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Amazing!! thanks for taking the time to write this report and taking us along. China is amazing and has so many hidden wounders everywhere you turn.
Enjoy your trip to the USA and get you fill of all the differant types of food while you are there.
Ride safe.
Darren
The best ride report on this site ever, possibly the best ride report from China on the net, I studied every picture and read every word, surely a 'how to' guide for anyone wanting to write a ride report.
On a separate note what was the collective distance covered by those little Galaxy bikes? How many issues did you have with them?
Echoing the accolades of others, this was armchair riding at its very best, and no better motivation for those of us in China and beyond to get off our asses and out into the true wilds. Great, great report. I have a couple questions too:
1) photography: as Jape intimated, there are surely many outtakes from your brilliant photography. Your composing and editing skills clearly are top drawer. can you estimate how many pix you made in total to yield the amazing selection that we enjoyed? How selective were you in the edit that you showed us? Were there instances where you wanted to shoot, but because of descending darkness or other imperatives had to leave your camera in its bag? And did you download pix to a computer every night?
2) transport: Was this the first time you've transported bikes at one end of a ride or the other? What were the arrangements? Did they need to be cartoned, or just lashed to a truck bed? Did they all arrive safely at their respective destinations (lord knows you'd given them plenty of hell already, especially you in that little white-knuckle show early on)? What, if I might ask the classic Chinese question, did it cost to truck your bike back to GD?
3) any plans for further publication?
thanks again for a brilliant and inspiring adventure. You've set the bar very high for the rest of us, which is good. Here's a well-deserved round of applause!
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::c lap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
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cheers!
excellent write up and ride report... bravo!!! as has been written... so many great highlights with very few lows... once again... thanks for the sharing of your ride...
Here are some numbers for anyone contemplating this kind of ride.
I didn't really keep track of our daily costs, but I don't think we averaged more than 250 Yuan ($37.00 USD) per day in food, gas and lodging.
Galaxy XTR250 motorcycle, including complete paperwork and 13.5 liter tank. = 14,000 Yuan ($2070 USD)
Extra Parts including seat, luggage racks, drivetrain components, handlebars, handguards etc. = 2,500 Yuan ($370 USD) +1,300 Yuan ($190 USD) for the fancy hard cases.
About 12 hours per bike in pre trip maintenance.
There were almost no problems with the bikes during the whole trip, only one issue was a manufacturing flaw.
#1 All three of the bikes developed problems with the kickstands, although none of them broke, parking and loading always required careful attention. Galaxy needs to improve the mounting tab on the kickstands.
#2 Felix had a loose coil wire and some spooge in his carburetor. These problems were not related to manufacturing and they were easy fixes that didn't require parts.
#3 If I was headed up above 3500 meters again, I would like to figure out a better mixture for the carburetors.
#4 We carried a giant can of chain lube and hit them regularly. The high end chains I purchased in Hong Kong really paid off and we only performed one chain adjustment during the entire trip. Don't risk your trip on a Chinese chain.
#5 Because Daniels bike was new, and Felix had a new motor, we all started the trip with PJ1 Silverfire 20W50 (non synthetic) oil. When we reached Panzihua, we changed to Motul 15W40 synthetic.
Fuel: We purchased 93 octane at all of the stations.
Cruising Range: 350 Kilometers (217 miles) average distance between fill ups.
Price: Low 6.64 Yuan Per liter / High 6.84 Yuan Per Liter (Roughly 3.70 USD Per Gallon)
Average Consumption 28 Kilometers Per Liter (67 Miles Per Gallon)
For GPS tracking data, I carried the QStartz SRQ2100. For navigation, I used the HTC TouchHD mobile phone running Google Maps enclosed in a waterproof Otterbox case.
The chart bellow gives a good idea of what you can expect traveling in China on small bikes. Note: On Day 5 I didn't run the GPS while trucking my crashed bike to Kunming (Daniel & Felix did ride bikes). Day 6 was the repair day in Kunming, so no data.
http://www.contactdi.com/2010/may/Trip_Stats.jpg
135 hours of riding, 4010 kilometers covered, the average moving speed was about 52 kph. I have 35,000 kilometers of China riding on my V-Strom and the average moving speed is only 64 kph, so a bigger bike is not going to get you that much further in a day if you're riding in the mountains.
