“PAALAM, lumang motor! Hello sa bago mong big bike!”
That’s the message motorcycle dealership Motortrade has for boxer Carlo Paalam, who just clinched the country’s second silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The multi-motorcycle brand dealership put a silhouette of the promised big bike on its post, which looks suspiciously like the Yamaha YZF-R1. (Check out the front wheel spokes.)


In an earlier Instagram post, the boxer had uploaded a picture of a Yamaha YZF-R6 on his personal account, saying, “Maging akin ka din.” Top Gear Philippines' Drei Laurel also writes that Paalam has posted images of himself aboard a blue Yamaha Sniper and a bright pink Honda RS150.
Compared to the boxer's dream R6, the R1 boasts a bigger 998cc engine, packed inside a larger, heavier frame. According to Top Gear Philippines' listings, it retails for P1,099,000.
(UPDATE, 8 August, 2:40 p.m.) In a new report, insiders tell Top Bikes Philippines (whose editor Aris Ilagan helped arrange the motorcycle incentives for top athletes Hidilyn Diaz and Carlo Paalam) that the big bike to be given away is indeed the R6, and not the R1. (Original story continues below.)
Whatever make and model Motortrade is giving away, the big bike will join the list of pledges that are on their way for the 23-year-old fighter, who fell to Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in a pitched battle that saw the Cagayan de Oro native pick himself up from a round one fall and make a valiant try for gold.
Cash incentives have swelled to P20 million, with Phoenix Petroleum pledging P3 million to the already sizable P17 million expected by Paalam from the government and private donors.
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