I've booked a rental bike (NInja 1000) for this week, so I'll be doing some test riding as well.(Click here for test drive impressions)
The weather forecast said it would be a hot day, so we decided to go to Kinseitoge (2024m above sea level), thinking that it would be cooler at a certain altitude.
I had rented a bike the night before to leave early in the morning, but I was determined to make it.oversleeping as expected.The departure time was a little before 9:00. The return time was 7:30 p.m., so I only had a short time to ride ..... In addition, I got caught in a traffic jam at Kanpachi and it took me a long time to get on the outer ring road.
It was already past ten o'clock when we reached the Tohoku Expressway and took our first break at the Hasuda Service Area: ..... Considering the congestion on the way back, it might not be as relaxing as usual.
I remember the last time I went to the Kan-etsu on a tour of Kusatsu, I got caught in a Kanpachi traffic jam at the same time........ I'm sorry. If I can't get up early next time, I'll use the Ken-O Expressway instead of scrimping on highway fare.
But once I got on the highway, it was all over. I changed the power mode from low to full and started cruising.
I rented it.The Ninja 1000 has 3.11 times more horsepower and 2.92 times more torque than the 400 I usually ride, and the rpm at 100 km cruising is about 1000 rpm lower.So we arrived at the Utsunomiya IC to Nikko road smoothly.
I was hungry, so I had lunch at Nikko-guchi PA. I made the regrettable mistake of ordering hot soba noodles because I was attracted by the yuba.
The temperature was rising, so we decided to have some soft-serve ice cream for dessert, and looked at the map and decided on Kirifuri Kogen as our next destination. It seemed to take about 20 minutes to get there from Nikko-guchi PA. Kirifuri Kogen Road was the first winding road we would ride on the NInja 1000.
So I went back to the parking lot.Can-Am SPYDERwas parked there. I've never seen a real car before. It's cool, but this is already a car......
I failed to get off at the Nikko Interchange and had to turn around to go back to downtown Nikko, and unlike my bike, I didn't have a smartphone navigation system, so I got lost, but I arrived at Kirifuri Kogen. We enjoyed soft-serve ice cream."What is the rainy season?"It was a beautiful sunny day. The wind on the plateau was refreshing.
After lunch and dessert, we headed for Lake Chuzenji via Iroha-zaka. There was a holiday traffic jam on the way back to Nikko, but by this time I was used to riding the Ninja 1000 and was able to slip through. There were fewer cars on the Iroha-zaka slope than I expected, and I was able to ride up the one-way, two-lane overtaking slope without stress.
There were a lot of cars around Lake Chuzenji, and I couldn't find any good resting and shooting spots while driving, so I went through. There seemed to be a lot of cars in the direction of Kegon Falls, so we continued on and took a break at Ryuto Falls. This waterfall is only one minute from the parking lot to the viewing point.
In fact, after lunch, when I was lost on my way to Kirifuri Kogen, I also found Urami-no-taki waterfall and went to the parking lot, but it's a secret that I passed it up when I found out that it was quite a walk to the waterfall.
We continued on to the Japan Romantic Road / Kinsei Road. We were planning to take a break at Kinsei Pass, but we missed the parking lot at the pass and the road went downhill, so we took a side road to Marunuma Onsen and had a rest by the lake. The hot spring was tempting, but we were already worried about the time we would have to return home, so we decided to just take a break and go to the hot spring when we had enough time later in the route.
We continued to drive along the Romantic Road of Japan. I was trying to search for the time required to return home and information on traffic jams with my smartphone navigation system when I saw a sign for a free footbath at Oze.たFacilities like a roadside stationWe stopped at the footbath. I parked my bike right in front of the footbath and enjoyed the footbath while looking at the Ninja. The footbaths are paid for, but I have a Hotarakashi Onsen hand towel in my body bag, which I brought with me for my unloaded rental bike tour. I was well prepared.
I was curious about the Oze Burger sign right in front of the footbath, but I'll save it for my next visit. By the way, it was past 4:00 p.m. at this point, and I had to return to 2Rinkan in Ota Ward, Tokyo in about three hours.
I don't think I'll be able to afford a real hot spring. We continued toward Numata, got on the Kanetsu train, and headed home.............
I haven't been in a hot spring two weeks in a row. ......orz
I'll revisit this course again when I have more free time on my own motorcycle.........
Articles about the Ninja 1000, including touring with a rental bike, are collected here.
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