2 Weeks - Kunming -> Lijiang -> ? on GW250

As most of us, I will have some days off in September/October during "Golden Week" for a trip - 19 days from start to finish. Not just any trip, possibly the last China-based holiday, since we will follow a new opportunity in another country end of the year. A bit surprising, I just bought the Suzuki this summer, but couldn't say no. :icon10:

Anyway, we (JD + girlfriend) want to ride through Yunnan, inspired by some RR and pictures in this forum and the fact that we haven't been there yet.
The plan is to ship the bike from Tianjin to Kunming (preferebly via Deppon, since almost same price and shorter leadtime than train + box), follow by plane, get the bike and start, ride around, end somewhere and ship the bike and us back.
Must-see is Dali, Lijiang, Deqen. Rest is open to suggestions!

This is the route I have in mind.
Attachment 13216

I calculate that receiving and shipping the bike back will eat one day each (if things go well :chinese:), and maybe we will stay at a nice place for an additonal day to look at things... then there might not be much cushion for technical problems, really bad weather or the like for 2500km...
:confused1:

What do you think? What should I add on the route, what can I leave out?

We will ride two-up on the GW250. I will take some basic tools, a tire repair kit. And a couple of locks :icon10:.
If anyone in the Tianjin/Beijing area has panniers for the GW250 he would rent out for this period it would be much appreciated! Otherwise we would have to fit our stuff on the bikes' rack I added, or find another solution.

Anything else I need to consider, but possibly didn't? Road condition? Weather condition? A tent? A bunch of tourists looking at the same things at the same time? :weary:

I'm thankful for any input!

Looks like a great trip!

I don't have hard bags for a GW (unless you have the specific Tourfella brackets), but I do have an extra set of the canvas throw-over bags that a lot of people swear by - made by a British guy down south, and people claim they are very durable and also waterproof. They are also easy to put on/take off the bike for when you want to carry stuff into a hotel, etc.

The bags have already done one extended round-China trip, but are still in pretty good shape. It is best, however, if you have a rack that keeps them away from the wheel, chain, exhaust, etc. You can borrow them, no charge, as long as you return them when you are done. They aren't worth much, I don't think.

A few MCM members use these bags. Here is Milton on his JH600 with his set ...

http://bbs.750.com.cn/attachment.asp...chmentid=20002

Hi JayDee

Sounds like a great trip this is the area i would love to do as well , check out http://www.thegreatrideofchina.com/ its a guy called Buck and his wife Amy who are on a 30.000 km around china who at some point soon we be in this area maybe you can meet up or if you miss him maybe check out the places he went to ! i am still trying to find a way to get my bike into Thailand by way of laos not the route but how to do it with out paying loads of money to allow my bike into Thailand well good luck

Wow, thanks LJH, that's perfect! I read Miltons Silk-Road story before, I'm sure that will do for us as well. At least I can't loose them when someone is sitting on it. And if it's too uncomfortable I at least know a purpose now for that stupid pillow she bought at Ikea recently.
Of course we will take good care and return them in at least the same condition. I hope there will be a chance to return the favor.
I think exhaust-wise it should be fine, since the GW250 pipes are low. Maybe I need to get something like this for 200 kuai. Did you ever try them on your GW250?

Prince, I stumbled upon that website already and will follow it. I wish I could do a trip like that, but well, can't have everything.

The flights are booked! And I asked one of my chinese colleagues to double-check with the local Deppon Rep. about some details that were beyond my mandarin skills to avoid misunderstandings... he then told her they can not ship a motorbike, never did, never will and she should please, please, call another company. That's not quite the information I got the first time I contacted the office. He obviously didn't like the hassle involved with such a mission, TIC.
We tried the hotline again, got hold of someone more competent, and the ball's rolling.

:icon10:

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Originally Posted by JayDee

...The flights are booked! And I asked one of my chinese colleagues to double-check with the local Deppon Rep. about some details that were beyond my mandarin skills to avoid misunderstandings... he then told her they can not ship a motorbike, never did, never will and she should please, please, call another company. That's not quite the information I got the first time I contacted the office. He obviously didn't like the hassle involved with such a mission, TIC.
We tried the hotline again, got hold of someone more competent, and the ball's rolling.

