Motorbike in Shanghai & getting legal

[braillce]

Yea, Zhongshan Pk, Xujiahue and PPle Square => red flag zones.

Was u fortunate? Maybe u played it right, cops do appreciate humble & respectful behavior.

Also, if u drove Gas scooters, LPG may let u a bit dissatisfied, u should try b4 to buy... A good electric bike goes faster than most LPG...



Regarding the "hassle" of getting the licence, it's really not that hard, and going through it all is only more rewarding.



Regarding the plates price:

U can always sell a plate, prices climb all the time, so that money is never lost...

I paid 44K for a yellow 沪A plate 1 year ago. Today, at the same shop, they ask 50K for it.

Half my 13K bike is paid already, next year, at this rate, my bike will have cost me ZERO RMB...

Yellow 沪C is 7.5K today... This allows one to ride a Gas scoot/moto anywhere with no higher risk than a 200RMB fine in the 沪A-only-zone... Last year 沪C was 7000 RMB.


Whatever u choose, don't go illegal, those days are over, u've learned that.


-----------------------------------------------

647 QuXi Road in luwan. 瞿溪路647号



Since it's near my place, in the old town, I went there yesterday, it was still open at 20:30...

The guy does sell LPG scooters, he asked 5000 RMB for his cheapest scooter AND the legit plate that goes with it (didn't take a pic, nor check the km count but u see those everywhere everyday, seemed ok...).

My poor Chinese skills still allowed me to ask him a few questions.

1) It seems they're all 60cc (at his shop at least).

2) It seems one does not need a licence to register & drive one of those (sorry I couldn't clearly confirm, but I showed him mine (moto E) and he said "no need"...).

3) One clearly needs a Shanghai Hukou to register the red book (plate ownership) on his own name, as they won't let u register it on a foreign name. I'm not even sure the Alien Working Permit would suffice for this one, but it might, as the owner sure never had the occasion to try...


If u go there, unless ur Chinese is perfect, u better bring a Local friend to get a better grasp of all the details.


The owner was very patient and friendly.


Euphonius shared a detailed guide as how to get ur hands on the mysterious SH Hukou card (1st page):

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ukou#post14510


Voila.

He only had a couple scoots in store, but they seemed fine, and he may have more somewhere else...



If u get more details please share 'em.

Peace.

[agong029]

Braillce,

Thanks for checking it out. Very helpful. At 5000RMB, I can probably get a modified electric bike that performs better. Charging is a pain in the butt, but I won't have to deal with license, finding fuel, etc. I think I'm heading in that direction.

Thanks again.

[braillce]

U're welcome.

Yea, I'm sure u can find a monster electric bike for 5K.

Peace.

[Fred]

My poor Chinese skills still allowed me to ask him a few questions.

1) It seems they're all 60cc (at his shop at least).

2) It seems one does not need a licence to register & drive one of those (sorry I couldn't clearly confirm, but I showed him mine (moto E) and he said "no need"...).

3) One clearly needs a Shanghai Hukou to register the red book (plate ownership) on his own name, as they won't let u register it on a foreign name. I'm not even sure the Alien Working Permit would suffice for this one, but it might, as the owner sure never had the occasion to try...


If u go there, unless ur Chinese is perfect, u better bring a Local friend to get a better grasp of all the details.


The owner was very patient and friendly.


Euphonius shared a detailed guide as how to get ur hands on the mysterious SH Hukou card (1st page):

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ukou#post14510

For motorcycles registered fully in our own Chinese name, I and others didn't need the SH Hukou card thingy... So I guess it's not necessary for scooters either.

The Honda shop on Zhongshan lu/Wuyi lu did all the procedures for me, with only the passport and temporary residence form (white A4 paper when you register to the police station) which has my chinese name on it, and voila...
All the documents (plates, bike ownership, insurance, etc.) are with my name on it.

FYI, this Honda shop has scooter too, and can provide scoots from other brands too (they are providing my Yamaha YBR 250).

[braillce]

For motorcycles registered fully in our own Chinese name, I and others didn't need the SH Hukou card thingy... So I guess it's not necessary for scooters either...

My Chinese sucks, but the guy really insisted that u need Shanghai Hukou to register a LPG plate.

U didn't need it nor ur Alien Employment Permit to register ur plate, but u did need it for getting ur licence didn't u?

As the LPG seems not to require any licence, it somehow would make sense that u need some more serious kind of identification document than just a piece of paper to register a LPG plate.

Dunno if that was clear...



Another thing:

Here's another shop where they were having & fixing half a dozen YBR, on Yuyao Rd / Taizhou Rd (JingAn), if one day u need some parts or a specialized YBR mechanic...



Last thing:

I pass the Zhongshan/Wuyi X-way twice a day, never saw a Honda shop...

Can u detail where it is?



Peace.

[Fred]

Braillce (ou bien Brice ?) ;-),

It's a valid question, but no, I didn't need a SH hukou for the driving license at all, I never had any document like that, even now.
For the driving license, I showed my passport, residence permit, work permit and the police temporary residence form. My Chinese name is on the work permit and the temporary residence form, and it was enough to register everything with my Chinese name.

So that's why I'm doubting that you'd need one for a LPG scooter.

