Supersport from Beijing / China? General questions

Greetings!

I have been living in Beijing for around one year. While my original plan was not to buy anything that runs with gasoline in China, getting motorcycle this summer now seems inevitable purchase :rolleyes1: I have K7 GSX1300R back home.

Lately I've been doing lot of background research and I have started organizing drivers license, with kind help of my chinese girlfriend. This shouldn't be a problem as I have valid licenses from Finland that I should be able to convert after passing theory exam. However I still don't have clear thoughts how one should get a bike, especially legally registered one. I'm looking for > 600cc or 1000cc second hand sportsbikes mainly (Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, Ducati). As I have understood that most of these are fake and illegally imported. Are there actually legal ones? Either way, I happen to see quite a few of these on the road. FHLMOTOR is selling one (legal?), but 130k pricetag for -03 R1 is too high. Understanding that chance of theft here in BJ is exponential, I wouldn't want to spend more than 50 000RMB for a bike. Beijinger forums have few CBR600R for sale with around 30000RMB, but without papers for sure. BJ.58 was mentioned by someone here. If I filter out e.g. R6 (http://bj.58.com/danche/?final=1&jum...htype=3&key=R6) I can see many ~decent looking ones with reasonable price... 99% illegal? I also used instructions to filter out JING-A plated bikes, but mostly they were scooters and one little too expensive R6.

Then again, fake seems to be the way to go for many people. I believe the biggest issue for police is license and while that being covered, without accident, they worst might be they confiscate the bike? Or what do they actually do, impose a fine? Nothing in most cases? I have understood that western people end up paying the bills if accident happens anyway, but with registered bike you have insurance and a slight possibility that officials might see it wasnt 100% your fault. If there are any success stories in riding illegal bikes, I might consider that even though I don't like the idea. I don't want to stick to <=250cc, in that case, I could just stick to my Giant as two-wheeler.

Any help, comments or ideas are welcome. Cheers!

Welcome Dumppa

As far as I know, the only sport bikes that are generally available with legal plates in Beijing are from Yamaha and Ducatti . There are exceptions, but rare. The prices will be comparatively high for a legal bike. In my experience, you can trust the guys at FHL (relatively speaking).

Think of it this way - how much would you pay for an illegal bike in Finland (probably stolen) that could not be registered or insured, and whenever you ride you`d have to be avoiding the police? Probably a small fraction of a legal bike`s price. Same rule applies here.

The vast majority of sport bikes in Beijing are illegal. But, as you've probably seen, there are lots around. But, as you may not have noticed, the police are cracking down, progressively. Next to my home (3rd ring road) is a place where there is frequently a police road block. Every time I sit and watch, I see some unsuspecting sport bike rider have his bike taken away.

So, you can buy an illegal bike (choice is yours), but you need to acknowledge a few things:

1) It was probably stolen from some unfortunate soul;
2) It was probably smuggled in & originally sold by a criminal gang;
3) It is illegal, and you risk losing the bike (at a minimum); and,
4) An accident on an illegal bike, perhaps with fake plates, is definitely NOT something I would want to experience.

All said, the illegal bike market in Beijing seems to be as healthy as ever, if not more so. I was just at a well-known Chinese shop in the South West of Beijing, and the guy has a warehouse full of illegal sport bikes. Amazing.

Thanks for the good pointers Lao Jia Hou

I would like to emphasize that one of the biggest reasons for not wanting to pay big amounts of money in order to go legal is, that I have no private garage or safe indoors place to keep my bike in. I haven't looked into it, but I believe that in China, once the bike gets stolen, it gets stolen and you are not getting the money back (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Quote:

---

3) It is illegal, and you risk losing the bike (at a minimum);

---

Does anyone have first hand experience what happens if and how often local police actually get interested of your bike registeration. I have read a hundred stories about police just waving to move on when they see a western rider, another hundred of police being interested only in license. I recently talked with a guy who is riding without license and without registeration and he said his contact with local BJ police was when they wanted to take pictures on the bike with him (well, who knows). But still. I'd prefer legal, but I don't want to end getting economically screwed for bike that could cover expenses for buying four illegal bikes if I can't even guarantee the safety for such bike in a city like Beijing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dumppa

Does anyone have first hand experience what happens if and how often local police actually get interested of your bike registeration.

---

I've had plenty of good times hanging with the cops swapping cigarettes and chatting about how fast my bike goes, but I've also been involved in an accident where no other people were involved and I'm glad the bike and all my documents were in order. There's no problem riding illegal until there's a problem, accident, incident, then things can go very bad for you, and you could very well end up being deported.

I sympathise with your need for speed, but this is not the country for it, you're better off with something under 650cc and legal if possible.

Cheers!
ChinaV

Try a legal Jialing JH600. They are in your budget and are defintitely more go than any 250 or less. Lots of information here on them. I realize you are not looking at dual sports but it might be better than nothing. Plus, they weigh enough that they are not too easily stolen.Just my 2 cents