Every National Day, 56 motorcycles and their riders rumble past the Presidential Office, leading a parade of army soldiers, frogmen and marching bands, all from the Ministry of National Defense.
The motorcycles move slowly and steadily, at less than 5 kilometers per hour, in an awe-inspiring seven-by-eight formation. The riders, with the eyes of the nation upon them, look serious and determined. Beads of sweat trickle down their faces, glistening in the sun.
Their flawless control of the heavyweight machinery makes it all look easy; but as anyone who has ever driven a motorcycle knows, it is hard to keep them steady at slow speeds; and spectators can only marvel at the strict training the riders must have been through.
The 56 riders are all part of the Motorcycle Company, the only unit within the MND equipped with a fleet of heavy motorbikes.
“Serving in the Motorcycle Company was one of the best experiences of my entire life,” said Hsu Li-an, a military reservist still in his twenties. “And riding the machine past the president, vice president and first lady on Oct. 10, National Day, is my fondest memory, because it took so much hard work to prepare for the show.”
According to the Military Police Command, the Motorcycle Company was established in Taipei in 1957. Back then, Taiwan was still under martial law, and the new force was initially charged with protecting the peace in urban areas.
But as motorcycles were an uncommon sight during that impoverished era, the company was soon given a new mission: escorting the limousines of important government officials, such as the president, vice president and foreign dignitaries.
To help the company better fulfill its obligations, the MND replaced the older, lighter fleet of motorcycles in 1970 with world-famous Harley Davidson motorcycles. Thus was born the squad’s image of majesty in motion, an image it retains to this day.
In terms of engine displacement, the Harleys ranged from 500 cubic centimeters to 1,200 cc and 1,340 cc. They served the company well, but nevertheless the motorbikes were replaced once again in 1999 by Royal Stars manufactured by Japan’s Yamaha Motor Co.
Each Royal Star motorcycle weighs more than 347 kilograms. When its 40-liter oil tank is completely filled, the vehicle weighs nearly 400 kg.
According to Jiang Yi-li, the company’s sergeant major, the Royal Stars were a little less powerful than their predecessors, as they have 75 horsepower compared with the Harley’s 79 horsepower.
“We decided to retire the Harleys for two main reasons,” said the sergeant major. “The Royal Stars have a lower center of gravity, and it is easier to get spare parts for them.”
In 2009, the company switched to a new type of Royal Star motorcycle for its fifth generation of transports. Though the new Royal Stars look almost indistinguishable from the old ones, they are slightly larger and, with 98 horsepower, they are also much more powerful.
Not long after the most recent purchase, reports came in saying that the U.S. motor manufacturer wanted to buy back the well-maintained vintage Harleys from the ROC military.
While neither confirming nor denying the reports, the MND did say that any such request would be denied, because “the retired fleet represents the longstanding spirit of the military policemen and should not be traded in for mere cash.”
The Harley-Davidsons, MND officers said, will be kept on display at a museum at the Military Police Command headquarters.
To the enormous surprise of the legions of fans in love with the cavalcade, the MND announced a decision earlier this year to scrap the Motorcycle Company as part of a streamline initiative to be implemented next year.
“The streamline initiative is designed to improve the combat readiness of our troops, and the Motorcycle Company does not really make a contribution in this regard,” Cheang Yun-pung, director general of the MND Strategic Department, said at a July 19 news conference. “Besides, heavy motorcycles are no longer a rare means of transportation in the streets of Taiwan.”
Not everyone, however, agreed with the military’s judgment, and many clamored for the decision to be overturned. One of the most prominent defenders of the company was Legislator Lin Yu-fang, director of the National Defense Committee in the Legislative Yuan. “The company’s tidy rectangular formation on Double Tenth Day is a great asset to the nation, and I would greatly appreciate it if the MND rescinds its decommissioning plans,” he said.
Indeed, the company makes enormous contributions to the nation, though in intangible ways, for it embodies the proud spirit of the ROC army. In Taiwan, where every male national is required to perform one year of military service, the military experience has become a shared rite of passage. When older men—in their 50s, 60s and beyond—get together to reminisce on their youth, they frequently dwell on their time in the barracks. And for many retired soldiers, the Motorcycle Company is a reminder of the best of their military experience.
To ensure that it fulfills this important function, the company goes to great lengths to ensure that the annual parades go without a hitch. According to former officers in the company, the training program begins three months before National Day.
It is a grueling regimen. According to the officers in the company, every qualified member must already possess a heavy-duty motorcycle driver’s license. And during the training, he has to complete basic lessons like getting used to the motorcycle’s weight—by standing up a lying motorcycle and then pushing it around an S-shaped course. Then, riders learn the names of the mechanical parts and how to clean them. The last but most difficult part comes when the soldiers mount the motorcycles to form neat rectangles as a whole.
The Motorcycle Company trains in July and August, when Taiwan’s scorching summer heat is at its peak. “My clothes were drenched in sweat and then dried by the wind. If someone moves too fast or too slow, he is punished and told to run hundreds of meters,” Hsu recalled.
“The speed is hard to control because the motorcycle does not use an automatic transmission gear system. The only way to move it faster or slower than the speed limit of 5 kilometers per hour is by tightening or loosening the clutch with our left hands—which might seem like an easy thing to do, but is in fact exhausting,” he said. “Oftentimes after a training session, I would go to eat and find that I could not even hold my chopsticks.”
For whatever reason, in the end the MND did give up its plan to decommission the Motorcycle Company, a decision Lin was only too happy to announce: “The MND has decided to withdraw the previous plan and keep the company safe and sound, with just an alteration to its name.” In other words, the motorcycles will remain in place, and the spirit of the company will not die.
The announcement was greeted enthusiastically by many. It meant the Motorcycle Company will continue to patrol the streets of the nation’s capital, and the stately parades will continue as before, with the motorcycles leading the way past the Presidential Office, coursing along with their menacing, but also soothing, low-frequency growl. (HZW)
Write to Aaron Hsu at pj1210meister@mail.gio.gov.tw