(Let’s just hope it doesn’t kill me.)
Ever since I knew videogames existed, I’ve played them. They’ve honed my reflexes, improved my hand-eye coordination and given me hours (days?) of fun. I’d always thought they were about the fun. I didn’t realize they were really just leading up to this:
Yes, I own a motorcycle again. And I own one in Korea. (I’ll let that sink in.)
Ready to move on now?
What possessed me to get back on two wheels again? Well, several things.
1. My apartment (the building behind the bike – but that’s not my window) is about 3 miles from work. It takes me 40-45 minutes to walk to work, depending on traffic lights and the weather. The bus takes about 20 minutes or so as it doesn’t go all the way to work and requires a little bit of walking on the other end.
2. It was cheap. I got the bike for about $250 from a teacher in Seoul who was moving out of the area and no longer needed it.
3. Hmmm, I guess there is no #3. I just saw the deal and took it.
It looks sporty and fast, but it’s not. Not really. If you could see the engine (or read the numbers after the “VR” on the rear of the bike) you’d know how weak it is. It’s got a whopping 125cc engine on it. How small is that? One-fourth (or less) the size of either of my two previous bikes. It’s a good thing those fairings hide the engine or mopeds might laugh at it.
It’s not all bad, though. Since the engine is so small, it sips gas. I mean it consumes about as much fuel as a vegetarian supermodel eats steak. And that’s good news when gas costs as much as it does here. I filled up on Friday and spent $8.54. For 1.95 gallons! That’s $4.38 per gallon. Take note – everybody living in the US is prohibited from whining about gas prices until you’re paying as much as me. Then again, you’re not getting 68 miles to the gallon either.
Gas mileage is one of the two big advantages to owning a motorcycle in Korea. The other is traffic. It’s everywhere here – highways, city streets, back alleys – they’re all clogged. And on a motorcycle traffic doesn’t apply to you.
Neither do any traffic laws.
More or less. Motorcycles aren’t so much “above the law” as they are “beneath its notice” here. Red light? Treat it like a stop sign – pull up, make sure you’re clear and buzz on through. One-way? Not for you. Don’t way to wait in line at a stoplight? Just drive between the cars and get up to the front so you can take off first when the light changes. Sidewalk? Don’t worry, they’ll move. In a hurry and don’t want to wait for a red light? That’s what your horn is for. I have to digress for a bit here. I have the most powerful horn known to man on my motorcycle. It’s louder than a semi. It’s like Gabriel’s goddamn trumpet. It drowns out my engine. I can make a car stop with it. It is truly an awesome thing.Back to traffic laws. Really, they don’t apply. I have run a red light (after stopping, of course) in front of a police car – and the cop did nothing. I thought I was screwed, but he just ignored me. Quite an odd thing, especially since all police vehicles drive around with their flashing lights constantly on. (Which didn’t prevent me from not noticing this one. Go figure.)
I can now make it to work in 5-8 minutes.
Surprisingly, it is. Much safer than riding in the US. How can that be?
1. Cars are much smaller here. There are very few SUVs to block drivers’ views of the traffic around them. When fuel costs this much, only the rich or stupid (or the combo) drive them. Most people drive very sensible cars.
2. Drivers are much more aware of what’s going on around them. They know traffic is chaotic here. They’re used to it, and drive accordingly.
3. They look out for motorcycles. This is the key, ladies and gentlemen. There are shitloads of bikes on the roads here, especially food-delivery vehicles. Nobody delivers food (pizza, chicken, Korean or Chinese) with a car. They’re all on motorcycles, mopeds or scooters. These guys haul ass everywhere and rarely wear helmets. People watch out for them and expect them to disobey traffic laws. I’ve had drivers with a green light stop when they saw me approaching my red. I stopped, and they went on, surprised.
Then I ran the red light. ^.^