buying a 2nd hand legal bike & plates

Just wanted to ask, i've heard that when a foreigner buy a new bike in Beijing, they get assigned a special Jing B that denotes this is a foreigner.

If i were to buy a 2nd hand bike... fully legal from a chinese guy, would the plate be able to transfer? or do i have to jump through more hoops to get that all legal?

Is it even worth buying a bike 2nd hand with the transferrence of the plate? or should i just go for a new one with al the hassels removed?

Also for reliabilty i was going to go for a Suzuki en150 because it seems pretty much bullet proof, you can get parts all around the country because haojue has been in China for ages and parts can be interchanged....and it has 6 gears, where most other japanese 150's have 5.

I've looked into the chinese bikes, specifically the Zongshen ZS250-7 and was looking at the Jialing JH200-8, the Jialing at least has 6 gears, but i've been told the zs 's engine is actually not as great as the EN150's so i'm at a loss. ANd i haven't heard anything about the jialing.

What is your guys opinion on this? my budget is 10-15,000. but could go a bit higher if i know that it is seriously worth it.
I drive mainly in beijing, but really want to do a few roadtrips... so making sure it doesn't break down in the middle of no-where is important.

any advice would be good

Re: Special B-plate for foreigners

I have never heard of this one, and I doubt that it is correct. Over the past number of years, the Beijing government has been moving away from issuing special foreigner plates. In the past (stopped around 2010), the government used to issue black plates for foreigners. Foreigners now just get regular plates, identical to Chinese owners. For motorcycles, there was a period of time after the black plates stopped that the government issued yellow 京A plates starting with the numbers 47 for foreign owners. The "47" has also been discontinued.

Re: Buying a used bike with a B plate

Getting a B plate registration for a foreigner is a little tricky, usually because of the foreigner's location of residence. Also, many B plates are company registered, as opposed to being registered to an individual. Buying a used bike with an existing B plate registration from a Chinese national can be risky, unless you know the ins/outs, or use a reputable agent to deal with the plating & insurance procedures.

Re: Buying new from a Dealer

If you go to one of the larger dealers who are high volume, and who are also used to dealing with foreigners' plating issues (e.g., Dadihengtang and/or Qili Motors for Suzuki), it will be a relatively painless and pretty much risk-free experience. My personal advice would be to steer clear of the few "foreign-owned dealers" that target the expat market. Most don't know their ass from a hole in the ground, as far as plating & insurance issues are concerned, and a few will knowingly screw you.

Re: Which bike to buy

In the 250cc and under category, it is usually a safe bet to buy a Suzuki, Honda or Yamaha. Jialings are also ok, but they aren't really that much less expensive. It is easier to resell a Japanese bike.

Good luck

Thank you for your help on this.
I will try to check out Dadihengtang and Qili Motors this coming weekend... if i have time.
I have heard a few people saying that the shop Paul works at (the beijingriders.com actual shop) is good because he can make sure you get a pain-free experience) but there's lots of chinese bikes on offer.. and i really want something bullet proof... and like you said resale values are better for japanese bikes, so better to go for that)

I feel like perhaps i should just go for the Yamaha ys250, or the GW250 and then just get insurance to protect myself in case it gets stolen. My mechanic told me that as the GW's are very popular these days...they are being targeted by thieves.

Would you know how much insurance costs each year for a bike like that?

Plus to be honest i like the idea of the YS well especially that its cheaper, and it stands out against all the black GW's around, but it seems the china version only has rear drum brakes. I only saw 1 picture where the back wheels at disc brakes... but i don't know where to get it from

any ideas?

insurance costs are low. The re newed insurance for my GS was 500RMB only at PICC. (only liability without theft insurance)

AFAIK for the B plates: as a foreigner you get only a B plate when you are registered in Huairou or somewhere out in ChangPing.
e.g. In the Airport area which is also out of the 5th ring a Laowai still must have a A plate. (.... or has that changed????)