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  1. #1 Nankunshan Lychee Queest 2009 
    C-Moto Guru Supersignet's Avatar
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    I received an invite from MCM superstar ChinaV to hop on one of his many bikes and ride to Nankunshan with a group of Chinese riders from Guangdong's MotoF club for some wild lychee picking fun. After careful contemplation and a long and difficult decision making process I agreed to the adventure. I had never heard of this Nankunshan place, but from what I understand it is the motorcycle Mecca of Guangdong province. If you own a bike and have not done the Nan Kunner people in the local motorcycle community will scoff at you and think you're nothing but a punk ass wanna be. With such motorcyclified, religious like connotations it is must. I packed my bag, threw my helmet, grabbed my wife and hit the road to ChinaV's place.







    Upon arrival I met my ride for the pilgrimage, the new Qingqi QM250 supermoto. In the past I had ridden many a QM200 and was never impressed with the refinement of the bike. For me it was something I really didn't ever want to ride for any serious amount of time. Numb hands and a numb ass would always be part of what you got very time you wanted to turn the key and go for a ride. I as reassured by one ChinaV that the QM 250 was a noted improvement and that is was smooth and could only help a rider build his or her confidence. I waited until the morning to try the little beast out. I was impressed, but still a little leery of coming ride. That aside, bike be dammed I didn't want to be scoffed at. I'm fragile and long for the false respect of those I don't know and have never met. So on the bike we went.

    The ride up was uneventful. We had a short ride through the diesel cloud which is the Pearl River delta and after about 30-40 minutes on the bikes we arrived at what I think was some kind of China moto club house. Here we would meet the rest of the crew and see all the wild and exotic bikes they would be riding. Honestly I was shocked at the pedigree of some of the bikes, Aprillas, Ducatis, R1s, GSX-Rs and a plethora of amazing and illegal bikes.













    After a short break at the MotoF club house Franki, ChinaV + girl, myself + girl and our new friend Little Tom hit the road. It was time for lychees. The ride out of the city is always the same and most of the reason I had not had a bike up until this point. The roads are congested with heavy trucks belching their black diesel smoke into your lungs faster than you can breathe it in. I was actually boxed in by a bus and a big truck so badly that the bar ends were touching both the truck and the bus. Really I was lucky that I didn't get smushed good.







    After leaving the city the riding became a little more relaxed and a little more fun. The traffic thinned and we started to enjoy our ride. I was starting to like the little Qingqi. It was hauling my wife and I quite well. We were even able to cruise around 110kmph and keep us with the big boys. The horrific vibrations that had plagued my hands and ass in the past were gone. The bike was tuning out to be pretty good after all. It was light and fun to ride, just as I was told it would be. Even two up there wasn't much trouble passing cars, trucks and other bikers.

    When we got to the base of the mountain we parked the bikes and headed up the hill to grab some lychees. ChinaV and I went up the hill, at a couple of lychees of the trees and snapped some photos. It was damn hot that day and we had traversed a river to get up the hill. After some quick conversation we decided the time would be best spent cooling our feet in the river while we let the girls do the manual labour. We headed down the mountain to cool our heels and wait for our bounty.
    The girls came down the hill, lychees in hand, sat next to us and joined us in the river. It was a nice relaxing time.







    Lychees in stomach, it was time to get up the legendary Nankunshan mountain road. This was only the second bike trip my wife had ever really been and on our last one we fell multiple times. Going up mountain switch backs on a bike was a little unnerving for her so we had to take it slow. The most important part of the trip for me was to restore her confidence in motorcycle travel and to make sure she had a good time. Remember a little effort and discomfort can go a long way in the long run. We hung around near the back of the pack. The bike made it up the mountain with a little effort. Some of the hills were pretty damn steep and the QM250 struggled a little with getting out of second gear.

    When we finally reached the hotel we were stuck outside waiting for the dude with the reservations papers. We spent this time drooling over all the vehicular pornography in the lot. There were only supposed to be about 20 bikes there but more than 45 showed up. There was lots of fancy iron and aluminum to look at. The funniest part about this was that the bike that had the most attention and the most looks and the most questions asked about was that little orange QM250. No one knew what it was. They were shocked to see that there was actually a Chinese made motorcycle that appealed to them and that wasn't a complete P.O.S. Many people asked about price and where they could be purchased. One guy wanted the bike there and then and wanted to see what he would have to do to get it. I just told him the bike was new, there was probably one of them on the road in China and that it was this one and that if he really wanted to buy he would have to wait until it hits the market later in the year. Most people were blown away to see a bike that they could own that is fun and even more important had the potential to be a legal ride for them.













    We finally got into our rooms and waited for dinner. Dinner was supposed to be an all you could eat and drink BBQ. I'm not really a big fan of unorganized Chinese BBQs but I figured what the hell. The beer is included and there is lots of it. If I made sure I cooked the meat well enough I should be well enough to survive the ride back to Dongguan in the morning. Many beers and lots of well cooked meat later we hit the beds and slept in wait of the coming ride the next day.







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  2. #2  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    That's what I look like when ChinaV told me that I can ride the F650 solo and Mike and his girl will ride the tiny QM250
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  3. #3  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    Supersignet and his lovely wife
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  4. #4  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    When the going gets tough, the tough gets soaking
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  5. #5  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    All I can do is stand there and ....
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  6. #6  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    Whao....! This is a really hot thread. 41 clicks already
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  7. #7  
    C-Moto Senior DanKearney's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Franki View Post
    Whao....! This is a really hot thread. 41 clicks already
    Well. . . Come on. Where's the pics and tale of the ride back?

    Cheers,

    Dan K.
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  8. #8  
    Administrator-tron CrazyCarl's Avatar
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    No joke! If it wasn't for Franki, there wouldn't be any riding shots! Also, I vote Franki in for most photogenic of the crew!

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  9. #9  
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    So I guess you're all waiting on me.... ... What can I say? Another great weekend with friends burning petroleum on the roads of Guangdong. SS has already covered the story line, so I'll just throw in a few photos and random comments.

    Three bikers from three different countries.



    And three bikes from three different countries.



    That's globalization for ya. Anyhow.... the most nail biting episode of the trip was trying to find lunch the first day out. In a town of one square kilometer, we managed to cover 20. Take a look at our GPS track



    In search of food.



    The hunger grows.



    Food at last.



    Bellies full, let's hit the road.



    Too the left.



    Too the Right.



    Hooking up with the rest of the crowd.



    One of the professional lychee pickers.



    Resting



    Riding up Nankunshan on the way to the BBQ.



    Mmmmm meat good.



    A moment of peace on the ride home, little did we know we were about to hit a mini-typhoon.



    Our riding partner LittleTom was the navigator for the trip. Thanks for hooking us up!



    .....and thanks to Mrs. ChinaV for all the great riding pics!



    Cheers!
    ChinaV
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  10. #10  
    NB Rider Franki's Avatar
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    Mr. Cow (nickname, far left) signalled that the foreign crew are good bikers.




    SS signalled that he has a backseat pilot




    Mountain stream of Nankwunshan




    Rossi wannabe going too fast




    Crouch rocket in motion




    Girls seem to have 6th sense where the camera len pointed




    The waterfall is runjning wild




    These two attracts more attention then the waterfall




    Finally got a clear photo in the dim light
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