Today in Manila I rented a Honda NX500. I’ll be here over 3 weeks and, while we have access to a van and a driver, this will give me a bit of independence. With the local big city traffic here in Manila the 25km ride back to where I’m staying was a little wild and crazy.
The NX500 is powerful compared to most of what is ridden in Manila (scooters) but it’s a humble, small bike. But you need a minimum of 400CCs to ride on the highways here so it’s big enough for that.
Much of the world lane splits! With the heavy traffic in Manila, lane splitting is a great way to get around. There is a ‘method to its madness’ because, believe me, it is seemingly madness, but if you’re not going to lane split then you’ll waste away sitting in the gridlock. I choose to move.
Lane splitting in the US doesn’t come close to how it’s done here. Or in Rome or Bangkok or just about anywhere else in the world. I’ve ridden in Barcelona before, extending on a business trip and renting a motorcycle, and I hung my iPad from the handlebar and used that for my GPS and map. On the NX500 I hang my iPhone from the handlebar. Not ideal, but it’s the same as the iPad: good enough.
Here is the NX500 rental. It is pretty new, with just 1,600km (1,000 miles) on the odo.
And here I am with Mike, the rental company manager.
The location of the rental company in San Andres Bukid and the AirBNB in Las Piñas are given by these DD coordinates (the AirBNB is near Ace Hardware).
△ Honda NX500 rental ▲ 14.5675, 121.0016
△ Ace Hardware Las Piñas ▲ 14.4494, 120.9813
{I prefer DD coordinates and denote them with ▲ — pasting those numbers into the map should get you near enough; addresses, street names, and even streets can change over time, and address formats can differ by country (sometimes they’re lengthy!), but Lat / Long coordinates persist longer; and DD coordinates are simpler than degrees minutes seconds}
This gives a sense of my 10 mile ride to get back home. With the different styles of streets and signs I made only 2 wrong turns, but all in all I made it back home pretty quickly. Much faster than the van ride there. In fact, without getting too crazy I passed a lot of the locals on their scooters and motorcycles. I made really good time.
And here is the bike back home at the AirBNB, with my brother opening the gate.
When I left San Francisco I wasn’t sure that I’d rent a bike, but taking a GrabCar (their Uber) through Manila on day 2 and seeing the very heavy congestion and gridlock convinced me that having a motorcycle would enable me to maximize my experience here. Having a van and driver is nice, but the motorcycle will allow me to explore more and longer each day, and more efficiently. I’ll be able to maximize my experiences here.
I’m looking forward to exploring here!
Lane splitting in Italy is a whole different experience than in the states. We rode down the coast from Tuscany, thru Rome and to the Amalfi area. Lots of places where there is a two lane highway with steady traffic in both directions. The motorcycles basically use the centerline as a third lane. Somehow when two bikes meet head on someone decides to tuck in behind the cars and let the other bike pass. It seemed terrifying at first, but quickly figured out how well it worked.
It helps that all the drivers (cars and bikes both) are skilled and paying attention.
I can’t imagine lane splitting in the US. Too may drivers drifting in their own lane.
It’s legal in some states, California and Arizona, for example (and a handful of others that I can’t remember off the top of my head).
My state (Pennsylvania) doesn’t allow it, so drivers around here aren’t looking for motorcycles in between lanes and could easily pull out in front of you. But then it’s mostly rural where I live so there’s really no need for lane splitting.
Trying to lane split on the Baltimore beltway would probably be suicidal. But then, just driving a motorcycle on the beltway is a bit suicidal. I’ve only done it once and I decided I would really prefer to never do it again.
I’ve lane split in CA on my couple trips there and found it to be fairly safe. Lots and lots of motorcycles doing it. The drivers seem to be used to it and expect it. I don’t like sitting in stop and go traffic on I-5 with an air cooled engine between my legs during the summer. 
In the Philippines so far I’ve seen one lane roads, with one lane in each direction, and scooters and motorcyclists creating 3 (count ‘em, THREE) ‘lanes’ in each direction: scooters and motorcycles would be in the official lane, and they’d also travel to the right of vehicles (next to the curb), and they’d also be in the middle of the road.