About the Honda store on Zhongshan lu / Wuyi lu, I'm not surprised you didn't spot it, as it's quite small and narrow. It's on the Zhongshan lu on the right side when you go south towards Tianshan lu or Yan'an lu. It's just before crossing Wuyi lu, where you have the "Chinese style houses" which were tea markets before.

If you go there to buy something, tell the laoban that you're a friend of Fei Fan (my Chinese name), he may (or may not) give you a small discount if you buy something. The plus side is that now they're used to do the procedures for a laowai there...

Cheers,

Fred

[braillce]

C'est bien Brice.

Yea u did need Alien Employment Permit to get the licence, that's what I meant.

I think the work permit works just like the SH hukou when getting licence, u don't need one if u have the other one...

I'll dig some more into the LPG question I think.


Found the shop, cheers.

Interesting, but quite small indeed, and nothing bigger than 125cc.

Seemed like the prices are a bit boosted, maybe cause of the location?

He wanted 53K for a 沪A plate, and 8K for a 沪C, while I was told 50K and 7.5K respectively at Pubei's rd SUZUKI shop...

Even if being a FeiFan friend could get me a discount (cheers 4 that), I don't need a new bike yet.

Almost did though.

My DD250G was sent down by a Buick while lane splitting on fuxing this morning, :( , scary.

My knee got squeezed between the handlebar and the tank, so when she reached the ground my knee was forced inside the tank.

Nothing broken but that hurts like *&^%. Tank is ruined...


Ride safe everyone, u can't always avoid it when some Buick decides to throw u down.

[euphonius]

There is some misleading information in this thread that needs to be cleared up.

First, there are two separate requirements on the path to riding legally: 1) registration of a bike, which means getting plates and making the bike legal to drive on city streets and 2) licensing of the rider, which makes it legal for the rider to ride a legal bike. These are completely independent of each other. Needless to say, if you are only riding others' bikes, all you need is a license.

Second, the biggest hurdle to a foreigner registering a motorcycle is that China's Vehicle Management Bureaus do not accept names in English or even in pinyin; they must be in Chinese characters. If you carry a non-Chinese passport, and your visas and other documents all use your foreign (non-Chinese) name, you must establish not only a Chinese name to use but also link that name legally to your foreign name and foreign passport number. There are only a few documents that do this. One is the Shanghai Residence Card aka 上海市居住证 aka "B Zheng" (B证) that I wrote about and pictured in my Getting Legal in Shanghai. Another is your Alien Employment Permit aka work permit. As for the Temporary Residence Registration Document that you get from your local police station (派出所), this sometimes includes your "Chinese name" in Chinese characters, but typically ONLY if you have provided a Work Permit or B Zheng with that name. I do not think you can just say, "Oh, my Chinese name is 张爱国" and they'll key that in. It comes from some other legal document.

At the time I registered my bike (and I was one of the first foreigners to register in my own name in Shanghai), the Vehicle Management Bureau refused to accept my work permit but they did accept my B Zheng. I don't think they even referenced the Temporary Residence Registration Document.

Today, it seems that a Work Permit that includes both names is sufficient to establish the legal link between your Chinese and non-Chinese names so that the Chinese that's entered into the vehicle registry links to you and your foreign name and passport number.

Finally, there is no such thing as a Shanghai "hukou" for foreigners. I might have joked that the B Zheng was my Shanghai hukou, but it is issued only for one year at a time, and its validity matches that of your current Residence Permit, which is the typically one-year visa that is pasted into your passport. Unless you've made major investments or proven your love of the party and been issued a Chinese "green card" with a duration of five or even ten years, you do not have anything that resembles "hukou". The B Zheng now has almost no real usefulness unless you are determined to live out your days in China and are entered into the Shanghai/national "five fund" insurance schemes, which include insurance funds for health, unemployment, pension/retirement, purchase of a home and one other thing that I forget.

More than you ever wanted to know, but I hate when people read this forum and get misinformed.

cheers!

[corporal_clegg]

Hey guys. Two questions. The first I think is rhetorical.

I've been driving around the city more recently and since the police officer kindly directed me to the signs forbidding motorcycles I've begun to feel that we can't drive hardly anywhere... so why get a 沪a?

My other question is has anyone taken the driving test recently in hongqiao? Can you remind me what days you have to attend? Is it like mondays wednsdays or tuesdays thursdays I cant remmeber but I need to know before I go there next time...cant be arsed explainging why

[braillce]

1) cause I bought mine 44K 1year ago, while today, at the same shop they ask for 50K, so that's 6000 good reasons to buy one, hopefully more next year. Also the peace of mind of being 100% legal is appreciable.


2) U can try ur luck on those vintage January 2009 numbers if that is the "Hongqiao" place u were talking about:
Shanghai Drivers License Building: Gate 3, 179 Qing Chun Road , Xin Zhuang (Near Chun Shen Road / Hu Min Road ). The tel. no. is 021-64987070 x 54280 or 54279

If this ain't the place u're looking to get info about; there still is "Shanghai call service":
962288, their English service is quite good and they can answer anything.

If all else fails; check this website (with a Chinese friend):
http://www.shjtaq.com/main/