Moderator: Supersignet or Mike
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My name is Mike. I'm a Canadian living and working in China. I've been involved with motorized vehicles and and wrenching on them for the past 15 years of my life. Growing up on the east coast of Canada and living down the street from a rally/ gt racer I was intrigued by the thought of racing and understanding what actually made a car go. I started off by hanging around my friend's garage when I was about 15 and I quickly began to understand the internal mechanical workings of a engine and what brakes, engines, carbs, valves, cams, bearings, etc all did. I helped my friend for a few years and did some lapping in his 1971 Datsun 510 GT car, but never raced it competitively.
My first forte into racing came when I bought an old Run down Lada Signet. This was a Russian built car with a horrible reputation. Just google Lada jokes and you'll have enough reading to last you a lifetime. I bought the lada for $150 CAD and modified it for racing. We stripped the car, changed the carb, added some coil overs from a formula 3 car, painted it primer gray and took it racing. We raced it through the snow as our rally car in the winter and raced it in the summer as our auto cross car. Being Russian and being thought of a real turd with no real ability to raced, the car was the subject of many nicknames and jokes. People liked to call the car the "soviet sled", the "Kremlin Krusier", the "Russian Turd" etc. After a few races and some surprising results the car received a nickname that stuck. People had started to call my car the "Supersignet" because of it's ability to look like crap and beat the pants off many many more expensive cars. WE never won any of the lapping days or events, but we did win our class more than once and the car became a crowd favorite. I really miss the car and all the fun we had with it.
When I was younger I didn't really see the point in motorcycles. I was always only interested in cars. I was to the bone, a car guy. I loved to read car magazines and read books on automotive engines. I never thought I would really ride a motorcycle. My trip to Taiwan changed all of that in a heartbeat. When I landed in Taiwan I needed some transportation. I was interested in picking up a Lancia 16V turbo Thema for a while, but the cost of used cars in Taiwan was crazy. With poor public transport and a desire to travel I decided I needed a vehicle and went to look at some scooters. I had to this point never been on a motorcycle in my life and I really had no idea what to do or how to ride it. I thought a scooter would have been the best choice because it was automatic and easy to ride. After looking at some scooters and riding some around I decided I wanted a real motorcycle with a clutch and a gearbox. Being a racer at heart had bred me to hate anything with an automatic transmission and let's face it a motorcycle just looks cooler (at least to me) than a scooter. It was about 9:30pm and I saw a motorcycle I thought looked nice. I haggled with the shop owner and when we agreed on a price I thought was fair I handed him the money and ask him, "how do I reide this damn thing?" He gave me the info I needed and I practiced on the side walk for about 30 minutes. When I figured I had it down I carefully pulled out onto the road and made my way back home through 25km of crazy Taiwanese traffic.
I was amazed by how much fun the bike actually was. I felt so free. It was great not to have to wait behind lines of cars and the economy was great. I in a word was hooked. I loved the bike. Even if it was only a 150cc Suzuki it was great and made me feel free and gave me the means to travel around Taiwan. I road the piss out of that little thing. The bike took me around Taiwan and then helped me crisscross the island. After those great 2 weeks I decided that no matter where I went in the future I would have to have a bike.
A few countries and bikes later I found myself in China looking and wanting new machine to take me around this amazing country.
When I hit the mainland I was infatuated with the look and allure of the CJ750. I looked long and hard and decided that it wouldn't be the best choice for me to ride around China (I'd still like to get one, but for now it's on the want list) . Instead I started with a 48cc Chinese step through and graduated to my Shineray XY200GY-7.
Welcome to the site. Tell us your stories and enjoy life with us from the saddle of your China Moto.
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