Looking for a commuter bike in Shanghai for a tall guy

Hi,
Brand new to the board. I've been an expat for a couple years and will likely be here for a couple more. I'm really sick of having a driver or a taxi take me everywhere. So I'm looking into a motorcycle. I still don't have my license (advice on that would be appreciated), buy I figure I should check on the availability of bikes before I waste time on a license.

I'm not looking for a big cruiser bike, but something with good power would be preferred. A dual sport/dirt track/cafe type setup would be good. Originally the cj750 caught my eye, but I'm getting concerned about the reliability of those based on what I'm reading. I really liked the idea of the sidecar though, very handy for hauling the family to get ice cream.

Also, I'm tall. 6'8" or 2 meters, so that's part of the equation too.

Thanks,
Paul

Hey man,

Honestly i think i know the kind of bike you're looking for.

I just bought one yesterday in fact (i live in Beijing so its a bit cheaper to register)

Anyway, its the Shineray 250 supermoto. (i can't find a direct link for it online, but its basically this https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?sp...7b&abbucket=18)

I bought through a friend who gets dealer prices, but its a cheap bike anyway. Attachment 18304Attachment 18305Attachment 18306Attachment 18307

Here's a few pictures of the one i just bought (i didn't have any choice of colour because in fact someone ordered it before and didn't follow through, but still i htink it looks pretty good)

The one i bought is the 2016 model, they're still selling the 2015 model online so just be a bit careful.

It IS a chinese bike, but its Shineray, its the brand of bike that crazy carl (the guy that create this website) went trekking around china, they're heavily involved in motorcross... basically i woulnd't normally buy a chinese bike again, but this is the one exception.

There are a few things that you can see will go wrong...like indicators are likely to snap off... and if you replace the battery ...its a bit more difficult than some of the other bikes, .... but other than that, there's nothing wrong.. and in reality these are minor details.
The biggest thing is that it will put a smile on your face when you ride, and it did yesterday, so i bought it.

As for the drivers license, whats your situation? have you got your home countries license?

Oh by the way, i realise i didn't answer the height question.

I'm 6'1, and its fine. i can flat foot it, but more than that, its a comfortable riding position when you're acutally going, i don't feel cramped at all.

But the etxra 7 inches may be a different story, i don't know. Try it out and see how it goes.
By the way, most dealers won't let you test ride it...especially if you don't have a license, so best to ask a friend or see if anyone on the mychinamoto community has one you can test ride

Thanks for the advice, it looks like a decent bike and the quick search I just did gives it good reviews. It does look a little small though. Any pics with you on it? I'll see if I can find any dealers near me to check one out. Do you think there would be room to put a person the back for a short distance? Also, I often have to travel 3 hours to visit one of my offices (in ningbo), do you think it would be up for that occasionally?

Regarding my license, I used to have a motorcycle license in Michigan, but it didn't transfer when I moved to North Carolina. So I'm starting from scratch. I currently don't have a car drivers license here either, can I just get them together?

Thanks!

Quote:

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So I'm starting from scratch. I currently don't have a car drivers license here either, can I just get them together?

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You need to get C1E

Car/motorbike



What's your inside leg size then you can look at seat heights ???

hi Tall Paul,
I'm selling my Jialing JH600A. it's dual sport bike. Clocked 25000KM. from 2011. Works well. just one or two small scratch. it comes with top case and 2 paniers. I have a Hu A license plate. so if you like to have a hu A plate. This bike is very suitable for you.
price is 16000RMB.

Hi fons,
I would be interested in checking it out. Where in Shanghai are you located? I'm on the Pudong side in Jingqiao. Could you post pictures or PM then to me? I've seen pictures of the jh600 with a sidecar, is that an option that can be added?
Regarding the plates, what does the hu A plate mean? I still have a lot to learn about motorcycles in China.
Thanks,
Paul

Hi Paul

I have found this website very interesting when you need to check out yourself on different make and models of bike, you will find you can change many different aspects of yourself to see how your body size fits on a given bike?

Not to many makes of Chinese bikes on the site but should be of some interest to you .

Link.......http://cycle-ergo.com/

Here is a CFMoto 650TR with a 6'8" guy with a 36" inside leg

Attachment 18308

The license may be a problem. If Fons is leaving China, and then doesn't actually transfer the bike to you, then i guess it would be ok. Because then at least the bike would be legal and registered, but you would not. That greatly reduces your chance of getting fines and something bad happening to you if you get caught.
If you can show that you have a foreign drivers license (even just the car) then thats at least something.
I say this because a friend got taken in last week for driving without a license, but the bike was legal and registered and everything. We had some chinese friend's help and we resolved it. But it could have gone very badly. However the police apparenlty kept asking him.. Do you have a chinese license for motorbike? -No. Do you have a Chinese license for Car? - No. Do you have a foreign license at all? -Yes, but not on me.
It's dodgy as hell, and its up to the individual officer on the scene to judge the situation, but at least you know that they can be lenient.

