Hi All,
Just dropping this here after having recently bought a motorbike, perhaps it could be useful or inspirational to someone.
There are a few considerations with buying a motorbike that I didn't consider before hand. Firstly, 125cc motorbikes are limited in their legal usability. To take a motorbike on the highway or to carry a passenger, you must have an engine size greater than 125cc (e.g. 250cc). On the other hand, 125cc motorbikes can be easier to park, since some bicycle/motorbike areas permit up to 125cc motorbikes, but no higher. So this is something to consider when you're choosing what you want (I chose greater-than-125cc). You should research these road rules, as there are a couple of other exceptional cases (e.g. I believe you also need to have had your license longer than 3 years to carry a passenger).
The first difficulty is finding a motorbike shop. I was only looking for a second hand motorbike, and there are a lot of these shops, but they don't necessarily list on google maps (searching with katakana 'baiku'). The easiest method I found to look for motorbikes is to search for them on goobike.com. Then, goobike has a map of the location of the shop with that bike. The bike I ended up getting was not listed, but I found it after looking around a shop I visited to inspect another listed bike.
To buy it, you will need certain things. From other people I've talked to, this will vary depending on your prefecture/municipality. In my case, the shop needed:
a) a proof of residence certificate (available from your local ward office) + your residence card
b) a copy of your license
c) cash
d) an inkan (to sign). In my case, it did not need to be registered.
e) a helmet (when you return to pick it up)
From a shop, they handle all the registration for you. The bikes are listed with the registration included in the price, with the 'bike price' written in small text. This also includes all the taxes, and generally one year of CTP insurance (which is cheaper if you opt to buy more than one year). This insurance is only third-party injury insurance. It doesn't cover anything else, such as third-party vehicle damage. The shop will generally offer other forms of insurance you can subscribe to on top of that.
My understanding of your own injury coverage in Japan under the national health insurance (which you'll have if you are a resident) is that you have to co-pay medical costs up to a ceiling of $30,000. If you think that ceiling is too much, there is an add-on insurance you can get to cover that. However, the major insurance you need against personal injury is obviously "being really careful". The driving in Japan is relatively pedestrian and careful, probably the least dangerous-feeling roads I've encountered. Certainly no chaos like in Vietnam, or brazen disregard for safety like in Thailand, or outright mania like in Taiwan.
Before you ride, you should read up on differences in Japanese road rules. One good example I didn't expect was regarding train lines: you are required to momentarily come to a complete stop before crossing a train line without exception. And people do do this.
At the shop, don't expect them to be able to speak any English. I can't speak much Japanese but we still managed to hack our way through the details using translation apps, without it taking too long.
For license, I just used my Australian license and an IDP (which is good for 12 months). Apparently, you can convert licenses from 'drive on the left' countries to a Japanese license without much difficulty, but I've yet to confirm this. I hear that for 'drive on the right' countries, you have to sit a full test the same as Japanese locals (which will be pricey and time consuming and I assume horribly bureaucratic).
For helmet and other gear, NAPS is a good national 'motorbike supermarket', at it shows up on google maps if you search it.
On my driving experience so far, one thing I've noticed is how expensive and numerous the toll roads are. For example, I used one toll road for about 5 minutes and it cost me around 700yen. Hence I've mostly just been sticking to the slower non-toll roads (tends to add about 50% to trip time, but I'm not in a hurry). There are some pretty awesome skyways though in Japan, which weave over the tops of cities, so they're definitely worth a ride on even if they do cost a fortune. Also witnessing the Japanese customer service manifest itself at petrol pumps has been nice to see -- the guy fills it up for you and even uses a special rag to prevent splashes onto your vehicle.
Also the added freedom as a whole is very pleasant. Public transport may be efficient in Japan, but nothing can beat the liberty and efficiency of door-to-door, zero-waiting transport like in the Thai and Vietnamese lifestyle.
Just dropping this here after having recently bought a motorbike, perhaps it could be useful or inspirational to someone.
There are a few considerations with buying a motorbike that I didn't consider before hand. Firstly, 125cc motorbikes are limited in their legal usability. To take a motorbike on the highway or to carry a passenger, you must have an engine size greater than 125cc (e.g. 250cc). On the other hand, 125cc motorbikes can be easier to park, since some bicycle/motorbike areas permit up to 125cc motorbikes, but no higher. So this is something to consider when you're choosing what you want (I chose greater-than-125cc). You should research these road rules, as there are a couple of other exceptional cases (e.g. I believe you also need to have had your license longer than 3 years to carry a passenger).
The first difficulty is finding a motorbike shop. I was only looking for a second hand motorbike, and there are a lot of these shops, but they don't necessarily list on google maps (searching with katakana 'baiku'). The easiest method I found to look for motorbikes is to search for them on goobike.com. Then, goobike has a map of the location of the shop with that bike. The bike I ended up getting was not listed, but I found it after looking around a shop I visited to inspect another listed bike.
To buy it, you will need certain things. From other people I've talked to, this will vary depending on your prefecture/municipality. In my case, the shop needed:
a) a proof of residence certificate (available from your local ward office) + your residence card
b) a copy of your license
c) cash
d) an inkan (to sign). In my case, it did not need to be registered.
e) a helmet (when you return to pick it up)
From a shop, they handle all the registration for you. The bikes are listed with the registration included in the price, with the 'bike price' written in small text. This also includes all the taxes, and generally one year of CTP insurance (which is cheaper if you opt to buy more than one year). This insurance is only third-party injury insurance. It doesn't cover anything else, such as third-party vehicle damage. The shop will generally offer other forms of insurance you can subscribe to on top of that.
My understanding of your own injury coverage in Japan under the national health insurance (which you'll have if you are a resident) is that you have to co-pay medical costs up to a ceiling of $30,000. If you think that ceiling is too much, there is an add-on insurance you can get to cover that. However, the major insurance you need against personal injury is obviously "being really careful". The driving in Japan is relatively pedestrian and careful, probably the least dangerous-feeling roads I've encountered. Certainly no chaos like in Vietnam, or brazen disregard for safety like in Thailand, or outright mania like in Taiwan.
Before you ride, you should read up on differences in Japanese road rules. One good example I didn't expect was regarding train lines: you are required to momentarily come to a complete stop before crossing a train line without exception. And people do do this.
At the shop, don't expect them to be able to speak any English. I can't speak much Japanese but we still managed to hack our way through the details using translation apps, without it taking too long.
For license, I just used my Australian license and an IDP (which is good for 12 months). Apparently, you can convert licenses from 'drive on the left' countries to a Japanese license without much difficulty, but I've yet to confirm this. I hear that for 'drive on the right' countries, you have to sit a full test the same as Japanese locals (which will be pricey and time consuming and I assume horribly bureaucratic).
For helmet and other gear, NAPS is a good national 'motorbike supermarket', at it shows up on google maps if you search it.
On my driving experience so far, one thing I've noticed is how expensive and numerous the toll roads are. For example, I used one toll road for about 5 minutes and it cost me around 700yen. Hence I've mostly just been sticking to the slower non-toll roads (tends to add about 50% to trip time, but I'm not in a hurry). There are some pretty awesome skyways though in Japan, which weave over the tops of cities, so they're definitely worth a ride on even if they do cost a fortune. Also witnessing the Japanese customer service manifest itself at petrol pumps has been nice to see -- the guy fills it up for you and even uses a special rag to prevent splashes onto your vehicle.
Also the added freedom as a whole is very pleasant. Public transport may be efficient in Japan, but nothing can beat the liberty and efficiency of door-to-door, zero-waiting transport like in the Thai and Vietnamese lifestyle.