Fake plates as replacements

**felix** · 04-23-2011, 06:55 AM

Thanks for all the replies guys! To clear a few things up things:

- The front plate was still on the bike, that's why i'm not sure if i lost it or it was stolen. No bolt stays tight on a chinese bike very long...

- The fake plate is and exact copy with the same numbers as before, i got it from "some dude". It cost 350 and came with front and rear plates and even those special tamper-proof bolt covers with the 沪 symbol on them.

Getting the legal replacements would require getting a report of the theft from the police. I haven't done that because i don't want to draw attention to the bike or owner, especially as it's registered under someone's company. My friend says it's fully legal, but i don't know how legal is legal. I'm sure some numbers got changed on the frame at some point... As LJH said, going to the police out it might end up in someone saying this bike shouldn't be registered in the first place.

Two years ago the rear plate fell off my XTR250 and i went through the legal replacement process. It took two and a half months and required me to make two trips to nanjing (where it was registered) which is not even a fun ride.

**euphonius** · 04-23-2011, 06:59 AM

Congrats, Felix. You've really dodged a bullet here, and the cost was reasonable. Can't see any reason why the bike's owner should not be fully satisfied with this outcome.

**Lao Jia Hou** · 04-23-2011, 02:03 PM

I concur - good strategy Felix.

Two more fen, although not directly related to your case ... Hebei plates are the common "fake plate" in Beijing. Those little bolt caps for the genuine Hebei plates are now issued with the first letter of the plate number, making it easy for the police to quickly check if a Hebei plate is fake. And the genuine caps are now made of a fragile tin, so trying to R&R them is difficult.

Jing plate bolt caps still only have the 京 character, as there are only "A" or "B" plates.

**Steve_R** · 04-23-2011, 03:17 PM

I've got transitional fake 沪C plates on my bike, and they will remain there until I'm fully legal and registered with genuine C plates by the end of this year when I sell the bike and purchase a new bike -- or sooner if all goes well with the licensing. The plates cost 300 RMB and they have the tamper-proof screws with the 沪 symbol on them also. I arranged for two packs of replacement screws from "some dude" just in case the original screws dislodged from the plate, as they did today on a rough ride.

As much as I can't stand doing this, the Shanghai plates are essential for getting fuel from the gas stations. Suspicions have proven correct now that even in the suburbs, they are refusing fuel for unplated bikes or those from out-of-province. Twice now, they have done a cursory check in the suburbs, seen a 沪C plate on my bike, and then proceeded to put fuel in. One night I even got saluted by two police officers at the gas station and then told I was a 'zhong guo tong', which is a compliment.

It might also be possible for "some dude" to have fake plates and registration booklet done up from some obscure province that is not adjacent to your current province. For example, they could do Hubei plates (咢A = Wuhan where I used to live).

One one hand, it's questionable as to how much use those plates would actually have, as even genuine out-of-province plates are useless once crossing the border out. They certainly wouldn't help for getting fuel. On the other hand, the cops wouldn't be able to tell if the out-of-province plate was fake or not, if it "originated" from several provinces over. Suppose you could always make up some BS about riding the bike over from Wuhan, which, in my case was actually a true story.

Actually when I was living in Wuhan, a local contact was able to procur a genuine registration booklet and genuine Hebei plates. He mixed it in with a genuine drivers license from Beijing. I have no idea how this all worked, but my colleague drove around a sidecar and actually showed me the documents and showed all the they had all the security features, etc. It cost a fortune, and the police in Wuhan always let him go because they had no idea how to handle something like this with documents from several provinces mixed together.

**felix** · 04-25-2011, 02:06 AM

Here's a wee update:

I got pulled over by a cop yesterday around 10am on Xizang lu (big road), riding this same sidecar that now has the fake plates. He walked around to the back, had a look, walked back to the front and said OK, off you go.

Ace.

**euphonius** · 04-25-2011, 02:09 AM

He shoots, he scores!

**Steve_R** · 04-25-2011, 01:57 PM

In some ways this is good news, because two former colleagues from Dalian have just accepted new teaching jobs here in Shanghers. And with the transfer, they are shipping their beloved motorcycle and sidecars to the local area. They have the Dalian license plates, that is 辽B which are about as good as junkyard metal around here. Still, they are in love with their Changjiang 750 piece of history and are shipping it down here no matter what, so it's pretty much useless trying to talk them out of it. What would you suggest people? Fake pates?

**ChinaV** · 04-25-2011, 02:49 PM

Originally Posted by Steve_R

two former colleagues from Dalian have just accepted new teaching jobs here in Shanghers.

Please give them my condolences.

If their bike is plated and legal in Dalian, can't they just ride around SH and take their chances? Worst case, they could keep it outside of town and enjoy it on the weekends.

After giving it some thought, if I lived in Shanghai and spent the big money for a legit plate, I would probably purchase the "some dude" plate and keep the real ones somewhere safe. If a cop was ever smart enough to tell the "some dude" plates were fake, I would pull out the real one and explain.

I have plates for my TGR, but never put them on because I only use it for enduro...they have some seals on them that kind of look like anti-counterfit markings, my car plate has them as well.

Cheers!
ChinaV

**Lao Jia Hou** · 04-25-2011, 04:13 PM

I just plated a bike with legal out-of-province plates (long story) ... and I am not making this up ... the plate number issued is VD-838. My Chinese buddy was thrilled that he acquired such a good number for me (the 838 part).

I feel kinda stupid riding around with "VD". Fake plates as replacements might be in the cards (e.g., FU-838), with the real ones hidden in the saddlebags.

Sigh - so much for looking cool on a tough cruiser.

**felix** · 04-26-2011, 03:29 AM

Hi Steve,

What you're talking about is pretty different from what i've done. The bike i was riding already had a real shanghai registration, meaning even though the plate is fake, the numbers are still correct and match the real registration. If the police look up that registration they will find that it's real and it's in their system.

If your buddies buy fake shanghai plates to put on their bikes they might be able to ride around shanghai, but if a cop notices the plate is fake, or worst yet if they get into an accident, they may end up in very big trouble. I personally don't think it's worth the risk (that's why my CJ is rotting in my garage) but some people do it. Let's just say it's great until you get caught.