Honestly, Fons' Jialing sounds like a better option. Especially for the longer journeys, a bit more power and it would be better for your height i imagine.

For the license though...again, if you're properly starting from scratch... it will be all in Chinese (for the motorbike at least) I can only speak for Beijing, but you can't do both at the same time. You have to wait 1 year, 1st do the car license, and then do the motorbike one.
The car one can be done in English though...and french and a bunch of other languages. But the motorbike one...nope.
I also had a friend that drove a motorbike only on his Chinese car license, and he never had any problems, even at petrol stations.
But again, its all about the individual situation.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1288711

Hey man,

Honestly i think i know the kind of bike you're looking for.

I just bought one yesterday in fact (i live in Beijing so its a bit cheaper to register)

Anyway, its the Shineray 250 supermoto. (i can't find a direct link for it online, but its basically this https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?sp...7b&abbucket=18)

I bought through a friend who gets dealer prices, but its a cheap bike anyway. Attachment 18304Attachment 18305Attachment 18306Attachment 18307

Here's a few pictures of the one i just bought (i didn't have any choice of colour because in fact someone ordered it before and didn't follow through, but still i htink it looks pretty good)

The one i bought is the 2016 model, they're still selling the 2015 model online so just be a bit careful.

It IS a chinese bike, but its Shineray, its the brand of bike that crazy carl (the guy that create this website) went trekking around china, they're heavily involved in motorcross... basically i woulnd't normally buy a chinese bike again, but this is the one exception.

There are a few things that you can see will go wrong...like indicators are likely to snap off... and if you replace the battery ...its a bit more difficult than some of the other bikes, .... but other than that, there's nothing wrong.. and in reality these are minor details.
The biggest thing is that it will put a smile on your face when you ride, and it did yesterday, so i bought it.

As for the drivers license, whats your situation? have you got your home countries license?

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Nice Yamaha copy.
How do they even still get away with this copyright s**t :icon10:

Anyway, if it is based on the yamaha. Then that bike might be a bit small, seeing as they made the seat naturally low for the smaller rider to do trial riding.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 1288711

The license may be a problem. If Fons is leaving China, and then doesn't actually transfer the bike to you, then i guess it would be ok. Because then at least the bike would be legal and registered, but you would not. That greatly reduces your chance of getting fines and something bad happening to you if you get caught.
If you can show that you have a foreign drivers license (even just the car) then thats at least something.
I say this because a friend got taken in last week for driving without a license, but the bike was legal and registered and everything. We had some chinese friend's help and we resolved it. But it could have gone very badly. However the police apparenlty kept asking him.. Do you have a chinese license for motorbike? -No. Do you have a Chinese license for Car? - No. Do you have a foreign license at all? -Yes, but not on me.
It's dodgy as hell, and its up to the individual officer on the scene to judge the situation, but at least you know that they can be lenient.

Honestly, Fons' Jialing sounds like a better option. Especially for the longer journeys, a bit more power and it would be better for your height i imagine.

For the license though...again, if you're properly starting from scratch... it will be all in Chinese (for the motorbike at least) I can only speak for Beijing, but you can't do both at the same time. You have to wait 1 year, 1st do the car license, and then do the motorbike one.
The car one can be done in English though...and french and a bunch of other languages. But the motorbike one...nope.
I also had a friend that drove a motorbike only on his Chinese car license, and he never had any problems, even at petrol stations.
But again, its all about the individual situation.

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So, if I want to get both my Chinese car driving license and motorcycle license, I have to wait a year in between? Can I get the motorcycle one first or does it have to start with the car? Would it help if I got my motorcycle endorsement over the summer in the States?

I know that in Beijing it made a huge difference by already having a US driving license with motorcycle endorsement... That is probably the easiest way to go... Just get your US State license when you visit home and then it's quite easy to get the car license w/endorsement in China... I did it in Beijing... Look into it for Shanghai..

hi Tall Paul,
you could get driver permit 'E' alone first. the problem is the theory exam is in chinese only for moto exam. also if you have foreign driver license, normally you could get a translation. then pass a theory exam in english. let's say if you have US car & moto license. Then you could at least get a C1E chinese license.
i have PMed you. you could calll me and i will give you more info. my office isn't far from Jingqiao

Thanks guys,
It's too bad that this process has to be so difficult. It would be one thing if the process was hard and resulted in only people with good driving skills getting licenses...

Anyway, I'll plan to get my endorsement updated in the US when I'm home over the summer. It's too bad because that's not until June and I was hoping to pick up a bike before then and enjoy some riding this spring.

Hi fons,
I got your pm, I'll try to get a hold of you soon. I'm out of town until Friday evening. Thanks for the offer to help explain things to me, I can use all the help I can get to understand this.

Thanks,
Paul

Paul