The Kneeslider has quite a few regular readers and commenters with interesting stories of their own involving the motorcycles they ride. I noticed, Kim Scholer, of Denmark, who stops by frequently, has a nice article in the June 2009 issue of Britain’s Classic Bike magazine that tells the story of his 8 week tour of Japan, on his 1950 Nimbus 4 cylinder bobber. I thought some of you might find it interesting, as I did. Many of us, if heading off for a foreign excursion, would be inclined to take something a bit more modern, but Kim’s Nimbus was recently rebuilt and he thought, it’s very reliable, works fine at home so why not in Japan?

The Nimbus is a Danish motorcycle seldom seen in the U.S. but still found in numbers in Denmark. Kim turned the stock bike into a bobber, a Harley saddle, some MZ switchgear, Harley 18 inch wheels, motocross bars plus other odds and ends and the finished bike looks great not to mention, it worked very well for the tour. He built a metal shipping crate that could be disassembled and carried along on the bike and sent the Nimbus off to begin his adventure.

Kim spent some time in the cities but much time riding mountain roads, where the 35 mph speed limit and loads of curves meant most days weren’t much over 130 miles but perfectly suited his bike and allowed for really enjoyable sight seeing. He had the opportunity to meet some wonderful and helpful people like shop owner “Crazy Pete” who has a very nice collection of vintage bikes, Shinya Kimura of Zero Engineering and Chicara Nagata, the very well known custom builder.

Kim managed some track time at the Time Tunnel Vintage Motorcycle Festival near Mount Fuji, where he shared the track with Norton Manxes, various vintage racers, even an old race prepped Japanese Rikuo.

Kim has a blog that details his trip, called, amazingly enough, Nimbus Motorcycle Trip in Japan, where he gives lots of detail of the whole experience, certainly not your average motorcycle trip. Check out the June Classic Bike for the article and stop by his blog. You just might get the urge to try something a little out of the ordinary yourself.

Link: Nimbus Trip in Japan