Sorry, no undy pics of Felix. :lol8:Quote:
Originally Posted by jape
We didn't have radios and that is something worth considering. China has very good mobile phone coverage so it's usually pretty easy to stay in contact. We had an agreement to make visual contact every half hour or regroup anytime the route wasn't painfully obvious. This worked well as it gave each of us the space we needed and we could all catch photos of each other going by.
Thanks Darren, you know my wife and I went through Hubei last summer on the V-strom. That's her home province, so the next time we come through I will find you.Quote:
Originally Posted by kingdm54
#1 Total Photos Taken = 2020Quote:
Originally Posted by euphonius
I carried my 13" MacBook Pro and we downloaded every couple days. 243 of the pictures made it into the ride report. I tried to balance out scenery with bike pics and some were just thrown in as part of the story line.
Daniel took a lot of HD video and I had a CountourHD helmet cam that died after day 5.
The selection and editing was a very long task, maybe 40 hours of photoshop work. We were always snapping pictures regardless of light etc. The beautiful thing about digital is you can take thousands of shots and your bound to get a few good ones. There were a few times when we were a bit stressed and the cameras stayed in the bag, those are the times you usually don't take photos and wish you had. My advice Take pics, just do it, photograph everything so you can relive all the little details later on.
#2 This was my first China transport. I think we paid about 1500 Yuan to have our bikes "crated" and sent back. Let's just say that the next time I will try to work more closely with a motorcycle shop to ensure the bike is crated correctly and reduce the cost. Make sure you have a reliable source with a proven track record if you're going to ship your JH600.
#3 Publication? Never thought about it much as my writing is weak and I kind of assumed it was only nuts like us that enjoy reading this stuff. I enjoy writing the technical stuff about working on bikes, but writing stories is exhausting.
I will post the maps and GPS tracks tomorrow.
Cheers!
ChinaV
And by the way.... Thank you...everyone... for the kind words. About half way through writing this I contemplated throwing in the pics with just a few words. I could tell from the comments and questions that people were actually reading and that gave me a lot of motivation.
Ride on brothers and sisters and be sure to share it all here :riding:
Cheers!
ChinaV
I live in a high-rise apartment, and have commandeered an unused corner of the underground garage to park the Jialing. The pig iron platform and frame that Jialing used to ship it to Shanghai is still in a downtown shop, but they want me to fetch it, so I need to find a place to store it. (Perhaps hung from hooks high on a wall in the underground garage, and locked.) Sounds as if it's worth keeping, as I'm sure I'll eventually want to ship the bike out to Chengdu or Kunming to save four or five miserable days on the G320!Quote:
Originally Posted by ChinaV
Your writing is spare (unlike my overloquacious style) but anything but weak. I think CrazyCarl could be persuaded to adapt your ride for AdventureMotorcycle.com. And then there's ADVRider....Quote:
#3 Publication? Never thought about it much as my writing is weak and I kind of assumed it was only nuts like us that enjoy reading this stuff. I enjoy writing the technical stuff about working on bikes, but writing stories is exhausting.
thanks again!
cheers
Look mate, take the time, even if it is in a few months, to do a DVD of that trip. If you can get the video edited and the helmet cam material from the first few days that would be excellent.The stills and narration in the style you already have naturally would be fine as a slide show. You don't need fancy effects. Sell a few for $20 and your trip is paid for. You would have to talk to CC about whether it is a profitable enterprise to produce such DVDs but I would certainly buy one. At the very least you can earn from magazine articles with this quality material, don't underestimate your ability nor your writing ability, it is certainly adequate and I think better than adequate. Send me a PM if you want some help.
Edit, Euphonius posted as I was writing this, see, two of us (and I am sure many more) agree you have the skills and material we all want to read. Maybe do the DVD and then an article to help with marketing.
hear, hear... ChinaV, as Jape and euphonius say -you've got the skills, and more importantly the content which I along with others have read every word of... more than once. Check out this www.globebusters.com and you'll find your post is as good as what's been written about by others...Quote:
Originally Posted by jape
I can only repeat myself in awe: thanks of the great report, which inspired me to go do a trip as well and not be lazy cheap charlie.
