Last weekend, Yamaha took their Mio Gear Playground campaign to SM City Cebu, and I was privileged to witness the action-packed mall event in person. This activity aims to highlight the robustness and versatility of the Yamaha Mio Gear.

Indeed, it is one tough scooter, despite its relatively modest 125cc displacement. In fact, I’ve already had the pleasure of riding it through lahar to go moto camping. It would seem that the Mio Gear could do anything and go anywhere except maybe traverse the tollways.

In Cebu, however, the Mio Gear can.

The Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) is an 8.9-kilometer tollway that connects the main island of Cebu to Mactan. What makes this tollway special, aside from being the longest bridge in the country, is that it allows access to motorcycles with 125cc displacement and above. All other tollways, which are situated in Luzon, require a minimum displacement of 400cc.

The rationale is that smaller bikes tend to be much lighter than big bikes; therefore, they are supposedly unstable when running at high speeds. Why 400cc, then? Nobody knows.

If weight is the issue, then why not base restriction on the motorcycle’s actual weight and not on displacement? Think about this for a second: a Kawasaki Ninja 400 (tollway-legal) weighs 167 kilograms, while the KYMCO Xtown 300i (not tollway-legal) weighs 185 kilograms.

If the concern is the small bike's capability to keep pace with traffic flow, why not base it on top speed instead? Surely, even a 100cc commuter underbone could run at 60 KPH (the minimum tollway speed) all day without problems.

On CCLEX, the maximum speed for small displacement motorcycles is between 40 KPH to 60 KPH, depending on the area. There is also a meter-wide dedicated lane for riders to segregate and create a bit of distance between them and other larger vehicles. I’ve ridden big bikes on expressways more times than I could count, but it was my virgin tollway ride on a 125cc scoot.

Ironically, I felt the safest on the Yamaha Mio Gear along the CCLEX’s narrow blue lane. The only danger I found was if I allowed myself to get distracted by the breathtaking scenery.  

CCLEX is under the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), along with the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX). Imagine if all these would allow entry to 125cc scooters as well. Chaos, you say? Small bikes have been traversing CCLEX since April of last year. So far, so good.

Expressways are supposed to contribute to the betterment of the motoring public. Is this only reserved for the privileged who can own cars and expensive big bikes?

MPTC and Toll Regulatory Board, #bekenemen.