I am working for the next 4 weeks about 1 hour away from Tokyo. Is there anything cool to do or see "motorcycle" related?
It's been a long time since I was there but for motorcycles, it was freakin' heaven. There's (or was) a district of Tokyo (name escapes me) that is nothing but awesome shops.
You'll see a cool or interesting motorcycle on almost every block. Dirt track style street bikes painted in retro Honda or Yamaha colors seem to be popular over there right now since I saw several last time I went. I even saw a couple 400cc sportbikes with hard tail packs being used as delivery vehicles. Oh, and the most ghetto-fabulous chrome/metal flake trike ever.
Stores with five or six floors of awesome stuff. Exchange rate made deals pretty good back when I went. Probably a different story now.
^ your average Yamanote Line station has JR department stores or malls. South of Tokyo, Yokohama station is pretty good for anything you could ever want. These aren't motorcycle shops, granted. But if you were, say, looking for a bento-box for your teen daughter's lunchbox to flat out impress her highschool friends, or you were looking for really good machata tea... Everything for sale in Japan is of high quality, even the stuff made in China. If you need shoes (black, dress, pair), Japan is a great place to get them. Not cheap, but they will last forever. Assuming your foot isn't too large I'll say a few more things, just in case you're working for the DN: dont' be afraid to take a cab to Yokohama Station. Then don't be afraid to buy a Suica card, and explore - take any train up to Tokyo, take the Yamanote Line around to points of interest you can find on a Google Map or guidebook. Put 10,000 JPY on your Suica card - in fact, get one at Narita, on the level just before you get on the Narita Express (N'Ex), at the Amex store/JR ticket office - show your passport and get a Suica Card at reduced rate with your N'Ex ticket (unless the DN is bussing you from Narita). Enough people will speak English. Be polite. Learn 'Excuse me,' and 'Please instruct me', and 'Thank you', it's all you need in Japanese. Smile a lot and act grateful. It's one HECK of a learning experience!
http://japanbikerentals.com/ I rented from them in 2008, they were great. They created a custom route for me around Hakone/Mt Fuji which is now on their site as Mt. Fuji/Hakone 2 day tour. There is so much to see and explore there, you can't go wrong.
Ueno if I remember correctly (I was drunk pretty much every night from the start of the flight to home when I went there except for meetings during the day). Awesome place but crowded as f@ck. We went to so many cool places there and it is motorcycle heaven.
So, I got a chance to get on the train and learn the system a little. Went to the Tokyo harbor area and found a Dainese store (not as cool or as big as the Paris Dainese store I went to last October). Had a Rossi and Hayden replica gloves for 62,000 Yen which is nearly $800. Damn. I am staying in Kashiwa and Ueno, where the motorcycle district sits, is on the same line. I am going to hit it after work sometime this week. Unfortunately my weekends are somewhat tied with the group of co-workers I am travelling with. Someone mentioned this place is just packed with people, damn straight it is!
Ropongi is the best place to pick up all the forignee pussie, the forign girls get shit as most of the forigne guys are wanting to try the japa pussies and the forigne girls do not want the japa guys, so they are hanging out for a good time, even an UGLY bugger like me got lucky there WOOPS Not bike talk
Gahh!! I wrote a long response that got erased, so here's the short version. I'm currently living in Tokyo. Ueno now sucks and only has about 2-3 stores. Check out Naps, 2-Rinkan, and Red Baron locations for motorcycle stuff. If you're .mil or DoD, you can get a room at Hardy Barracks in downtown Tokyo for $40/night within 10min walking distance in Roppongi. Roppongi is the party district for foreigners and Japanese girls looking for foreign guys. Locals tend to go to Shibuya, Ginza, or Shinjuku. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.
New Sanno would be a better choice. That's just plain crazy. If you're thinking he's in Yokosuka, he can take the Keihen Kyuko line to Yokohama. Or the JR line to Yokohama. Either stations are less than a 15 minute walk from the front gate.
These are the most important things, do go on. Where do you sign up to star in a sick Jap fetish video?
New Sanno has better rooms, but unless you speak enough Nihongo to get a cab to take you to and from the New Sanno, it's about a 45-60 minute walk to the clubs. Hardy Barracks is simple 10 minute walk to the clubs.
Lived there for 2.5 years. No sportbikes, only scooters and dirtbikes. I've seen some cool dirtbikes but scooter blow.
I'm pretty sure you can schedule a tour of any of the big 4 factories (Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, or Yamaha). I know for sure that Kawasaki has tours.
The "Official 8 Hour Team's Test" is going on at Suzuka July 3 - 4.....I think it's like an hour and a half train ride from Tokyo, but i hear it can be a little complicated finding your way from the train station to the track. I'll be there both days and hopefully the weather will dry out by then!
