Our last morning start ceremony on the island of Java was held at the Yamaha Indonesia factory. At this start, which marked the beginning of the second half of the Indonesian leg of the PAN-ASEAN TOURING "IT'S EXCITING!," the riders from the first half of the tour and those who would be riding for the second half gathered together with a large number of staff members for a simple but lively ceremony.
Starting out at 9:00 a.m., the JUPITER MX (T135) tour headed for the port of Merak to cross over to the island of Sumatra. After a lunch stop at Tangerang, the riders ran their JUPITER MX (T135) machines on non-stop through the towns of Balaraja, Serang and Cilegon before finally reaching the ferry pier in Merak at 3:00 in the afternoon. Along the way, a group of riders from the Jakarta "Yamaha Owners Club" had joined up and accompanied us all the way to Merak harbor.
The JUPITER MX (T135) machines were loaded on the Sumatra ferry and the tour members enjoyed the view and the sea breezes as we left port. Although there had several opportunities so far on our Indonesian tour to see the sea from the road, for the riders and staff gathered on deck this was the first opportunity to really relax and enjoy the seascape. The ferry crossing took longer than expected and it was 7:00 in the evening when we finally arrived at the gateway to Sumatra, the port of Bander Lampung. Here, members of the Bander Lampung "Yamaha Owners Club" were waiting to greet us. They joined in our JUPITER MX (T135) touring convoy and rode with us to our hotel over roads so bumpy and dark that we had to slow down considerably, especially on the sloped turns. Many of the riders surely felt that they were getting a first taste of the hardships to come on the remainder of our tour.
We finally arrived at our day's lodging at 9:00 at night. We had made our first headway on the island of Sumatra and our JUPITER MX (T135) machines had given us no trouble whatsoever.
Crossing the Sunda Straits
The JUPITER MX (T135) tour started out this day from the Yamaha Indonesia factory
Crossing the Sunda Straits (Selat Sunda) between the islands of Java and Sumatra by ferry
In Bander Lampung. The JUPITER MX (T135) riders coming off the ferry
