3 Day Tour on the Hunter Cub 2026

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:56:48 +0000

The Premise

I had the opportunity to take a 3 day bike tour and decided I was going to do it on my Hunter Cub (CT125). This meant that 250-280Km were the kind of daily distances I had targeted in Kurviger when designing the route. Basically, a more relaxed 125cc type of thing. With quite a few Michi No Eki stops. Just letting you know in advance. Also, no camping this time.

Day 1

It was raining when I set off at 6.30am. That’s fine. It always seems like it’s raining when I start these kind of things. The traffic for the first 45 minutes wasn’t so much fun though. Still, a necessary evil on a weekday.

After a bit on the infamous Route 246, I stopped at the 7-11 at the start of Route 70 Yabitsu Touge to sort my music out on the phone/navigation system and get some Black Black chewing gum.

This touge is popular with hikers and cyclists but on a day like today it was just me and I was fine with that. The Hunter Cub can easily do these inclines, albeit in lower gears with my weight and a half empty top box.

The raining was lightening up as I got to the top but there were still streams flowing down some parts of the road, and plenty of tree debris to be navigated in places.

On the north side of the touge near Lake Miyagase it was straighter but still empty roads as the rain had all but stopped when I grabbed a drink at a popular Famima, before heading off to the Doushi Road and its large Michi No Eki (‘road station’). The first of many.

Doushi road (Rte 413) is a great winding road and by the time I arrived at the ‘road station’ though the rain had stopped, I discovered that whilst my left foot was mostly dry, my right boot was full of water. A bit like my gloves, but since I had mesh summer gloves on, they would be dry soon enough and I had a couple of spare pairs just in case.

Still, once you’re wet (and if it’s not really cold) it’s surprising how quickly it slips your mind when you’re riding.

Since I was at the michi no eki at Doushi road I decided to have a cup of coffee though I was apologetic to the staff about dripping water everywhere, but they were fine with it since the place was quote empty and I sat as close to the door as I could.

As I was leaving I also saw another chap on a green Hunter Cub. Just us Cub-sters out today it seems.

It wasn’t too long until I was at another Michi No Eki, this time just down the road in Tsuru. It a fairly generic michi no eki, but seemed popular enough.

From there I went on the Suzugane Touge (Rte 509) which was a nice wooded road before emptying into Suruhashi, where I took on some fuel since it was kind of my half way point for the day.

Following the tiny Sagami river for a bit was fun, before heading up on Rte 139 to another michi no eki at Kosuge, which had a roundabout in front of it (!) which is very rare in Japan. Oddly, I also met two guys from Bingley in Yorkshire there who were on a biking holiday!

Going through some of the forest roads like Rte 18 was picturesque, but you have to be aware that nature happens and so to ride with care - I did see one place where there was a fallen tree that was just resting on some overhead cables!

There was a lot of mist in the mountains, and a couple of times I was going through tunnels where there was actually mist in the tunnel which is a weird feeling.

Continuing on Rte 18 and my last michi no eki of the day was at Tabayama, which was a good place for another hot drink before the last winding but mainly downhill run into Kofu town on Rte 411, the Daibosatsu line.

The hotel I’d chosen for the night was a new chain for me - Hotel R9 - The Yard. Essentially they’re cargo containers converted to hotel rooms. Inside that’s exactly what they look like. They do have an odd echo inside, and the torrential rain overnight was quite loud inside, but you don’t feel like you’re in a cargo container. Also, the bike was just outside.

My gloves and boots were really wet if not from the rain then from road water and some of the huge ‘puddles’ I’d had to traverse. I had the hair dryer out to dry them which was largely successful, and it wasn’t like it took much time to dry what’s left of my hair!

Dinner was at the Kurazushi restaurant over the road, wearing my sandals which had been ‘kept clean’ on the center carrier.

Day 2

I got up on time around 6:30am to be checked-out of there by 8am before fuelling up at the 24-hour petrol station just down the road. I was expecting a konbini or McDonald’s breakfast since not many places are open for breakfast, but I found a Denny’s en route so stopped in for cheese toast, tea and some salad.

I also stopped at Workman to see if they had any covers for my boots but they didn’t so I went with the old standard of plastic begs over my socks since the boots were still a little damp. I was surprised since Workman is usually great for the biker needing gear in a pinch.

(Sorry Shonan people, I don’t ride in sandals.)

Next I stopped in Yamanashi city at the Otakesan shrine since it’s something of a motorbike shrine! It does have a lot of things for motorbikes so I did the praying and unlike the people in front of me, I did it right per the diagram on the front of the shrine!

I bought a sticker for the top box and a handlebar strap which the lady did want to explain to me was 1000 yen before I paid for it and it’s yellow so it matches the Cub.

I only knew about this shrine from a youtube channel I’ve started following - seaman bike & life vlog.

My next road was Rte 219, the Crystal line. It’s a fun road in most parts, but also has sections not in a great state repair and at time parts of the road kind of disappear, which means doing a bit of off-road as there’s a lot of debris on the road, things hanging down and trees fallen by the side of the road. Honestly, I don’t think I’d have enjoyed some of this on my Tracer.

I will admit I was listening to the ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ at some points on this stretch.

