G'day from me

I'm planning to Live and work in Xinjiang China for a year or two arriving in China about November this year if everything works out to plan.

Travel around China for possibly 6 weeks before arriving in Xinjiang late December.

I'm in Australia now and have been riding Motorcycles for about 35 years all off road.The bikes I own now are A Scorpa Trials bike and a Maico GS 400.


I hope to get a motorcycle probably some sort of dual sport bike ,I'll do my research here and see what comes up and do some travels/adventures around Xinjiang,Gansu,Tibet(if and when every thing settles down there)Mongolia and Kazakhstan maybe even the road of bones if I can fit it all in?

Big-D,

Welcome to the board! Glad to hear you'll be having some experience in China as I;m sure it will change your life in one way or another.

It sounds like you've got plenty of riding experience so the actual riding should not be a problem. The language, culture, customs, and weather stuff may be challenging at first.

You've got an amazing list of places to travel by moto and I'm sure it would be unforgettable. Six weeks though doesn't sound like enough time to spend time in all of these places unless you're just planning on riding through them and not experiencing the people and culture. You could easily spend six weeks in Western China alone and not need to go anywhere else so save Mongolia/Russia for the next year perhaps?

The bike selection in China is becoming better and better every year so I hope you can find something that satisfies you. In general if you want to get off the beaten track in China, the rule is to keep it simple and lite!

CC

Thanks CrazyCarl.
No the first 6 weeks will just be general tourist stuff making our way through China by train(unless I have to pick up a bike on the way but I will not have a licence to ride in other provinces.It looks like I have arranged a licence in Xinjiang? ) to Xinjiang.

I think Xinjiang will be covered in snow until March.I would think the mountain passes would not clear until latter than that.I would like to have a look at Kanas and I think the snow might not clear there until April/may.

The other travels on the motorcycle will be over the one /two year period.

Is there any dual sport chinese bikes over 200cc?

How about getting a Honda, Kawasaki or KTM.

There is some big mountain passes in Xinjiang that would truly drain a 200cc bike with gear.
I was in Xinjiang in 2001

There are a bunch of "250"'s, I think a lot of these are more like 223, and 233, and Jialing has a 600.


Welcome to the forums :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bigdamo

Thanks CrazyCarl.
No the first 6 weeks will just be general tourist stuff making our way through China by train(unless I have to pick up a bike on the way but I will not have a licence to ride in other provinces.It looks like I have arranged a licence in Xinjiang? ) to Xinjiang.

I think Xinjiang will be covered in snow until March.I would think the mountain passes would not clear until latter than that.I would like to have a look at Kanas and I think the snow might not clear there until April/may.

The other travels on the motorcycle will be over the one /two year period.

Is there any dual sport chinese bikes over 200cc?

How about getting a Honda, Kawasaki or KTM.

There is some big mountain passes in Xinjiang that would truly drain a 200cc bike with gear.
I was in Xinjiang in 2001

---

The best time go to kanas is september ,take some warm clothes,it will very cold in the night and early morning

Xinjiang is an exceptionally beautiful province. Some of the high passes don't clear up until late summer but there's plenty of Tarim Basin and Takl Desert touring you can do in the summer. The weather will be HOT but if you keep moving and change oil frequently you'll be alright.

Awesome part of the world!

There are some bike now becoming available that are over 200cc but they haven't been properly run-in/tested yet. A bunch of us all over the world are waiting to see what it will yield and likely by the end of 2008 we'll have a better look at what's available so if you really want a 200+ bike, hang in there a little.

CC