Got the bike running. Didn’t take much. Doing all the preliminary checks. All looks good so far. This is the best time of year for riding in the mountains being dry season and you can escape some of the heat in the lowlands. Bike is s 2007 BMW F650 Dakar. Hoping to post some picks of our rides in the coming weeks.

 

Took the bike out for a 50 kilometer spin out through the countryside and rice field area near us. Nice running through countryside barrios. This country is full of beauty, the landscapes are nice too.

Had one little glitch on the bike. The tachometer and speedometer would cut out once in awhile intermittently and then come right back. I have to research that on the F650 forum and see if anyone’s got anything on that. But other than that the bike ran perfect.

 

My current boss is Fillipino and told me the country is sooo beautiful. Also not expensive to live and visit there. I would love to visit

 

It’s pretty nice here. The people are so friendly and respectful. I’ll bet you will notice that right away. Cost depends on your lifestyle, but yes generally it is cheaper to live here than in the USA.

 

Cool photos! My wife is from Alabang.

 

Got my instrument cluster, speedometer, tachometer and odometer fixed. The guys over at F650.com pointed me in the right direction. There’s one dude over there who is an F650 guru and has documented most of thd common problems.

The instrument cluster on the F650 weak link is a 47uF 16 volt capacitor the regulates the 5volt bus on instrument cluster. It is prone to failure and when failing causes the intermittent problems I was experiencing.

So I went to town here in the Philippines and bought a 47uF capacitor for 10 pesos. Then I went next door to the karaoke repair shop and asked them to swap it out. That cost 30 pesos. So for around 75 cents and my labor getting the instrument cluster board in and out I’m back up and running with full instrumentation.

 

Damn that’s a good deal

 

Went for about a 150 kilometer ride up through the Philippine Sierra Madre Mountains. The road was mostly concrete. Eighteen years ago when I first did this route it was unsealed roads, some sections of deep mud and several river crossings. It took me 12 hours of hard riding. Today it was easy, did it in a few hours with rest stops. Also ate at my favorite BBQ place. Took a swim at the end of the ride.
























file photo of swim spot

 

Are those rice paddies?

How long are you there or is this where you live now?

 

Yes, rice paddies. These are irrigated from the river that runs through the valley. Now that I am retired we will be spending six months a year here. We will return to USA this summer. My kids were born here in the Philippines and grew up here until we moved back to USA when they were in high school. We built and still own a house here in the Philippines.

Irrigation canals: