Motorcycle Touring in Japan

[oomingmak]

Planning to be in Japan from late August to early November and thought it might be interesting to tour the 4 major islands via motorcycle. Looking at rental prices for that long which sound like they might be about the same price as buying a used one. Anyone ever done this before? Anyone know if I can buy a used bike with only a tourist visa? Any help is much appreciated.

Aloha!

[Psy]

Aloha nō! I don't know anything about motorcycles, but do make sure you check out the laws regarding riding them in Japan. While I believe it is legal to drive a full sized car on a tourist visa with an international license, I'm pretty sure it requires a Japanese license with an endorsement in order to legally ride a motorcycle/moped. Maybe things have changed, but this is how I remember it being in 2006~2007.

Also note that the traffic laws are different-- while many people will do 20k over the limit on the expressways, policemen have the right to pull you over for the smallest infraction. Additionally, there is no such thing as the American "legal right turn on red" (Left in Japanʻs case), red means stop and only stop.

Good luck with your hunt! E mālama pono i kou kino!

[oomingmak]

Mahalos Psy.
I've found some sites to educate me in terms of Japanese traffic law. The no turn on red is a good heads up though I must say. From what I can gather thus far, as long as you have your motorcycle endorsement on your US license you can get it stamped when you get your international license. But I think there's a limitation to 400cc. Now all I need to find out is if I can buy a bike for the time I'm there or if I can find some rental place to cut me a deal on a long term rental.

[shooto]

http://japanbikerentals.com/

I found this but it's very expensive... Might be a better option to buy.