:icon10:

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In your original post you said you dismissed shipment by train because of "lead time and box." Many of us have shipped often by train, and it's generally the most efficient and cost-effective, assuming you can find the right people at the train station and there's a through train to your destination. There is no box involved. You roll up to the checked baggage desk, show them that your gas tank is bone dry, do a bit of paperwork, and they roll your bike into the bowels of the station. Several days later it's rolled out at your destination, generally in good condition. If someone told you you needed to box the bike, you were at the freight department, not the checked baggage department. Completely different operation, expensive and inefficient.

Is there a direct train from Tianjin to Kunming or wherever you are jumping off? If so, you should have plenty of time to get it there before the October holiday. To get the proper information, you should just go to Tianjin station, find the right counter and ask. Shanghai to Kunming for my 200kg Jialing would be about 800 rmb, I'm guessing. From Tianjin probably 1,000. Don't forget to buy insurance, which is cheap. There's a whole MCM thread on shipping by train.

Looks like a fantastic trip. Let us know how you get on.

cheers
euphonius

With "+ box" I meant that Deppon boxes the bike, which I find more safe, while the bike would go unprotected to the train. Sorry, was not very clear to understand.

First thing I checked was the train station, I found the thread you mentioned earlier already. I surprisingly found somebody right away who knew it is possible and how to do it. Price was ~700 CNY (GW is smaller?), but he said it would take the bike 14 days to arrive. Train station is also not very near to my home, and within the bike-banned city area, but that doesn't really bother me.

Deppon will pick up the bike at my home, box it, ship it to the hotel in Kunming/wherever and vice versa (well, that's what they said) and leadtime is 5-6 days. Price is with ~1000 CNY just slightly more expensive, so I find it the better offer. Also means 18 days less "without bike" in Tianjin due to transportation. Anyway I will double check again with the trainstation, as one always should, before I make the final decision. Maybe I get a different answer this time. :icon10:

Quick tip regarding your route. You should take the eastern road along erhai lake near Dali. The west road is nothing. The east road is bike heaven. And you can stop in shuanglang which is very pretty and has some great lodges on the lake if you want to spend a night there.

And Dali old town is not in dali town, i presume you're looking for the old one.

I highly recommend adding Shaxi to your route. It's an old town that's been much better preserved than dali/lijiang, without all the tourists, and the road to get there awesome fun.

I modified your route for you: http://goo.gl/maps/QBhYm

Thanks for the route advise Felix, I saved it!
The more we look into the route and things around, the more I get the feeling the schedule might be too tight, but as a plan B we can shortcut the circle and return straight to Kunming, if time runs out.
What about a tent to camp on the way, does that make sense? We would like to, here and there, but don't want to take the additional weight if it doesn't make sense and it may be a hassle to find a nice spot. Sorry for the stupid questions, the closest I came to the area has been Chengdu, and I never left the city ... ;-)

BTW, I found out that the GDW saddlebag I borrowed from LJH (thanks again!) holds exactly a 22l 'Samla' box from Ikea on each side. Close the lit and you have an (almost) waterproof box. Doesn't work on the GW250 though, since it's back is too wide. The bag needs to be soft to snug around. But good thing is I won't need a new rack, if the bags are filled they can't touch anything they aren't supposed to touch.

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i am still trying to find a way to get my bike into Thailand by way of laos not the route but how to do it with out paying loads of money to allow my bike into Thailand

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I am shipping my bike to Kunming tomorrow the 5th and flying there the 11th-18th.

Sorry to Hijack but is there an official answer to getting the bike in & out of Laos?

We went there last December and rented dirt bikes for 10 days. I'd like to go back on my own bike but I'm worried about getting the bike back into China.

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Originally Posted by juice

I am shipping my bike to Kunming tomorrow the 5th and flying there the 11th-18th.

