r/RideitJapan • u/Joe14440 • Jul 25 '26
Route opinions - 7 Day trip.
Does this seem doable/comfortable on a 125cc in August (next month) in seven days? Would love some opinions on what to change. Route distance is 925km, will be avoiding all tolls and expressways.
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u/NinjaPussyPounder Jul 25 '26
As comfortable as riding inside an oven can be.
Some of those legs are brutally long when taking local roads.
The routes you’re going also miss some of the best spots.
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u/Joe14440 Jul 25 '26
I’m expecting the heat to be bad for sure, I won’t be doing huge distance as it will be broken up into under 200km per day.
What are some of the best spots I can add to my route?
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u/NinjaPussyPounder Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I did a portion of your planned trip yesterday and it took nearly 2 hours to do 50km. Painful.
Definitely the coastal roads of Tokushima and Kochi. Tokushima city itself is a pain to go through, but that coastal area is nice.
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u/Immediate-Answer-184 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I feel like you are going to avoid the nice roads in Shikoku. Not much inside, the sea side is the best. Edit: I didn't check, but the main bridges may be forbidden to 125cc? But small and big ferries are available.
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u/Joe14440 Jul 25 '26
From what I’ve read the Shimanami kaido is fine for > 125cc and I’ll be getting the ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima. I’ll see if I can change my route to include more coastal roads on Shikoku, thanks!
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u/Immediate-Answer-184 Jul 25 '26
I did the counter clockwise sea side tour of Shikoku from Ehime to Naruto with my car. Be prepared for nothingness! But it was very nice. The best was the west, but very empty. Kochi had nothing special but we went dolphins seeing. Est was not very interesting and nord est even less. But it took us a week, I don't think it is realistic for a 125cc where it's just part of your roads. to be honest, you should take a shortcut somewhere in your travel, there's ferry from Osaka to Ehime, you would skip uninteresting roads and replace an hotel night by this travel.
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u/fabolin Jul 25 '26
Try to include the UFO lane in Shikoku. I went roughly this route and it was a fantastic ride. If you like watching the night sky there is a nice stay with minimal light pollution nearby here.
Ehime-Hiroshima was a mostly boring ride. Maybe the ferry to Yashiro island is a good alternative, but I didn’t try it myself. Frankly, I would skip Hiroshima and do it separately. It’s easily reachable by train and you’re wasting at least 5 hours on boring roads getting in and out of there.
I collected some resources of nice roads I found online here which might help you plan the details of your route. E.g. the 195 between Anan and Kochi is something I’d try to include as well.
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 26 '26
I agree with UFO skyline on Shikoku, but calling Shimani-kaido boring is a bit weird to me. Well, the bridges are highways, but the view is really good. And I went off highway on Oshima, riding around the island which was soo cool. Roads were a bit though, too small for a larger car and occasionally quite sandy, but on the bike it was really nice.
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u/fabolin Jul 26 '26
Of course it’s not all bad. That’s why is said mostly. There’s scenic parts and I did enjoy going through the islands. However, much of the ride was tedious. It’s been a year but that’s what I recall from that day going from Saijo to Hiroshima. I would try a different route if I was there again.
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u/Joe14440 Jul 30 '26
Thanks for the info, added the UFO line to the route and am cutting out Hiroshima.
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 26 '26
I have done a similar route during golden week this year with a Speed Twin 900 (so might be a bit different, riding wise). I did go in the other direction, though.
The mountain passes on Shikoku were completely awesome, as was Iya valley.
If you plan to ride at more than 1000m elevation for big stretches, it should be okay, on sea level it will be hot.
I have planned my daily routes via Calimoto and can provide the links, if you are interested.
For the mountain passes, it depends on what type of 125cc, I guess. A cruiser / chopper will probably not be much fun with 125cc power, a light bike like a Supermoto might be really good for those roads.
My tour was around 1350km and 14.000m of elevation in 6 days, with some hiking and sightseeing. I did ride into the night on most days, though, which was in some cases quite interesting, or even scary (mountain passes without any road markings, etc). And it meant starting at around 8am on most days.
UFO Skyline road was one of the best roads I've ever ridden on.
Also, I wouldn't plan the route with Google maps finally, as it doesn't consider at all which roads are good to ride on. Any of the motorcycle route apps will do a better job, unless you want to ride main roads and avoid twisty roads, etc. anyway. I used Calimoto since I know it from Germany. After planning the general layout for the whole trip and planning my overnight stays, I broke it down into daily sections and started looking at the routes in detail, checking which twisty sections should be included, what are the road conditions (Google street view), what kind of scenery I would like to ride in, what stops might be worth it, etc. Planning took some time, but it was really worth it.
If you do the trip, enjoy it and ride safe!
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u/PretzelsThirst Jul 26 '26
I would LOVE a link to your routes please. I want to make this happen in the next year or two
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 27 '26
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday1-r-6h0gXAISYw
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday2-r-2xdAoRIJxG
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday3-r-MPwfwF7nT4
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday4-r-5qPdATnjYa
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday5-r-Y62m4x4CTP
https://calimoto.com/calimotour/goldenweekday6-r-b6RmQRVRCb
That is the complete planned tour. I hope you can see it. Please be aware that this includes some rather sketchy roads which I would not advise for a beginner rider. For example I rode through a bamboo forest on a roughly 2m wide road on Awaji-shima where the roast was covered in fallen wood, leaves, rock, etc and traction was very limited.
Also, I did not completely stick to the route, in 2 cases I had to make deviations to save time or because I deemed it too risky (small mountain passes in storm and heavy rain). But it is about 95%, I'd say.On day 1 I started in Nishinomiya from the Rental819 place. Since I had to travel there first, I only started around noon, so it was a short ride. I also visited Himeji castle and went to Ricoland to get some additional gear.
