"Bike Town" - Tokyo

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Gonzo
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"Bike Town" - Tokyo

Post by Gonzo »

Hey All,

Was in Tokyo last week for work and managed to hook a couple of days to myself. So I headed out to Ueno, home of "Bike Town". They call it this 'cause it's where the bike dealers, repairers and accessory shops are side by side and you can get everything and anything. It has to be seen to be believed. One place I went to was 8 stories of bike accessories, with a floor for everything. One for leathers, one for fabric jackets, two for helmets etc etc. I couldn't get any pics in the shops 'cause they don't want you popping next door and trying to screw the price down on someone else... but what I did get pics of was:

These are a few shots of the streets around bike town...
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They're really big on retro...
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Anything over 450cc over there needs an expensive licence which I was told is really really hard to get. So they tend to ride 250s and 400s. But the weird thing is the scooter culture. They ride these 250cc scooters and pimp them out. So you see these hardass looking jap dudes on these crazy looking scooters that sound like Harleys. You'd laugh, if you weren't scared the guy and his Yakuza mates would cut your fingers off lol ;)

This was one of my favs, check out the rear wing on this badboy... lmao
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And finally, I stumbled across this in Akihabara. It's just a little 50cc dirt bike but the thing is actually road registered...
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Anyway, I just thought I'd share some of the bike related craziness from Japan. If you're ever in Tokyo it's definitely a good way to kill an afternoon...
"I shall now eat a rubber tire to the music of The Flight of the Bumblebee...music, maestro!"
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BladeBoy
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Post by BladeBoy »

Been there 12 years ago, not changed at all 8)
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MrStompy
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Post by MrStompy »

thanks for the info.
im going to tokyo in feb so now i know where i need to go :D

did you notice if the price of accessories was cheaper or more expensive than here?
Gonzo
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Post by Gonzo »

Yeah, I'm not surprised Blade. I actually ended up finding it (after walking in the wrong direction for some time) by asking this old fella. Once we got through the language barrier and he worked out I was talking about bikes he knew exactly where I wanted to go.
MrStompy wrote:did you notice if the price of accessories was cheaper or more expensive than here?
You'll have a hard time finding any 'bargains' there. It's not like Hong Kong or Singapore, it was probably similar pricing to Aust. The real difference is; you'll find things that you just wont see here... and the range is just amazing. Seriously, there couldn't be two ppl in Japan with the same helmet! lol :lol: It's definitely worth a look while you're there man, it's pretty kewl. It's really easy to get to on the subway, and the bike area is a short walk from the station (if you walk in the right damn direction :oops: )
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Burky
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Post by Burky »

Man that looks great, all those shops for just bike gear :twisted:
MrStompy wrote:im going to tokyo in feb
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Post by red_dave »

burkys_ninja wrote:Man that looks great, all those shops for just bike gear :twisted:
MrStompy wrote:im going to tokyo in feb
"Duty Free" 1 bottle of JD :lol: :lol: :lol:


Hey Red_Dave :finga: "Beat Ya" :finga:
:x

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Johnny O
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Post by Johnny O »

Yeh Ueno is awesome, the street name is Showa-Dori Avenue from memory. It was easy to get to, the rail maps & stations have English & Japanese writing.
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Gosling1
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Post by Gosling1 »

Great photos mate, love that *wing* :shock: :shock: :lol: - them guys are all clazy bduh.gif

8)
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