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  1. #1 China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Hey all,

    Looking to make a 17 day tour of rural china by motorbike early august and am looking for affordable (and as reliable as possible) transport for four riders. the idea is that we can share riding time with two sidecars, but I've read too many stories of Chang Jiang 750's that fell apart and died after just a few hours, and would like to find two bikes from a reputable and affordable supplier.

    Can we buy a used bike and resell to owner as opposed to renting bikes? Or buy and then sell in a different city? Can any of you point me towards someone we can talk to? The plan is to enter via HK and get our licenses converted to mainland in Guangzhou.

    Suggestions and ideas from all of you are welcome on how we can find bikes, please! I'll post a big trip report with pics of what we see and everyone we meet along the way! :)

    How can the four of us get the most out of this great opportunity to explore China? *Note: we will be taking someone who speaks Mandarin chinese.*



    Thanks,
    David Koerner
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  2. #2 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    Hi Dave,

    Welcome to MCM. There are almost no rentals here, and you can't purchase or get licensed without a residency permit. Sorry for the bad news. If you really want to make a tour, I would suggest contacting one of the tour agencies, as they can get you onto bikes with the necessary documents. Other than that, use the search engine and dig deep. There's plenty of info here about what you want to do, but you need to make some decisions about how far you're willing to go and at what expense.

    Cheers!
    ChinaV
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  3. #3 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Motorcycle Addict chinabiker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dkoerner View Post
    Hey all,

    Can any of you point me towards someone we can talk to? The plan is to enter via HK and get our licenses converted to mainland in Guangzhou.
    David, if you manage to convert your license in Guangzhou, we would all like to hear about the how to

    Contact Christoph at hiddenchina.net and tell him I sent you. He may be able to arrange that for you.
    Andy
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  4. #4 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Thanks Andy!

    We contacted Christoph at Hiddenchina.net and he is looking into getting sidecar bikes shipped from Beijing. We may have to fly or take a train to Beijing to pick them up instead of buying in Guangdong.
    Is there any way to buy or borrow bikes for money and then give them back? Is there a better place to buy the bikes then Beijing? We just want a good deal on two strong bikes.

    Already planning which roads to take! Touring China is going to be so much fun!

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  5. #5 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    C-Moto Guru
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    Hi David,

    checkout Yangtsepete and his China Sidecarrally http://yangtsepete.com/
    I went with him for 9 days from Guangxi to Yunnan, marvelous!
    He is organising trips with the CJ750, maybe he can sort you out as well.

    André
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  6. #6 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Motorcycle Addict chinabiker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dkoerner View Post
    Thanks Andy!

    We contacted Christoph at Hiddenchina.net and he is looking into getting sidecar bikes shipped from Beijing. We may have to fly or take a train to Beijing to pick them up instead of buying in Guangdong.
    Is there any way to buy or borrow bikes for money and then give them back? Is there a better place to buy the bikes then Beijing? We just want a good deal on two strong bikes.

    Already planning which roads to take! Touring China is going to be so much fun!

    There is jimbosidecar from this forum in Beijing who runs a CJ shop, specialized in building BMW engines into them. I can image that he is willing to do this.
    Last edited by chinabiker; 06-24-2010 at 11:47 PM. Reason: the link
    Andy
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  7. #7 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chinabiker View Post
    There is jimbosidecar from this forum in Beijing who runs a CJ shop, specialized in building BMW engines into them. I can image that he is willing to do this.
    Jim's BMW-powered bikes are definitely "strong". The only way to go.

    Having personally ridden a CJ750 24 HP and a CJ750 32 HP (the two engine choices from Changjiang) for several years, I will attest to the fact that a lot of your "Touring Fun" time will be fixing the engines (especially the 24 HP). Murphy's Law will be at play ... it will always break down in the middle of nowhere, without a safe shoulder to pull off onto, pouring rain and about to get dark. I rode one 24 HP I owned through much of the north (Heilongjiang), summer and winter, and I don't recall ever doing more than 20 miles without some "issue". Then I switched to a 32 HP, and my fortune was probably doubled to 40 miles without an "issue". I learned all of the swear words in Chinese for the sole purpose of "talking" to my 24 HP & 32 HP CJ750s.