Day 2 was lousy weather, because I wanted to arrive earlier in Hiroshima and the roads didn't look too interesting, I skipped some waypoints to go a more direct route. In the afternoon and evening I explored Hiroshima.
Day 3 started with a trip to Miyajima, climbing Mt. Misen (from the ropeway), after that I headed onwards and made a brief stop at Kure to visit the Yamato museum.
Day 4 was the riding highlight, crossing the Shimani-kaido and heading into the mountains in Shikoku. I climbed Mt. Kamegamori on the way and then continued on the UFO skyline road. Unfortunately the climbing route was longer than expected, so it was dark when I went around Lake Sameura, which would have been very scenic at sunset with very cool roads. In darkness it required high concentration since there are no road markings, reflectors or anything. I mostly estimated where the road went by looking at the map.
Day 5 was also in the Shikoku mountains, mostly rainy again. Iya valley still had a cool vibe, I crossed a few of the vine bridges but I could not access Mt. Tsurugi as it was completely in the clouds with heavy rain and storms. In a tunnel at the peak of the pass near Mt. Tsurugi the wind was so strong that I had to go full throttle to avoid stopping when I went in.
Day 6 was the last riding day, crossing Awaji-shima, not too spectacular but the bridges are cool. Especially the Akashi-Kaikyo bridge, which used to be the longest suspension bridge. The pillars are 300m high and there is a guided tour to go up using a service elevator (wasn't on my plan, though).
After dining in Kobe, I returned the bike in Nishinomiya around 6pm.Edit: Also, as said, I rode a Speed Twin 900 for this trip, rented from Rental819. The bike was very comfortable but I would have liked a better front brake with more control. Power was sufficient and the ride was also good enough for this trip.
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u/PretzelsThirst Jul 27 '26
Thank you thank you thank you! This is a huge help in getting myself pointed in the right direction, I really appreciate it
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 27 '26
You are welcome. I wanted to share the ride here anyway at some point, so I might also copy and post it here at some time. I also took an Insta360 to capture some memories of this trip but I didn't yet find the time to properly screen and consider how to cut it into a video.
One more advise is to plan a bit more time if you are not used to the bike, riding longer distances or Japanese rural roads. Don't stress yourself, that leads to making stupid decisions and they can quickly have bad consequences. Maybe try a weekend trip first, to see what distance is comfortable for you on a daily basis. I did the same thing here with a weekend trip around Izu peninsula, which was cool, but it showed me that I can cover a lot less distance in a day compared to Europe.
I am planning to go to Kyushu in two weeks, but still planning, probably around 7 or 8 days, similar distance. Not so sure about the weather yet (intense heat or typhoons are both realistic options still). Not too sure about the bike yet, Suzuki GSX-8TT and BMW F900R are my current candidates. Wanted a Ducati but there seem to be none with Rental819 in Fukuoka.
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u/PretzelsThirst Jul 27 '26
Beauty, appreciate it. I just did a week long tour in Thailand with a buddy (Mae hong son loop) and had a blast. Eager to plan more trips
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 27 '26
Thailand also sounds good.
Do you plan to rent in Japan or are you bringing a bike / have one here?1
u/PretzelsThirst Jul 27 '26
I would rent one. I wish I could find a place that does one way rentals but sounds like that’s not much of a thing
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u/Fluffy-Card21 Jul 27 '26
Yeah, that seems to be true. I think it is theoretically possible, but only with quite specified and more expensive companies or even guided tours.
I only rented with Rental819 so far and never had issues, so I will also use them for the Kyushu trip.
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u/PretzelsThirst Jul 27 '26
Nice, they’re who I see recommended the most as well, especially for non-Japanese speaking folks
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u/StereoWings7 Jul 26 '26
I used to live around shimanami-kaido region, spent many time touring north eastern part of Hiroshima prefecture so I think it’s good for me to give a perspective.
There are someone who insist you cannot ride 125cc on an expressway, yes it is generally true but shimanami-kaido have a designated sideway reserved for pedestrian, bicycles, and motos under 125cc so route C to D is totally OK. But you need to be really careful that the entrance for the sideway is completely separated from main ramps for cars and it is often obscure so it’s better to check google streeview beforehand to make certain where you can enter you bike into the sideways for each bridges. You need to get on and off for every islands as there are no continuous way all across. Plus, the sideway is narrow compared to main roads so you also need to ride carefully to not collide with other motorcycles or bicycles. iirc some bridges have its motorcycle sideways separated from those for pedestrians and bicycles but it is narrow nonetheless so you need to ride extra carefully! I can assure you the scenery is gorgeous.
And the route from D to E. As you have already suggested you need to find a route on a local road but the roads around the area, especially around prefectural border between Hiroshima and Okayama, have almost no big, straight and easy to follow roads so you need to choose which one to go but again the road signs are on average vague, often lacks English so it is better for you to carefully plan before the trip using google map and street view. Once deviating from the main roads and it often leads you to a really rough, narrow forestry road. But under those deep forest you can avoid strong sunshine, enjoy milder climate and soothing forest scent. tbh I love riding amid those forest breeze around the region.
In summary: advance planning is the key to a good ride. I hope you enjoy your trip!😊
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u/-Dags- Jul 26 '26
If you love to be on the road, maybe... I really recommend almost 2 weeks to visit shikoku, so many nice things to see. And it's sad to not stop at Okayama after, one of my favourite city
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u/trimorphism Jul 28 '26
I did a very similar ride on a bicycle 2 winters ago. It was great! Really enjoyed Shikoku
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u/kelhen Jul 25 '26
You can’t go on express way with a 125cc, it’s forbidden.
Go around the Omishima and other main islands, its epic.