Kunming to Beijing - catching a 5.30am flight out of China, Sep-14th

**Pat** · 09-05-2011, 02:30 PM

Hey Naim - congrats on the trip and making it safely into Chengdu. It's a shame that the bike failed you - I remember before you left, you were worried that it wouldn't even make it to Dali. I'm sure you've packed a ton of adventure and stories into those 2000 kms - can't wait to hear 'em! Have a safe journey to Beijing, back home, and get back to China soon!

**felix** · 09-09-2011, 10:57 AM

Sorry to hear about your troubles slabo but glad that you're safe. Will you bother going back to try and revive the bike or are you done with it?

**slabo** · 09-09-2011, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by felix

Sorry to hear about your troubles slabo but glad that you're safe. Will you bother going back to try and revive the bike or are you done with it?

Bike is stored in Chengdu in an underground parking. Last day, I made someone dear to me drive me around Chengdu for more than an hour trying to find a bottle of fuel stabilizer .. you can find this in almost every gas station in Yunnan, but for some reason not in Chengdu. Gave up eventually and reverted to draining the carburetor instead. The battery is flat dead anyway so no use worrying about that. The tank is some sort of plastic (HDPE?) so no need to worry about rust. Deflated the tires a bit, I think that should reduce cracks... Did I miss anything? Hopefully new gasoline and a bit of carb-cleaner should revive the bike..

Overall the ride was more pain than pleasure. I mean many kinds of pain. Sometimes it was downright scary.. I'll writeup a report one I'm settled home..

What I need is a good dual sport bike. It has to be comfortable, have plenty of power through all gears, and a comfortable cruising speed of 90km/h. For ~4000rmb, I recon I can change

engine
tires
front forks
seat
maybe a new exhaust

All of this and still having a legal bike in my name.. One think I'm not sure of is the bike's weight, it would still weigh ~150kg and because of that I'm not sure it would handle much better after all above mods. What do you think? Looking for a place to do this professionally. A complete rebuild, nothing less will convince me to ride that thing again. That was another reason why I wanted to make it to Beijing. Looks like a promising place to rebuild a bike.

Advice please:: sell or keep as a learning project that hopefully won't turn into a money pit. I'm only thinking this way since I won't be able to buy simple carburetor ~250cc bikes (something I could legally register) and any EFI bikes will prove a big headache especially here in PRC

**euphonius** · 09-10-2011, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by slabo

Advice please:: sell or keep as a learning project that hopefully won't turn into a money pit. I'm only thinking this way since I won't be able to buy simple carburetor ~250cc bikes (something I could legally register) and any EFI bikes will prove a big headache especially here in PRC

Actually, Naim, the availability of bikes here could evolve a lot during your couple of semesters in Beirut. And the trend seems headed ineluctably toward C3-compliant EFI for bikes of 200cc and above, and perhaps below too. Qingqi's C3 models are due at end-2011. Galaxy already has C3 bikes in the market (carb or EFI?). ChinaV's Yingang 250 (now piloted by Cap'n Pikey) was carbed, but as I recall V bought that bike just weeks before the C3 deadline made the C2 unregistrable; surely they'll have to update that engine for C3. The YBR250 has been EFI for ages. The Raptor 250s are EFI.

And here's a sobering thought: A buddy of mine said that registering a car in Shanghai now requires Euro4 certification, which is stricter than China3. No word on when/whether bikes will face similar restrictions, but, again, the trend is clear.

I'd keep the old girl as a project bike, given, as you note, that she's legal as is. And if you can keep to your budget for the rebuild you might end up with a good, reliable bike. But I'd wager that your future will hold an EFI bike, especially if you want something with more than 250cc displacement.

Right now you can put all that out of your mind and enjoy the precious, fantastic luxury of stepping outside China for a spell. This can be very restorative, especially after the run you've had in the past year. The passage of time alone might change your perspective on what you'll want to do with your Shineray.

cheers!

**slabo** · 09-10-2011, 07:46 AM

Dear Jeff,

You got me wrong. I have no doubt there will be C3 compliant bikes in the future. It's not availability I'm worried about, it's reliability. From stories I read here on mcm about JH600 and Regal Raptor EFI bikes, I'm really worried. I have no desires in being a test pilot, especially to companies who are known to want to hear as little as possible from you once you part with your rmb. For crying out load how many people here are begging for a service manual for machines they own? Yes, this is beyond C3 regulations but sticking with a simpler machine makes the inevitable guesswork easier.

Yes, EFI has it's advantages, but it's a bit of a headache here in the PRC. I'm very happy with my old beater. In the middle of no where, a Mr. nobody drunk mechanic was able to start my bike and pointed me to a closed choke.. and I was thinking of a dead battery. Well, the battery did die a few days later. I certainly won't be the first to buy new C3 bikes. By that time, I'll be tinkering with my bastard frankenbike of unrecognizable origins. At least I'll know who to blame when I breakdown.

**slabo** · 09-10-2011, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by euphonius

Right now you can put all that out of your mind and enjoy the precious, fantastic luxury of stepping outside China for a spell. This can be very restorative, especially after the run you've had in the past year. The passage of time alone might change your perspective on what you'll want to do with your Shineray.

cheers!

Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll still need some sort of a bike. I just can't imagine any other form of personal transportation.

**felix** · 09-10-2011, 11:22 AM

Bear in mind that though she's legal now, she won't be anymore once once you swap over a different engine. You'll probably get away with it just riding the bike, but once it's time for the annual check it'll fail and your bike will cease to be legal. Worst yet if you're on the road and you 'slabo' someone, riding a bike with wrong engine numbers won't work in your favor.

**ChinaV** · 09-10-2011, 11:33 AM

It's very easy to correct the identification numbers on an engine so they match the paperwork.

It's very easy to swap out EFI for a carb and then swap it back when you need to re-register after 2 years.

Great thread Slabo, plenty of adventure

Hope you enjoy your break from China.

Cheers!
ChinaV