Events – Touge Express

Twistybutt C2C 2019

Posted on January 3, 2019April 16, 2019 by tougeexpress

Routes have been sent to all registered entrants. Didn’t get it, got the wrong one or found a problem, leave a message here.

When –
May 4, 2019

Meet – 4:30am

START – 4:50am

Where
Pacific Ocean to Japan Sea
Start: Sagami bay in Kanagawa
Finish: Joetsu in Niigata

Goal
To ride from the Pacific to the Sea of Japan in a single day via as many great roads as can be strung together without touching a highway or toll road!
Then, settle in for beers, a feast and soak…

Route
No major changes from the last 2 years’ route, just a little trimming and tweaking of the same great route taking us on the back of an almost endless snake of twisting, climbing, carving and winding tarmac!
2 courses:
Long – roughed out in 2011 – 650km
Short – The route above but smoother and shorter- 500km –

ALL FIRST TIMERS WILL ONLY BE GIVEN THE 500 ROUTE.

Here’s the full 650km route as you’d see it on a Garmin Navi.

See all those little brown mountain-like things? They are the touges (mountain passes) to traverse on the route, 2 of them being the 2 highest national roads in Japan! And where there are touges, you know there have to be hillclimbs, hairpins and oodles of twisties, right! Yep, that’s the twisty part covered.
How about the butt part? Well, at 650km with NO expressway, it isn’t exactly a Sunday squirt or a scoot out to your favorite lunch spot. It’s far enough to feel it and due to being packed with great roads banking you left and right, it is gonna take a while. So, you’re gonna spend your day with eyes tracing tarmac and butt parked, sliding this way and that polishing your seat, tank sides and foot pegs.

This isn’t the 1st time we’ve done it and we’ve tried to improve the route each year and encourage spirited riders to come along and give it a go. Don’t go getting the idea that encouraging means you’ll be joining a ‘follow the leader’ train of riders though. This is a tough ride and one to do at your own pace on your own schedule. You’ll probably find a rider or two around your pace to roll with but don’t count on it. Everyone has different styles, fuel ranges, bladder sizes and concentration spans so you may find yourself rolling with different people or even alone at times. But generally, small groups of similar paced and style riders have coalesced early on past rides.
If you’ve got a pack of like minded riders already then great, get your train together, study the route, load your navis if you have them and get on with it.
Just don’t take this ride lightly. It is a tough one! A hell of a lot of great riding but tough and dangerous if not respected. Heed the warning.

Ready?
1. You are responsible for yourself, your ride and leaving your whinging and whining at home.
2. Have your bike in long distance ready condition. Plenty(50%+) of tire and a full tank of gas!
3. Have yourself ready to roll. Well slept, fed and healthy.
4. This is not an easy ride! You will be on the road for the best part of daylight and maybe more than 12hours with little time to just cruise and zone out. It is a true feast of twisties that even gluttons have trouble swallowing. Know that!
# START TIME # Sunrise – 4:50am – If you miss the start, don’t give up. Ride your own ride and you’re bound to catch up with others on your way to Joetsu.

**WARNING:
Ride considerately, safely and within your limits.
This IS NOT competitive touring or a race.
In no way is any other rider or anyone associated with this ride responsible for any other rider on the ride.
We will likely have a variety of different riders/bikes/attitudes out there. Respect that and keep it real.
For the safety of your fellow riders and yourself, keep a safe distance between all riders and ride in a staggered formation when in a group. Staggered provides better vision, keeps the pack together and the tires in the car tracks reducing the chance of a puncture.
Have a charged phone on hand at all times with your emergency contact and the other riders’ contact. Details will be shared closer to the start.
Notify someone on this ride asap if you have any difficulties or leave the ride.
Our route parallels a lot of expressway so if anyone wants to swing off on a separate adventure for a bit, take a nap or get lost then there is flexibility for that. Hell, if you just get a crook neck or the bike develops a reluctance to rock’n’roll then make a beeline for the goal and wait for the rest of the crew to roll in. There is always another day and the support of your fellow road warriors waiting for you at the goal.

***MUST***, Even if you have a navi, KNOW the ROUTE, have your back-up maps / Mapple or stick with someone who does. All routes will be distributed sometime in April.

What do we do when we get there?
Everybody meets up at the same place for a feast and to share tales from the road.

Accommodation Location

Joetsu Sun Plaza – Click the following pic to be linked to the Sun Plaza online booking page.

*It’s in Japanese but easy enough to do with Google translate.

If you can’t get a room with the rest of the riders at the Sun Plaza, try one of these two hotels:

Monzen no Yu – https://www.greens.co.jp/monzen/

Route Inn Joetsu – https://www.route-inn.co.jp.e.ut.hp.transer.com/hotel_list/nigata/index_hotel_id_66/

How do I get in on this?
Spirited riders are always welcome. So, just reply here and/or PM me if you’re a definite and I’ll keep you in the loop.

REGISTER HERE

Hope to see a ready pack of Twistybutters on May 4th! And a festive bunch on the opposite coast.

How’s your Rubber?

Posted on March 29, 2018October 20, 2018 by tougeexpress

This is a good warning for those springing back onto their bikes after little to no riding throughout the winter. If crash reports make you weak at the knees take a seat now.

