Just had my gas scooter impounded...

Hey all,

So i moved to Shanghai a year and a half ago, and have really been missing riding sportbikes and driving cars in general. Last week I bought a sweet little second hand gas scooter from a coworker. It was one of those GJSY gas powered jobbies. After a quick mechanical once over I had it filled with gas and was good to go.

I literally rode it for 4 days to and from work then I got caught today and they took it and said I had to pay 500rmb to get it back in 3 days.

My question is, can I get this thing street legal and use it, or as it basically a waste of money?

Sadly it is basically a waste of money. You could , I’m not saying you should , ride that in smaller cities , but in the big smokeysyou need some kind of plate. As the wee scoot doubtless has no paperwork and may have been sold about like a cheap whore, you might as well keep the 500 kuai and let the cops take her to the big yard under the overpass.

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Originally Posted by loganhudak

Hey all,

So i moved to Shanghai a year and a half ago, and have really been missing riding sportbikes and driving cars in general. Last week I bought a sweet little second hand gas scooter from a coworker. It was one of those GJSY gas powered jobbies. After a quick mechanical once over I had it filled with gas and was good to go.

I literally rode it for 4 days to and from work then I got caught today and they took it and said I had to pay 500rmb to get it back in 3 days.

My question is, can I get this thing street legal and use it, or as it basically a waste of money?

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Ho so the bike was not legal ??? and you live and ride in "Shanghai" which is conceded one of the hot spot for illegal bikes ? . You have been lucky to not be put in prison and get a big fine?
Sorry to sound a bit abrupt on this matter . But please do all the other "laowai" a favour and try and get legal please .
hope you get your bike back and you sort out everthing.

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Originally Posted by zhu

Sadly it is basically a waste of money. You could , I’m not saying you should , ride that in smaller cities , but in the big smokeysyou need some kind of plate. As the wee scoot doubtless has no paperwork and may have been sold about like a cheap whore, you might as well keep the 500 kuai and let the cops take her to the big yard under the overpass.

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The thing is, if the scooter lasts me even one week its worth it. I pay over 100rmb a day in taxi, and im not here on some fancy expat package.

I have had a license for cars and motorbikes in canada since i was 16, but last year my license expired. If there a thread here about actually taking a driving lesson or motorbike course in shanghai?

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Originally Posted by prince666

Ho so the bike was not legal ??? and you live and ride in "Shanghai" which is conceded one of the hot spot for illegal bikes ? . You have been lucky to not be put in prison and get a big fine?
Sorry to sound a bit abrupt on this matter . But please do all the other "laowai" a favour and try and get legal please .
hope you get your bike back and you sort out everthing.

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Ok i get it, you are the smart ass know it all. cool.

The bike was not stolen it was bought new by my boss. I do live in shanghai, about a 40rmb taxi from my office. You think i should be imprisoned for riding a beat up little gas scooter? you are an idiot. My question was about getting it legal, does anyone know if these are even able to get registered? Also im not about to pay 10,000rmb to plate a shitty 500rmb scooter...

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Originally Posted by loganhudak

Ok i get it, you are the smart ass know it all. cool.

The bike was not stolen it was bought new by my boss. I do live in shanghai, about a 40rmb taxi from my office. You think i should be imprisoned for riding a beat up little gas scooter? you are an idiot. My question was about getting it legal, does anyone know if these are even able to get registered? Also im not about to pay 10,000rmb to plate a shitty 500rmb scooter...

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Shanghai isn't the place for riding illegal bikes. I understand that sometimes in China these things just aren't worth the time/hassle/money. But if you drive illegally in SH you can and will be picked up quickly. Those cheap scooters can't be registered especially if you don't have the documentation. Maybe consider a fast ebike? Those can do up to 45 km/h if de-restricted.

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Originally Posted by loganhudak

Ok i get it, you are the smart ass know it all. cool.

The bike was not stolen it was bought new by my boss. I do live in shanghai, about a 40rmb taxi from my office. You think i should be imprisoned for riding a beat up little gas scooter? you are an idiot. My question was about getting it legal, does anyone know if these are even able to get registered? Also im not about to pay 10,000rmb to plate a shitty 500rmb scooter...

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You come on here with your first post and ask for help ???
and now you call me a smart ass?? yes smart another to know not to ride a illegal bike in shanghai .
you just can't help some people , and yes you need to read up on Chinese law about riding without a valid Chinese Driving licence.. i think you will find its 14 days prison and free soap on a rope

Nuff said

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Originally Posted by VroomVroom

Shanghai isn't the place for riding illegal bikes. I understand that sometimes in China these things just aren't worth the time/hassle/money. But if you drive illegally in SH you can and will be picked up quickly. Those cheap scooters can't be registered especially if you don't have the documentation. Maybe consider a fast ebike? Those can do up to 45 km/h if de-restricted.

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i have seen some electric bikes with sportbike fairing around the past few months. Is there a local dealer on the forums that can track those things down?

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Originally Posted by prince666

You come on here with your first post and ask for help ???
and now you call me a smart ass?? yes smart another to know not to ride a illegal bike in shanghai .
you just can't help some people , and yes you need to read up on Chinese law about riding without a valid Chinese Driving licence.. i think you will find its 14 days prison and free soap on a rope

Nuff said

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thanks for you input.

Don’t know about Canada but my country (nz) allows the licence to be renewed from overseas within 12 months of expiry. If you are planning to stay here a while do yourself a favour and get a drivers licence. As Prince rather bluntly put it you could wind up doing 14 days in the slam. In their own way people here just trying to help you.

