The price of oil has increase drastically in the Philippines. I can still remember when the price of gasoline is just like the price of a liter of soft drinks. As my aunt said, the fare before in a transport jeep is just 1 peso. Sometimes, they just walk long distances to save money. But that is not advisable nowadays as we became too much busy in our work and other things. Because of this, motorcycles became popular. It became as one of the major source of transportation in the country. With cheap price, you can buy easily. You can also purchase through installment with an option of paying it 1, 2, or 3 years. But the longer the plan, the higher is the interest. Since it is cheap, any part of society can buy one. It also consumes less gasoline for long distance travel. There are many colors and models to choose from. There are different stroke engines with clutch and without clutch. The most popular are 100cc, 110cc, 125cc, and 155cc.
Why did it become popular? As I’d said, it is cheap. Maintenance is also easy as the parts are not too expensive. It has lower registration fee. It can be easily set up and tune up. Others really like it because of its speed and accessibility to traffic. Traffic really increases because of growing numbers of vehicles. Unlike from other countries, there is no law here that you need to change your car after 20 years. Old car remains and new cars are produce. The result of this is large volume of vehicles that causes heavy traffic. Using motorcycle is much better because you can drive it in tight, rough and smooth roads.
With the increase in popularity of using motorcycles, motorcycle parts stores and shops increases in number. In fact if you have capital, it is a good business as the parts last long. It is best if you have a mechanic in your shop as the customers will directly but to you if there’s something to change in their motorcycle like oil and other parts.
But despite of the advantages of having a motorcycle, there are also problems you may encounter. Since it has only 2 wheels, you are prone to accident. You need to wear helmet at all times as wearing seatbelts in your 4 wheeled cars. Using it during rainy season is also a problem as you are required to use rain coat and the road is slippery. Numbers of accident increase because others drive them really fast and others used it in illegal racing.
photo from: http://remomd.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/motocrash.jpg
It also became an escape vehicle of thieves and bad sectors of society. Even minors without drivers license uses motorcycles. Because of these problems, many ordinances are made among motorcycle users. There’s a suggestion of wearing a plate vest jackets to avoid riding in tandem thieves should be required. One senator suggests that only one person could ride a motorcycle to avoid riding in tandems. For motorcycle groups, they view it as too much discrimination in their part. But in spite of these, the popularity of motor cycle keep on increasing and many still buys their own motorcycle. But remember whatever vehicle we ride, always follow traffic rules and DRIVE SAFELY.
