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Any of you just up and leave to Japan on your own with your bike?

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Any of you just up and leave to Japan on your own with your bike?

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Old 03-20-08, 10:15 PM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by evensevenone
i have no idea how you'd get around tokyo on a bike

none of the streets have names, there's no maps larger than a square kilometer, and everyone gives you directions from the train station.


the big streets have names.
map books are great, as is google if you have a computer.

if you have a decent sense of direction you can ply the little back streets until you hit something big to orient yourself. it really isn't that hard to get most anywhere. and bikes often faster than trains/cars, but lose to motorcycles....
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Old 03-21-08, 09:05 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by str8flexed
I'd rather go to Taipei... Taiwan > China > Japan

haha.
I lived in Japan for a while, and I really liked it a lot. I do think there is a lot of weird fascination with Japanese culture and Japanese women, which I don't quite get. Generally once you are out of the city, it gets really conservative (especially dating). It definitely appealed to my OCD tendencies because everything was ridiculously clean. Plus, cycling around Kyushu with stops in onsen/ryokan along the way cannot be beat (well, only by skiing in the mountains and being outside in a hot spring while snowing, but it is a close call.)

I've been to Taipei, and it is a lot of fun if you know people there to take you around, but is sorta an industrial city otherwise. Shanghai is full of cheap, brassy newly rich BS with a ridiculous nightclub scene and a lot of garbage and Beijing is pretty sleepy. But the pollution in the urban centers really rules out cycling, it is beyond belief.

For a visit, I sometimes recommend going to Pusan or Seoul. The barbecue is good and it is a bit less trodden by tourists than elsewhere. Not sure how cycling is though, I've only taken the ferry there and used high speed trains to go around the country.
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Old 03-21-08, 09:12 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by nateintokyo
the big streets have names.
map books are great, as is google if you have a computer.

if you have a decent sense of direction you can ply the little back streets until you hit something big to orient yourself. it really isn't that hard to get most anywhere. and bikes often faster than trains/cars, but lose to motorcycles....
iphone
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Old 03-21-08, 09:15 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by zelah
iphone
iphonu
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Old 03-21-08, 09:16 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by roadfix
I don't understand what the fascination is over Japan. ??
It's NJS approved... of course
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Old 03-21-08, 09:28 AM
  #31  
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I'd go but I need to take my drums too.
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Old 03-21-08, 10:08 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by roadfix
I don't understand what the fascination is over Japan. ??
https://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpres...2/07/58-japan/
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Old 03-21-08, 10:09 AM
  #33  
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Not to derail this thread but the water bottle post is the best one ever.
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Old 03-21-08, 10:33 AM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by kemmer
on bikeforums.co.jp there was a thread called "how to spot an gaijin's bike" with a picture of your bike and 7 pages of "fail" pictures and lolcatz. They photoshopped the Marlboro man having a smoke while unlocking your bike.
I dont care who ya are, thats funny right there!
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