Chang Jiang 750 Ownership help?

Hello forum,

I Am interested in purchasing a CJ750 Sidecar, I live in Jiangmen, Guangdong with a resident Permit and have been here for over a year. I found out last week that I am eligible for the D License (I already have a C1) and that they will let me take the practical test on a TUKTUK and they have the written test in English. One major Roadblock that I have hit in talking with Sidecar Dealers is getting the bike registered in mine or my wife's name who is chinese. I was planning to take a road trip to Lhasa with a buddy later this summer, and am adamant about having proper paperwork in case there are any issues. From the two dealers I have talked to the answers were the same, they can get us a License Plate and License Papers but in someone else's name. This goes against all my Logic too and red flags are flying, I would never in my right mind purchase any vehicle that I cannot Prove I own. It seems to open another can of worms if I receive tickets from traffic cameras as they would be mailed the person in which the bike is registered. What are the opinions other current owners have and is there any dealer in china who actually sells these bikes to customers in china legitimately. I currently own a Sachs Madass 125 that is registered to my wife, I bought it when I first arrived and have driven it sparingly until I could get an E or D license which I will be getting in the next month.

Michael Farrens

A legal CJ and a trip to Lhasa... Good luck with all that. :loll:

Being China, any and everything is possible, but I don't think it's possible to register a CJ anymore and foreigners have been banned from the big T since 2007 unless you pay for a guided tour.

Cheers!

OP What ChinaV writes in reply is pretty bang on the money. In the case of the CJ750... even new or fully reconditioned, I don't jest when I write I would run the other way and fast. Sure they look all nostalgic and all that, but not only will they look like yesteryears classic style of bike, you'll need a complete set of tools to go with it, so you can experience first hand the nostalgia of actually wrenching on the side of the road. I once was sitting at a local foreign owned cafe when an Expat rode on up with his very nice clean looking, fully restored Chiang Jung (Ch!nese Junk), that he'd spent 35K on. After parking on the side of the road (I had my pbike parked fairly close to me in the courtyard - not something the outfit could do). The Expat rider came on over and sat down to 'chew the fat' and as we sat there discussing his new acquisition, I noticed with amusement the pile of fluid slowly collecting under the rig (outfit) about in line with the carby and gearbox. Seems something had let go.


I have access to an ol' 27HP outfit, which I have ridden round the compound and thereabouts more than once. I couldn't think of a worse set of wheels to ride especially all the way to the fabled t!b3t.

AFAIK You cannot realistically plate the CJ750 in your name. The outfits are notoriously known for having fake plates at worst or copies of someone else's plates and ID at best. I'd not even entertain the idea of a CJ... Seems at least OP you have been given some fairly honest advice from the dealers in that any outfit would be supplied with a plate that can't be in your name (most likely as a consequence it is in someone else's name who doesn't know your outfit and you exist).

As for riding into t!b3t, you do realise as ChinaV has written that you will have to have an approved and authorised guide for the entire section of the trip into that region - and that doesn't come cheap.

If you are serious about wanting an outfit to ride then go look at the Jialing JH600 outfit. Way more modern, with a 4 speed forward and single reverse gear gearbox, EFI more up-to-date electrics and more importantly - it can be plated legally in your name and is transferable too.

YMMV

FWIW... IMO it's buyer beAware, as the local sellers and dealers will often fudge the truth to secure the sale... and the stories that abound and float round in regards to the CJ750s, are up there with the best of the story telling...
:bs:

Thanks for the replies, My friend and I were not quite sure about Tibet anyway, he is more interested in riding to the many parks and caves to the north and west of here. I had already planned on possible breakdowns as I have many years experience as a mechanic and have done many long voyages in some older classic cars and even sailed 1000 miles offshore in a 50 year old wooden boat Singlehanded. Back in 2012 I bought a 1967 Austin Mini 1000 in San Francisco and drove it to Seattle without incident with a bad clutch. The guy who sold me the car thought I was Insane. The JH600 are nice but I am just into the old school way of doing things and appreciate the challenges that come with doing so.

