How to get a Chinese Motorcycle License

[NZBrakelathes]

Minor update on mine. My girlfriend left her phone number to get an update on this gongzuozhengming thing. Bad news, they won't issue a motorcycle license to me because I live inside the city. Claim to not have the exam. Many, if not most, roads here have a no motorcycles 7:00-21:00, but they are legal 24/7 on some and every road 21:00-7:00. TIC. And they claim I still need this gongzuozhengming thing.

Resister an out of town address just play there stupid games
Im in Namning and I'm looking at the same type of bullshit

[prince666]

Resister an out of town address just play there stupid games
Im in Namning and I'm looking at the same type of bullshit

+1 its the only way not hard to do .... And as i said in one of my post

But "I" am saying to get things sorted out here in China IMO you do need to very much bullshit every day of your life to get things done .

[bikerdoc]

Registering an out of town address is pretty easy, but one might need to have local friends that can assist with this as needed. Sometimes it might be a simple case of getting a 'rental agreement' drawn up that show one as living in a location that is motorcycle friendly, other times it might require one to actually rent an out of town residence, or other times it might be just showing something that claims that one is sharing an out of town residence. All the out of town residence solutions though, need to be in locations where motorcycles are not banned, but also a jurisdiction where the Traffic Management PSB handle licensing/ plating etc especially for foreigners - cause everywhere is different - no one rule fits all. No consistency in this middle kingdo0m. A little detective work beforehand can go a long way.

In the locale where I reside a special district, fortunately is motorcycle friendly, the main city CBD ~30km away is not. Consequently, many bikers, foreign and local alike who reside within the city area which is MC dry, claim residence of one type or another out in this district (and some others) so they can get legal plates on their Bemmers, HD's et al. Fortunately thus far, this works, and importantly despite there being a ban in the city, the powers that be still issue Driver Licenses with MC endorsements - this is significant, as some city's with MC bans do not.

[jdw006]

I'll figure it out. What I don't understand is my city of residence isn't motorcycle friendly, but they aren't banned either. I didn't speak to them first hand, but apparently they told my girlfriend that the motorcycle exam isn't even offered there--which I find hard to believe.

What pisses me off is that my company (where I am more often than my actual home) provides my an apartment, but when I asked our equivalent of HR she claimed they had asked the local PSB about getting me a temporary residence permit here before I even arrived and they said it wasn't possible as my work permit uses my home's address--which I also find hard to believe.

My girlfriend and I are both off Friday, so we will go try again with my same residence at an office a bit north of the city using my same address. If that doesn't work I'm going to have to make my company get me a temporary permit. Unfortunately Hebei province isn't exactly a hotbed of foreigners--mostly third rate English teachers from non English-speaking countries and some university students both of whom don't typically apply for licenses.

Thanks for all the advice. I hear you loud and clear and have read much of the same in this very thread before, but my girlfriend doesn't seem to get it and my Chinese isn't quite good enough to get this sorted out on my own.

[prince666]

I'll figure it out. What I don't understand is my city of residence isn't motorcycle friendly, but they aren't banned either. I didn't speak to them first hand, but apparently they told my girlfriend that the motorcycle exam isn't even offered there--which I find hard to believe.

What pisses me off is that my company (where I am more often than my actual home) provides my an apartment, but when I asked our equivalent of HR she claimed they had asked the local PSB about getting me a temporary residence permit here before I even arrived and they said it wasn't possible as my work permit uses my home's address--which I also find hard to believe.

My girlfriend and I are both off Friday, so we will go try again with my same residence at an office a bit north of the city using my same address. If that doesn't work I'm going to have to make my company get me a temporary permit. Unfortunately Hebei province isn't exactly a hotbed of foreigners--mostly third rate English teachers from non English-speaking countries and some university students both of whom don't typically apply for licenses.

Thanks for all the advice. I hear you loud and clear and have read much of the same in this very thread before, but my girlfriend doesn't seem to get it and my Chinese isn't quite good enough to get this sorted out on my own.

Wish you luck i am sure you will sort it out in the end, and now people can understand why so many foreigners come to China and ride ilegal don't make it right ?? but the Goverment don't make it easy to sort out. On a side note took me 3 years to get mine heheheh but, so much more happy now i am legal .... Just back from a 10.000 km ride in Yunnan and must of got stop by ploice/Army 15 times just so glad i was legal .

