New in Bj

Hi all,

I'm a new guy in Bj, living here for a whole 2 months right now. Already got my license transfered to Chinese, now I need a bike :).

At home, I was still learning how to ride - got like 2 seasons of riding behind me. So I'm not the one who knows how to bend fully on bike ;)

I miss my bike here, so hopefully I will be able to find something that will at least supress that feeling :D

See you on the road :)

Dear Worr,

Welcome to the forum. Damn, you are doing everything right so far! Two months and you've already got your license sorted? That's some kind of record. It'll also make it a lot easier to sort out the bike, assuming that you've also got you residency sorted.

A good place to start would be the recent threads/posts by MCM denizen Barry, GJN and rumpelstilzchen, among others, who all are going through the same curve you are. Lots of fresh information.

Lao Jia Huo is your man for sourcing bikes, as he seems always to know of the good deals that are out there. He was selling a few of his own bikes, but I think that well now is dry. chinabiker is also a renowned fount of detailed beijing-specific knowledge.

Good luck to you, and be sure to let us know what you find.

cheers

Hi,

Thanks for the welcome :). I've already spent some time lurking through the forums, soon will post couple of my own question :)

For now, I've got all ready except for the bike :D

Hi there and welcome to the club :)
As Euphonius (U-phone) LOL has already given you the down-low on BJ, and you've already been lurking the threads, I will put a plug in now for you to consider give serious consideration to a CFMoto Jetmax 250cc scooter. It is not a standard scooter by any stretch of the imagination, its a maxi scooter that can easily hit triple digit speeds and remain stable at speed through corners without any of the usual flex that most standard scooter frames experience. That's not to say there isn't any, because all scooters experience such, even motorcycles to a lesser extent. There are several other reasons that the Jetmax is a worthy contender for someone such as yourself. It uses a CVT transmission, so for a novice rider this can be a blessing so you can concentrate on all the other aspects of riding, even more so in China. That being said it's also a nice alternative for experienced riders too not to have to worry about clutch. You'll be protected from the elements, which I can assure you is not something to be underestimated in the slightest. A riding buddy and I just returned from a fast, relaxing trip Ningbo - Ninghai - Taizhou - Linhai - Yandangshan - Nanxijiang & back. Yesterday it pissed ahem, I mean rained the entire journey back, I wore my textile jacket, jeans, pro-rider ankle boots, leather gloves and then over top I wore a set of vinyl riding gear. I only added my handlebar mits, which kept my gloves bone dry, the Jetmax fairing and screen took care of the rest & after some 300km of riding back without taking the usual mountain deviations I'm much maligned for, I got back dry as. That is a huge contrast to what me and my mates experienced this time last year, where on the first day out on our collection of 1100cc+ cruisers I ended up getting absolutely soaked and ended up calling it quits and turning round to head home where I promptly left a huge puddle on my garage floor, and this was despite all the wearing all the right gear.
CFMoto is in amongst the top Chinese motorcycle manufacturers and they are serious about their products. Their manufacturing facilities reflect this which I can attest to having been there earlier this year, and having been to others can write this with some confidence.
They also produce a few other worthy contenders, and have a couple of new designs yet to hit the market.
The other contender would be a Regal Raptor or the Yamaha YBR also fairly solid builds when comparing to other Chinese moto manufacturers. Just saying...

Though it depends on what your interests and aims are with your intended ride... road, sport, trail...
No matter, keep the shiny side up and a smile on the dial.
Welcome!

Thank for the info :). I know how awesome scooters can be :). I'm keeping it as a last resort, since I'm so used to manual gears that I don't want to loose that ability, if you know what I mean :). Regal Raptor looks like something that suits both my transportation needs and visual needs :D.

Long forgotten update - after all, I got one of those tiny, perfectly illegal, mini crossbikes. It's a definitive no-go for outside city trip, but for Beijing - it's more than perfect. It's way more agile than scooter (I've tried it also), and fun from it is awesome.

But for now... I need to get rid of it to buy something more real :). I feel like I can handle riding here on something bigger, after all the training ;)

Pictures, please, before you dump the crossbike!

Attachment 5053Mini crossbike, mini crossbike :D