changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
Re: changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
wow, and wow... lots of good pics... got any narrative to accompany them? Must be a few tall stories to share, surely... ;)
as for Changzhou... how do you get on there with the motorcycle ban in place? I'll have to look you up the next time I'm there... if I've got a like minded biker to visit in Changzhou then I'll throw a leg over one of my two wheelers and ride there... and back. Are you up for having an out of town foreigner visit you?
Done it once by bike Ningbo-Changhzou-Ningbo in the same day on Dragstar 1100 Classic, but no riding friends wanted to join me, and none that I knew off lived there... so generally drive my car there instead which I do several times a year (in-laws).
Re: changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
More fantatsic photo's and your bike looks great. Nice one.
Yeah, share with us some stories! 4300km's in China must have been some adventure.
Re: changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
Alright... so you need a bit of the crispy stories around this trip!
- We did it in May 2010 - it was a one "big week" ride. we were quite optimistic and had some daily connections up to 700 km, which was a bit much... the roads quality in Jiangsu are quite good, but since you leave this area you need to expect poorer conditions... lot of holes in the road and mud
- we had rain almost half of the time... lucky we prepared our trip and had full rain protection from dragonrider in shanghai / the range of weather changes was a bit extreme, I even bought a summer jacket in HK since it was way too hot in south
- We used hairdryers in the hotels to dry up our shoes almost every day (tip: there is a thermal protection, after half an hour if the dryer stops... let it cool down!!!)
- my bikes had Michelin pilot road 2 and my friends one got Bridgestone battleaxe... the second brand has much more grip... so much that when close to Guangzhou, we found a 100km laces road, perfectly clean asphalt thanks to the early rains. So much grip that my friend could get some much angle that he could touch the asphalt with his left hand in the curves... but so much grip that he had to change his bloody back tire after 2500 km!!!
(In fact we sent a box full of spare parts in Xiamen, including a pair of tires) we end up changing a tire in the parking lot of a 5 star hotel in Xiamen... was fun!
- before reaching Shenzhen we had some nice roads, with a few holes in the middle... end up with some big damages on the wheels... so much that we had to repair some. Hammer and wood did the job!
- Shenzhen was also a bit difficult part, seems that my friend's gps overheat, so we end up doping some extra kilometers... got us to visit a bit, anyway Shenzhen is a "special" area with a controlled gate. we park the bikes a few hundred meters before, got to the guy in charge, was bit late/dark, show the hotel reservation and told the guy we need to get in... The guy in uniform let us in.. I thought it would have been more complicated when I saw the "no motorbike" sign... anyway on the way back at the toll gates we heard a few shouts/hands waving to stop... but did not bother to stop!
- after the Shenzhen pass, we spent a day in HK, leaving the bikes at the border, wrong timing most of the dealers were closed... anyway a beer + fish/chips on Stanley street is a must to relax our sore butts
- we left Shenzhen, looking for hakas houses... on the direction of Xiamen, spent a few hours there... it is fun, but nothing fancy, it is "on the way" that is a good reason to stop otherwise not worth to organize a trip just for this
- after stopping for a little problem, loose screw in the gas handle, we managed to meet one Japanese guy walking… interesting experience, the guy was just walking, crossing china all the way long… it was not his first experience
- on the way we saw an accident, it got so much the attention of my friend that he end up bumping into a truck… the bmw got good abs brakes… but not enough this time… all the headlight/speedometer and so one was gone. The bike could still run without any problem so we carried on/ strapping a high beam torch light in front to manage our way in the dark/fog… bad! This was the worst part of the trip… especially after finding out that the same city had two roads with the same name… which leads us wrong when we were trying to find our hotel! 30km distance between the locations, no headlight and a “slick tire” for my friend… and ignition trouble for my bike, running most of the time on one cylinder!
- we spent the day in Xiamen to do the maintenance on the bikes, changed the tire, I tried to change the spark plugs, it appeared later on that I had a faulty coil… but I had to be back in Changzhou to find it… anyway it looked like my bike was running slightly better with 93 gas…
- back on the road, nothing special.. Wenzhou… got stopped by the police one, checked all the papers… see-you-bye-bye-drive-safe situation (the bikes are registered, legal plates and insurances…) … Ningbo…the scenic area is not fantastic… we just ride to get the km down!
- back in Anhui, Jiangsu… a hit a wandering dog on the road… bmw vs dog = 1-0, win by KO… too bad for the poor animal
- Back in Changzhou, got the bike to be cleaned… lot, lot, lot of mud. My friend had to install a new headlight; run away from the bmw prices… he installed a custom one. I replaced my ignition coils… understood that they had different generations and the old one had trouble… (I also have a power commander on the bike)
Well that’s about it.
Conclusion:
Bmw rockster = 7/10 comfortable/good brakes/not the most suitable for this kind of trip
Chinese top case = 8/10 good / no problem at all – for 150 rmb!!!
French tank bag “bagster” = 5/10 my friends one got a strap broken
Extra bag Lumi (sold in dragonrider) = 9/10 no problem; good strapping system, fixed on the passenger seat!
Dragonrider rain protection = 7/10 when it is raining too much… forget it
Facom compact tool box NANO = 9/10 very handy in most situations / most bmw bolts are TORX type but still need a bigger adjustable key for big bolts
Garmin GPS = 5/10 .. doesn’t like when too hot…!
Red Bull = 9/10 … quite refreshing!
Alpinestar boots (bought in France) = 6/10 – rubbers come off on the selector pad
Michelin vs Bridgestone Michelin
For the next trip I ll add an extra fog light set / got a more handy GPS support – easier to read than in the tank bag (I am checking to add a cooling system to it!)
I d plan shorter daily distances to leave us more time to visit, less time on the bikes trying to catch the time schedule (we had all the hotels reserved in advance)
Small adventure compared to Carl Parker trips for instance… but fun anyway.need to plan a trip for this year, when the rain stops!
Re: changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
if only you could ride into Hong Kong the speed limits are low but there are such nice roads especially in the new territories bordering China, i only wished i had some access to a bike when i was there this year
Re: changzhou - hong kong - changzhou : 4300km ride in china
Nice adventure & great pics, thanks! Also enjoyed the equipment evaluation.
Had to laugh when I read about your experience changing a tire in the parking lot of a 5 star hotel. Now THAT is the civilized way to do it! Any time you need some refreshments, just raise your arm and get lot-service. Sure beats the side of a muddy road in pouring rain.
How I miss the Fish & Chips on Stanley Road in HK.
Good stuff!
