ChipesterKhan chronicles - part 5 - The Biker Phase

Tweet

ChipesterKhan chronicles - part 5 - The Biker Phase My dad got tricked into buying a 750cc Yamaha XS Special by his best friend Tito Ed. Tito Ed owed my dad around 70K because of gambling. So Tito Ed repaid him with a big bike. My mom had just recently passed away then because of cancer and my Dad was trying to cope with his newfound bachelorhood. We almost lost everything during mom's sickness and my Dad went into a deep depression so I had to step up and take care of business. We'd sold all our cars and properties and a few more things that I'd rather forget. It was, for me, the lowest point in our lives. My younger brothers and sister were sent to our grandparents because they were stressed out by the situation. I refused to go because I knew I had to man up. My dad started to hang out more and more in his room just watching TV barely coming out only to eat and check on the business. Since my Dad and I don't really talk that much, it wasn't a big adjustment for me. I soldiered on with the help of my friends keeping the business open 24 hours a day. My friends didn't even ask for any payment. We treated it like a barkada session or a hang out. Most of us were already sober by then. We had started the drug thing early in life so we also ended it early. When my Dad got his first bike, things changed. He became so enthusiastic about it that he ended up going on long trips with his newfound friends, the Apache group. They were local businessmen who had big bikes. My dad eventually got over my mom's death and he became happier. I then took it upon myself to take care of his bike everytime he got home since he wasn't that much of a mechanic. I learned a lot about that bike. he eventually got a better bike, a Virago 750cc. Guess who bought his old bike... hehehe me. Since the XS was dressed up with chrome, I proceeded to tear it down with the help of my friends. We repainted it flat black and overhauled the engine. It wasn't too hard because it was kind of a straightforward job for us. So while taking care of the pharmacy, when there were no customers, we were outside reassembling the bike. It took us about 6 weeks to finish it. It was dechromed and flat black with a menacing sound. I originally intended to change the handlebars to a sportier one except I didn't really have enough funds, so I was stuck with the easy rider handle bars which eventually grew on me. I then proceeded to take a tent along with me and joined my dad's group as one of the youngest members. I was only 20 then. Everyone was 30 and up except for Kuya Ralph (Tito Ed's son) who inherited his Dad's bike and membership when Tito Ed died. At first I would tour with them and eventually I ended up riding alone. I loved the feeling of the wind in my face and the freedom it signified. When I ended up in a remote location, I'd just pitch my tent and sleep til morning. Mosquitoes never bothered me a lot and the thrill of "roughing it up" appealed to me. This was because I got so into the biker lifestyle after reading loads of magazines about bikes. During that time I also bought another Beetle ( an ugly brown superbeetle) which caught my fancy because of the rounded windshield (it was the first time I'd seen one). It only stayed with me for a couple of months. I eventually sold it to a fellow biker who days later cut it up and made a trike out of it. That bike and I were inseparable. If I wasn't out riding it, I was cleaning it. Or tinkering with it. 4 years later (2003), I left for Manila. I initially wanted to bring the bike over but didn't have enough funds to pay for the transport. SO I left it with my sister. And then I realized just how dangerous Manila is to the average biker. So the bike stayed in Tacloban. That bike was eventually sold in 2007 to help start up my sister's business in car detailing. And so I started my life in Manila, leaving all the pain in our small hometown. Tata.