Travel thru' China on own NX650 motorcycle

Hi,
I'm an Aussie and a noobie to forum but have ridden extensively overseas.
I am planning to cross from Slovenia next May heading east to Mongolia and then south thru' China. The bike I have purchased for the trip is an NX650 Honda currently in storage in Slovenia.
There is so much BS written about the impossibility of self ride options thru' China I wondered if anyone had actually been successful in recently achieving this goal. The trip would continue thru' Laos and back to Oz via Malaysia and Indonesia.
Anyone interested in the ride or has info on traversing China please respond.
At this stage I am considering freighting from Ulanbaatar to Vientiane in Laos due to lack of information re China.

good luck mate sounds like a proper good ol adventure there.
are you going to do any mods to the bike so that it can cope with the trip a little bit better or is it awesome as it is standard?

Hi Kennon,
The NX has 25000ks on it so I'll put in a new cam chain and do the valves, I'll overhaul the carby and give it a new aircleaner, the front suspension will have progressives and the rear shocky will be rebuilt with new valving.This will be done by Terry Hayes (Shock Treatment, Sydney). Its got new sprockets but I'll be putting the best O'ring chain on it that I can buy. I will take one countershaft sprocket and replace the original somewhere along the track and hope to nurse the rear sprocket and chain for the whole trip. I got 20000ks out of my Africa twin thru' outback Oz so I think I should make it on the NX. I've got a fairly ratty Acerbis tank to go on her as well. A beefier rack with a simple soft pannier system using Pac-safe. Garmin GPS, either my Zumo 550 or my 60Csx. Everything else standard. I'm taking the sat phone and have a complete engine and spares parted out and labelled so my at home "pit crew" just need to address it and send whatever I need if it turns to shit somewhere.

Honda NX Dominator? Wow, it was my teenage year's dream!

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/1...inator1cn9.jpg

..................and my model has a disc brake!

Aha sounds like uv done it the right way proper well prepared i'll probably wont even have half that stuff that i need when i plan to do a trip for next summer

I don't think anyone on this forum has ever done it, or has done it recently at least. The question has been asked before and the answer is pretty much 'can't be done'. Some have said it can be done with an extreme amount of luck and money.

The requirements for riding in china make it very hard for those who don't live here to accomplish.
First you need a chinese driving license, which requires a long-term visa (6 months or more). International driving license isn't recognised here.
Second china doesn't allow import of 2nd hand vehicles so you need to get a bike here and registering it is a huge issue.

Getting to ride a bike in china is so costly in in time, effort and money that it's an investment that mostly only long term residents make. It's a bummer, but it is what it is...

Felix could you help me with a query as i am a hong kong citizen and if i chose to move there i could easily swap my UK license for a Hong Kong one both being RHD countries and the hong kong driving system based of the british system would it be possible for me to do some sort of long journey through china on a Hong kong license as every time i go back to hong kong i see cars with both hong kong and chinese number plates allowing them to venture into the mainland that is about 20 steps from the bus station for my home village

I remember ChinaV or Pfaelzer (or both) pouring cold water on this idea in these pages about a year ago, saying that bikes are treated very differently from cross-border cars and trucks, which can qualify for one plate each from HK and Guangdong. Anyone remember where to find those posts?

On the other hand, I watched one of the Youku videos that Motokai posted this week, and noticed riders on one of the featured tours affixing temporary Chinese license plates to their bikes. Were those fakes or is there some mysterious mechanism by which transiting riders can obtain transit plates? That still leaves unanswered Felix's question about the need for a local Chinese operator's license.

Obviously the hurdles are very high.

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

On the other hand, I watched one of the Youku videos that Motokai posted this week, and noticed riders on one of the featured tours affixing temporary Chinese license plates to their bikes. Were those fakes or is there some mysterious mechanism by which transiting riders can obtain transit plates? That still leaves unanswered Felix's question about the need for a local Chinese operator's license.

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Yeah, I think that's the section with the guy from Globetrotters Helge Pedersen. The narrator says, they "offer organized long-haul adventures....ship your personalized motorcycle to each embarkation port.....we secure the services of local guides and chase vehicles where needed". This would apply to China, where government requires local guides to accompany the group.

Few years back there were 2 girls who rode tuk-tuks from Bangkok to Brighton thru China. They rode "2-up" in the Tuk-Tuk for the entire trip, but had to go "3-up" with official guide for the China portion.

http://www.tuktotheroad.com/

http://www.travelfish.org/feature/52

Seems solo is a bit difficult. Good luck!

Hi Guys,
All the above is the same info I have been getting as to the difficulty in entering China with your own machine. There are legal ways to do it but it remains to be seen whether the bank balance can support the cost of paperwork processing AND the cost of a car escort with guide. A mate has just returned from China and spent four weeks independently travelling (no bike) and paid a charming Chinese gal AU$25/ day for her to fix the trip. She took care of the mundane necessities of life such as what and where to eat and sleep.
She was part of a group that specialises in this type of touring. The sticky bit is the paperwork for the bikes and the Chinese Tour group I have contacted are yet to provide ballpark figures for this service. I still have an option of shipping from Mongolia to Laos and doing the China bit on hoof.
Keep the ideas coming guys, thanks, John

Holy Batman!!!!!
I just got the estimate of tour guide and paperwork fixing..................................AU$12800 plus accomodation and meals so I will try another fixer.

Hi have you managed a way to ride your own machine in China? I am looking at HK to Europe via China but by the looks of it HOW IS it possible??

I'm yet to find a reliable and legal way in. The amount I was quoted was around AU$12000 for two bikes so that's just bullshit. I've canned China and will fly out of Mongolia back to Oz with the bike in bits in a box.

Pity I was hoping to do HK to Nepal to Europe - Seems China is just impassable in a resoanble way due to BS laws etc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Neville

I'm yet to find a reliable and legal way in. The amount I was quoted was around AU$12000 for two bikes so that's just bullshit. I've canned China and will fly out of Mongolia back to Oz with the bike in bits in a box.

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Unfortunately, the reality is it is really very difficult if not near on impossible for an outsider with no real connection to China or certainly any connections with clout within China, to get a motorcycle into the country legally, and I stress the word legally, since it is pretty easy do so otherwise. There are some motorcycle tour companies that have developed the required connections to get things done, like relevant drivers licensing for short term motorcycle tour group participants, and motorcycle tour companies can also assist with getting owners bikes in as part of an organised tour. But the key here is it's organised, comes compete with relevant and legal guides and costs a lot. Check out this couple of kiwi riders doing South Korea to Scotland who bypassed China for Russia then into Mongolia. Also check out this related thread on MCM

Check out this guy on ADVrider who passed through Xinjiang from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan not too long ago.

He managed to get an agency in Kashgar to look after the paperwork (only for Xinjiang), and they arranged his temporary Chinese license and number plate. But he had to pay USD$650 for the paperwork and USD$200 per day for the guide, driver and car.

Not so cheap, but possible.