I got pinched once between two cars going up the 405 North into the wasteland. Had to knock on the driver’s window to to wake the guy up. Only moved the right mirror a little. Bar end weights are a good thing!
Jeeze. Did you buy a lottery ticket after that?
As I ride around, still in Manila (I’m here for 30 days), the other riders here rely on their horns. A light beep beep alerts other drivers of their presence as they weave through traffic. It’s a practice I’m picking up, but I certainly can’t rely on others on the road reacting as I expect them to. Still, the bike is a great way to get around. It’s Sunday morning here and I got away first thing to hit a coffee shop that’s about 20 minutes away. Others are nearer but I wanted to ride a bit farther and see some sights. And to get used to this new-to-me bike.
A minor correction: lane splitting (riding between lanes of moving vehicles) and lane filtering (riding between lanes of stopped vehicles) are allowed in California. Only filtering is allowed in AZ.
Thanks for clarifying those terms, lane splitting and lane filtering. I’ve always called all of it lane splitting. I actually think I’ll continue doing so too.
I’ve done quite a bit more riding yesterday and today. I’ve noticed that the drivers here tend to not make sudden lane changes. Instead they ease their way over, and maybe that’s because scooters and bikes are everywhere and all around the cars and trucks and buses on the road. This is just a guess on my part but because there’s so much lane splitting and filtering that drivers have been conditioned to expect scooters and motorcycles in their blinds spots, always.
If that’s the case then that’s great for us riders — the drivers expect us to be there even when they can’t see us. That’s not the case in the US, IME.
Hand in hand with this method of changing lanes by easing slowly over, is also the case that drivers here don’t have a lot of lane discipline. Vehicles are often straddling lane markers. The lane markers on the roads are merely suggestions.
I’ve noticed that most drivers and riders here use their turn signals. That’s a lot more than I can say about American drivers!
Earlier I mentioned riders using their horns with a gentle beep-beep to announce their presence. It’s not just the riders, but sometimes the drivers do too. Yesterday in very heavy traffic a bus driver purposely squeezed me out of my lane. I was near his rear wheel, just forward of it, when he came over into my lane and forced me out of it. As he did so he also gave a gentle beep-beep. That gentle beep-beep basically announced to me that, Hey buddy, I’m coming into your lane and you’re gonna have to give it up, and there ain’t a thing you can do about it. LOL. There wasn’t anything I could do about it and I slowed down and gave up what I thought was my lane. When I passed him soon after this, I didn’t even give him a look. It’s just the grab-ass nature of how it is in heavy traffic here. No big deal, but I had to chuckle to myself while it was happening.
Today I went to a helmet store and bought a new helmet. The ones that came with the rental weren’t very comfortable, and one of them was downright painful. I got a modular helmet from a company called NEO and it cost all of about $60 (➜ Buy Neo Icon Plain – Team Spyder ■). And the lightweight gloves I bought there were $12. I wore the new helmet home from my morning ride this morning, so I’ve worn it for about an hour. It’s a pretty nice helmet. What a deal!
Another thing I remembered is that I’m glad I’ve spent the last 4 months at home dusting off my rusty riding skills. To remind, I’d sold my last bike about 4 years back and thought I was done with riding in my life. But I started to get the itch again and bought the Zero DSRX 4 months ago, then the BMW R1200GS Adventure 3 months ago. During these past 4 months riding at home I could sense the returning of my old riding skills.
Riding here in the Philippines is challenging and I’m glad I’d dusted off that rust.
In a prior thread about driving in traffic like that, someone who lives in a place like that commented that they drive like they are pedestrians in a crowd. Everyone just kind of gently jostles for position as they work their way along whatever amount of flat surface is provided for driving.
As you say, lane stripes (and even median stripes) are strictly advisory. The road holds as many vehicles side by side as happen to fit. Might be 4 dump trucks / busses, or 7 cars, or 25 motorcycles / scooters. Or any combination thereof. It all just has to fit between the obstacles at the edges of the road, be those buildings, curbs, ditches, whatever.
