Japan on 2 wheels

During the summer of 2016 my wife and I hopped onto our little Honda GB 250 loaded up with a couple of backpacks and some camping gear and started making our way south from Chiba, where we currently live. The goal was to get to Yakushima (an island off of southern Kyushu) and back in five weeks. This meant several thousand kilometers on an overloaded, underpowered bike, crossing the Japan Alps, riding along the Sea of Japan coast down to Kyushu. It was bound to be an exciting and uncomfortable adventure.

Sony Zeiss FE 35 f2.8

Voigtlander 15mm f4.5

"The Red Baroness" with full load (Canon FDn 50 f1.4)

The Honda GB 250 Clubman was made for the Japanese market throughout the 80s and 90s. It weighs a wee 127kg and has a single-cylinder 249cc engine that punches well above its size with 30hp. Two-up, it does well in town with enough power to get away from most cars at traffic lights. With the added 30+ kg of gear, the bike cruised comfortably at 50-80 km/h on hilly and flat terrain, which worked out great as we stayed mainly on small side roads. However, it struggled in the mountains, especially on steep mountain switchbacks where 2nd/1st gear riding was often required. In addition, the small and seemingly cushionless seat and the cramped riding position made us feel as though someone was constantly beating us with a baseball bat, paying particular attention to our butts. It was nearly impossible to do more than an hour or two in the saddle without a break. It's December as I write this, and I'm still sore.

Photo Gear for the trip:

Sony A7s
Voigtlander Super Wide Heliar 15mm f4.5
Sony Zeiss FE 35mm f2.8
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4
Tokina AT-X 90mm f2.5 Macro
SMC Pentax 135mm f2.5
Kyocera Yashica T4 Super D
Kodak Ektar 100 (1 roll)
Kodak Portra 800 (1 roll)
Fujifilm Fortia SP (expired - 2 rolls)
Fujifilm Provia 100F (1 roll)
Fujifilm Velvia 100 (1 roll)
Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 (1 roll)
Gorillapod

I gotta say that it was a bit of a gear overkill, especially when you're trying to keep things light. If I did it again, I think I would have left the Zeiss FE 35 f2.8 and the Pentax 135 f2.5 behind - not because they're bad lenses, but because I didn't really need those focal lengths. Also, I overestimated how much film I would shoot and in the end only shot 4 rolls.

Here's a Google Maps collage of the route we took - 3666 kilometers of blistering summer heat, rice fields, mountain vistas, ocean views, ancient shrines, small villages, sprawling cities, tragic history, cold tunnels, hot tunnels, wooden castles, primeval forests, golden beaches, great food, amazing people and twisties, twisties, and more twisties.