I am certainly a no go on a CJ750 at this point, What about a brand new Ural?
I know they will be $$$$$ than a CJ I am just curious about registration, and hell it would be nice to have 2wd and three wheel disc brakes too.
And they retain that classic Look. Anyone know if they ever successfully started selling these in 2014 here in China like they claim on the website.
http://www.ural-china.com/en/index.html

Yiqi Motorcycle Trade Co., Ltd. Shanghai could be Shao Yiqi who sold CJ's before.. several companies have cj tours and one has said they have Changs in tibet, Last time i I saw him, he told me he was building S/Cars fro HD. Just today near Shanghai an offer of a chang for sale, https://www.facebook.com/groups/330715830344747/ listed on Chang Jiang Owners group.

didn't know the laws 'n gouvernment got that strict in respect of getting a CJ registered to a Lao Wie

seems i left PRC at just the right time

back in the days when i arrived in China 2007 it was pretty easy to get a fully registered CJ and almost all Shops where at the same spot right in the middle of the City

i heard about encreasing Prices and also about the fact you Need to Show your full documents at the gas-Station to get your rig refilled (is that really the truth???)

as for a personal advice: i took 4 CJ's with me to Germany just for the fun of ridin' them - still didn't manage to get them registered but i think the only reason for that is i directly moved from China to a other Country but not my home Country Germany and didn't find enouff time to care for a Registration

so ridin' them is really funny

as from a perspective of reliability ridn' a Chang is almost like roulette: once you get your ball on red - once on black and even if you think you're well prepared your "old Lady CJ" might fail - this was the reason why i never organized trips without inviting a local mechanic to join in

as for the magical Country you wanna visit i think you should rather skip that plan - as you already stated - and go for inner mongolia or so - nice spots around there also - nice People and lots of fun anyway - but NO extra paperwork

greetz from Austria

thomas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Geronimo

didn't know the laws 'n gouvernment got that strict in respect of getting a CJ registered to a Lao Wie

seems i left PRC at just the right time

back in the days when i arrived in China 2007 it was pretty easy to get a fully registered CJ and almost all Shops where at the same spot right in the middle of the City

i heard about encreasing Prices and also about the fact you Need to Show your full documents at the gas-Station to get your rig refilled (is that really the truth???)

as for a personal advice: i took 4 CJ's with me to Germany just for the fun of ridin' them - still didn't manage to get them registered but i think the only reason for that is i directly moved from China to a other Country but not my home Country Germany and didn't find enouff time to care for a Registration

so ridin' them is really funny

as from a perspective of reliability ridn' a Chang is almost like roulette: once you get your ball on red - once on black and even if you think you're well prepared your "old Lady CJ" might fail - this was the reason why i never organized trips without inviting a local mechanic to join in

as for the magical Country you wanna visit i think you should rather skip that plan - as you already stated - and go for inner mongolia or so - nice spots around there also - nice People and lots of fun anyway - but NO extra paperwork

greetz from Austria

thomas

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Thomas, surely all the CJs are illegal now as Chinese law states that any vehicle over 10-13 years depending on type of vehicle has 'reached scrapping age', therefore nobody Chinese or otherwise is allowed to ride anything other than a Jialing motorcycle and sidecar legally anyhow.

There are some legally reg'd CJ's in Beijing at this time, few but some ...

There are still a few LEGALLY registered CJ's here in Shanghai, but they are all approaching the max 13 yr point so they will be declining quickly. The Govt says that the only option for "Retiring" an old CJ is to turn it into the Govt agents to Scrap and recycle and they will give you a new Shanghai Car plate in Exchange. Not really the best deal, but considering that these plates only cost about 20K back in 2004/2005 when they were last legally registered in Shanghai, that is not too bad.

I have one that is legal on the road until May 2019 -- after that my plan is to swap out the Frame and main engine block - with the VIN numbers - turn those 2 pieces into govt with the plate for EXCHANGE, and then put the bike back together with a spare Frame & Block and export it to US as a spare bike to play with. I have put over 30K km on this bike over the years and I know every part and creaking sound on it - getting rid of it would be like getting rid of an old friend....