Recomendation for Dual-sport Bike for Trip from China to Europe

Yesterday picked up the visa and crossed into China. Went to the bus station. Given limited time decided to skip on giant metropolis Guangzhou, and head towards guilin area, to start the trip from there. All the buses went already so went to kfc , planned the route for the trip with the guidebook and spent the night there sleeping on the soft seats.. we weren't the only ones, no problem apparently!

This morning bought a bus ticket to Hezhou, leaves in 30 mins, will look for a bike there and get a bit sorted out. The plan is then to head west, via guizhou province into Yunnan, then north as far as Xining. There perhaps put the bike on the train to around urumqi, according to the frenchies (cyclists) that stretch was not so interesting, then head west to kashgar. Will post the route as a photo when I get the chance.

Even with the train.. it's a long way, probably 6000km, so will look for a motorbike I think, used at first.

The plan is to avoid driving in any cities (will park the bike somewhere and get a bus into town. Get the bike docs in order as best I can, other than the license. Hopefully the insurance isn't nullified. If stopped by the police present what I have with a smile. I don't know if 'small gifts' are an option in the countryside (?), and without Chinese can't think it's a good idea.

First impressions of China very good, it seems friendly and people are accommodating to the fact we don't speak Chinese. I think I will visit again later to study the language at some point.

Now in Hezhou. The hotel has a computer in the room! Nice room, AC. They asked for 200, I offered 100 and they accepted. I'm not sure if that's a good price.

I'm off to get some food and look at some bikes. Will try to fish an English speaker too. In addition to obtaining the regular docs (green book, blue book etc.), is there anything else to do when buying a used motorbike other than getting a bill-of-sale? Anything specific that should be on it?

if you have the vin and the rego number you can check to see if there are any outstanding fines against the bike . 100 kuai is a good price for a room with hot water, internet and a/c. Welcome to China

Thanks! We had a good look round today too. There's a lot of bike shops here, a whole long street of them. Here's what we found:

Many many brands, but only a limited number of frames and engine designs. There's the bikes based on the Honda CG125, the bigger OHC Honda, the Yamaha YBR125, the Suzuki GS125, and probably a couple of others I don't recognize. Then there are lots of weird frankensteins.. the Honda engine in the Suzuki frame etc. Didn't see any trail bikes. Also Honda-branded classic 80s CG125 frames with OHC engines.

There was a Yamaha dealer, and they looked good. There was the JYM125, the YB125, the YB125SP, the YBR125.. all sharing the same frame, engine, suspension.. almost everything, just the more expensive models had a few styling extras, cast wheels and a disc brake. The basic model (JYM125) at 6000 rmb seems like good value, only thing against it is a front drum brake, but it looks quite competent.

We found the Jianshe 'copy' of the YBR125 for 6000. Would probably rather buy the Yamaha YJM125 for the same price, basically the same minus the disc brake (and CV carb?).

There were also Honda bikes for similar prices, some of them 150cc. The consensus seems to be the Yamahas are a little better, right?

Ah, also the shops seemed pretty happy to do the registration for us in someone else's name, they could maybe find someone too, didn't seem to be a problem.

We also asked around for used bikes. There was one place with some used bikes, but they weren't that cheap. One of the dealers was selling his personal 2009 Suzuki GS125 (with styling from the 80s). The clock said 14000km, and looked in good shape, docs all in order. He asked for 5000. We offered 3500, but he didn't accept. We might be able to get it for 4000. Is that a good price?

yeah that is a real good price. For the dealer.

There were a few on TaoBao used for 3000-3500. That's the right price, right?

I guess we'll end up getting the Yamaha. It would be a shame to loose it to the police or at the border though then, with a less expensive bike wouldn't feel that bad about it.

What are the sites to look for used bikes?

Getting a new bike registered is not a small job . That is it requires proof of residence and a licence and the right visa and the mood of the Chinese clerk must be right and the moon and stars must be aligned just so. Even then it can take weeks. Buying a used bike which is already registered has many advantages especially in your case, so if you pay over the odds at least you will be on the road.

What route are you planning on taking? Will a 125cc w/o FI be sufficient for the higher altitudes? This is something that's stumping me at the moment..

We understood that to register it in a Chinese persons name takes just one day, they were willing to run off to the police station (or wherever it's done?) right then and do it. A lady who spoke some English interpreted for us, this is what we understood. I don't think we could do it in our name with a 30 day tourist visa? It could be a problem at the border that it's not in our name, but hopefully ok.

The route is across Western China and into Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan then Kazakhstan. At high altitude (say 2000m) the bike looses something like half it's power.. you have to use high revs and full throttle to keep moving.. this is true for FI and non FI, but the FI at least keeps the fuel/air ratio correct, so the engine isn't running, rich, I think. 125cc at altitude two-up on steep inclines will probably be a bit slow going.

There was also a 'Piaggo Zongshen' bike, similar to the YBR but with a honda-derived engine, I think, front disc brake, trail tires and a good rack for 6000. Any info on that bike?

Also, sorry was the Yamaha JYM125, not YJM125.