Re: New Girl in the Group!
Welcome to the gang Ekkicore :thumbsup:. I'm sure you will find some nice folks to help out up in Beijing. Sometimes not a bad idea to pic up an inexpensive 125cc bike to get started on. You can drop it a few times and not feel bad about breaking stuff, as China moto parts are pretty cheap.
Be careful, once you get started, there's no turning back, this usually becomes a lifetime habit :naughty:
Cheers!
ChinaV
Re: New Girl in the Group!
there`s a biker meeting tomorrow in Beijing, Poker Run, meeting at Jim`s Shop 9:00, riding bikes and meet at Frank`s Place around 15:00( Chaoyang Area). welcome to join in and meet people.
Sabine
Re: New Girl in the Group!
thanks for your replies guys!
i'll take your advise into consideration when i finally buy my baby.. :) only thing is that i'm afraid if i buy anything less than a 250cc, i'll outgrow it and will have to spend more money on a new bike!
from the research i've done, many people seem happy both learning on and keeping a 250cc..
anyway i've posted some pics of the bike that made me fall in love with motorcycles and riding, in the dual-sports bike thread :)
i've got a pretty busy day tomorrow, and i'm not sure of where those places are that you mentioned, but otherwise i'd definitely join in!
hope someone in beijing will be kind enough to give me some advise on here.. :)
thanks again!
Re: New Girl in the Group!
Ah yes... I see you have have fallen for the lovely QingQi QM200 Motard. That's a great choice for a first motorcycle, it's based on the Suzuki DR200. Pretty solid bike for a decent price, and widely available here in China. There is also a 250cc version that will be available in China before the end of the year.
http://www.contactdi.com/2009/qm/QM0005.jpg
I just came back from the ChongQing motorcycle show, and will be posting a massive amount of photos showing many of the bikes available here. There are quite a few options for decent China bikes now.
Cheers!
ChinaV
Re: New Girl in the Group!
Welcome to the forum and good luck with choosing a new bike. That QingQi looks good!
Is that you in the profile photo? What kind of music do you DJ? Techno/house or is there something else current since I last went into a club? Just got Nick Curly 'aymara', I use it for meditation. Being a totally politically incorrect and fearless older man I shall have no hesitation in buying a double scotch and a good cigar and drooling in front of you when I come to China for a bike ride next year.
jape
Re: New Girl in the Group!
Hello, Ekkicore, welcome, and don't please don't mind Jape. He's one of the tamer ones in our bunch, staying off the roads at night for fear of being jumped by kangaroos. Good luck finding the right bike, and be sure to knuckle down when taking your riding course. I just learned to ride less than a year ago, but had the good sense to do so in California. I still can't imagine doing my first solo rides in China. Does Ekkicore mean "nerves of steel" in whatever language that is?
keep us posted about your progress!
cheers
Re: New Girl in the Group!
Sheesh mate! I didn't say drooling on or over! I said 'in front of' ... due to advancing years :lol8:
I still enjoy music even if my back hurts when I dance, thats why I like 'trance' and similar, I just chew on something and drift away .... and no, not E either. I dunno, try and be friendly and someone reckons you are a perv. I shall take you to a nightclub when I get over there Jeff, you just wait! Felix offered me a drink once too so a bunch of us will probably join in.
Re: New Girl in the Group!
@ ChinaV: i look forward to seeing your photos! maybe after seeing them something else will sway my heart, haha, as i still haven't decided 100% which bike i wanna get yet..
@ Jape: yes that's me in the photo, i play a wide range of music, from 70s-80s stuff, to house and electro, techno and dubstep.. :) haha hopefully when you come to China next year, i'll also have my bike!
@ Euphonius: thanks for the welcome! :) from what i can gather, they don't actually teach you how to ride at the school in beijing, they just give you an exam. it was advised to learn from experienced friends in a safe environment, which is why i'm gonna go to quzhou in the beginning of november for a week, to learn how to ride from a friend! :)
some friends also recommended first getting on scooters to practice, and the same friend who is gonna teach me, also accompanied me on a scooter ride around nha trang, vietnam.. so i'm feeling confident! if anything, there seems to be a method to the road-madness here in china, especially when compared to vietnam!
i could be completely misguided and wrong, but at least i'm having fun :D
Re: New Girl in the Group!
Safety first. I'm not sure about what you'd learn on a scooter. Here in the US, the widely used Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses, which some of us would love to replicate in China, are brief in duration, only two days, but very intensive, with hours and hours of close-quarters maneouvering, emergency stops, emergency swerve/evasion techniques, etc. I would not want to try any of that on a scooter, since you can't really hold the bike between your legs, so your body mass responds very differently. Really focus on the basic skills, and be sure you wear proper safety equipment -- helmet, jacket with armor, boots, gloves and, ideally, pants with armour. Look at most of the ride reports in MCM, and you'll see some really excellent riders (Felix, ChinaV, Pfaelzer, Franki, now also Ryan) all gussied up in the best gear we can find. Safety first, fun second. Don't cut corners. Yes, be confident, but smart too. Trust me: Just when you start to think there is method to the road madness in China, it jumps up and bites you in the arsch. Plenty of us have had serious getoffs. I'm nursing a broken collarbone as I type. ChinaV had a hairy getoff in his Punishment ride with Felix, and another scare just weeks ago in Zhejiang after a trouble-free gazillion-mile tour of the US. No one is immune. Be safe.
It's good you'll be somewhere besides Beijing, which is a poor place to learn unless you can get out into the relatively empty countryside. It's also getting cold in Beijing now, as Sabine has shown us recently.
Oh, and happy slightly belated birthday. 21 October, right?
cheers