Ready and road legal!

At the time of writing this post, I have been living the Cub life for about two weeks. I have ridden a little more than 100 smile inducing and slightly terrifying kilometers on the bike. This post gets into what it is like to license a little bike, bike licensing and road rules in Japan in general and specifically how riding a Cub is something that everyone should give a go at least once in their lives. Hope you findsomething useful. Enjoy!

Now that the rainy season has lifted and summer has come full force, I can get a nice glamor shots like this one. Here are my two JDM beauties just begging to be ridden. I haven't ridden the XJR much since getting the Cub road legal. This last Sunday I was able to get out and put 15 km on the Cub and when I got back I jumped right onto the XJR. The difference between the two bikes was astounding! The Cub weighs 79 kg (174 lbs) and the XJR comes in at 198 kg (435 lb). The difference between the two as far as stability and maneuverability almost couldn't be more different. The XJR felt like a tank for the first 2 kms until my muscle memory woke up and I remembered why I like it. For a regular bike, it is on the lighter side. The Cub is like riding a BMX bike downhill with about the same level of braking ability. Obviously the power difference between the 49cc of the Cub and the 399cc of the XJR was apparent and a bit disconcerting. The Cub requires a lot of throttle twist while the XJR felt twitchy and jumpy. These bikes are two ends of the Japanese riding spectrum and I love them both for it.

Three trips to two different government offices and I have a plate! Since I am US Military, Getting road legal is always an interesting experience. For every transaction, I have to first go to my base vehicle registration office (VRO). Usually I then have to go to another government office out in town with the paperwork prepared at the VRO. This paperwork allows the Japanese government office to do what they would usually do with the local populace. For the XJR and my car, I'd have to go to Yokohama. For the Cub and other small motorcycles, I only have to go to the local city office. After 30 minutes at the VRO, I then went to the city office. Another 30 minutes and I had a plate. The B signifies a US Forces motorcycle. The blue color signifies something, but I haven't figured that out yet. I believe it is a combo of US Forces and mini-bike. I did this on a Friday and was able to ride that weekend. I was back in the VRO on Monday to finish up and get a base access sticker. It took some time, but it was all relatively painless. Japan is a very paper intensive country for things like this. There is a form for everything and everything has a form. The Navy is the same and when combined it gets pretty intense trying to keep the forms in order. Patience and perseverance is the key!

Figure courtesy of the Tokyo Automotive Service Promotion Association

Clear as mud, right!? For those that don't read Japanese, I'll explain. The top row is the 5 motorcycle displacement categories. The second row are the 3 motorcycle classes. The first one from the left is literally "engine attached to bicycle" class most commonly called 'gentsuki'. Then regular bikes and finally large bikes. Hard to believe a 400cc is a large bike right? The third row is the 4 types of licenses you need. For the gentsuki class, you can get a license at 16 with a simple test or if you have a car license, you can automatically ride a small bike without any extra training. That's why 49cc bikes scooters are so popular here. At 18 you can get a small bike class license for bikes up to 125cc. To move up to the bigger bike licenses after that, you need to have some operating time and usually extra training. The big bike licenses are notoriously tough. The riding test involves some actual skill and most testing locations are like a mini neighborhood with lights, lanes and signs. The last row are the 4 types of road laws you have to follow based on the bike and license you have. Confused yet?

It makes a difference. With my 49cc Cub, I fall into the gentsuki class. My license is a special license granted by the base based on my US license which qualifies me for every size bike. I was able to get a big bike license from the start. For the road laws, I can only go as fast as 30 kph, even though the bike is capable of faster. I also have to stay to the left of the lane and in some cases, I have to do a two-step right hand turn called a 'nidankai usetsu'. Basically I go through the intersection on the left and stop in front of the crosswalk for cross traffic and then wait for the cross traffic light to go green. It is supposed to be safer for slow bikes, but it doesn't feel safe. Small bikes up to 124cc are limited to 60 kph and in order to go on the freeway, you have to have a 125cc or bigger bike. Bikes 250cc and bigger are limited on the freeways to 80 kph which for most freeways is the max speed limit. There are some freeways with a small stretch of 100 kph limit and in those, you are still limited to 80 on a bike. I don't understand the lower limit, but no one follows it anyway from my experience. For those still on the imperial system, 80 kph is 50 mph and 100 kph is 63 mph. After 6 years living in California, those speeds feel so incredibly slow and it is not uncommon for me to catch myself cruising at 120 (75). I have yet to meet the local constabulary due to my driving speed and I don't care to.

Some carb cleaner helped remove a bit of the copious amounts of beige latex paint over this vital sticker. The shift pattern and the auto clutch are the most interesting and at time, frustrating thing about the Cub. These Cubs have a 3 speed, rotary transmission. Look at the diagram to understand the rotary part. The color coded arrows show you that you can change gears via heel or toe and what the pattern is depending on the number of presses. The note at the bottom of the sticker reads “You can't shift to neutral from third while the vehicle is moving". The bike has a neutral light, but no other gear indicator. I have gotten confused and tried to leave a stop light in third gear when I thought I was in first. With the rotary transmission and auto clutch, you can stop in any gear and shift down to first or neutral while waiting for the light to change. After a week of riding, I have gotten more used to it, but I still mess it up every now and then. This has been the biggest thing to get used to when riding the bike.

I mentioned this little home improvement on my Instagram page a couple of weeks ago. It was finally time to get my tools outside now that I had the Cub and would be needing them quite a bit more frequently. This little shed is just enough to get my stuff outside and easily accessible. It also doubles as a workbench. It makes doing a quick little job easy enough that I don't hesitate to do it. The little Craftsman tool box fits perfectly and is much more organized than the old, smelly toolbox I had for the track. Getting my stuff outside into the shed frees up some closet space that my wife appreciates. Having my tools outside so I don't have to haul them outdoors is also something my lower back appreciates. My next tool purchase should be an electric air compressor and a drill driver. These would really open up some jobs that I want to do, but don't have the tools to do them with. I'll keep my eyes open for a bargain and pounce if one comes up.

My pandemic situation took a turn for the more annoying. After almost two months of a bit of freedom, we went back into more restrictions. The Cub has been great to help relieve the frustrations. I have gotten out in the morning and ridden around my neighborhood on the smaller roads that make up the majority of my area. The Cub let's me do this without backing up traffic or getting in the way. I can also grab some parts cleaner and take off a bit more beige paint a little at a time as a way to spend my weekend. I'm also working out the bugs of riding something so familiar, yet so different. Hopefully wherever you are reading this, you can enjoy a ride. If you can, ride safe. Until next time!

Mat