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To make it a bit less off-topic you could at least mention how you ship it! :icon10:


I did my second round of checking today, and now that they realize I really want to ship a real bike and they really have to look up how much that is, instead of just saying a number on the phone, the values changed a little bit.

Deppon revised their quote to ~2300 CNY incl. insurance & box. No pick-up or delivery (costs 100 CNY more), but that's ok since I found out they are right around the corner and also in Kunming not too far, which would make crating and uncrating easier. Leadtime 6 days. I will go there on Friday to check again in person with bike.

Tianjin Train Cargo Department quotes 1800 CNY + 250 insurance + 550 box. It can't go without box. Leadtime 6 days.

Tianjin Train Checked Luggage Department says they can not transport anything over 50Kg, never could, never will and stick to the story. Maybe they thought I want to take the bike as hand baggage? I guess I will have to go there directly in person this week to check again. On Tuesday I have to ship the bike if I want to have it in Kunming in time.


The involved budget changed, but now I have to walk the walk. Not sure where the past prices came from, I already gave them size, weight and destination before... but I live here long enough to not be surprised that much.
Alternative might be renting a (legal) bike in Kunming for the trip, but I don't really want that. We will see.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JayDee

To make it a bit less off-topic you could at least mention how you ship it! :icon10:


I did my second round of checking today, and now that they realize I really want to ship a real bike and they really have to look up how much that is, instead of just saying a number on the phone, the values changed a little bit.

Deppon revised their quote to ~2300 CNY incl. insurance & box. No pick-up or delivery (costs 100 CNY more), but that's ok since I found out they are right around the corner and also in Kunming not too far, which would make crating and uncrating easier. Leadtime 6 days. I will go there on Friday to check again in person with bike.

Tianjin Train Cargo Department quotes 1800 CNY + 250 insurance + 550 box. It can't go without box. Leadtime 6 days.

Tianjin Train Checked Luggage Department says they can not transport anything over 50Kg, never could, never will and stick to the story. Maybe they thought I want to take the bike as hand baggage? I guess I will have to go there directly in person this week to check again. On Tuesday I have to ship the bike if I want to have it in Kunming in time.


The involved budget changed, but now I have to walk the walk. Not sure where the past prices came from, I already gave them size, weight and destination before... but I live here long enough to not be surprised that much.
Alternative might be renting a (legal) bike in Kunming for the trip, but I don't really want that. We will see.

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One other way is to ride the bike to Kumming cuts out all this shit and could be fun as well that my 2 cents

If the train situation as Euphonius described is unfortunately not available to you for whatever TIC reason, then I can recommend Deppon. They are professional in their attitude, and even though you have been told 6 days lead time, since you've likely been quoted the longer/delayed delivery method to get the price down, as opposed to the more expensive option which cuts delivery time in half. I had a bike transported 1600km via Deppon, paid the lesser of the two option to save $$$ and ETA was quoted as 5-6 days. Bike arrived 36 hours after dropping off at Deppon. Bike actually beat me back by several days. So while lead time might be 6 days, it likely will be less.

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Originally Posted by JayDee

To make it a bit less off-topic you could at least mention how you ship it!

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9 bikes were loaded into metal crates which was then lifted onto a private tractor trailer. The tractor trailer will wait in Kunming for the until the completion of the ride then bring the bikes back to Shanghai. The cost of transport was around 5000.

Probably way too late to make any suggestion, but here goes.

I needed to ship a GW250 from Beijing to Dalian, so I asked a GW dealer. Quick answer - no problem, we'll use a new bike crate and a shipper we use often. Two days, and a reasonable price.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

Probably way too late to make any suggestion, but here goes.

I needed to ship a GW250 from Beijing to Dalian, so I asked a GW dealer. Quick answer - no problem, we'll use a new bike crate and a shipper we use often. Two days, and a reasonable price.

