What can/can't you do with a a 京A plate?

Hi!

Been browsing around and haven't seen this asked so succinctly before, so:

What exactly can I and can I NOT do with a 京A plate on my motorcycle? Specifically, where am I allowed to drive in Beijing and where not? I've heard all sorts of variations and ideas, ranging from anywhere "all but 2nd ring + Chang'an Jie" to "no chang'an or highways of any kind".

Does anybody know what the rules are? Can I hop on the motorway and drive my way up to 承德 or something? I've seen a tonne of different motorbikes on various different highways, but … still not sure what exactly all that means.


Thanks! Marc.

Hi Marc

You can ride anywhere, any time, in Beijing with an "A" plate EXCEPT for ...

1) Chang'An Jie between the hours of 0600 and 2200 (from memory), on the section between Jiangoumen (where Line 1 an Line 2 intersect on the East side) and Fuxing Lu (where the Xidan Lu shopping area is on the West side). There are large signs on Chang'An Jie with the hours, but I recall that 0600-2200 is the forbidden time. This section is VERY heavily monitored - you will be stopped.

2) On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ring roads at ANY time (24 hours). You can ride on the side roads next to the ring roads but not on the ring roads themselves. The ring roads have cameras - 100 rmb fine & 3 points. Car & bus drivers hate cheating bikes on the ring roads - they will be extremely & purposefully aggressive towards a bike.

3) The 5th ring road has started having "no motorcycle" signs placed at the entrances. That's new.

You CAN ride on:

1) Airport expressway
2) Expressways heading in/out of town

I share your pain about the confusion - there is so much expat B.S./rumors about motorcycles in Beijing. Ignore the self-proclaimed "experts" (riding illegal bikes) who say "nothing will happen" - it is your money & your driving license. I went to the Traffic Management Branch (Foreigners - SE 4th ring road) and asked the police for the REAL rules. It used to have a little English pamphlet in the rack by the soda machine about riding MCs in Beijing.

Safe riding

Hey, thanks for the super helpful answer. I was at that SE 4th Ring Road place a coupla months back getting my license, but never made it into the licensing office to grab any pamphlets there.

Bike (with 京A) is finished today, and I get to take it home tonight. Woo. Definitely going for a ride this weekend.

And I do get constant raised eyebrows about bothering to go the "legit" route with the bike. But honestly, I just feel better this way, and at the very least, the A plate is probably an investment ^_^


Cheers,
marc.

Please share the details with us, what bike did you finally get?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

2) On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ring roads at ANY time (24 hours). You can ride on the side roads next to the ring roads but not on the ring roads themselves. The ring roads have cameras - 100 rmb fine & 3 points. Car & bus drivers hate cheating bikes on the ring roads - they will be extremely & purposefully aggressive towards a bike.

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I second the 2nd and 3rd but I'm not sure about 4th ring. I rode a lot on the 4th ring and I never got stopped, fined or pictured. On some 4th ring road entrances are no traffic signs about what vehicles are forbidden, e.g. when you come from Chingcheng or Airport Expressway. Other signs have additional text which was translated to me as: motorbikes forbidden, except 3 wheelers and the ones which have a design speed of more than 70kph - but who knows.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

3) The 5th ring road has started having "no motorcycle" signs placed at the entrances. That's new.

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Interesting. I noticed less "no bikes" signs on the fifth. Also here, I rode a lot and never got a problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marcwan

... But honestly, I just feel better this way, and at the very least, the A plate is probably an investment ^_^ ...

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Most likely it is not an investment. I exported my bike and thought that if i'd retire the plate, it could be used by someone else - nope. The BMW dealer and some other trustworthy sources said it cannot be used. However, as Lao Jia Hou said, it is a confusing scenario in the capital.

Ride safe!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinabiker

I second the 2nd and 3rd but I'm not sure about
Most likely it is not an investment. I exported my bike and thought that if i'd retire the plate, it could be used by someone else - nope. The BMW dealer and some other trustworthy sources said it cannot be used.

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Same happened to a fully legal HD owner in Shanghai. He bought a HD big cruiser some years ago from the official dealer (old HD Gudai Road dealership), customized the hell out of the bike and could not transfer the Shanghai "A" rego in March 2011 to a mates bike (legal import bike with all docs).

He exported the bike to his new destination (Singapore) with all his personal belongings in a 40ft. Sea-container. It's a confusing situation all over ML China and motorbike rego might not be a good investment after all.....

Ride safe, PAL

It probably is, if you do it on the cheapest bike available! Since as far as I know, you can only transfer a plate when you scrap the old bike!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry

Please share the details with us, what bike did you finally get?

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Hey! Just ended up getting a small Suzuki EN150. It's definitely the smallest bike I've ever owned, and not going to break any speed records, but should cruise in the 90-100 range and let me and the lady go on trips here and there. Can't wait! I'll save going back to the BMW world for another (wealthier) day.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chinabiker

Most likely it is not an investment. I exported my bike and thought that if i'd retire the plate, it could be used by someone else - nope. The BMW dealer and some other trustworthy sources said it cannot be used. However, as Lao Jia Hou said, it is a confusing scenario in the capital.

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Interesting. No worries either way. Planning on using the thing until it's deeed ^_^

thanks everybody!

