Originally I set out to ride the Yingang back from the factory in Chongqing to Shanghai. The trip was going to be over 2 weeks and was gonna be at least 3000KM doing a kind of 'U' shape down intown guizhou, guangxi, guangdong etc. From the name of the title you all can guess that this trip ended a little shorter than expected. :rolleyes1:
Anyway, day 1 I picked up the Yingang from the factory as happy as can be. Drove the bike back to my mates apartment which was roughly 40km from the factory.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3jzzkivj.jpg
Few days later after doing a few touristy things in Chongqing I hit the road at 7:30am and dealt with the terrors of leaving Chongqing city centre. Just south of city I saw a zongshen dealership and decided to get rid of the factory oil. The guys at zongshen was asking how come I didn't have the new RX-3 or whatever it is called. :naughty: I just told them I hadn't looked too much into it and they quickly jumped onto talking about my Gopro.
Happiest guy of the trip.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...pskks0ajfc.jpg
After changing oil and buy a few extra bottles of it I was on my way.
Leaving Chongqing city was a little boring for the first 10-20mins but after that it was beautiful smooth roads. With some fairly nice views but with plenty of learner drivers on the road :rolleyes1:
2 Hours in and the roads turned into pure bliss, smooth and twisty with no little towns slowing me down.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psjsw9vxvt.jpg
Pretty little waterfall in the distance
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psi2uvb3hz.jpg
Twisty heaven. (My photos really don't do it justice)
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...ps781b5jro.jpg
View isn't all that bad, better than any day at the office.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psbtxeuhdb.jpg
Anyway, after some time I hit Guizhou province and everything turned to sh*t. The roads turned to gravel and dirt and it was a pain, I went from ripping up the twisties to stuck at 30km/h on roads where the bike just felt like it was about to fall over at any moment.
After filling up for petrol I carried on and hit a part where there was no road so had to wait for them to build it.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psm1ov2ptp.jpg
Made a few friends during the wait and became so popular that someone gave me a bottle of water. Result! :icon10:
A bit dirty.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1rorvgej.jpg
After this I got so sick of the shit roads as my ass was killing from my uncomfortable seat (something I will be deffo adding more foam to). I hit the gaosu in guizhou, conversation with the toll booth worker went a little like this,
TBW:"Where you going then?"
ME "Im going on the Gaosu.."
TBW *Shakes head* "It's not safe"
ME "That's my problem, can I go on?"
TBW "Go on then"
So off I went onto the biggest traffic Jam ever on the Gaosu, with lots of attention from the locals saying I shouldn't be on there. However, they were all friendly and thought it was hilarious I was on there. After some chit chat 20 minutes had passed and we was all on our way.
Bike on the Gaosu
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psutske1yb.jpg
I got to Zunyi by 4:00pm and I was knackered so found a hotel and got some BBQ and hit the hay.
Next day I woke up too late and set off at a bad 8:30am, jumped on the gaosu to make some time and got to guiyang by 11:00 after measing around filling the bike up and looking for a suitable place to jump on.
Bike outside a pikey bike shop in north Guiyang
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/...psa2vbcatk.jpg
At about 1:00pm I was back on the road and stopped to fill up for some petrol when I got a surprise call from my mum who had rocked up in SH to surprise me... What a surprise it was as I was in Guiyang and she's there.
Slightly gutted about stopping the trip way too early and gutted about not taking more photos I found a courier to ship the bike back to Shanghai and I found a hotel for the night.
Now I'm back in Shanghai wishing I had never got to come back. Great to see my mum but I personally have never liked Shanghai, I hope I can move to Chonqging or maybe to the South next year.
All in all 550km was done within those two days and I am really impressed with the bike. I hope to jump back on the road within the next few months and head south to guangdong but we will see how that goes.
That's all for now. :goodtime:
