Advice on a 12 day tour from end of march 2016

[Lochy]

Hi Guys,
am arriving in Tokyo on 25th March and looking to rent a bike and tour till about the 11th of April. I realise the mountain routes will be a bit problematic weather wise so I was thinking of doing a trip thru kyushu and back up west japan to Tokyo, pretty much following the route that Geezer did. Would the weather be okay (in general) at that time? Will be travelling solo and used to long days in the saddle tho I usually ride a BMW 1150RT and will be using either a 650 or 800GS.
Any advice would be gratefully recieved

[dmizer]

Kyushu is a good choice. I'm still riding daily here. It's snowing today and I still rode because the highly traveled surface streets don't ever get icy and we never get any kind of lasting ground frost to make the streets retain the cold. By March, I'm freely riding daily even through the highest mountains. If you're following Geezer's route, which I believe included Shikoku, you should find Shikoku to be very similar in climate to Kyushu. Things might be a little more sketchy on the Japan sea side of the country where they are currently buried in fairly deep snow.

If you're interested, I'd be happy to accompany you for part of your tour and serve as a Kyushu/Shikoku guide of sorts.

[Lochy]

That sounds great. I have been to Kyushu once but that was back in 81. I hope the coast will be clear by then as its a part of Japan that I would love to get to.

[Lochy]

another question if I may as to choice of bike. Currently riding a Bmw1150rt. An option to hire is a Yammie FJR1300 but i did note that someone said on the twisties it was a bit of a mission. Seems to be a great bike but i am wondering if I should go for smaller...and for touring with panniers the only real choice i Can see is a BMW 650gs...maybe a tad small. Any thoughts

[dmizer]

A 650 is more than enough for anything you want to do in Japan, including expressway riding. Smaller is certainly better. You'll be ready to call it a day before you even cover 200 km otherwise.

If you're going to rent near Tokyo and ride from there, I suggest renting from Apexmoto (this forum's owner). He can get you a bike you like and provide you with other things you'll need, like GPS, luggage, and so forth.

[Lochy]

A 650 is more than enough for anything you want to do in Japan, including expressway riding. Smaller is certainly better. You'll be ready to call it a day before you even cover 200 km otherwise.

If you're going to rent near Tokyo and ride from there, I suggest renting from Apexmoto (this forum's owner). He can get you a bike you like and provide you with other things you'll need, like GPS, luggage, and so forth.

booked up, ended up going with the 800 tho, I like the idea of renting from Apexmoto just so I dont have to cope with Tokyo traffic. Being a non city rider I wasnt looking forward to that part. I regularly ride trips of up to 850kms with just a stop for petrol but thats on my RT. And that never gives me stops for scenery, and I know Ill be doing lots of that.