Rain and BBQ

Been away riding with some friends from work yesterday and today, we went to a volcanic lake where you could see nothing because of the mist and rain. Then we went to a panorama-viewing spot where we also could see nothing else than a white wall of clouds... Then I lost my central stand on the Ducati. And after that we got caught in a massive rainfall and got completely soaked. But the BBQ yesterday night made up for all that and what does some rust on the brake discs matter when your boots are still soaked from the day before anyway?! And it seems that it's just a matter of time before my sidestand will collapse, but all in good time, no need for concerns yet, the bike is lighter, hence faster, without the central stand anyway.

Arigatou 96 for the 45.

CBs getting ready!

Heading over to Norway in a few weeks time for riding (weird what's going on there right now, but not much one can do about fanatics like that...), the CB650 is back from being fixed at the painter after it caught fire a while back, it's all good again and I'm waiting for a phone call to go pick up the new seat for it as well. Also Andis CB (top) is pretty close to it's comeback on the road after a loooong absence (only ridden once??). Christians BMW (bottom pic) is always ready I guess, maybe just some fresh glue to keep some parts together?? And mine and Olas BMW are also ready for action after Olas little crash earlier this year, it even has a horn now! We might even have a guest or two for some part of the trip, would be fun! I can't wait to get going, I have even managed to get super-mega-extra-long summer vacation and I'm so looking forward to spend most of it on a bike!

Ola goes panorama wild

My very bestestest friend Ola came over a little while ago, was really good to spend some time together, we rented a bike for him and finally got out riding together here in Japan. Great 3-day trip, which on the last day had me almost crying in pain from riding the Ducati over 500km in a day. Doesn't sound so bad? Well, those 500 took us from 14 hours with only around 2-3 hours of breaktime for food and fuel. Still not so bad? Ok ok, listen, my tank is the original S2 tank which is supposed have a much higher seat fitted and the edges at the back are pretty sharp and get quite wide at the base, they cut in to your groin pretty nicely and gives your package a rather solid beating over time... If I had the same leg proportions as a Playmobil-figure it'd be no problem, but then again -if that was the case, how the hell are you supposed to shift and brake if you can't bend your knees??

Anyway, wonderful fantastic twisty roads with almost no traffic and beautiful surroundings. And I learned that there's a certain chain of mountains that you can't cross over but have to ride around, good to know for the future. Ola learned knew things as well, his camera has a panorama function which he went all out with meaning I had to wait all the time for mr Panorama to finish being a tourist... And he learned that it makes sense to bring a second set of pants when you go riding, you'll see what I mean as soon as I finish a little video I'm cutting together from the riding.

 Ola, oh so hostile while taking his bath, bad bad manners...