Trip to Toyama

It is rainy season here in Japan now but when the weather permits I am loading up the bike and heading out to explore. Most recently I went about as far north as possible in one day to Toyama district and enjoyed one of the best rides I have completed so far. I am beginning to know a few of the better riding roads around Nagoya now. One is the 156 route from Gifu district to Toyama district that

2014 Yamaha FJR1300 long term review (updated 2015 and 2016)

Possibly the most in depth review of the current series Yamaha FJR1300 which covers 2013 up to 2016 with only minor changes. I have now completed a few tours and (30,000km as of June 2016) on a 2014 FJR1300 and feel able to give a detailed review of the bike and talk about some its strengths and weaknesses. I feel the bikes character has never really been fully explored in the other brief

Renting a big bike in Malaysia

Seems my rides in Malaysia are popular and people continue to ask where to rent a big bike in Kuala Lumpur. One answer is The Big Bike Shop in Puchong. I have rented there and they are good guys. They have a variety of rentals, helmets and jackets too. I took a Kawasaki ER6N pictured here. Unfortunately their web site still seems to be offline. Jump on Facebook where you can find them and send

Coast to Coast

How often can you say you went from one side of the country to the other in a day. How about back again same day. Welcome to Japan. I did not set out to purposely to see two different oceans on the same day however leaving Nagoya bound west I entering the elevated expressway system and was faced with a fork in the road. Being somewhat stubborn I have been persisting with my existing out-dated

Two wheels in Japan

  I am back on two wheels in Japan. After I sold my Honda CB1100 I had no vehicle in Australia. I had long since sold my car having decided to never own another but I missed my bike almost immediately. Soon I began to think what I might buy in the future, I like naked classic bikes the best but I had been wondering if I should perhaps try a bike designed for the type of riding I enjoy rather than

Philippines Motorcycle tour

What’s that line about the best laid plans? … well I enjoyed touring the Philippines but nothing went how I thought it might. After my recent ride in northern Thailand I flew to Philippines to meet an old friend. My plan was to rent bikes from Nice Bike in Angeles city which is more or less the only significant Philippines bike rental shop as of writing and then ride around Luzon before heading

Thailand Motorcycle Tour

I returned to Thailand in February to ride some of the northern mountain roads and it turned into a bit of an adventure. Arriving at Chiang Mai airport after an overnight flight via Kuala Lumpur I was feeling pretty good having grabbed some decent sleep on board the plane and was ready to start the ride that morning so when the luggage belt was switched off and my bag had not arrived my heart