I am going to the Golden Triangle!!

I am going to the Golden Triangle with my buddy!!

I am so excited! This is the first time for me to actually ride in Thailand!

I am riding with a buddy, two guys from Chiang Mai all the way up north to the golden triangle,

and crossing the border to Laos!

My oh my!

Route is planned, ticket is booked, room is booked, bike is booked.

I am just waiting now!!!

Cheers Riders.

Learning Russian!

Getting To Know The People - By Knowing Their Language

I am fascinated by the idea of actually talking to the people in their own language, to getting to know the place and the people more. To use English is of course an idea but I believe most of the people whom I will meet on my Long Way Round wouldnt speak the language.

And since I will be traversing across this vast land of Russia and her neighboring countries,

I figure it will do me good to learn Russian!

Hell it might even do me good at work as well!

I am a total new bee in Russian. I have to learn from the alphabets and I found the following youtube very useful and helpful.

For those who want to take a similar trip and have the willingness to learn the language, I introduce you this:

https://youtu.be/SzChuuvZcag

Cheers Riders!

The Route I Am Thinking

My Route of Choice

I have decided that I want to ride from Japan, all the way across Russia, enter Mongolia,
exit to the old USSR satelite countries, proceed to Turkey and meet my wife there, then push forward to Saint Petersburg while going through Eastern Europe. Again I will meet my wife in Saint Petersburg.

What a long way!! I am not sure how many months will it take. Maybe a year in total. Maybe less. But for sure it is going to be a life changer.

Will want to update all the point of interests.

Cheers Riders!

I Will Do This

Japanese Who Have Done What I Want To Do

I know that the idea of long way round is not foreign to any Japanese. Not that everyone afford to do a trip like that, but certainly there have been many who chose to do this, and enough publicity was made and this idea is no longer alien to any average japanese.

I thought I could learn from them, so I was looking for their record of their tours.

Since one of my possible route is to ride from Russia to Europe, I figure I can get some guidance from youtube. And below link could be one of the best links.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwwvpA0UiJ6S4OZzzDcUv9g

Cheers Riders.

To Further Fuel My Desire For My Long Way Round

Where Am I Going To?

I will be off on a long ride. My own Long Way Round.

I have a vague idea and choice of route I want, but I hardly know if it is viable or to put it in general term, good or no good.

So I have come to get help from the map! With this map, I can clearly see the relative distance between the countries I want to cover, and what is awaiting me.

And I have got a book of world attractions. I dont know how much I will use it, but I am sure I want to go see some places during the trip. To ride is a big part of this trip, but not to see anything along the way will be a great loss.

And I have this trip log book(?) as well. I am not going to keep this until my Long Way Round begins. Instead, I will start using this to document my riding trips in Japan.

I hope everyone will have fun!

Cheers Riders.

Places I Want To Go - 2

Mountain Roads?

I definitely like mountain roads. But to tell the truth, I am not an expert in riding and most of the time I am scared of riding the twisties.

However, I figure that I need to conquer my fear. Not to say that I need to speed in the mountains, but at least I need to accummulate enough mileage on the twisties.

While doing that, might as well choose some good places to go eh?

県道45号大山環状道路。景色と走りの両方を満喫でき、大山南東に位置する蒜山高原(県道114号・422号)とセットで走れば、さらに楽しいルートとなる。

I have been there with my wife. Now I am going to ride it. Wonderful! I guess a slow two days ride is gonna be great!

Cheers Riders.

Places I Want To Go - 1

Going Places - Train My Riding & Photography Skills

I want to go places. Most of all, I want to for an overland trip. I do not only want to go there, but i want to take photos, shoot videos and enjoy the scene, and bring back the scenes.

Yes, there is a selfish motive - while I am doing it, why not do something extra that might, just might, earn me money at the moment or in the future?

So I need the skills to do it. And a good training ground is Japan. There are so many places to go, and definitely I want to go there, and while being there I can practice my shots.

In this blog I will have a series of Places I Want To Go. This is entry number 1.

The place is Shimane Prefecture. The cities involved are 安来市・雲南市・奥出雲町.

Yes I know most of you might not be able to read it, but you can always check back to my blog.
Here are two photos of the place.

Neat, huh? Just one of the places I want to go.

Cheers Riders.

The Most Reliable Personal Storage?

Immediate Access To Water and Personal Effects

http://www.camelbak.com/en/International/Sports-Recreation/Packs/Skyline-10-LR.aspx

I dont know how long I can keep riding on a bike without stopping, that will warrant me a need to buy a camel pack. Probably not that long. But I reckon that a camel pack will be a good investment because
1. it is a water pack and i can drink from it without needing to stop what I am doing, or shuffling through my luggage.
2. it is also a pack that I can keep close to myself to make sure I dont lose things.
3. More water is always not a bad thing.

