Sidecar trip in Yunnan

Hello folks,

Last february the Panda and i made our way down to Lijiang to regroup with some shanghai friends and take some Changjiang 750 sidecars out for a ride. One of the guys in the group was pretty handy a camera and put together this excellent video of the trip, enjoy!






I'll complete with a few pictures of my own from the trip. We set off from the touristy but charming little town of Shuhe just outside Lijiang. It's fun going down little lanes with only a couple of cm to spare on either side of the bike.

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Chasing some cows around a field. Big empty fields are good playgrounds for the CJ750, perfect place to practice doughnuts, driving from the sidecar seat and other antics.

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This XR600R was a fun bike too, the front wheel is just itching to go up!

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On our way south to Dali, we stopped to spend the night on Erhai, the big lake just above. Walking around the little village of shuanglang with my panda, i started planning my strategy. That evening i brought her back to this spot and, with the sound of the water brushing against the shore under the stars, i proposed to her. It totally worked.

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This here is the beautiful village of Shaxi, a ming dynasty village that has been incredibly well restored without the usual 'tear it down and rebuild it better' method of preserving that is so common in this country. Here you can feel each brick and tile has a story to tell.

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The panda. Only had a ring on her finger for two days and is already talking about adoption.

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The tibetan town of shangrila is worth a visit if only because it's a great starting point to discover the region. The old town feels a lot like a cookie-cutter model of the backpacker destination; pretty and charming but the shops all sell the same 'ethnic' stuff as every other place in asia. Still when you wander off the main streets you get a sense of what the place looked like before. I liked it a lot.

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The obligatory 'shangrila' shot. Moo. By the way, yaks (or hairy cows in chinese) are perfectly delicious. Just looking at this picture is making me drool.

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Overlooking the shangrila plain.

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No comment needed, just a classic 'this is why i'm still in china' moment.

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A cold start for the humans the next day, made easier by the Changjiang's ever willingness to start up. Flood the carbs, choke her up, kick, kick, putputputputputput.... Boxer engines also make good foot warmers.

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On our way to the small tibetan village of Niru, we get treated with some serious corner action. Yes, 3 wheels can be fun in the corners too. Remember, riding a slow bike at its limit is a lot more fun than riding a fast bike slowly!

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The last 40km of road are a real test for the bikes and riders, but reward us with spectacular scenes and a real feeling of isolation. In some parts it's better not to look over the edge though.

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Having gotten news of two wild tibetan mastif dogs that are roaming the region looking for humans to snack on, we arm ourselves with with lots of rocks and pointy sticks. But we live to see another sunrise, the most dangerous thing we encounter on this road is our own exhaustion.

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Finally arrived at our cabin for the night for some well earned ZZZ.

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The following day of riding take us on what i consider to be the best road i've ridden in china. For sheer riding pleasure, road quality and landscape experience, it's going to be hard to beat. And just as with any road where you spend most of the day focused on how far you can push your tires, i barely took any pictures. Here is the spectacular bit where it passes through tiger leaping gorge. Great stuff.

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A great end to a great trip. Having done my last few big trips on modern two-wheelers, it was nice to do some mileage with the Changjiang and all its endearing quirks. You get the time to appreciate culture that you're riding through, the locals are always interested you, and the satisfaction of making it home on a bike that's surely seen more in its lifetime than you ever will is indescribable.

Thanks for reading!

great video, very well put together.
been out and about in Yunnan a few times with bikes and 4x4's, great riding and during out there.......

Excellent RR, short, sweet and not involving crying or missing person.

Congratulations on your union with Panda. :clap::clap:

Great Ride!
Thomas and I will live at Suzhou from August on. We are looking forward to meet you guys

That was a great vid. Your friend is good. I'm glad you shared it. I shared it on my Facebook page.

Congrats on your engagement.

Cheers,

Dan K.

fantastic! and amazing video... very professionally done!!

Thanks for watching guys! Yes, yunnan really is a beautiful place to go ride a motorbike. Lots of culture, huge variety of landscapes and very little pollution (for china).

Sabine, i'm afraid i left suzhou two years ago, now living in xi'an. Best of luck to you and thomas, let me know if you need help getting in touch with the sidecar community there.

Wow! That's the best filmed video I've ever seen of motorcycle riding in China. Better than Chinese TV.

great vid, thanks for posting!

perfect video!
That's so great!
Thanks for sharing.
I love sidecar trip very much.
Anybody living in Shanghai here? Would you like have a drive around Shanghai on the weekend?
Email to me! ben@sidecar-solution.com.

Luke Sidecar shop organized many trips too, the pictures was in website you can find it below!

Holy crap Felix, your friend who is "handy with a camera" must also be pretty damn handy with Final Cut or whatever he used for editing. I like the variety of angles, that makes a sidecar tour look fantastic.

Congratulations Felix & Panda!

Great shot taken from the video:
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Yes when i say 'handy with a camera' i mean that's what puts beer on his table. I wish he could be on every bike trip i make!

Motokai, thank you for isolating the microsecond of the video where i look like an asshole. Mighty thoughtful of you.

Asshole? I thought that was [one of the] the coolest shots in the video.
Reminiscent of a classic rock album cover.

Well to appease you, I replaced your photo with a pic of the coolest guy in the video.
Perhaps the coolest guy in China!

But gotta leave a thumbnail of the original pic for posterity!
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Felix:

A million congrats to Panda & yourself. Smart decision!

It is very nice to finally see a decent video of CJ750s ... well done! Good marketing material. I didn't see a single oil leak, flat tire, etc.

Again, congrats!

Hehe, thanks motokai! That dude was indeed the coolest guy i've ever seen. Here is a better one of him, because that sort of coolness deserves a good picture.

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Thanks laojiahuo, amazingly there was only one puncture and no broken gaskets on the trip! And they were CJs, i promise!

now that looks like the ideal way to see mainland china especially on a CJ750 now thats something to add to the list to do, and congratulation Felix a wedding would not be complete without your trusty CJ there?

Kennon