Motorcycle taxis – also known in Mindanao as “skylabs”
I am trying to learn how to ride a motorbike, but realize that I will always be a pretender.
The skylab captains of Mindanao are the true masters. It is humbling to observe the balance, technique and skill of these riders.
A motorbike rigged up like this is known as a “skylab” in Mindanao. Almost all these guys use modified TMX Hondas. Notice the wood stand used to hold the bike up for loading.
Carrying 6 sacks of rice is common in the provinces in the Philippines – that is 300 kilos!
These drivers are like the Huns that used to roam Europe while never getting off their horses. These guys were born to ride.
The rider sitting side-saddle on the gas tank is a common configuration everywhere in the provinces. By having your passenger sit sideways, the drivers view is not blocked and the center of gravity moves forward, giving the driver more control.
Some of the pics are from other pages on the site but as it grows they are getting hard to find – I collected a few and put them here.
Logging with motorcycles in Mindanao.
It i
s important that the passengers have good balance so the driver doesn’t have to fight the bike. It’s kind of like steering a boat, but it takes a lifetime to get as good as these guys!
Incredib
le skill!
Mindanao skylab
Climbing Mount Apo
General Santos
Growing Orchids
Judy's Resto Bar
Logging with Motorcycles
Mount Mayon
Balabac Island
Biri Island
Calbiga Cave
Capul Island
Mangrove Swamp Palawan
Mikes's Resort
Wow, that’s incredible! I can’t believe what those guys can do in terms of loads – almost like a circus stunt but they do it on a daily basis! Some neat postings; keep up the good work.
Hi Vic,
They are really, really good motorcycle riders!
I can’t believe how much abuse those bikes can endure as well!
dp
Well DP aprt from the incredible skill of these riders I just wonder how the heck the bike can stand up to such a work load. Of course they must have heavy duty suspension how ever no way are they designed to cart such weight.
Would be interesting to know how long the bikes last, guess like most of these guys they are so talented in keeping them going andd going.
Great work and great pics….
…maybe it’s a matter of keeping lots of welding rod handy!
dp
ps It is amazing the skill of these guys compared to the teenagers trying desperately to prove Darwinian theory correct by weaving madly through traffic with no warning…we saw two bite the dust last night when they tried for a high speed turn on gravel.
Occasionally you will see the most amazing brilliant shade of red in a puddle on the pavement where someone did a face plant.
wow… those loads surpass any that i saw while there. truly impressive!
Hey girl!
Well, maybe you have to make another trip out here! Cheryl is pretty keen to make a trip out here some time next year too.
We kinda miss having you around!
dp
ps our place is a lot bigger now and I got Beth a new refrigerator for her birthday yesterday…hint…hint
LOL! i had been LMAO when i saw these pictures..
I’m from the philippines and i used to ride the bikes.
i actually drove one.. it’s not as hard as you think it is as long as the load is balanced. and yes, they have suspensions and shock absorbers all over the bike and they last forever!
the drivers aren’t just the drivers.. they are also their own mechanics. they didn’t study mechanical, they just learned it the hard way. haha. impressive ey?
I MISS THE PHILIPPINES!!!!
Hi danboy,
These drivers do have and extraordinary sense of balance for sure!
I have ridden my bike with 4 passengers but this guy had 9 passengers and a few partial bags of rice.
It is also amazing to watch these guys hauling logs from the forest with their motorbike!
dp
i know right? specially with the unpaved roads. it’s amazing what you can “improvise” if you don’t have all the resources. :D
Hi DutchPickle,
Bruce has posted to LivingInCebuForums about you getting injured following an accident on your Motorcycle.
Understand you had some injuries to you head and broke your collarbone – hope you fully recover ‘Pickle’ as you seem to have landed in a ‘Pickle’
Well I have had a number of injuries on motorcycles in my 40 years of riding them.
Broken toe, and broken ‘Tib and Fib’ that had my left leg in plaster for 14 weeks in 1976. Broken Collarbone after leaving ‘Thruxton’ Race track to visit my Aunty/Cousins in Weyhill, Andober after. I also broke my other Collarbone on my Honda XR200R ‘Enduro’ when I tried to discover when I had never seen anyone try going around this disused Motocross Track in the reverse direction and ending up doing a ‘Flying W’ and got a compound fracture of my left Clavical with the bone poking up through my jersey. Left me like that until the next day in the Hospital as it was ‘Friday’ and no surgeons to take a look at it. No plates and pins – just strap my shoulders back with ‘figure of 8’ stretch bandage across my back and around my shoulders at the top of my arms. Healed just fine, but thinks the two end of the break overlapped slightly as the healed bone seems very much thicker than the break on the left that I had.
So hope ya heal up Pickle but please use you head and wear a crash helmet, even if you the only habel habel rider doing so. You might even start a trend and get others doing the same?
It really worries me when I see these ‘Families’ with small children and even little babies, all together on a motorcycle. OK so they can be skilled at handling such motorcycle with such a ‘load’. I dread what would happen to them however, if there should be some idiot in a car/truck/bus that not paying due care and attention and ends up hitting such habel habel with a Family like that on board!
I am surprised there are not a lot more serious motorcycle accidents – hopefully because most occur at relatively slow speeds I guess? Hitting you head hard hard on concrete, can kill you with just a fall off a stationary motorbike however.
A good quality Crash Helmet can save your life (even if it inconvenient, hot and uncomfortable). It’s an insurance Policy – hope you never have to rely on it, but if you do, you will sure be glad you had such and used it.
David
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Mindanao. Regards
I have had many good times in Mindana – from Siargo Island to General Santos to Zamboanga and many places in between.
I recommend the Mt Apo climb near Kidapawan . The Tuna auction in Gen San. Scuba dving in the Sarangani.
…and just riding my motorbike cross country
several times taking a boat to Suluwasi, Indonesia and Sabah, Malaysia
dp