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Does anyone have advice for riding to Lhasa in Tibet?
I only have a two week window to do the ride in, so can't ride from Shanghai and back. I've heard of people sending their bikes to Chengdu and then riding to Lhasa from there.
I've got a Harley Davidson Softail Breakout and was wondering if the bike would make the ride or are the road too rough for it?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
You first need to find a shipper that is willing to take your bikeQuote:
Originally Posted by anguscharlton
and I don't think a HD is the best bike to do this type of run
on , a ADV would be better as we all here become To relies you
just don't no what is around the corner on roads here in china
Then you need all the paper work and permits, Hainan I think
would be a better ride Great beaches and many great roads ,
I am here now in Hainan and have just cover over 8000
Km in 7 weeks . That the best from me sorry to say
I recently looked into planning a trip for this summer - and basically, it's doable but really expensive. Not only do you need the proper permits, but you need to hire a guide who will escort you in a vehicle. You can see some of the details here:
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ibet-July-2014
As an aside, the Tibetan Autonomous Region proper is only a portion of the Tibetan Plateau as a whole - and there are plenty of places in Sichuan, Qinghai, and Gansu where you can ride on the plateau and through Tibetan areas - without the hassle of permits, guides, etc.
If your goal is Lhasa and you're willing to pay for it - you can work with Tibet Travel to arrange everything necessary. The quotes I got from them ranged from 14k RMB (5 days - bare minimum to go from Qinghai/TAR border to Lhasa and back) to 70k for 20 days - entering from Qinghai and exiting in Xinjiang.
Yeah, OP you can get a sense of the nonsense that is TIC... by reading Buck and Amy's adventures which included a guided ride in T!B3T... the great ride of China
I am just designing our October Holiday Ride 2014: Kunming - ShangriLa - Kunming. 1700 km, 6 riding days. I believe this will also be a great ride. Lasha/Tibet is a dream, but there are also nice destinations without all the administrative trouble. a HD Softtail is definitely not the right choice of bike there. we will go on BMW bikes.
Dear Anguscharlton, open Google Maps. set your starting point, choose the roads, stay between 250/350 km/day, find an overnight place .................. and you can check if your idea is working.
Ok, on westerner/American Expressways a days distance with a HD ~ 600km is no problem, but here, with this road conditions,...... for 300 km you will need ~ >8 hours (if nothing breaks down).
it is also important which time of the year you will go on the trip. believe me, you will not be happy riding a Chinese countryside road in the dark or snow.
last year OHR we went from Suzhou to Jingdezhen and back. the yellow G-Roads have been, mostly, in terrible conditions. under construction, gravel, potholes, heavy truck traffic .......... a HD is the wrong choice of bike for this conditions
Just to note need to check out Xishuangbanna was vote by the
New York Times one of the best places to visit in 2014!
I have been to the town very very nice with some great scenic roads all Around the area
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ces-to-go.html
While the HD wouldn't be ideal, it is doable. Myself and others in our group have ridden Dragstar and other 'Star' cruises throughout various provinces including some real shiet roads in Jiangxi... A mid sized dual purpose/ADV ride would be a better proposition... there are many choices in terms of places to visit or spend 5 days exploring.... Zhejiang offers lots of options and is much closer than heading all the way over to a place that the CCP have made too complicated and expensive to see...