Imagin the irony of those words..... just minutes before the accident when we were high above the mountain looking down at all those tasty twistys. Lorn said to me "better watch it here, I can feel the brake fluid and oil the trucks are leaving behind. This road gives you just enough confidence to shoot the corners but is slippery enough to dump you on your arse real fast!"
And for all practical purposes, at least in the first few hours, we thought that the trip was already over....and it was only the fourth day. It seemed incredible that the major components of the bike were not damaged and that only the top end of the bike was bashed up. But the real miricle was the fact that Lorn organized the delivery of the parts, a place to work on the bike and the transport of the bike...all in less than two days! Hats off to this multi-tasked organizer... we were back on the road riding North a few days later!
Oh ChinaV, i wait for the day when your finally drive one of these YBRs :clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by ChinaV
What a nice trip and cool that you recovered so fast and could start an adventure right after. :thumbsup:
Wish you have lots of fun in the states and when there is time come to europe, there is a little bike waiting here for you :riding:
Maybe you might like to come up and live in Kashgar they have just announced they are going to make it a EDZ .Riding season is abit short though.Then you go BC skiing.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChinaV
Don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
Certainly want to see Kashgar before it turns into another Shenzen.
Thanks for your ride report alot of effort posting it .Well worth it.
Check out his Yamaha YBR125. I couldn't believe he had so much stuff on such a little motorcycle.
http://www.contactdi.com/2010/may/may_2010_h222.jpg
Do they make these Yammie YBR's in 250 or only 125cc in PRC? Seems like if they manufactured them in 250cc as this dual purpose orientated model they'd be a worthy consideration...
My sincere apoligies to all China Riders for posting so little thus far........ A bit of an emergency to centend with right after completion of this Epic Ride! But we are finally back on track now!
Anything Goes Rules?..... Yes, indeed it was very interesting to finally see how riding China compares with some of the other populated Asian Countries and to personally verify everything I had heard and read that gave it the claim to fame of the "worst traffic conditions in the world". As a general rule, the more populated the Country and the worse the infrastucture that exists, there is an almost direct correlation to dangerous driving and seat of the pants scenarios. While China, (at least the parts that I have rode until now) didnt fare as bad as several other Asian Countries and certainly does not have so many India-like conditions, it will never the less grab your attention quite often!
But Asia, without a doubt has the worst of the worst conditions in the World and if there was a pecking order of danger it might go something like this....India gets first place HANDS DOWN, then Java, Viet Nam and then Pakistan and China perhaps tied for the next place. (Although Pakistan is not nearly as crowded, the truckies are pretty lethal!)
It goes without saying that as one drives West away from the Eastern Seaboard of China that things get substantially more relaxed and this is exactly what we did. There was a discernable difference between where we started in Guangdong and Guanxi and then later on in Yunnan and Sichuan. As Felix mentioned, even the truckies were pretty cool about letting us pass without much fuss, thus escaping their cloud trail of deisel fumes. But it was the first few days in Eastern China that reminded me of other Asian rides from the past. When you are competing with lorries, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, livestock and children......all on a two-lane hiway... well it can get pretty hairy. There are many a moment when you are locked into some kind of intense video game only the stakes are quiet a bit higher! In some of the first days I had so many near misses, mostly with other motorbikes, bicycles and kids that ventured out on the road without even a glance in either direction.
I was still getting used to the Galaxy and these road conditions the first few days and as a result usually lagged behind Lorn and Felix who must be acostumed to all this a bit more that I, no matter how many other Asian experiences I had enjoyed. In the end I decided to ride well within the envelope most of the time and assure myself that I would catch up to the others sooner or later and without incident. I might also add that Lorn and Felix are damn good riders.
I also thought alot about how China is the new riding frontier and how many others will arrive here eventually to have the same experiences. I wouldnt want to leave a bad precedent and make it harder for them to ride China if things became even more strict than they already are! After all, washing out on a patch of oil and sliding off the road is one thing........and hitting a child inside of a city would be quiet another. In the end what gave me more confidence was the awesome set of brakes that the galaxy has. It is very light and will stop on a dime.