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Hi

I find it strange all you guys ship your bikes when why not just ride them??? you say you are going from Beijing to Dalian ... i just come back Badalingzan the great wall to Longkou we took the expressways all the way to Longkou and even got flag throu by the police when we come to the Toll Booth when we come into shandong provinces took 8 hours was a nice ride and Yantai is only 1 hour more pass Longkou then take the boat over to Dalian . All the fun of having a bike is riding it not just around the area you wish to vist but to and from yes i can understand if you wish to ride around North Beijing and you live in SH yes ship it then but Beijing to Dalian come on Lao have some fun and ride it an a nice boat trip... well whatever you do have a nice trip and be safe

Attachment 13331

Attachment 13332

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Originally Posted by prince666

... but Beijing to Dalian come on Lao have some fun and ride it

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Not my bike. And shipping often makes a LOT more sense, especially with time constraints.

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Originally Posted by prince666

One other way is to ride the bike to Kumming cuts out all this shit and could be fun as well that my 2 cents

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Dude, that's 3000km one-way - a bit too much for a 20 days holiday in my opinion, especially if you just reach the place you actually intend to see the time you have to go back. :icon10:


To be sure I took the bike to the trainstation these days, I found the Tuo Yun Xing Li easily. The staff there was very nice and attentive, but said I couldn't be done. For an electric bike they would be able to make it happen, but not for something as big as my Suzuki. After showing them the picture of Euphonious' Jialing at the Shanghai station they admitted it might be possible somewhere else, but not in Tianjin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou

Probably way too late to make any suggestion, but here goes.

I needed to ship a GW250 from Beijing to Dalian, so I asked a GW dealer. Quick answer - no problem, we'll use a new bike crate and a shipper we use often. Two days, and a reasonable price.

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Unfortunately we do not have a motorcycle dealer neither. :rolleyes1: TIT - This is Tianjin.


I also contacted A Shuai to check how much a rental would be, just in case. The cheapest would be a domestic 250cc for 6000 CNY for the duration of our stay (up to a big BMW Enduro for 32000 CNY) + minimum 40000 CNY cash deposit. :eek2:


So I will go with Deppon. They are just around the corner, make indeed a good and professional impression and the service involved seems ok. :thumbsup:

Just a couple of days left, and we are really looking forward!
Thanks for everyones suggestions.

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Dude, that's 3000km one-way - a bit too much for a 20 days holiday in my opinion, especially if you just reach the place you actually intend to see the time you have to go back.

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2746km just put it in to Google maps only take 3 days but you are right best to ship them have a good trip Dude looking forwards to the RR report when you get back

Dude, this is China. Never trust anything anyone says on the phone. No one at a government agency has any incentive whatsoever to help you out, so the default is always 没办法.

If there's a direct T or K train to Kunming from Tianjin, they should be able to take it. But you have to be there, in their face, not by phone. They have freight schedules at the checked luggage counter that are official. The official weight limit is 200kg, though the Jialings we ship are sometimes a few kg over that. No box or crate. You have to be prepared to have someone roll it into the station, and trust that they'll handle it well. Buy insurance.

good luck.
euphonius

I agree with you Euphonius, so that's what I did. (see my post above)
Still, they said it can't be done. 没办法.

Maybe the other way round, we'll see.

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Originally Posted by JayDee

I agree with you Euphonius, so that's what I did. (see my post above)
Still, they said it can't be done. 没办法.

Maybe the other way round, we'll see.

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Sorry I missed that post! Looks like you did everything you can. TIT.

How about mushing up to Beijing and shipping from there? Others have shipped from there, and even posted about it (I'm thinking Motokai, but don't have a link). By now I'm guessing you've gone with Deppon.

I remember riding and driving through Tianjin, and being amazed at how when you cross the line from Hebei the roads almost instantly go to shit -- not just the road quality but even the design. This was not subtle, either. Seriously poor quality construction, with roadbed sagging in many places, road courses often curving this way and that rather than making the obvious direct course that most everywhere else in China is pretty normal. It's hard to believe there is any reason for this other than corruption. Officials skimming at every opportunity, ensuring that substandard materials get used whenever possible. Folks who paid big enough bribes could have the road detour around their factories, etc. Then you cross into Hebei and the expressway quality rises substantially. Then you cross into Shandong and the quality rises another conspicuous notch.

