Transporting one's motorbike on a train through China.

[soberpete]

Hello guys,
I'll be calling someone in the rail business tomorrow morning to ask them whether or not it is possible to get a motorbike transported by train in China.
My plan is ride around in Hunan province for a week toward the end of July. My best friend, Graham, is currently working down there; He says that it's beautiful and the roads are really nice too.
I'm not ready to ride all the way down there from Shandong so I'm checking options for transporting the bike by train, ideally with me on the train too.

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who's had experience (whether good or bad) with transporting their motorbike via train or any other method. I will provide as much info as I can about train transportation as soon as I get some answers from the guy I'm going to call.
If this turns out to be possible and relatively convenient then it would provide an option for riding in places around China that I previously thought to be highly unlikely simply due to extreme distance and the unfamiliar roads between home and the destination.

I wasn't sure which forum to post this thread in. I am most familiar with the 'Street' forum and it seems that, each time I log on, the majority of the MCM viewers are in this section so I posted the thread here!

Looking forward to hearing about some experiences.
I'll update you all with the phone call result sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Pete

[andre555]

can be done - most probably you will not be on the same train.
Certain expierences here: http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ighlight=train

Probably better to post yours there as well...

[soberpete]

Cheers Andre!
I couldn't find that thread before creating this one. Thanks for the link.

[euphonius]

Dear Pete,

Given the ever-changing nature of "sure things" in China, I look forward to hearing about your experience with sending your bike by train. As of last year, it worked well -- but only between cities with direct point-to-point rail service. Also, there's a lot of misinformation out there. Before I tried riding straight up to the shipping counter at Shanghai Station, I was told many different stories by various people, including the railway logistics people, who said shipping was only possible (and very expensive) if the box was crated.

So if Zibo doesn't have many direct train links, you might end up riding to Qingdao or Jinan to find the right train.

Keep us posted, and best of luck!

[soberpete]

I finally got round to calling that number this afternoon (my day was busier than expected). I spoke to a nice lady named 'Wang Yang' and she listened to what I had to say: "A 250cc Yamaha on a train from Zibo, Shandong to Chansha, Hunan... is it possible?" She couldn't give me a price off hand but she told me that it can be done and that she'd ask for details from the right people for me. She then took my number and said she'd get back to me.

I got a call back from her about 20 minutes later to say that it may cost a little over 1100rmb. She stated that this was a bit more expensive than it should be because my bike was a bit more high class than usual; I was flattered but Euphonious's Jialing 600cc is a bit more expensive than my YBR and it cost him slightly less than 700rmb to cover a distance greater than the one I intend to.
She said that they believe my YBR to have a reserve tank that is difficult/impossible to syphon and so it needs extra insurance to be on the train with petrol in the tank. This was the only reason given to me that I was able to understand (my Chinese could be better). She said that I could come to visit her in her office nearby Zhangdian train station to go over the details face to face. We may be able to clear up the misinterpreted information and most likely lower the price of the deal that way.

I may have time to go and see her on Wednesday or Thursday, after which I will return to share the info here on this thread or on the 'Bike on a Train" thread by andre555.
I don't think I'm going to take the bike with me down to Hunan this time. It's a bit on the expensive side and it may well take a few days for it to get there by which time I would be half way through my holiday and would need to prepare to get it back on the train again. I will, however, get all the details that I can from her so that I can prepare myself for any future trips.

[soberpete]

...I wonder if it would it would be cheaper for me to ride it to Jinan first and then ship it from there. I will ask!

[euphonius]

...I wonder if it would it would be cheaper for me to ride it to Jinan first and then ship it from there. I will ask!

Pete,

Sounds like you are getting the same nonsense on the phone that I got from the shipping desk in shanghai. You need to go directly to the 托运 desk which is right at the station, and ask there. The rate is based on weight and distance and there's no nonsense about "premium" bikes. That's bullshit. What I'm thinking is that there's no direct train to where you are going so they are quoting you for a crated shipment. If there's a direct train they just roll the bike on uncrated.

Shouldn't cost you more than a couple hundred rmb to get to Hunan.

Good luck!

[humanbeing]

Pls also checks "private" sector ie. highway www.hoau.net OR WWW.JIAJI.COM