China by Sidecar! (Help Requested)

Hey all,

Looking to make a 17 day tour of rural china by motorbike early august and am looking for affordable (and as reliable as possible) transport for four riders. the idea is that we can share riding time with two sidecars, but I've read too many stories of Chang Jiang 750's that fell apart and died after just a few hours, and would like to find two bikes from a reputable and affordable supplier.

Can we buy a used bike and resell to owner as opposed to renting bikes? Or buy and then sell in a different city? Can any of you point me towards someone we can talk to? The plan is to enter via HK and get our licenses converted to mainland in Guangzhou.

Suggestions and ideas from all of you are welcome on how we can find bikes, please! I'll post a big trip report with pics of what we see and everyone we meet along the way! :)

How can the four of us get the most out of this great opportunity to explore China? *Note: we will be taking someone who speaks Mandarin chinese.*

:clap:

Thanks,
David Koerner

Hi Dave,

Welcome to MCM. There are almost no rentals here, and you can't purchase or get licensed without a residency permit. Sorry for the bad news. If you really want to make a tour, I would suggest contacting one of the tour agencies, as they can get you onto bikes with the necessary documents. Other than that, use the search engine and dig deep. There's plenty of info here about what you want to do, but you need to make some decisions about how far you're willing to go and at what expense.

Cheers!
ChinaV

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Originally Posted by dkoerner

Hey all,

Can any of you point me towards someone we can talk to? The plan is to enter via HK and get our licenses converted to mainland in Guangzhou.

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David, if you manage to convert your license in Guangzhou, we would all like to hear about the how to :eekers:

Contact Christoph at hiddenchina.net and tell him I sent you. He may be able to arrange that for you.

Thanks Andy!

We contacted Christoph at Hiddenchina.net and he is looking into getting sidecar bikes shipped from Beijing. We may have to fly or take a train to Beijing to pick them up instead of buying in Guangdong.
Is there any way to buy or borrow bikes for money and then give them back? Is there a better place to buy the bikes then Beijing? We just want a good deal on two strong bikes.

Already planning which roads to take! Touring China is going to be so much fun!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0wiY95QJpH...0+Sidehack.JPG

Hi David,

checkout Yangtsepete and his China Sidecarrally http://yangtsepete.com/
I went with him for 9 days from Guangxi to Yunnan, marvelous!
He is organising trips with the CJ750, maybe he can sort you out as well.

André

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dkoerner

Thanks Andy!

We contacted Christoph at Hiddenchina.net and he is looking into getting sidecar bikes shipped from Beijing. We may have to fly or take a train to Beijing to pick them up instead of buying in Guangdong.
Is there any way to buy or borrow bikes for money and then give them back? Is there a better place to buy the bikes then Beijing? We just want a good deal on two strong bikes.

Already planning which roads to take! Touring China is going to be so much fun!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0wiY95QJpH...0+Sidehack.JPG

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There is jimbosidecar from this forum in Beijing who runs a CJ shop, specialized in building BMW engines into them. I can image that he is willing to do this.

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Originally Posted by chinabiker

There is jimbosidecar from this forum in Beijing who runs a CJ shop, specialized in building BMW engines into them. I can image that he is willing to do this.

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Jim's BMW-powered bikes are definitely "strong". The only way to go.

Having personally ridden a CJ750 24 HP and a CJ750 32 HP (the two engine choices from Changjiang) for several years, I will attest to the fact that a lot of your "Touring Fun" time will be fixing the engines (especially the 24 HP). Murphy's Law will be at play ... it will always break down in the middle of nowhere, without a safe shoulder to pull off onto, pouring rain and about to get dark. I rode one 24 HP I owned through much of the north (Heilongjiang), summer and winter, and I don't recall ever doing more than 20 miles without some "issue". Then I switched to a 32 HP, and my fortune was probably doubled to 40 miles without an "issue". I learned all of the swear words in Chinese for the sole purpose of "talking" to my 24 HP & 32 HP CJ750s.

I second Chinabiker's advice - get a BMW powered CJ750 if you want to have worry-free fun riding.

@ andre555: Thanks, but Yangtsepete was unfortunately unable to help (referred me to someone else that referred me to someone else). Also, we would like to explore China on two bikes without guides. China is such a beautiful and amazing country, and one of the great things about motorcycling is that you can see a peaceful road going off to the right and take it, or explore an interesting part of town a few hours longer, instead of hurrying from place to place. We don't want to push the bikes or ourselves too hard.

