Bike on a Train?

[andre555]

Hi,

We plan a trip to Litang Tibetan Horse Riding Festival.
To save us two days on boring roads to Lijiang, I thought about puting the bike in the freight compartment of the nighttrain. Have a beer, noodles and nice sleep - arrive early morning in Lijiang - take the bike and hit the road...

Anybody expierences? Possible? How To?

Cheers
André

[tokyokid]

usually the bike is not on the same train as you
better send it a week in advance

and take some fuel to the station when you pick it up. the gas tank will be empty

[humanbeing]

usually the bike is not on the same train as you
better send it a week in advance

Pack the bike in box or at least protected w/ some materials.
The result of unprotected bike

[milton]

Anybody expierences? Possible? How To?

I believe there are 2 ways going about this. First is the nomal shipping arrangement for a motorcycle, handled like any other type of cargo, for which you contact a shipper and have them collect, box, and ship it. Obviously for shipping motorcyle the packing is a bit different from other cargo types. As normal cargo the shipping charge depends on the weight and size of the package.
The second way is just to push the bike to a train station and have it shipped as a piece of "luggage". You literally have to "push" it as the train station doesn't allow any gas in the tank. You have to plan out how to refuel it after getting it back at the destination. Also, the destination city may not allow motorcycles or out-of-province motorcycles to get on the road. Apply your creativity for solving that.
The shipping charges depend on the type/size of the bike and the rules change from time to time and from station to station. The last time I checked was that for anything large than 50cc enging displacement they will translate the cc into weight for calculating the fees. For example, a 250cc bike will be charged as 250kg weight, possibly with other surcharges. (This would become quite costly for big-bores) Like everything else in China the fee formula is rather convoluted.
You may want to protect your bike somewhat by wrapping it or parts of it if you are afraid of any damages during the trip, as it is gonna be "packaged" as below:
<img>motorcycle shipp&#1.jpg </img>

Insurance for the bike is available, but I won't count on it.
Although I have been interested in shipping my motorbike to far-way places to save time and energy, I have never put it to practice myself. There are posts about it by Chinese motorcycle comrades who have actually done it:
http://www.motorfans.com.cn/bbs/t_441306_1.htm

Note that only big cities or big train stations offer such services.

[andre555]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I will check the train station somewhen these days...will let you know how that works.

[euphonius]

I'm keen to hear more about this topic too. ChinaV and his crew shipped their Galaxies home via truck from Chengdu, which is a viable option, but I've heard there was a time (before there were so many trucks) when motorbikes were accepted as roll-on cargo on trains, rather than cartoned cargo. Not sure I'd want to risk this with my relatively heavy JH600, but would love to know what the options are.

cheers

[chinabiker]

We shipped a bike as cargo once from BJ to Xian in 2008 through CRE (China Rail Express).
They picked up the crate from my factory, it was sent to Xian where the rider picked it up. They were surprised to see a bike in the crate at Xian station.
Three days storage at destination was included, in the fee (around RMB 3000).

A Chinese rider just rode up his GS to BJ station and got on the same train as the bike - in the luggage compartment to Shanghai.

We also shipped by truck BJ - Kunming - BJ, it takes much longer and is not as safe as by train.

andre, is the railway to Lijiang finally open?

[andre555]

Train Kunming to Lijiang is open since begin of 2010, they also have a nighttrain, leave Kunming 10pm, arrive 7am in Lijiang.
The plan is to put the bike in the luggage compartment - for shipping I would went by truck.

Keep you informed how it works out.

[andre555]

Update:
I put the bike in the back of a Chinese SUV (Greatwall Hover) and drove to Lijiang as that car needed transfer anyhow. It's a tight fit, compressed the rear susspension, removed frontwheel and handlebar. Need 4 people to put it flat laying down in.

On the way back, I rode up to the baggage check in at Xichang (Sichuan) train station to check the bike in. Opperator needed to check twice with the supervisor, if its okay to transport the bike, once for it beeing a motorbike itself, once for the weight (max standard weight is 50kg per piece).
Everything was approved they told me the train number the bike will be in, but will take some hours until pick up is ready.

Costs 1 RMB/kg - weight was taken from registration book, as their tools dont suit such big things - 130RMB. No packaging required, drain the fuel (they are handy with bottles to fill their bike), took of the mirrors and left it. Took a train earlier to get home.
Will pick it up later today or tomoorow, lets wait for sunshine

Hope everything arrives well...

Summary:
- Seems to be a good alternative for transportation/shipping within China.
- Try to check in at smaller stations, as no clear regulation exists, bigger station might be more levels of decission making/responsibility - 麻烦 MAFAN

[euphonius]

Interesting! Encouraging!

Coincidentally, I visited Shanghai Station yesterday to ask about shipping my JH600 to Guiyang, about 2000km to the southwest. First I went to the Railway shipping department, and they quoted more than 4,000 rmb -- close to $500. Very discouraging. But at the station itself, they said just push it into the station with the tank empty, and it'll take a couple of days. She estimated the fare at less than 700 rmb, or under US$100. Now that's a nice deal. No need to package it up. They just roll it into a baggage car, and lean it on its side or center stand. Probably also lash it down. I then can take a separate train or plane, then come to fetch it at Guiyang station.

I'll be attempting this in the next couple of days, so I'll post one way or the other.

cheers!