom thoroughly is excellent!

Brought a smile to my face when you said you changed the ratio, I thought you were going the other way as that is what guy's used to do in the old days in the UK, sacrifice a little of the top end for better rear axle torque, but of course everything over there is geared for the bottom end, you never know when your pillions will be your Auntie AND Uncle with a kid hanging onto the rack and another wain (child: Scottish word) sitting on the tank I guess there is a big market for extra strong springs

Our problem where we live is that we have no secure space and would have to keep a bike tethered on the road, it is a subdivision and very quiet but by no means secure, I would not want to bring a bike into the porch both because it's our escape route in the event of fire and we also keep the washing machine there, a bike in the porch would also be a fire risk in itself.

If and when I move there longer term I will definitely be looking at a bike possibly even a trike an alternative to a car, so very useful mate!

Not for me................

Horribly smelly, noisy, dirty way of traveling from A to B without the slightest comfort imaginable.........

I fully understand where you coming from, as one of my kids keeps trying to kill himself every day, on one of those machines, and leaves trails of oil where ever he seem to go, but my preferences are in the comfort of a car, the silence or the stereo, my bluetooth handsfree in case someone calls...
Bliss.............

My current mode of transport leaves a trail of oil everywhere she goes, porous sump and the repair cost is over 600 quid so given my tiny mileage these days I am just living with it.

She also has alloy rot that means that I lose a few PSI every day in the tyres, I have to pump them every day

The thing is she looks great for a 12 year old car, I bought her new at huge discount (pre reg) she's done well over 120,000 miles now



(Ana loved pretending she could drive pure set up that pic)

There are lots of day to day things in Manila that need the lowest cost possible but with the minimum time as well, Guenther is dead right that it is not for a motorcycling beginner, I would not want to cut my biking teeth in Manila or anywhere in the Phils, but if you have a good bit of experience already it will be a good bit easier.

Mileage rates of 80 to 90 mile per gallon are a strong argument anywhere

If I were buying a car over there Jim I would make fairly sure that I was not driving it, the legal implications in an accident are just too terrible.

Driving a bike, well yes I would do that but I would be damn careful to make sure that I only injured myself and no one else, If you survive a bike when you are young you are usually pretty good with them when you are old, it's all about awareness.

As a retired motorbike person myself, I've experienced some awful machines. When I lived in Malta back in early 90's, my employer bought me a Chinese moped-thing for getting around the traffic choked island. From memory, it was the strangest 2 wheeler ever, it had no ignition, just kick start and go. It also only had just a speedo for a 'dashboard', so it was a wild guess how much fuel was left or if the lights were on full beam. It was however stupidly cheap to run, back in 1993, it was the equivalent of £3 tax a year and possibly £6 to fill up.

Best bike I had was the Yamaha XV535. This one below is similair except rear light cluster/licence plate was in a different arrangement.


Living in a rural area and short of money, a motorbike is not viable anymore, so the car wins. Given the chance (and money), I would buy the Yamaha XVS650.
First bike I got at 17 was a Honda Melody then a Yamaha Townmate 80, Honda Cub C90, Honda Spacey CH125 (with a retractable headlight!!!!) & Spacey CN250 (very advanced moped for its time - a clock, trip meter, consumption computer, fuel and temp guages, liquid cooled engine, foot brake and horrible 10" wheels, but was an excellent tourer, so comfortable to ride) and finally the XV535.

I had this old CB250 in 1977 lovely bike



and my first one was the CB125S in 1976



Sadly I have no personal photos of my bikes these are googled examples, but the second one the 125 has been cloned many many times, that exact design is on the roads of Manila today but not on a Honda badge.

I've driven over there Jim, on two of my visits I rented a car and drove the family around, even been stopped by the police for a moments indecision in Makati probably because the car did not have the tinted glass and they could clearly see the driver was a westerner, I hesitated at a junction as it was not clear if the right hand turn was a one way or if it was allowed, literally a 3 second hesitation.

I am sorry about your friend I have watched the drivers over there and they are often terrifying and you are of course right there are no rules but I have only ever seen one or two accidents, undoubtedly there are many but the speeds tend to be lower generally compared to here.

Where we live you see plenty of cars and bikes running with no lights at night, it is quite unbelievable both that they do it and that they get away with it but you are quite right they drive without lights.

For me I was specifically thinking about getting a trail bike, our landlord is a policeman and has an excellent Honda trail bike supplied by the police, long travel suspension to deal with the potholes (the smaller ones at least).

My reasoning for going for a bike?

Well second hand cars are way overpriced over there and are much harder to maintain without the help of a garage, If I was working over there I would definitely need transport, I could not manage just on public transport and a car over there is not exactly a quick mode of transport, I would have to get from down towards Cavite to Makati and back every day reasonably quickly.

I do understand the risks but like the millions of people in Asia who drive bikes I would be forced to consider it purely through the economics of low cost transport, fuel in Manila is now close to the same price is was in the UK when I first went over there 8 years ago probably about 70p a litre now, people just can't afford to run a car in a crowded city these days this is true here as well, I would be far better getting a bike in the UK to get to and from work rather than driving that Accord to the office every day.

Would I allow my partner to ride a bike, no never, I just would not consider letting her take that risk, not when our kids depend on her totally with no other adults around but if I was having to make living over there and I needed transport then I would take the risk myself, it's all part of the gamble of trying to survive in an Asian country, bikes and trikes make economic sense over there.

It's illegal to drive without a helmet in Manila, they all do it or at least many do it, but it is still illegal.

That's a nice looking machine Rob never owned anything two wheeled that was that nice!

I remember the C90 well, one of the guys I used to drive around with had the C90, I had the CB125 and my mate had the CB92 Benly and Jeff had the C90, one night coming back from Glasgow Uni we came across some really deep standing water the bikes got through it but the C90 aquaplaned on the mopeds foot plate, he was fine though just a few bruises

Wearing a full face helmet would for me be mandatory, apart from the obvious protection they offer (and I've hit the tarmac often enough to appreciate that) it helps anonymize you, like the tinted windows in a car.

Wherever you are in the Phils it is generally wise not to stand out too much, any kind of property makes you or your family a target for kidnap for ransom (KFR) and you could be sure that if the police were going to stop anyone it would be the foreigner flaunting Philippine road laws.

If I ever bought a car or a bike over there it would not be new and would definitely not be flashy, but even that would probably not be enough to prevent the unpleasant envy that can rear it's head amongst the locals.

The best protection and safety in Pinas, would be not to drive anything at all, and use taxis...

I take the point Dom and it would make sense if the taxi's were in any sense consistent but they aren't, you can get a good driver in a really dangerous vehicle and an insane driver in a brand new car, you can also get any mix in between.

I have used more taxi's there than I could ever count and it is always an adventure getting into any of them, will he use the meter, will he be a nutter, will he even know how to get to where we want to go, has the car got any suspension, will the aircon work, does he have a working clutch, is the steering ok, all these and many more thoughts go through my mind every time I get in a taxi over there.

Oh and I almost forgot I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I got in a car with working rear seatbelts.

If living there and only using taxi's you would in my view be as exposed to danger of accidents as you would be if you were driving yourself.

Taxi's do at least remove the property ownership problem and associated raised profile.

We have now got a family member working in the taxi business over there so that helps a bit, he's an ok driver and the car, a Mitsi people carrier, is new but because he is family we end up paying a bit more than we would otherwise.

I don't know, personally having driven there I would consider a car or a bike, and given the crazy price of second hand cars a bike or trike would be a more likely first step.