[manji01]

I have no idea where or how you've inferred this from what I wrote

As has been said on this thread a number of times, your translation is cross referenced with the information on your home country driving license by the Chinese authorities upon submitting your application for the theory test. This is done using a machine which has extensive records of international license keys, ie. what each of the letters and numbers on different countries' licenses mean. Take that for what you will. Nowhere in my rather long write-up did or would I suggest that bullshitting them is a good idea or an idea that would work.

Also, on the very first bullet point of my write-up it says you need 90 days remaining on your visa

Well... unfortunately the officer at Hami Rd DMV took great interest in the "RESTRICTED" lettering on my licence and knew enough about foreign drivers licences to know it was not on a full. Even convinced the translation lady to leave out all that stuff from the translation too. So basically I can get my C1 but not the C1E i really wanted. I reluctantly booked myself into the theory test to get the C1 anyway, however I am now having second thoughts since I read that I wouldn't be able to transfer this to a C1E until a year later!??

Since I am moving to Beijing in two weeks, if I'm quick I could register for the motorcycle training school and exam (since my visa expires December 31st) and transfer my car licence at the same time. Can someone tell me do I have to do actual training or can I just take the practical tests? How many trips to the Laoshan school will I need in total? Also, not that it matters much but could I still use the health exam that I did at the Shanghai DMV?

[prince666]

That's a shame what works for some people
Don't allways work for others TIC

[FarTravel]

Hey guys,

Thanks to all the regulars for the info.

Two weeks ago I went to the Laoshan school in BJ but ran into a problem other have had on here. Was told there's not English version of the new test still. Then called the place where the computer test is administered (not at Laoshan apparently) and was told having a translator wasn't allowed.

Seems from other posts on here my next step would be to just go and try bring a translator anyway. BUT was told at Laoshan that the registration fee for the initial computer test and the rest of the school and tests is all done at once and the fee paid together (can't separate it). They also said that its non-refundable. Meaning if I try the translator thing and it doesnt work I'm stuck and they won't return my 2000+rmb.

So before I do this, anyone have any updates on when and if the English version is coming out. Or whether there is another way. Something I missed?

Cheers from Haidian!

OH, also Xiaofei, you seem to know your stuff. Whats your take on the CQR vs. X2 that you've owned? Thinking about buying one of them if I can get the licence sorted. Would they be any good for longer distance travel?

[ZMC888]

Hey guys,

Thanks to all the regulars for the info.

Two weeks ago I went to the Laoshan school in BJ but ran into a problem other have had on here. Was told there's not English version of the new test still. Then called the place where the computer test is administered (not at Laoshan apparently) and was told having a translator wasn't allowed.

Seems from other posts on here my next step would be to just go and try bring a translator anyway. BUT was told at Laoshan that the registration fee for the initial computer test and the rest of the school and tests is all done at once and the fee paid together (can't separate it). They also said that its non-refundable. Meaning if I try the translator thing and it doesnt work I'm stuck and they won't return my 2000+rmb.

So before I do this, anyone have any updates on when and if the English version is coming out. Or whether there is another way. Something I missed?

Cheers from Haidian!

OH, also Xiaofei, you seem to know your stuff. Whats your take on the CQR vs. X2 that you've owned? Thinking about buying one of them if I can get the licence sorted. Would they be any good for longer distance travel?

As far as I'm aware the test is absolutely available in English, you are being bullshitted by an idiot or someone wants a 'red envelope'. Could be that or that Laoshan is not the designated English test centre for Beijing. Ask the guys who give the tests if things are true, bring a Chinese friend and ask about especially with people who are connected to the police, and colleagues etc. Sounds like you need some guanxi to grease the bureaucratic wheels of the machine.

[FarTravel]

As far as I'm aware the test is absolutely available in English, you are being bullshitted by an idiot or someone wants a 'red envelope'. Could be that or that Laoshan is not the designated English test centre for Beijing. Ask the guys who give the tests if things are true, bring a Chinese friend and ask about especially with people who are connected to the police, and colleagues etc. Sounds like you need some guanxi to grease the bureaucratic wheels of the machine.

I thought there was too, but was told both at Laoshan and by the test administration people (Chinese friend called) that theres no English test. Could this be true of Beijing only maybe?

I guess I'll just go register, and hope someone one of them was wrong. When its time for the test bring a friend just in case. Hopefully they just let him translate for me

Thanks ZMC