Getting tied up in some heavy rain and a really bad traffic jam, Felix and I go motocrossing around the pack and stop to wait for Daniel who is slowly getting the hang of the "anything goes" road rules in China. It's getting a bit late, and I check the GPS for major towns ahead. It looks like we have about 50 kilometers to cover before the next place with a hotel and Felix's bike is acting a bit strange. Hoping that it's just a bit of water in the carb, we drain the bowl and it seems like we're good to go again.
http://www.contactdi.com/2010/may/may_2010_h015.jpg
I'll just bump this great thread, since I'm hoping to do a trip in Yunnan this year. Anyone else up for this, would really like to do a trip with fellow bikers and without gf this year! :riding:
Thanks for pulling up old threads Barry! I had a read through this report again and it brought back lots of great memories from two years ago. Thanks again ChinaV for writing it up, it's still one the great RRs from mychinamoto.
Barry i'd love to join you but it won't happen this year. I was actually out there a couple of weeks ago and have a road tip for you:
http://g.co/maps/ay4h2
Absolutely THE best road i have ridden in china. Starting from shangrila and ending in tiger leaping gorge, it's not the main road connecting the two so you wouldn't expect it to be well maintained but it is, and it's stunning. It's best combination of hairpin heaven, immaculate surface, zero traffic and breathtaking scenery, and a lot of it is over 3000m. For added fun i included a 25km offshoot which is also perfectly surfaced and has some great corners. There is a 50RMB toll to pay when the road enters tiger leaping gorge. Pay it, it's totally worth it.
Here are a couple of pics from along this road that don't do it justice at all:
https://public.bay.livefilestore.com...580.JPG?psid=1
https://public.bay.livefilestore.com...582.JPG?psid=1
https://public.bay.livefilestore.com...606.JPG?psid=1
https://public.bay.livefilestore.com...20a.jpg?psid=1
Definitely do this road when you go out there.
Here's another one Barry Yunnan Ride 2010, which covers South/Soutwest Yunnan.
And the S214 is now complete so this should be a cool [new] road to ride (east of Myanmar).
I'm two years too late but still amazed so deeply by your trip. It brought back memories, all those beautiful snow capped mountains, dusty twisty roads, butt sores, hotels in the middle of nowhere, the concrete-taste yak butter barley mix... thank you Lorne for putting up this report, that's a LOT of work! And I almost forget, some parts made me laugh so hard I feel I'm back in China again.
5 years ago... amazing how much has changed and how much hasn't.
Hi ChinaV
Due to your last post I was so happy to find your RR thread , can I say it one of the best RR I have read well written with great photos , over the last 2 years been riding back and too Thailand from Hainan so a lot of the area and roads I am familiar with , Yunnan and Sichuan are IMO the best province to ride around with Hainan comes in close 3rd , Had a look at the picture of the left bend by the bridge that you took a dive , is that water on the road from the brakes of a truck ???
Because I have found on my riding in that area a few time I have hit area of wet patches on bends and the front wheels just lets go ??? could be .... just happy you was ok.
Hoping to move to Ya'an in Sichuan shortly to have a new base to ride from with Gongga mountain only 135km west of Ya'an it looks about the best location to have a base to explore the area from
Great RR
Attachment 17132
Funny how other people stop at the same picture location :goodtime:
Attachment 17135
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It was just before this picture is were I got of the G80 Expressway from Hainan , from my last trip that around this area I found the roads not of inertest until after this location.
Attachment 17138
The photos are cool Prince666. As you know, it's pretty boring until you hit Yunnan.
This is the route we took, the map in the first post wast the planned ride, this is what we actually did. Each color is a different day.
http://www.contactdi.com/2010/may/mayr.jpg
I highly recommend Panzhihua to Luguhu and then that back road we took out of Luguhu. I'm very curious to know if they ever finished the roads that take you to Daocheng (S216 & S217 on google maps). I know so many people that have ridden G214 (which is nice), but there's some seriously beautiful stuff off the beaten path north of Luguhu.
Thanks for the compliments, the ride was epic and putting together the ride report was more work than the actual ride. Five years later, I'm glad I did it, I forgot so many things, and the ride report brought it all back.
Cheers!
What kinda bikes?
Hi ChinaV
Here is a link to a ride which is ON Now a group of lads from Chiang mai Thailand to Vladivostok, Russia and you ask about some roadsI think post 59 is the S217??? looks completed to me ???Quote:
know if they ever finished the roads that take you to Daocheng (S216 & S217 on google maps)
link to RR http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-f...4543#post54543