    I second Chinabiker's advice - get a BMW powered CJ750 if you want to have worry-free fun riding.
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  8. #8 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    @ andre555: Thanks, but Yangtsepete was unfortunately unable to help (referred me to someone else that referred me to someone else). Also, we would like to explore China on two bikes without guides. China is such a beautiful and amazing country, and one of the great things about motorcycling is that you can see a peaceful road going off to the right and take it, or explore an interesting part of town a few hours longer, instead of hurrying from place to place. We don't want to push the bikes or ourselves too hard.

    @chinabiker: Contacting jimbosidecar now. @LaoJiaHou: Great Comment! We are trying to find two CJ750 bikes with the 32hp BMW engine, but I have been warned that some sellers provide CJ's that are not true 32hp. We have not yet found a seller with a good reputation and a fair price.

    Does anyone know a CJ seller we could try? Anyone selling or renting good 32hp bikes? Know someone willing to loan us their CJ for $ and two weeks of use?

    -David
    熊大卫
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  9. #9 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Danger, Will Robinson! Lao Jia Hou's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dkoerner View Post
    Does anyone know a CJ seller we could try? Anyone selling or renting good 32hp bikes? Know someone willing to loan us their CJ for $ and two weeks of use?

    -David
    熊大卫
    Hi David

    You are facing some problems.

    First, to buy a motorcycle in China (and have it registered in your name, with insurance), you have to have a residence permit. It is not possible, at least in the major cities, to buy a bike (legally) with a short-term tourist visa.

    Second, renting a motorcycle in China (legally) is almost impossible.

    Third, you need driving licenses which, again, unless you have a residence permit is impossible to get, and it is also a time consuming ordeal (too time consuming for a vacationer). In some cases, if you are a participant of an organized, registered tour group, the group's organizers can make special arrangements for temporary licenses to be granted to riders.

    Fourth, it is unlikely that anyone would rent/lend you their bike (but who knows). There is a risk that the bike could be confiscated by the police or, worse, that the owner could be liable for substantial payments if you were to get into an accident.

    Sorry to rain on your parade, but it is just the current status of Motorcycling in China right now.

    One 32 HP guy in Beijing who is consulted frequently by foreigners is Big Bill. He runs a Chang shop in Beijing, speaks English, and might be a good source of info. http://www.cj750.net/

    Richard
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  10. #10 Re: China by Sidecar! (Help Requested) 
    Hi Richard,

    We contacted Big Bill in Beijing and he has been very helpful. We hope to start our trip August 6th, so hopefully he can help us out. Plan is to head north and then follow the great wall east to 山海关 and Qinhuangdao. After that, we can wrap around the coast to Northeast.

    Does anyone have route suggestions or things we need to see along the way? Our trip should be anywhere from five days to 17, depending on how the bikes hold up (and how the riders hold up), but hopefully longer.

    To your other comment: We understand that riding is illegal for foreigners and that there are a great number of things that can go wrong (TIC). That said, we are going to do everything we can to obey the laws and regulations of China, ride safely and responsibly, and avoid accidents or dangers on the road.

    One thing we are excited about is that the four of us will be posting a complete trip report here on mychinamoto complete with HD video from the awesome Go Pro HD! http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php...2&productid=29. Our trip will also be posted on advrider.com.

    Thanks to everyone for your private messages and great suggestions! @Andre555: Due to visa restrictions, we had to push our trip back slightly and will be missing Pete's rally to see the tibetan horse festival. Thanks for the invite though! He was great to chat with via email and we'll make sure to visit him next time. If anyone has bike or route advice, keep it coming! Can't wait to get started!

    David
    熊大卫
    Los Angeles, CA
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