Maybe I can try and buy one when I do the riding in Japan. See how it goes.

Cheers Riders.

For The Love Of A Mother

My Mom Made Me Cry

Mustering all the courage I could have had, i told my mom that I will quit my job and go on a motorcycle tour on my own to see the world. In a few years time anyway. My wife was sitting next to me at that time.

My mom was startled, apparently. First reaction from her was, "quitting your job so you can play around?" I said, "yes. quitting my job so i can do what I want to do before it's too late. before i tell myself i should have and could have." Mom said,"well i myself have many things I would have liked to do but didnt get a chance to." not without a smile I might add.

And so I grew a bit bravier. "and mom, that's exactly why I want to do it. I dont want to sit there one day at your age, and tell people that there are things that I wanted to do but I didnt."

With that she let the topic drop. She didnt actually refute or trying to stop me from doing it. She just didnt say anything. And of course she wasnt mad by a long shot.

This evening she rang me up, telling me she had found the old canteen that I used to bring with me on my camping trip. ( I had only camped once, mind you)
I didnt quite get her idea so I asked, "what about the canteen mom?"
She said, "you said you want to tour the world. So you need something to cook with, yeah? So i got this for you, all stashed away in the storeroom."

Oh my god..... I just broke into tears. She didnt stop me from going, but she actually helped me to get going!

Thanks mom. Thanks for letting me be me. Thanks for supporting me, in the way you can.

I love you.

Cheers Riders.

Watch Out!! (Pun Intended)

Any Watch Will Do. But I Just Want To Add Some Flair.

This is a Casio Protrek PRW-3500-1JF watch.

I know any watch is up to the job of telling time during the long way round trip. However, out of personal taste, I would like to add more flair to the choice of watch. I have and I love my mechanical watch. And I know it can take abuse. But it doesnt tell the temperature and it wont do backlite. I dont need a 400 USD watch I know that. But I think it will help me on the trip.

Just a reminder.

Cheers Riders.

Navigation System For the Long Way Round

Must Know Where Am I Going, Musnt I?

I believe map is definitey needed, but having a Sat Nat is definitely a must when I am in the middle of nowhere.

I have never had any Sat Nat for my bike. The best I did was using Waze or Google Map, and I think these two will cut it in the real world of wild.

I have no idea what a bike Sat Nat should be expected to do, but I do know there are two big names. Tom Tom and Garmin. Throw in another wild card with the name of Sierra as well.

Below is the link to a product review for these sat nats. I am entering this blog to serve as a reminder.
http://www.motorcycle.com/products/motorcycle-gps-review-89038.html

Cheers Riders.

A Short Ride Out On the Backroad On A Souped Up 883

There's No Replacement For Displacement

 

Got a friend who was kind enough to lend me his 883 to have a morning blast with him on the twisty backroads.

 

I am not a person who pushes for BIGGER IS BETTER idea, but I do see the point in having a bigger displacement in any bike. With a bigger displacement, even if the horsepower doesnt gain much because of that, the bigger torque is surely going to benefit the rider. It would be easier to ride around on a fixed gear with all that torque. Having to change gear often and open up big the throttle is one of the biggest contributors to biking fatigue.

 

 

Which brings up the question. I am kind of fond of SR400. A 400cc bike is no slouch even by today's standard. It has 3.0kgm of torque to push a total of 174kg of bike. But do i want to modify the engine for bigger cc? well maybe not, for I dont want to jeopardize the longetivity of the engine. Breaking in the middle of nowhere because of the mod engine is no joke.

Just a thought.

Oh by the way here is the link to the video I made for this trip.
https://youtu.be/bRqzhQweKFM

Cheers Riders.



How To Treat Water

Clean Water Is Difficult To Come By!!

I wont have a convoy tailing me and providing me with all the provisions.
The most important resource I need is water. And I know I cant really rely on convenient stores for water along the way.

Therefore I need to have a water purifier to get my hands on whatever water source.

Some product introduction.
http://spotlight-media.jp/article/199461933604667171

http://gak.boo.jp/bike/bikeitem/bikecamp/filter/camp_equip_filter_00.html

Looks like these are the pumps or gadgets I will need to bring onboard the bike,
in case I dont have assess to fresh water.

I need to start packing once I get back to Japan. Most important of all, I need to learn how to change tires!

I know there are water purification tablets as well. Need to check them out.

Cheers Riders.