CL

Thanks for your reply, what a great wealth of information you have provided. 
I was hoping to get an RM125 - actually any 125 will do.
I had one when i was a kid, and I guess I want to relive childhood.

I saw this place http://www.westpoint.co.jp/ which looks absolutely awesome! 
I believe you can rent a decentish MXer at
 westpoint so I will prob do that first and see how I go. i didnt really 
have much desire to ride on the road, though those ridous you
speak of sound like fun.

Having a trailer is that tough eh? If I was going to buy a car, I would like 
to get something sportyish, that would be fun for w/e
drives - putting a trailer on would be ideal but for what say about the 
trials of getting a license to tow one.
sounds like i am going to have to re-adjust my expectations, or get myself a 
big house to put all this stuff in.

What passes for a bike endorsement? I have an Australian car license that 
allows me to ride up to 50cc.

Thanks for your advice BTW - found this forum if you are interested 
www.gaijinriders.com

Cheers

Dustin


"CL" <flothru@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:e8gjo0$qsa$1@nnrp.gol.com...
> Dustin C wrote:
>> Evening all.
>>
>> Per chance does any of you know anything about motocross in japan?
>>
>> I am moving there in a few months, when I was a kid I had a few bikes, 
>> and would like to get back into it. Either renting a bike or buying my 
>> own. If anyone can provide any links on clubs, tracks and where to buy a 
>> bike (English please) that would be great.
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>
> There is a lot of MX activity in Japan but it depends on where you will 
> live.  Hauling an MX bike means a trailer and getting a license to pull a 
> trailer in Japan is somewhere between "impossible" and "try again in your 
> next life."  Or you could buy a van and spend your entire life finding a 
> place to park it that won't cost as much as your apartment rent, on a road 
> that is wide enough to navigate, in a place where no one will steal your 
> bikes out of the back, and where there is enough overhead clearance so you 
> don't chop the top off or ding the sides when you drive in.
>
> Those of us with an off road jones spend a lot of time riding enduro bikes 
> or motards on "rindou" which are the unpaved roads that snake all over the 
> mountains.  Lots of different rindou maps are available as well as 
> Japanese language books on rindou touring and off road camping. There are 
> miles of rindou within an hour of Nihonbashi in downtown Tokyo.  Same for 
> any other city.  Lots of good several-day ride destinations, like hot 
> springs up in Tohoku where there are no ryokan and you have to camp out.
>
> There are also a number of enduros for stock bikes and if they're too far 
> to ride to, just rent a van from a car rental place and drive up in that 
> with the bikes strapped down in the back.  A typical van will hold 2~3 
> bikes which reduces the rental, gas, and mileage charges significantly if 
> you share.
>
> As for what to buy, it all depends on your budget and inseam.  I am 183cm 
> tall with an 86cm inseam but I still find a Honda 250 Baja to be enough 
> for a lot of all day riding in Japan, although I am about to buy either a 
> new BMW F650GS or a Kawasaki KLR650.  They're a little heavier in the 
> dirt, but they carry a lot more and they don't beat you up when you have 
> played until too late and you have to ride the highway to get home before 
> dark.  If you don't have a bike endorsement on your license, get one 
> before you come and you can get a Japanese license that enables you to 
> ride anything up to 400cc without a test.  Taking the basic test here 
> means a mandatory set of lessons that are not cheap.
>
> Most 400s are just US model 600s with a smaller engine and, if you take 
> the upgrade test and get an ogata-menkyosho (permission to ride over 400) 
> there are a lot of reimported Japanese models as well as Europeans. Also 
> check out Yahoo auctions as there are a lot of good deals on older enduros 
> and trials bikes.
>
> For reading (the pictures are in English even if the words aren't) I'd 
> recommend taking a look at Back Off and Outrider.  After a while you'll 
> find a few other magazines that take you in the direction you want to go.
>
> CL