I follow a couple of vloggers and sometimes they are in India …no idea how people survive.
Australians are pretty good at lane discipline…very useful given the blind corners of the Captain Cook Highway …let alone the Gillies.
The highway is known for its 263 corners, and 800 m elevation change in only 19 km of road.[[It is a popular tourist drive and has a number of lookouts.[[4]]
It’s rare anyone strays but lane splitting is only good in Queensland where I live - it used to be cruel sitting in the tropical sun with ATGATT armour on broiling. 
Then they allowed lane splitting and the use of the extensive bike lanes…heavenly 
This struck me as quite remarkable. Different places have different cultures, but I didn’t think it could be this extreme.
You say everyone drives 40 km/h over the limit on local roads. In Ontario, 40 km/h or more over the limit on local roads (50 km/h or more on highways) is the threshold that falls under special stunt driving laws, and would result in immediate 30-day license suspension and 14-day vehicle impoundment, plus fines from $2,000-$10,000, potentially up to 6 months jail, and significant license suspension (a year or more for a first offense) upon conviction, unless of course the prosecution chose to lessen the charge.
Speeding fines are generally a bit more lenient that in Australia, but once you exceed the “stunt driving” threshold, they throw the book at you. The stunt driving laws were originally intended to address street racing, but were extended to other forms of dangerous driving.
And consider the outcomes. Florida (data for 2021) with a population of just under 22 million, recorded 3,738 fatal collisions. That’s 17 vehicle fatalities per 100,000 population.
Ontario (data for 2023) with a population just under 16 million, recorded 568 fatal collisions. That’s less than 4 (3.55 to be exact) vehicle fatalities per 100,000 population.
Across the US, only 7 states have a worse accident fatality rate per billion miles driven than Florida. Cite.
We’ve done this a couple times.
Major boulevards (3 lanes each way, center island, turn pockets, etc.) are almost all signed at 45mph. Folks drive 60 and occasionally 65. Minor boulevards (same but 2 lanes each way) are typically signed for 35mph. Folks do 50 if there’s lots of driveways, but in areas where there’s one entrance to a tract every half mile and otherwise there’s no cross traffic nor on-street parking it’s common to be doing mid 60s. And occasionally be passed by somebody going 70.
The interstates and turnpikes are similar. Traffic permitting, the express lanes go 95-105, the ordinary lanes are doing 80-90. The speed limit? I think it’s generally 70 in the metroblob but in some older more congested areas it’s 65.
That’s all in mph so multiply by 1.6 to get km/h.
The only thing moderating the speed is the volume of cars.
I gotta say, you got HUGE BALLS to ride in a place like that. Be Careful, Buddy. I’m looking forward to having a beer with you sometime in the future.
These 70F December days, a mile up in the Rockies, have given me a chance to test the Sena Phantom ANC helmet.
The audio quality is excellent; better than any helmet I’ve ever used. This is also the quietest helmet I’ve ever used. With the ANC off, at 75mph, and 20-30mph wind gusts, I can clearly hear the audio at less than max-volume, while I’m wearing ear plugs. Turning the ANC on makes the helmet even quieter. I’m going to have to test without earplugs, and see what I get.
The voice commands are pretty good. They work perfectly at low speed. At high speed I need to yell. Not quite as easy as the roller control on my old Bluetooth, but easier than finding buttons with thick gloves.
The problem is that I’m not sure the helmet fits right. It’s tight enough. I certainly could not go a size smaller. The problem is the helmet wants to rotate forward on my head. The natural way it sits is with the bottom of my nose at the bottom of the visor. I had to take out the breath guard, because it was pressed into the tip of my nose.
I can deliberately put it on so my nose is behind the chin guard, where it’s supposed to be, but the helmet still will try and roll down.
I’m going to have to test it a bit more, because I like it, but I don’t know if it actually fits.
Yes I’d like that. Let’s do it!