French biker detained for saying ‘non’ to police.

September 3, 2014.

A FRENCHMAN who tried to flee from a police checkpoint on an unlicensed scooter on Monday has been detained, officers from Huangpu District said yesterday.

Police indicated for the unnamed man and his female pillion to stop for a routine check during the morning rush hour. The man, however, declined the invitation, turned his bike around and rode away in the opposite direction.

Zhang Jun, one of the officers at the scene, said the man glanced back at the police as he rode away at high speed.

Unfortunately for the biker, the whole incident was captured on a surveillance camera, and he was soon identified. A further probe determined his scooter was unlicensed and was consequently impounded.

When questioned later by police, the man claimed he had no idea he had been asked to stop.

According to Zhang, the man’s refusal to agree to the check could be deemed as obstructing a public security official, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 days’ detention or a fine of up to 200 yuan (US$32.50). For a foreigner, the penalty might also include a reduction of their residence term, he said.

Unlicensed scooters and mopeds are not allowed in Shanghai, and their riders can be fined up to 200 yuan.

Source: Shanghai Daily

All ways best to be legal if you can or want to be .
Now on a ride out today to Yantai (shandong province), 10 bike in Total 9 are illegal and I had the only legal one. On the way back home we all stop to fill up with petrol, ALL the 9 other bike was refused petrol? I being the only one who had a blue book and my Chinese DL so I was accepted,
Before the petrol attendance filled up the tank you need to go into the office and get a ticket if you had all the correct documents, The end result was I had to go into the office 10 times to get tickets for all the other riders to allow the petrol attendance to fill up the other bikes.?
I have kept on advising the other members that times are changing in China and it won't be to long
before all these illegal bikes are a time of the past, today it hit home to a few that maybe it's time to start looking at getting legal bikes , Yes the guys are ok in their local area/petrol station, but how boring is that .
I rode back home with a big smile on my face just think it's funny :deal:

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Originally Posted by prince666

All ways best to be legal if you can or want to be .
Now on a ride out today to Yantai (shandong province), 10 bike in Total 9 are illegal and I had the only legal one. On the way back home we all stop to fill up with petrol, ALL the 9 other bike was refused petrol? I being the only one who had a blue book and my Chinese DL so I was accepted,
Before the petrol attendance filled up the tank you need to go into the office and get a ticket if you had all the correct documents, The end result was I had to go into the office 10 times to get tickets for all the other riders to allow the petrol attendance to fill up the other bikes.?
I have kept on advising the other members that times are changing in China and it won't be to long
before all these illegal bikes are a time of the past, today it hit home to a few that maybe it's time to start looking at getting legal bikes , Yes the guy are ok in their local area/petrol station, but how boring is that .
I rode back home with a big smile on my face just think it funny :deal:

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For some people its very difficult or impossible to get a license. Personally I've got my bike registered (far too much hassle then it was worth) but went to get the license and hit too many obstacles. For example:

1. Need to register residency outside the city (I live JUST inside the city, 2 minute drive) but they said no.
2. Visa doesn't last 6 months+

The system is bullshit and is literally just a lot of paperwork. The practical test is ridiculous and no training is provided. People don't want to jump through a ton of hoops just to get a piece of paper.
Unless you want to drive in and around big cities, not worth it. The countryside I never see legal bikes.

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Originally Posted by VroomVroom

For some people its very difficult or impossible to get a license. Personally I've got my bike registered (far too much hassle then it was worth) but went to get the license and hit too many obstacles. For example:

1. Need to register residency outside the city (I live JUST inside the city, 2 minute drive) but they said no.
2. Visa doesn't last 6 months+

The system is bullshit and is literally just a lot of paperwork. The practical test is ridiculous and no training is provided. People don't want to jump through a ton of hoops just to get a piece of paper.
Unless you want to drive in and around big cities, not worth it. The countryside I never see legal bikes.

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Yes I do understand , how hard it is for some people to get a Chinese DL ? it took me over 3 years to sort out all the bullshit before in the end I was able to take and pass the test, it just come down to how bad you want to be legal and comes down to ones point of view.

But I won't except it can't be done and 2 wrongs don't make a right

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Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.
Oprah Winfrey

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I think that we as a people are always prone to think about, well, tomorrow will be a better day. Well, why will it be a better day? And I think the more that we believe in doing things better, doing the right thing rather than hoping that that's going to happen, let's make it happen.
Bobby Knight

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The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.
~ H. Norman Schwarzkopf

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Nuff said.

bro you just quoted oprah winfrey? GTFO here.

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Originally Posted by prince666

Yes I do understand , how hard it is for some people to get a Chinese DL ? it took me over 3 years to sort out all the bullshit before in the end I was able to take and pass the test, it just come down to how bad you want to be legal and comes down to ones point of view.

But I won't except it can't be done and 2 wrongs don't make a right

Nuff said.

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Originally Posted by bikerdoc

[...] A FRENCHMAN who tried to flee from a police checkpoint on an unlicensed scooter on Monday has been detained [...], the whole incident was captured on a surveillance camera, and he was soon identified. [...]

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That's new, eluding a barrage always meant being out of trouble till now.

Now if they do bother finding u without plates, for us with real plates they'll be waiting at our house before we even get there.

This means no more burning through barrages I guess.

Thx for sharing...