Don't mean to piss gratuitously on your town, but the facts speak for themselves. Anyway, you'll enjoy riding in Yunnan!

Cheers
euphonius

For 2 times we shipped bikes now. Once Beijing to Huangzhou, second Beijing to Xian. Both times we simply asked Thomas company logistics team to arange them. No crates, no draining liquids, simply upload and fasten a lot of belts. We always have been pleased with the outcome.

That's nice to know Sabine, how about pricing? Is the logistics company a commercial business that others can use, if so then can you post a link? Or is the logistics company just a few trucks attached to the company that Thomas works for? If it's the latter then really doesn't help any of us...

I can say that Deppon, while expensive, are everywhere in China. Even in second and thrid tier cities, Deppon often have multiple drop points and they are consistent, one will get the same level of service at all locations.

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Originally Posted by euphonius

Don't mean to piss gratuitously on your town, but the facts speak for themselves. Anyway, you'll enjoy riding in Yunnan!

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No worries, we know it's a beauty. We call it "the Farm", despite its size. .:rolleyes1:
Riding-wise the charm around Tianjin is to discover another empty megalomanian building project in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by artificial something. Unless you go north-west, to the Beijing mountain area.


The bike just arrived in Kunming via Deppon, and we will follow tomorrow evening. I had a good feeling shipping it with them. They packed it really good and they seemed to be very clear about what they are doing. Let's see how it goes when I pick it up.

Our map is updated with sights & sceneries we want to see on our way and waypoints saved on my mobile phones' navigation system. Depending on how much time we spend where, we can just make the loop bigger or smaller. We will see on the way.

Can't wait! :riding:

Attachment 14154
This is the final route.

And this is the story: CLICK

Hi, will u be in Shangri la? If yes, when? Let me know, am a GW250 in Shangri la.

IT's the sort of trip I want to do maybe next year.. I don't think you can plan for everything so just get out there and do it..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JayDee

As most of us, I will have some days off in September/October during "Golden Week" for a trip - 19 days from start to finish. Not just any trip, possibly the last China-based holiday, since we will follow a new opportunity in another country end of the year. A bit surprising, I just bought the Suzuki this summer, but couldn't say no. :icon10:

Anyway, we (JD + girlfriend) want to ride through Yunnan, inspired by some RR and pictures in this forum and the fact that we haven't been there yet.
The plan is to ship the bike from Tianjin to Kunming (preferebly via Deppon, since almost same price and shorter leadtime than train + box), follow by plane, get the bike and start, ride around, end somewhere and ship the bike and us back.
Must-see is Dali, Lijiang, Deqen. Rest is open to suggestions!

This is the route I have in mind.
Attachment 13216

I calculate that receiving and shipping the bike back will eat one day each (if things go well :chinese:), and maybe we will stay at a nice place for an additonal day to look at things... then there might not be much cushion for technical problems, really bad weather or the like for 2500km...
:confused1:

What do you think? What should I add on the route, what can I leave out?

We will ride two-up on the GW250. I will take some basic tools, a tire repair kit. And a couple of locks :icon10:.
If anyone in the Tianjin/Beijing area has panniers for the GW250 he would rent out for this period it would be much appreciated! Otherwise we would have to fit our stuff on the bikes' rack I added, or find another solution.

Anything else I need to consider, but possibly didn't? Road condition? Weather condition? A tent? A bunch of tourists looking at the same things at the same time? :weary:

I'm thankful for any input!

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I'm probably in the minority here, but put some dirt tires on the thing and search out the worst roads that you can find. Then have a blast.
Watch out for the trucks & buses up in that area, they don't give. I past more then a few big accidents up there. In fact, I had one at 110km/hr but that's another story for another thread. LOL!
Seriously though, your not really riding an off road oriented bike but IMO if you could change your tires to a less street oriented tire you will be better served.