Archive for 2018

Flores Motorcycle Tour continued

It rained last night and the clouds were still clinging to the mountains in the morning. Eventually I set off to visit the Kelimutu volcano with its three colour crater lakes on the insistence of the lodge owner ‘no problem can see, can see’. Nope, not going to see anything […]

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Flores Island Motorcycle ride

Flores is an island of Indonesia, a country most Australians only know as Bali. But Indonesia is a staggeringly diverse place with 300 different ethnic groups, 700 different languages and 17,000 islands. I previously completed a ride in East Java and I had an idea to ride back to Yogyakarta […]

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Nikwax glove and Gore-tex jacket waterproof treatments

After repeatedly getting wet recently I have come to the conclusion Gore-tex rider gear totally loses its water resistance over time.. Yes I probably am the last person to realise this, I usually am with many things. My experience has been that the gear works exceptionally well the first ride […]

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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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