After a few months of rebuilding the Triumph Street Triple, I took it out for a twisty road shakedown last Saturday night. Over the preceding months, it had scored LED headlights, Street triple R suspension front and back, Street Triple R radial calipers, R1 master cylinder with new lines, the ever pesky crank position sensor was changed along with the alternator and a few cosmetics like bar end mirrors, tail tidy, titanium bolts here and there. Oh, and the Zard mufflers were back on. It

WAS a sweet package.

From here on, the black witch will be called ‘the striple’.

The striple had gotten a highway shakedown on the previous Wednesday through the snow out and back to the HMS rider training and performed flawlessly.

This time, we took the route I’ve done a thousand times down the coast with a local mate who’s also a bike mechanic and who’d done the lion’s share of the rebuild. The bike was performing well and the conditions were nice. Nothing odd or strange other than an occasional front end twitch.
On the second leg of twisties heading south out of Yugawara toward Atami, in a tightening left corner which I didn’t quite see well enough(see below for details), the front tyre suddenly washed out sending us sailing across the corner.

Thankfully no cars were coming in the opposite direction and it was a low speed spill. It was quick enough though, in combination with the short distance to a nasty curb on the outside of the corner, to pretty much destroy the delicate triumph’s peripherals.

Headlight stay broken, both wheels bent, rear subframe broken, seat torn up, tank dented and scratched, front rotors bent and various cosmetics decimated by that nasty non-slip red grip paint that sliding bikes just seem to skate across. Great for gripping weighted rubber, not sliding plastics and metals 😦

I fell on my left shoulder which jammed the elbow into the ribs while my helmet lightly kissed the tarmac with its visor, rolled onto my back then onto my left side and then slid to a halt on my belly but not before I collided with something or hyper-extended my ankle. But, once the sliding stopped and I had checked all limbs and digits were operational, I got to my feet and dusted myself off. Didn’t feel bad at the time and was soon helping my mate get the bike off the road.

The two bent rims made that a haul. That’s when I noticed the growing pain in my ankle. But the BMW Streetguard suit had done it’s job saving me from any open contact with the road. Not a scratch on me despite sliding across what amounts to a vast swathe of sandpaper!

A wrecker was called to haul the striple away and I hobbled off to get myself looked at.

Getting dropped off after the haul back.

Went for a few X-rays to be sure and my steel girder like superstructure had survived unscathed again. Hurt to walk though… Doc said it was probably just a severe impact strain and that all the bones were still intact and where they were supposed to be. Good, good, good!

Something he didn’t diagnose was my bruised pride and confusion at what exactly had happened.

In hindsight, there are a few things that combined to cause it, I think.

1. A big one, older unused tyres. I didn’t replace them despite recommendations.

2. Forks, although rebuilt, they weren’t pristine to start with and I’d had some concern over their slight stiction.

3. The corner was striped with balding sandgritt paint. Tyres don’t like that. Not to mention the tectonic rift in the middle of the lane.
4. My eyesight is not what it used to be.
5. The new LED headlights had a narrow horizontal beam pattern and are very bright white at 6500k. Bright white destroys night vision which is essential when a narrow horizontal beam banks into a corner leaving voids.
I’m leaning towards 1+3 following 4+5 reducing my preparedness.

And in the light of day, the striple was found to be an absolute mess! It’s no longer for this world.

Thank you to:
Sanekatasan for his invaluable assistance. Pre and post crash.

BMW Streetguard for saving my skin and bones, again.

Modern medicine for limiting my pain.

Important note:
After a crash, GO SEE a DOCTOR and be very descriptive about what happened, what hurts and the damage to your riding gear. It’s always better to err on the side of caution by getting your sorry bag of bones checked out. Such a sudden stop can cause damage that doesn’t strike until later. Also, get there asap! Best stay ahead of injuries and get it over and done with before the aches and pains reduce you to a whining sofa surfer.

* I hope that my crash will encourage you to check your equipment and prepare adequately before hitting the road.

Be prepared and ride safe!

Twisty Hunter’s Tour – 2017

Posted on March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by tougeexpress

5 days of all-day touring deep into the Japanese mountains.

Over 5 days we potentially have 2000+km of twisting winding and undulating roads to scout out and get lost in. Also, there is great riding and many sights to see in the area so feel free to go free-range if that’s your thing. Or, if you do want to split off mid day and find your own way or head back to base for a rest, go for it! We’ll be meeting back at base every night for a feed and festivities.

Schedule

Departing April 30 4:50 am from Sagami Bay on the Pacific Coast!

April 30 – Full 500+km of twisting and winding all the way from the Pacific coast to the Sea of Japan.

May 1 – Riding the long way down into Naganao to set up a base for 3 nights. @400km

May 2 to 4 – Riding long daily loops out through the mountains of Niigata, Nagano, Gunma and Yamanashi. @400km/day

Accomodation
April 30 – Hotel in Joetsu. Exact location and price to be decided. Will depend on numbers and availibility. Budget 6-8000yen.

May 1 to 3 – Cabins near Ueda, Nagano. 8 person cabin with kitchen, shower and toilet. Futons for sleeping. 3500yen/night + bedding. The cabin grounds has an adjacent campground for those wanting to tent. Onsen facilities are also on the grounds with views of Mt. Asama from the outdoor baths!

Joining up

Reply here to register your interest. First in get the choice of spots in the cabins.

Note

For the 500km run on day 1, April 30, we won’t be dawdling or sightseeing. So, if you’ve not done a coast to coast Twistybutt before, please join us in Joetsu that evening or the following day in Nagano.