You might think waiting a year to test an item would be a negative – but not when talking about rain gear. I found these gloves in Naps motorcycle accessory shop Yokohama over a year ago and got them for my 2020 touring but last summer was very kind and […]
Read More
A milestone reached. I’ve clocked 100,000km touring Japan on my 2014 Yamaha FJR1300. A few notes on the experience so far and my evolving views on what I might ride next. Long Term Ownership Experience The FJR1300 has been a very reliable motorcycle. Problems have been minor but one item […]
Read More
It is already 8 years since I left Australia with the idea to ride my bucket list before I reach the age where we start making excuses. I’ve written previously how I felt compelled to not wait until retirement to start the ‘one day’ things so I won’t repeat. Initially […]
Read More
I’ve updated from a Nolan N44 EVO to a Nolan N70-2 GT. I might be a bit of a Nolan helmet fan – this is my third. Prior to the N44 EVO I wore a Nolan N43 Air. The N70-2 GT, like my previous Nolan’s is a modular helmet. You […]
Read More
Japan is famous for it’s huge snowfalls but it might surprise you it also has a brief yet brutally hot summer. My home town summers hit 40 degrees, I’m accustomed to heat, but here the humidity is stifling. You perspire profusely as your body struggles not to overheat and there […]
Read More
I recently picked up a new tank bag to see if this is an answer for carrying my camera gear. I’ve been on a merry-go-round with cameras since I returning to still photography from video. I progress from small pocketable models to bigger models and twice now ended up with […]
Read More
Between Spring and Summer is Japan’s rainy season so it seemed a joke when the tv news announced it will be fine next week. However after checking the modelling on Windy this seemed true. Quickly assembling some routes sitting on the shelf from a previous washed out tour I packed […]
Read More
Part 4 Leaving Amakusa I am riding across Kyushu to Beppu. I have abandoned my original riding plan due to the arrival of Japan’s rainy season (Tsuyu) a month early. I am fortunate to leave before rain and ride into fine but hazy skies. By chance I discover a nice […]
Read More
I first started posting motorcycle photos and roads to the internet about ’95 – ’96, best I can recall. I had home internet around the time of Windows 95. Anyone remember the Start me Up commercial? Access was sold by the hour but there really wasn’t much content, WWW was […]
Read More
Part 3, Kyushu Disembarking from the overnight ferry in Shibushi proceeds quickly with so few people. For once a delay would be preferable as I ride out of the hull into heavy rain. I abandon my route to take the expressway. It is mid morning before I find a place […]
Read More
With most of us being constrained to riding within our own borders I decided to look at how big a ride I could do inside Japan. Japan stretches a long distance. Wakkanai is 26km from Russia and gets 6.6 metres of snow a year. Ishikgaki is next to Taiwan with […]
Read More
It’s two years since I moved from Blogger to WordPress and my views have changed from what I first wrote about the experience. Recap I used Blogger for 13 years and with an aftermarket template I had a WordPress look with home page slider images and proper menus but there […]
Read More