@chinabiker: Contacting jimbosidecar now. @LaoJiaHou: Great Comment! We are trying to find two CJ750 bikes with the 32hp BMW engine, but I have been warned that some sellers provide CJ's that are not true 32hp. We have not yet found a seller with a good reputation and a fair price.

Does anyone know a CJ seller we could try? Anyone selling or renting good 32hp bikes? Know someone willing to loan us their CJ for $ and two weeks of use?

-David
熊大卫

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Originally Posted by dkoerner

Does anyone know a CJ seller we could try? Anyone selling or renting good 32hp bikes? Know someone willing to loan us their CJ for $ and two weeks of use?

-David
熊大卫

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Hi David

You are facing some problems.

First, to buy a motorcycle in China (and have it registered in your name, with insurance), you have to have a residence permit. It is not possible, at least in the major cities, to buy a bike (legally) with a short-term tourist visa.

Second, renting a motorcycle in China (legally) is almost impossible.

Third, you need driving licenses which, again, unless you have a residence permit is impossible to get, and it is also a time consuming ordeal (too time consuming for a vacationer). In some cases, if you are a participant of an organized, registered tour group, the group's organizers can make special arrangements for temporary licenses to be granted to riders.

Fourth, it is unlikely that anyone would rent/lend you their bike (but who knows). There is a risk that the bike could be confiscated by the police or, worse, that the owner could be liable for substantial payments if you were to get into an accident.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but it is just the current status of Motorcycling in China right now.

One 32 HP guy in Beijing who is consulted frequently by foreigners is Big Bill. He runs a Chang shop in Beijing, speaks English, and might be a good source of info. http://www.cj750.net/

Richard

Hi Richard,

We contacted Big Bill in Beijing and he has been very helpful. We hope to start our trip August 6th, so hopefully he can help us out. Plan is to head north and then follow the great wall east to 山海关 and Qinhuangdao. After that, we can wrap around the coast to Northeast.

Does anyone have route suggestions or things we need to see along the way? Our trip should be anywhere from five days to 17, depending on how the bikes hold up (and how the riders hold up), but hopefully longer.

To your other comment: We understand that riding is illegal for foreigners and that there are a great number of things that can go wrong (TIC). That said, we are going to do everything we can to obey the laws and regulations of China, ride safely and responsibly, and avoid accidents or dangers on the road.

One thing we are excited about is that the four of us will be posting a complete trip report here on mychinamoto complete with HD video from the awesome Go Pro HD! http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php...2&productid=29. Our trip will also be posted on advrider.com.

Thanks to everyone for your private messages and great suggestions! @Andre555: Due to visa restrictions, we had to push our trip back slightly and will be missing Pete's rally to see the tibetan horse festival. Thanks for the invite though! He was great to chat with via email and we'll make sure to visit him next time. If anyone has bike or route advice, keep it coming! Can't wait to get started!

David
熊大卫
Los Angeles, CA

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Originally Posted by dkoerner

We contacted Big Bill in Beijing and he has been very helpful. We hope to start our trip August 6th, so hopefully he can help us out. Plan is to head north and then follow the great wall east to 山海关 and Qinhuangdao. After that, we can wrap around the coast to Northeast. Does anyone have route suggestions or things we need to see along the way? Our trip should be anywhere from five days to 17, depending on how the bikes hold up (and how the riders hold up), but hopefully longer.

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Hi David

I am glad Bill could help out. He's respected by the Beijing expat community who like the 24/32 HP Changs.

Interesting time frame and proposed area of travel. Sabine Hartman has posted a video somewhere on this site about a recent sidecar trip she did out that way. Her and her husband are good resources, and also very approachable. They have his/her BMW/Chang sidecars.

I've been along the North Korean border ... interesting ride, but incredibly depressing. Not too far, actually. If you're around that area, Dandong is worthwhile. Just be damn careful with that border, though.

I'm evaluating a few bikes right now for a commercial tour operation, and will be riding around those areas at about the same time, so we might be able to hook up. I have oodles of experience with Changs, and I can bring along a full tool kit ... which, for a Chang, is just a ballpeen hammer, two rolls of duct tape and a very large bottle of Chinese "moonshine".

Cheers
Richard

in May 2010 we have been on a tour to Baidahe. very strange road conditions out there.
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...-Day-Ride-2010
wish you a fine time and when you are in Beijing, let`s sit down to have a beer or two !!

It was nice riding with you yesterday David (btw, I was the old guy pickin' up the rear on the JH600 :riding:) I was pleasantly surprised at how effortlessly you handled the Chang.

Happy riding!

Richard