Archive for May, 2018

Big Japan Motorcycle Ride Part 6.

The Inland Sea Today was a very important day weather wise because I had saved what might possibly be the best viewpoint to last. From Hiroshima prefecture I will ride across the Inland Sea via a series of impressive bridges, a road in the sky. I go looking for a […]

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Big Japan Motorcycle Ride Part 5

The Gambler I depart Nagasaki day twelve into steady rain. I had experienced nice weather in other key areas so did not feel too disappointed. But it did ruin the plan this morning to visit Iki island north of Nagasaki, a old coal mine full of abandoned buildings. Regular readers […]

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Big Japan Motorcycle Ride Part 4

Santa Coming Leaving southern Kagoshima region on day nine my progress is slow, without elaborating I have to stop at every rest room and eventually seek out a pharmacy to get some medicine. Have to discard my plan to explore Nagashima island, the morning has been lost and I need […]

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Big Japan Motorcycle Ride Part 3

Day seven, I got my washing done last night, most hotels in Japan have coin laundries and it makes motorcycle touring easy. Wet roads and some light rain riding south. Small break allowed me to grab this photo. Japan from here turns tropical. Some surfers out but not much of […]

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Big Japan Motorcycle Ride Part 2

A fist full of throttle Leaving Kochi on day four of my tour the weather is perfect. First up a unexpected find. I was riding beside a dam merely to avoid the main road with no knowledge of it being anything special but the scenery was amazing. After here I […]

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‘Big’ Japan Motorcycle tour

I love lookouts. Viewpoints. Or observatories as they are called in Japan. I decided to ride around visiting the best ones I had found on Google maps. I waited until after the Japan golden week national holidays to ride south to avoid the crowds but depart straight into rain. The […]

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A misunderstood bike

Motorcycle #6 My 2003 Buell XB9. Few motorcycles were so misunderstood as Eric Buell’s XB. I had paid no attention to them when launched. A guy I worked with booked a test ride and asked me to come along after our shift.  The sales rep said there are two demo […]

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Non Roll Earplug update

A long time ago I did a earplug shootout where I got two sample packs of different earplugs from the USA earplug superstore. Comparing two dozen different style and makes I came to like the Howard Leight Pilot best. This is a non roll foam ear plug, the design solving […]

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Japan vehicle ferries. Timetables and how to use.

If you are going to really explore Japan by motorcycle then you will need to use the ferry network. *This page is very much a work in progress being updated gradually* Here is the beginning of a list of ferries I have used with my motorcycle in Japan. The sites […]

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Halvarssons neck gator

I have had this bit of gear for a couple of seasons already and forgot to write about it. Initially I bought this after having lots of drama with my Alpinestars Andes touring jacket in the rain. The neck never seals properly and I found mention by people online a […]

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Under jeans knee protection

I’ve been doing a bit of backpack type riding in SE Asia of late and wanted to improve my protection in case of a fall. A fair bit of my riding has been on scooters at low speed, for this just jeans and footwear and a helmet is about as […]

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