My 2-cents from a previous thread http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ll=1#post15559, repasted here:

A few of us have intellectualized this situation the same way you are - and the 50元 or 200元 fine does seem quite small, especially compared against the investment of a 沪-A Plate.

But you may also want to look beyond the fines and consider the potential liabilities if you find yourself in a bad situation while riding downtown with just a 沪-C Plate. In this case you are illegal and you could be arguing that the farmer and his truck of watermelons pulled out in front of you without looking, but he will have a different story and he may have all of his paperwork in order, unlike you.

As you can see there is security with the 沪-A Plate beyond just immunity from the stops by the police - and these stops for both ebikes and motorbikes are greater this summer with the Expo happening.

No one wants to pay the huge amount for a 沪-A Plate, but if you can find the resources then maybe you should consider it a "deposit", rather than an expense. As the plate system works now, you can always put your plate back into the auction system for market price which is currently trending up and up. [Jun-1 2011 Edit: maybe you should consider it an "investment", rather than an expense. My plate value increased 20% over the last 11 months.]

* Caveat is "as the plate system works now". TIC

hahaha - more expat discussion.

I have to head down to the TMB after June 9 to apply for my DL renewal - I will ask the what the current law is. I know several bikers who've been dinged by cameras, including a Harley guy who had to return to traffic school after getting 12 points, which is why the plate obstruction (usually a heavy lock on a chain draped over the plate) is so prevalent in Beijing.

Personally, I've never been dinged ... but I follow the laws. :lol8:

Re investment - in my case, 京A plates have been a fantastic investment. I don't plan on scrapping any bikes, but my legal bikes' "all-in" replacement costs have increased by almost 10K over the last year. Simple financial math - last year my JH600 was around 42,000 all-in with a 京A plate - now it is over 50K. The used value of my bike has increased, because of the plate, should I decide to sell it.

Re exporting - there is a provision for a legally exported bike with a legal plate registered to a foreigner that has more than 1 year remaining on the plate to have that plate legally transferred to another bike no sooner than 30 days but no later than 180 days after legal export. BUT the plate must stay in your name for the new bike, and you cannot transfer it to another for at least 30 days. At least this was the law in early 2010. Confusing???? I spent a day and a half at the salvage depot trying to figure out if I should scrap or export a legal bike I had back then. Strangely, the export also gets a new 11 years marked on the re-issue form. One of the head policemen said he'd only seen 2 cases in the prior few years. His minions had no idea. Like many things in China (and many other countries), one needs to physically go to the source and talk wth the man-in-charge, with a copy of the law in your hand. It may be the written law, but getting it applied is a whole different situation.

whew - I'd just take the subway if MC-ing wasn't so much fun.

OK - the Beijing Traffic Management Branch (TMB) police have a nifty new email system. You can email them any question, in English, and they will provide a quick response. What a great system! Thanks guys.

Anyways, I emailed it and asked the question about where an "A" plate can go, and whether displacement matters, or whether sidecars (3-wheeled bikes) are exempt. Here is the response:

Dear Richard,

The Jing A plate motorcycle(including a large motorcycle such as a BMW and sidecar motorcycles (3 wheeled)which you mentioned in your email) is not permitted to ride on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ring Roads. And it is also prohibited to ride on the Changan street between Xinxing bridge and Guomao bridge from 7:00am to 20:00pm. There are some other places where motorcycle maybe also not allowed to ride, if that happens please check the traffic sign at spot.
Motorcycle does restricted by the plate number in rush hours(7:00am to 20:00pm) on working days(from Monday to friday).
Best wishes
Beijing Traffic Management Bureau


So, there you have it:

1) Can't ride on ChangAn between 0700 and 2000 between Guomao & Xinxing (hmmm, further than I thought)
2) Can't ride on 2nd, 3rd or 4th ring road
3) Sidecars are just like motorcycles (no exemption)
4) Also have to watch the plate number restrictions (e.g., plates ending in 3 or 8 can't ride on Tuesdays)
5) May also be other signed restrictions (e.g., the shiny new 5th Ring Road signs that are popping up in some locations)

That email system is cool.

http://www.bjjtgl.gov.cn/publish/portal1/tab765/

Cheers
Richard

Update:

The Traffic Management Bureau (TMB - or "big brother" as some call it :rolleyes1:) sent me another email. I think that was very kind of the people of TMB - great service that is super convenient!

Dear Richard,

In the previous email I told you that the Jing A plate motorcycle(including a large motorcycle such as a BMW and sidecar motorcycles (3 wheeled)which you mentioned in your email) is not permitted to ride on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ring Roads. Actually,the 5th Ring Roads is also not permitted to ride on. Sorry for the mistake. Enjoy your time in Beijing.

Best wishes
Beijing Traffic Management Bureau

So, in the "spirit" of providing Beijing riders with accurate information, there you have it ...

6) You cannot ride on the 5th Ring Road

It is obviously one's own personal decision about following the rules, but its good to know what these rules are.

Great post guys!

Thanks for the advices, really Informative!

Sounds like a great email syetems thanks for posting.
Need to try it out with a question about some girly bars lol

I ride ring 5 since years. Never had trouble and also don't know or hear any other case with trouble on doing so

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