Printable View
I have read that motorbikes with 1 person and that can reach and run at 70km/h are allowed on motorways.
i am in ningde and would like to take a trip up to shanghai, however if i have to take the little roads it will take me a week to get there, if i can use the motorways here then that would be damn sight quicker and easer for navigation.
any ideas? any one been on one of these motorways, or tried and been told to go away at the toll booth?
Stick this in the regionals section.
The answer is yes. I've gotten turned around at toll booths despite my best reasoning, whining and jumping up and down. People get turned back at highway toll booths all the time and they don't care to test or even know if your bike can do 70kph. That being said, it's still worth a try but don't be surprised if you get turned around.
CC
yes, you will likely be stopped from entering the expressways. many expressway onramps have signs with symbols showing what is forbidden, and usually one of them will be a motorcycle silhouette with red circle and red perpendicular line through the motorcycle. despite what the law states/reads the actual practise are often different things. get used to that in PRC. there are some parts of China which are motorcycle friendly, such as Beijing and parts of Jiangxi. I and a mate managed to ride our 1100cc bikes on about 40km of expressway towards Nanchang last October (2009) in Jiangxi. After a while though it felt kind of weird, and both of us (separately) felt so out of place that we'd exited the expressway not sure if we were really allowed on it or not. neither of us had been challenged when we inadvertently found ourselves riding into a tollbooth that just appeared after riding 10km or so up a provincial highway (the highway had no offramps or warning before it just became a expressway junction/onramp.Quote:
Originally Posted by lightend
lightend I can and do share your pain. many times I've wanted to ride the short way between Cixi and Shanghai via the Hangzhou bay bridge, but bikes are banned and the 2 & 1/2 trip becomes a good solid 7 hours taking the longer Hanghou "coathanger" route which I've ridden return more than a dozen times (thats 13 hours just there in back) in the same day...
personally I find it bordering discrimination, but then I look around and observe (and have almost had) some crazy fcukin dickheads riding, driving, walking all over the place without any regard or mindset about road awareness or giving a toss about other road users etc. so if the authorities let these kinds of numbnuts loose on the expressways we'll be all the worse of for it. its bad enough now that there are cheap Chinese cars costing only 20-30k brand new that allows some numbnuts-dingbat to buy and so called drive on the roads here...
:lol8::clap:Quote:
but then I look around and observe (and have almost had) some crazy fcukin dickheads riding, driving, walking all over the place without any regard or mindset about road awareness or giving a toss about other road users etc. so if the authorities let these kinds of numbnuts loose on the expressways we'll be all the worse of for it. its bad enough now that there are cheap Chinese cars costing only 20-30k brand new that allows some numbnuts-dingbat to buy and so called drive on the roads here...
You know something is wrong with the driving/riding culture when people wear helmets to a motocross track on their unregistered 125cc dirt bikes and then take their helmets off to ride the huge jumps! :confused1: I've seen this happen!
ZMC888: hahaha, good old chinese logic there. hahaha.
BikerDoc: yeah perhaps its for the best that locals cannot drive on high ways. I will give it a go when i have a better bike for it, for now i will get used to the little mountain trials around here and dodging peoples car doors opening to block the lanes, yesterday a large white merc over took me then stopped 10meters ahead, being wise and living here almost 2 years I stopped, a kid on a bike wasn't so clever and over took me trying to go past, predictably the passenger door opened as wide as it can go blocking the entire space that was left (clearly without looking). The kid slammed on his brakes then slammed into the door.
och....
When will common sense of looking before you open a door, especially if you are going to leave no where for people to go, when will it kick in???????
- talking of kicking in, one of the favourite things when I was a nasty youth with leather and muscles, was to wear big old-fashioned motorcycle boots with lots of metal studs so you could take off in a shower of sparks ... anyone who pulled out of a driveway or opened a door in front of me like that got a nasty scraaaaape across the shiny paintwork and a vicious look daring them to respond ... not that I am proud of it (lol) or would recommend it in this day and age ... and one local mechanic made quite a few bucks from manufacturing a left hand grip that pulled out from the bar with a wicked length of blade - and a spare chain in the toolkit was one thing the cops couldn't do us for either, not that my macho raving has anything to do with freeways in China, sorry.
A buddy of mine was extremely difficult to break from the habit of smashing the driver's side mirrors off of cars that dared to cut him off or share his lane while driving through Shanghai. That being said, I've parked my bike in front of a few cabbies and gotten off to discuss the finer points of safe driving. As far as driving down the highways around Shanghai on a motorcycle I'd have to say "Madness!!" Those drivers are absolutely crazy. Another friend of mine who was a stock car racer routinely flies down the roads in his Buick with me between Jiangsu and Shanghai and there is no way I'd want to compete with him and the other nutbars with my motorcycle. There's only so much you can do at 120 kph.