Then it was on to the Kiyosato Line (Rte 141), and after a quick stop at the Minami Kiyosato michi no eki, I skirted the town of Hokuto, which then runs into an old favourite, Rte 299 down into Chino, where I stopped for a break to meet an old friend for a late lunch and a cup of tea.

After lunch, my now a bit heavier, I went off on the Daimon Road (Rte 152), once again back up into the mountains past Lake Shirakaba and onto the Venus Line.

Normally I’d be telling you what a beautiful part of the world this is, except on this day the fog was dense, a real ‘pea-souper’ as we’d say back in the UK.

Fortunately the few cars on the road were being careful too, since visibility was maybe 20m or so and the navi was more help telling me what the next turn was going to be than my eyes were.

Finally the fog cleared by the time I got to the Azaelia line, and it started to look great again, riding down through the valleys towards the town of Matsumoto, and my next hotel.

After so much time in the countryside, being in a large town with traffic lights and cars and all that was like mini-culture shock, but by the time I got to my hotel in the north of the town it was back to very gentle semi-rural vibes.

I didn’t get to the hotel till after 7pm, which was later than I wanted, but that’s fine, and the Cub was seemingly loving it, and I won’t lie, parking up at the Route Inn next to a line of BMW GSs and other large tourers, it felt good to have 10% of the engine capacity and still be hauling some of the roads I’d done so far. Albeit slower!

Day 3

The last day is always a sad day, right?

I woke at about 6:15 and went for breakfast at 6:30am, mainly with people travelling for business and other travel needs. I kept it light with fish, hash browns, vegetables and some toast, washed down with some very strong coffee.

Route Inn are a chain of value-for-money hotels, they’re clean, generally have parking and have free coffee in the lobby. Worth knowing. Also worth knowing is that all of Nagano prefecture now charge 200yen per person per night occupancy tax.

Back on the road, knowing today wouldn’t be as twisty or at elevation compared to previous days and so with less skills training, but probably just as fun.

I started on Rte 19 for a bit since it’s fairly straight, quick, but also relaxed despite the number of cars as it heads south out of Matsumoto. Then it’s Rte 20 and my first michi no eki of the day at Osakada Koen. The cool thing about this place is that it has a go-kart track, which tragically I didn’t have time for and it seemed Cubs weren’t allowed on.

Next stop was very short at Lake Suwa since I don’t think I’ve ever stopped there before and I felt like I should. It’s a beautiful place and has a nice running and cycling track around it.

I stayed on Rte 20 which becomes quite rural with little traffic, and the blue sky was now the normal. It has a lot of winding roads, which are so relaxing on the 125, and whilst there isn’t the fun challenge of the touge, it’s a nice counterpoint.

I know it seems like I spend a lot of time at Michi no eki, and yes I kind of do, and there are more to come here, but I want you to know I was also passing some as they were simply too close together on my route.

The next one I did stop at (for a bio-break to be fair) was Shinshu Tsutakijuku, and not long after I stopped at Hakushu mainly as it was across the road from where I was getting fuel and the staff there were really friendly. That michi no eki was also where I had a quick chat with some fellow Cub riders just as they were leaving, and left my Hunter Cub wondering why it didn’t have a Yoshimura pipe.

At about 1:00pm I stopped off for lunch at this little place called the Silver Lake fish and tea shop. In the end I had their signature burger and it was excellent. Yes, two burgers in two days is not a great way to live, but believe me, this is an exception for me. It also came with some celery soup that was nice too.

I stopped in at another michi no eki, Fujikawa, which is on a weird road system so it took me two attempts to get the right entrance. It has a lot of things there like a planetarium, so I stopped for a coffee and took a look around before the last push back to Kanagawa prefecture.

Continuing down route 52 was just wonderful, carving roads through farm areas, some woodland and down along side rivers through Shizuoka prefecture, to the West of mount Fuji, following the Fuji river, into the city of Fuji. Noticing the theme here?

Eventually reality comes back in and I was on National Route 1, which is a bit like the old Tokaido route, and runs East-West along a good chunk of the Pacific coast of Japan. I was heading east, on more familiar roads, heading up to Hakone, but have no fear, I took the opportunity on this final mountain climb to stop at … the Hakone touge michi no eki. It’s been revamped a few times, and still sports an awesome view, so feels like a good place to finish the ride report.

In closing

It was a great trip. The photos and videos don’t capture all the fun. Day one was rain and touge, a good challenge and a day of focussing on the basics of riding. Day two was more relaxed from the weather point of view, but road conditions were difficult in places and the Hunter Cub showed what it could do. That fog was also a reminder of how changeable weather can be. Day three of course was the most relaxing, but also that the Cub seat can start feeling a bit uncomfortable after a few days.

Room-wise I think the Hotel Nine was probably better than Route Inn, but Route Inn at least they have breakfast at a little restaurant and there’s the lobby coffee to drink so that’s a factor.

The Cub was awesome, with its Givi top box and sandals strapped on. At no point did I regret the choice, but when planning the trips, I had decided ~250Km per day was enough, and on the roads I was on, it was. I got 280Km on day three, but only because the roads were simpler.

Also, michi no eki are nice.