Shaanxi n00b with photos (and questions!)

**Ekkicore** · 03-16-2011, 06:58 AM

looks like i might have to go underground with my SQUEAZEL?! until he can be registered then...

GAHHHHHHH!!

**VTECsauce** · 03-16-2011, 10:12 AM

Thanks all for the warm welcome, I'll reply to some of your comments!

Originally Posted by euphonius

Dear Sauce,

Greetings and what a fantastic tale about your entry to our crazyfun world.

Surely that's a Chinese-made Honda, so should be no problem making it legal, but you will need that fapiao. Find the guy in whose name it's registered, and just organize a transfer from him into your name, which will be easy as long as you have a legal residence permit. Oh, don't forget to get your license, which is another adventure altogether, as you'll see in copious detail elsewhere in this forum.

The pictures look great -- we want more! From the looks of it, you'll have a blast on that bike up there on the loess plateau. There are tons of rural roads all across Shaanxi. Just watch out for coal trucks!

ride safe, and keep us posted about your progress. You're a fine storyteller!

cheers

Yeah, the roads around here are great, but (like everywhere in China?) there's plenty of stuff to keep you on your toes: Pot-holes, random piles of stuff, 3-wheel trucks on the wrong side of the road; etc. Will definately have to be careful.

Originally Posted by felix

Hi VTECjuice,

Your bike is a chinese-built honda and more than welcome here! 6000RMB with 200km on the clock, sounds like a steal! Go for it if there's the original fapiao!

Just to confirm the last posts, yeah you will need a fapiao to get a legal plate on her. Regarding who's name it's registered in, i wouldn't worry about it really. I've been riding bikes with legal plates in other people's names for 4 years now, been stopped many a time and that's never been an issue. Even if the bike is not in your name, you can still get the insurance in your name. That's my case.

Also, have you got a chinese driving license? That would be the only document the police will see with your chinese name on it anyway, so if you don't have one of those they won't even know that the bike isn't in your name. I wouldn't recommend that however. In fact if i'd to pick one or the other, i would think that a driving license would be the most important thing to have. If you get in an accident that can't be resolved before the police arrive, you might end up in very serious trouble not having a DL.

Anyway how do you like living in weinan? I'll be passing through there in may on a bike trip, and then moving there (well xian actually) at the end of the year. Perhaps we could meet up for a few beers at some point!

Gorgeous photo that second is! I'm thinking of setting up my screen in portrait just so i can have it as my desktop.

Let me know when you're passing through. If I have free time and have the bike all sorted, maybe we can say "hi." as for the beer; sounds good! ;)

Originally Posted by Ekkicore

awesome pics! enough to resurrect me from the dead. strobist info? (especially for the second pic!) do tell!!

also, congrats on the bike :)

Nothing like some off-camera flash to bring the photographers out of the woodwork.
Lifted from the photos description on my flickr page:
=======
Strobist Setup:
One Nikon SB-600 camera left (low). 1/1 power. Bare.
One Yongnuo Speedlite YN460 camera right (high). 1/1 power. Bare.
eBay triggers and slaves.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 100

Canon 24-105mm F/4L IS USm at 24mm.
======
Oh, and I just sent you a flickr contact request. :)

I'm not looking forward to the shenanigans of getting a license. This city is so small, doing something like this usually results in a bunch of blank-looking faces from over-paid desk jockeys and things like "I don't know. A foreigner has never done this before. I don't think you can do it." blah blah blah.
So, wish me luck! However, with it being such a small place, I hope that *increases* my risk of just being able to give someone a few hundred RMB and be given a license with no test. :D

**CantDecide** · 03-16-2011, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by ChinaV

Hate to break it to you, but there are no 200 or 250cc bikes that can be registered in China at this time, other than the Yamaha YBR250 (Maybe Regal Raptor?). My guess is that we won't see anything until next year, as the factories move slowly and the approval process is not quick either.

That counts for new bikes or used ones as well? I'm still hazy on the details of buying a used bike legally. Does it need to be re-registered or re-insured? There's gotta be a thread on here about that somewhere...

**euphonius** · 03-16-2011, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by VTECsauce

I'm not looking forward to the shenanigans of getting a license. This city is so small, doing something like this usually results in a bunch of blank-looking faces from over-paid desk jockeys and things like "I don't know. A foreigner has never done this before. I don't think you can do it." blah blah blah.

All true except for the "overpaid" part. If you got paid as little as these Chinese bureaucrats get you'd act exactly the same way!

**VTECsauce** · 03-16-2011, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by euphonius

All true except for the "overpaid" part. If you got paid as little as these Chinese bureaucrats get you'd act exactly the same way!

Well, I just mean the 'iron rice bowl' workers. Admittedly; they don't get mega-bucks, but most seem to work 3-4hrs a day and it's a job for life and a 'pension' there-after; so they know they can't be fired! I think I shall just go to all the relevant offices wearing my helmet; so I can safely bash my head against the wall :)

Oh; while I'm here - and saves from creating a new thread - does anybody know where I can find a PDF service manual for my bike? A Honda CBF-125. Or; failing that just some general bike-related documents. Give me a 4-wheel honda, a 10mm and a 12mm socket and I can take the thing apart and put it back together. The bike if anything looks like simpler engineering; I just don't wanna make any rookie mistakes. (IE: Un-bolt an engine-mount bolt thinking it's the oil drain plug. Derp derp.)

**jape** · 03-16-2011, 09:29 PM

rapidshare for the manual.

**VTECsauce** · 03-17-2011, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by jape

rapidshare for the manual.

Doesn't someone need to send it to me using rapidshare? If so... anybody with a manual for a CBF-125? ^_^

**jape** · 03-17-2011, 12:30 PM

I have it shown on my dedicated rapidshare search engine, comes up as on Usenet and a couple of others which have a small fee. I haven't used them so cannot say how good but usenet has good rep.
I have a Honda 200cc manual if you send me your email address (it is just under 10 megs I think) as at present I cannot get a successful upload of it as a file to the forum.

When CC comes back from limbo he may tell me how to do that so all can get it! I use the 'attachment' method to upload files here but it uploads all of it then says error. Getting some weird things going on, posts missing, searches not working etc. I have reported all this to CC again, waiitng for reply.

I suggest you also start your own thread for this manual as you are hidden inside another thread and that means it doesn't show in the title so people may not look and see your query.

**td_ref** · 03-17-2011, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by VTECsauce

I'm not looking forward to the shenanigans of getting a license. ...............So, wish me luck! However, with it being such a small place, I hope that *increases* my risk of just being able to give someone a few hundred RMB and be given a license with no test. :D

In a small city is not hard to buy a class-E license, so why not buy one as long as legit? I still remember how the nonsense written test got me headache, how little I could learn as a rookie driver from passing all tests (for 4 wheel).
TD