I have to say, i like how ordered shanghai traffic is. once you get onto the smaller cities they seem to get very bad wit no order at all.
im sure some cities the police are just for show.
before i came here a couple of years ago, i was under the impression it was much like Vietnam, here you could load your motorbike onto a train. well that does not seem possible here.
o well, i guess its the long way round then.. thanks all for your replies,, very informative,
Education of traffic law violators is police business, but most of the times they are not around. I smashed a bunch of mirrors off cars (downtown preferably Mercedes, BMW, Audi :icon10:) as they tried to force you into center barriers (aka idiot fences :lol8:) or off the road by overtaking and thereby neglecting me as oncoming traffic. A fist or two flew into some idiot's face :eek2:.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuhaus
I gave up on the above at the same time I quit smoking :icon10:
As a pedestrian I am using a 4 inch nail and occasionally white spray paint as education tool against upper class vehicle's drivers :rolleyes1:
Generally traffic law states, that vehicles with a type-rated speed of 70 km/h and over are allowed on expressways, provided the rider and pillion wear a helmet. However, most provinces forbid motorbikes on expressways. To the best of my knowledge, exceptions are Beijing and Tianjin and sometimes they let you on in Yunnan or maybe other provinces when riding solo. Imagine all the farmers with their scythes, rakes and other tools, riding 3 up and more :icon10: on expressways - they better forbid them generally, very much to the dislike of us recreational riders.Quote:
Originally Posted by lightend
I sneaked through tollgates on several occasions where the barriers left enough space for a bike or at gas stations, where the always have a connection to country roads. We were stopped once by police, escorted to the next but one exit, greeted farewell without being fined nor charged toll :icon10:
If you apply the sneak in method, be sure to know where the big toll gates are (the ones blocking the whole road across) and avoid those by exiting one exit before (or at a gas station). Re-sneak after the big toll gate. Repeat procedure as often as necessary :naughty: I believe they are still waiting for me at some big toll gates :lol8:
Andy, this is a very neat trick. Can't wait to try.Quote:
Originally Posted by chinabiker
You'd think the tolls alone would be plenty to keep farmers and their scythes off the expressways, so clearly the real explanation for not allowing recreational riders through the tollgates has to do with misconceptions about motorcycling. There are still so few recreational riders, a lot of people in China simply cannot understand why anyone would want to ride one of those "farm vehicles." Here in Shanghai, where status is paramount, I cannot tell you how many times I've been told, "You are the boss. You should have a car -- and a driver." A cheap thrill for me: Arriving for a meeting or dinner at a 5-star hotel on my bicycle and asking for valet parking. I won't do that on my motorbike, for fear of the valet dropping it, but I know most of the valets can handle a push bike! I like the idea of my 3-speed nestled in between the Maseratis and Ferraris in the valet lot.
I think the reasons for not allowing bikes on expressways are many:
1. Most people think cars are better.
2. Most bikes are not insured.
3. Many do not have registration or have fake registration.
4. Many do not have licenses.
5. Many do not have helmets or protective clothing.
6. Many have not been government tested periodically.
7. Motorcyclists never pay tolls on highways.
8. Many riders never ride over 70 km/h.
9. Cops only stop people on intersections in cities to make easy money and never enforce road rules in 99% of other areas as it is 'too difficult'.
10. Fines are much lower for bikes than cars.
11. China doesn't have a famous enough internationally dominant motorcycle brand.
I've discussed this before, but China needs a new kind of plate maybe another color (white on blue?) which costs more than the regular yellow one maybe 600-1000 RMB issued only to bikes over a certain size. With this plate people could then use expressways, use main roads not cycle lanes and fill up at gas stations from the pump. Of course on the other hand you'd need to pay fines at car levels. There really needs to be something to distinguish legal BMWs, Harleys and R1s etc from peasant farmers on 100cc step thu-s carrying 4 people, farm equipment, with no insurance, helmets, registration etc.
This isn't a dream! It could work because the government and police could make more money!
Dear Triple Eight,
Your analysis is sound and thorough, and your prescription -- a new class of plate -- is surely the right approach. Hopefully, with BMW, HD, Ducati and Benelli in the market, and growing numbers of Chinese big(ger) bore bikes like Jialing entering the market and, in turn, entering public consciousness, we'll see a coalition of interest groups coalescing into a lobbying force that can propose these ideas. China is still far from being a place where interest groups can (legally) form and influence policy, but that age is indeed dawning as we speak. I don't want to hold my breath for these changes, but I do think they are coming. There probably already is a Chinese Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, and once the international players get seats at that table, it will become a more effective lobbying force, improving conditions for everyone.
One hopes so, anyway...