⌛ New to Dumaguete

thanks for the three rules of driving to live by.

i will remember them.

what about riding big bikes? i see almost nothing over 200 cc here.

i am sure they may be available, but are they advisable? service, parts, standing out to much?

i am kind of a big guy, and i really push down on the little scooters if you know what i mean.

But i am a little worried about drawing undue attention if i ride down the road on a nice hog.

 

The Honda XR 200 is the ultimate island bike.

Go anywhere, super reliable, everybody gots parts.

 

Marky

It's nice to see someone else post the Rule #1. I have told folks that for a few years now and they always think I'm being negative about the Philippines...

Not negative just realistic and honest..

If I might add a new rule for Chuck.

Rule #2. When in doubt remember Rule #1 !

I personally would never drive over there I don't have the patience or nerves...as long as they have V-hire...trikes and ferry I'm good to go...

Otherwise I'll walk.:D


Southerndon

 

Grease It

Agree with all the post and i will add couple of more things:

1)You would need to get phil drivers license if you are driving more than 3 months from arrival date (and presuming you are not gonna go out of country every 3 months). To get this license, you need some sort of visa (other than tourist visa) to phil with ACR (alien certification of registration). If you are tourist visa only, you cant get ACR, which means you cant get phil drivers license. However, you may try to follow RULE#1 and grease your way?
2)you need motorcycle license also. This is not separate ID, but an added restriction on the driver's license. Easy to get as long as you are able to get the driver's license per above. If your foreign license does NOT have motorcycle restriction on it, you will most likely get ticket or something worse...

 

Owning a hog/cruiser would pose a bit more hassle in terms of maintenance as there are only a handful in the entire island. There are sportbikes of 400cc and above, but these too are not common enough to support local spare parts businesses. Almost certainly, nobody on the island has enough specific maintenance/repair experience on bikes of this class, so unless you have sufficient technical knowledge or resource on your bike, and interest in the activity involved in maintaining it, you're going to be much better off with the locally available ones. There has been an influx of Korean-made hog lookalikes in recent years, but I can't say anything about long term reliability. As Marky has pointed out, a Honda XR200 should fit your needs nicely.

 

What are the rules here on driving? There are none. Just drive like everyone else.
Does my USA drivers lisc work here? Yes, for up to 90 days.
Am I legally allowed to purchase a scooter in my own name? No.

 

Chuck,

In 2002 I was able to buy a 2nd hand Scooter jointly with an American guy from an American girl, my father in-law rides it now but it's still registered in my name and I still own it, having transferred it to my name. I had no problems at that time. I also got a Filipino license with no problem on a tourist visa. Unless things have changed significantly...

All the best.

John.

 

Everything and Nothing is Impossible

Nope, u cant get license without ACR.
Unless, of course u use the MOTTO:
"Everything and Nothing is Impossible"

 

Any idea when that changed? I wonder what NGO workers do.

 

at least since 2004

As far as i know, since JUNE 2004. thats when i tried first to get a drivers license using tourist visa... Dont ask what happend!!
NGOs can get license because they have visas other than tourist visas which allow them to get ACR and subsequently license.