Riding in Asia is crazy.
Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:57 pm
and almost as crazy as deciding to learn riding in it.
After getting a Job in Seoul, Korea, I set about getting my first motorcycl...after about 5 hours of training with a guy who has alot of experience under his belt...I spent the next few weeks riding and learning from delivery boys.
I quickly found out I likely will give a 1% a run for his money in broken traffic laws when I hit the states....
For starters, there are no enforced traffic laws except drunk driving.....cops here are total wimps...I once split lanes, whacked the side mirror of police Van and then stopped at a light for 1 minute....which conviently was in front of the district police head quarters.....No problem whatso ever...getting pulled over requires an act of god...
Needless to say, driving is more like the video game crazy taxi....Everyone drives wherever the hell they want...Want to skip a red light the nice way? Pop a curb a and drive 30 mph down the crowded sidewalk... Sidewalk riding is fun as hell! You can plough through public parks and pavillions at high speed with no intervention....If you haven't tried it, it's a blast. The entire city is pretty much free to drive on. Line splitting is the rule, not something to be used with caution.
If you thought cars not noticing who you are was bad, it has nothing on cars being USED to driving with bikes. Cars treat you like a nobody. Motorbikes and scooters are very common....So even people could give less of a damn if your barreling towards them at 40 mph...I laid down my bike in front of a guy who decided to stand in the street staring at me for 1/4 a mile figuring I would go around...which leads to my next point...
Everybody is a pro....most of the drivers here are delivery workers and have spent countless hours dodging people at high speeds and driving like a bat out of hell. Everyone expects you drive not only crazy, but Crazily good.
Seoul, like many Asian cities, has an insane population density...people are everywhere and make no effort to avoid you since they assume "your an a expert"....Streets are tighter than Gordian's knot....there are so many ultra tight intersections and tiny alleys to drive through with no way in hell to see what's coming...If you don't stop completely, it's very easy to get run over by a truck going through an intersection in an alley no wider than a 1 car driveway. Almost happened a few times....Did I mention people who walk through here and ignore the sounds of motorcycles completely?
So far I've yet to actually make of a habit of looking at my speedometer...it's completely uneccessary....the cop speed cams only take pics of the front...not the back. I generally rely on my tachometer unless I want to check miles...
Buses, crazy Taxi cabs, and bongo trucks are very aggressive and VERY common...Buses are both the shark and whale of the road.
Speed bumps are fun! I love getting air time on them...
At midnight, red lights become VERY optional suggestions....
"One way only" Nobody listens to that...
Stop signs? I haven't seen any here...
Impromtu Canyon cliff rides in the city(Asia is very mountainous), you shoulda seen how scared I was the first time I saw the sign that showed a car going off a cliff....and I just wanted to pick up some doritos...Not race city buses down hairpin turns like Fast and the furious 3.
Lots of trucks..driven by small buisness owners...and I mean cargo trucks...
Motorcycle gangs made of up hundreds of under 20 delivery boys on scooters and cheap bikes....my friend's assure me if I F*** with them, I will be doing a repeat this scene from the movie akira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkO94iUm34
Thankful if you F-up your bike, repairs and and general maintenance is so cheap....At least 50-75% less than in the west. Once you start going to the same vendor, you also start getting free repairs too!
All in all, I really wished I took that free riders course in college....
Driving here is fun though!
Any tips would be appreciated!
After getting a Job in Seoul, Korea, I set about getting my first motorcycl...after about 5 hours of training with a guy who has alot of experience under his belt...I spent the next few weeks riding and learning from delivery boys.
I quickly found out I likely will give a 1% a run for his money in broken traffic laws when I hit the states....
For starters, there are no enforced traffic laws except drunk driving.....cops here are total wimps...I once split lanes, whacked the side mirror of police Van and then stopped at a light for 1 minute....which conviently was in front of the district police head quarters.....No problem whatso ever...getting pulled over requires an act of god...
Needless to say, driving is more like the video game crazy taxi....Everyone drives wherever the hell they want...Want to skip a red light the nice way? Pop a curb a and drive 30 mph down the crowded sidewalk... Sidewalk riding is fun as hell! You can plough through public parks and pavillions at high speed with no intervention....If you haven't tried it, it's a blast. The entire city is pretty much free to drive on. Line splitting is the rule, not something to be used with caution.
If you thought cars not noticing who you are was bad, it has nothing on cars being USED to driving with bikes. Cars treat you like a nobody. Motorbikes and scooters are very common....So even people could give less of a damn if your barreling towards them at 40 mph...I laid down my bike in front of a guy who decided to stand in the street staring at me for 1/4 a mile figuring I would go around...which leads to my next point...
Everybody is a pro....most of the drivers here are delivery workers and have spent countless hours dodging people at high speeds and driving like a bat out of hell. Everyone expects you drive not only crazy, but Crazily good.
Seoul, like many Asian cities, has an insane population density...people are everywhere and make no effort to avoid you since they assume "your an a expert"....Streets are tighter than Gordian's knot....there are so many ultra tight intersections and tiny alleys to drive through with no way in hell to see what's coming...If you don't stop completely, it's very easy to get run over by a truck going through an intersection in an alley no wider than a 1 car driveway. Almost happened a few times....Did I mention people who walk through here and ignore the sounds of motorcycles completely?
So far I've yet to actually make of a habit of looking at my speedometer...it's completely uneccessary....the cop speed cams only take pics of the front...not the back. I generally rely on my tachometer unless I want to check miles...
Buses, crazy Taxi cabs, and bongo trucks are very aggressive and VERY common...Buses are both the shark and whale of the road.
Speed bumps are fun! I love getting air time on them...
At midnight, red lights become VERY optional suggestions....
"One way only" Nobody listens to that...
Stop signs? I haven't seen any here...
Impromtu Canyon cliff rides in the city(Asia is very mountainous), you shoulda seen how scared I was the first time I saw the sign that showed a car going off a cliff....and I just wanted to pick up some doritos...Not race city buses down hairpin turns like Fast and the furious 3.
Lots of trucks..driven by small buisness owners...and I mean cargo trucks...
Motorcycle gangs made of up hundreds of under 20 delivery boys on scooters and cheap bikes....my friend's assure me if I F*** with them, I will be doing a repeat this scene from the movie akira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESkO94iUm34
Thankful if you F-up your bike, repairs and and general maintenance is so cheap....At least 50-75% less than in the west. Once you start going to the same vendor, you also start getting free repairs too!
All in all, I really wished I took that free riders course in college....
Driving here is fun though!
Any tips would be appreciated!
