Motorbike tour of western China

Hi,

Me and my boyfriend are currently in Vietnam - just did the Ho Chi Minh trail from Saigon up to Hanoi by motorbikes and plan in a maximum a month or so to enter China and do a trip by motorbikes from Guilin towards Tibet and Nepal.

We know that it is impossible to import bikes into China so we are planning to buy 2 motorbikes somewhere in China where is most convenient - we would go East as far to Guilin and from there we will turn West to continue towards Tibet and Nepal.

Would need your help for some things :
1. Where would you recommend to buy 2 decent motorbikes (used ) - a 125 CC and a 150-200 CC - was thinking of the Shinerays G2 and G4 from some years back - or anything similar.
2. How much more or less would they cost ?
3. How to obtain a Chinese motorbike driving license with a tourist visa only ? (Hope it is possible). I don't have a motorbike drivers license but I do have a car driver license for many years. If possible, would you recommend any cities where I could pass the exam ? ( I saw somebody mentioning Guilin, will go there anyways but any other recommendations ?) I really want to play by the country's rule in China!

We both are looking forward to making this trip on motorbikes. Any help is fully appreciated.

Thank you!
A

I can't comment on buying the bikes, but I did get my license about two months ago in Shanghai. Not having a motorcycle license in your home country will make obtaining a bike license in China a bit more difficult and time consuming, but not impossible. As far as I know, your tourist visa should be attached to the city that you are staying in, and that city is where you will apply for the license. Again, as far as I know, I'd recommend taking up residence in one of the smaller and lesser known cities if your sole purpose is to obtain a motorcycle license. The rules in the smaller provinces are often less restrictive and you are more apt to find people that you can pay to help you accomplish your objective. Going the straight and narrow route in the larger provinces will certainly cost you 2-3 months time. This is China and nothing ever goes smoothly, or quickly for that matter.

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ssing-Question nuff' said......

You will not get a M/C license on a tourist visa.

"I'd recommend taking up residence in one of the smaller and lesser known cities if your sole purpose is to obtain a motorcycle license. The rules in the smaller provinces are often less restrictive and you are more apt to find people that you can pay to help you accomplish your objective."

Maybe but Harbin sounds rather difficult to get a M/C license and Xinjiang is incredibly difficult.

Takes time to find these people and develop the trust so that you can pay said people.

No offense but search these forums on how tourists can ride through China every month or so someone ask the same questions.

Riding through China with out being legal can be done but in these present times I'd be real real careful.

dito the comments.

DL on a tourist visa is impossible and even if it was possible, it would cost you about 6 weeks (not counting the time for learning the questions) to get it. T*bet is off limits for tourists now and lot's of places with tibetan populace are severely restricted.

I see, I think we have enough info about the license issue, I guess we'll try our luck in Cambodia.

Any info on where would be the best/cheapest city to get our bikes?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sldx

I see, I think we have enough info about the license issue, I guess we'll try our luck in Cambodia.

Any info on where would be the best/cheapest city to get our bikes?

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China is a very big country fourth biggest country in the world(land mass)I think.If you give us an idea where you will be landing it would help.

There are cheap bikes all over the place well except for the cities that have banned them.

How you going to register the bike.

Well, like the title of the thread says, anywhere in West China. South-West, to be exact.
We are in the planning stage so we have some freedom. Somewhere between Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanning would be good . We're in Vietnam at the *moment so if it's something close to the Vietnamese border, even *better!*

So we're not looking for specific shops or markets, but cities with a large and preferably cheap motorbike selection. *

We are asking that because in most countries, the selection of bikes and price-range varies, sometimes greatly, depending on the area, the kind of bikes people use in that area, general income level, and so on. A higher English speaking rate is also desirable. That is also why we mentioned the kind of bikes we're looki g for.*

So any tips on the subject, personal experiences, so on, are welcome.*

Thx

I'm sorry for all the *stars, I don't know where they came from, i'm guessing it's some kind of auto-formatting i'm not awar of. I'll clean up when I get home.
:rolleyes1:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sldx

Well, like the title of the thread says, anywhere in West China. South-West, to be exact.*
We are in the planning stage so we have some freedom. Somewhere between Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanning would be good .
Thx

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That's a pretty big area.i wouldn't say Shanghai is either west or south west .

maybe try this onehttp://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...-Lanzhou-Gansu

Yup, it's a big area and we're hoping to find the place that meets our needs: fairly large selection of cheap 150-250cc bikes (of which we need two), and ease of dealing with the whole process.

That BMW is a nice machine but too big and pricey for what we want. We want small, cheap, reliable, easy to fix bikes.

Yeah, Shanghai is a bit out of the way for us but if there's a big difference in price or ease, we would.

Do you think there are not big differences and we should just pick a big city like Guangzhou and try our luck?

n/m..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sldx

Yup, it's a big area and we're hoping to find the place that meets our needs: fairly large selection of cheap 150-250cc bikes (of which we need two), and ease of dealing with the whole process.*

That BMW is a nice machine but too big and pricey for what we want. We want small, cheap, reliable, easy to fix bikes.*

Do you think there are not big differences and we should just pick a big city like Guangzhou and try our luck?

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I haven't been down in that part of China for a long time but I think Guangzhou banned motorcycles a while ago.

Maybe someone else who lives in that part of the world can give you the information you require.