Registration

[gambitox]

Hi everyone,

First of all I dont know if this post belongs here so please forgive if it doesnt. I just wanted to know the procedures for registering a bike in Beijing. Im being offered a Honda 400 CC vtwin cruiser from Guangzhou and I was wondering if its posible to register it in Beijing. I dont mind if its plate A or B.

Thanks ahead

[bikerdoc]

Firstly you should ask the seller if it will come with all the legal documents to enable you to get legal BJ plates, since GZ is well known for being part of the silk road into China for black market motorcycles. Just a heads up on that.

Tthe items that the bike should come with must include an official fapio, manufacturers spec sheet, qualification certificate, and if an imported vehcile then a whole host of documents that a local bike doesn't have, to enable you to get a legal license plate with the exact same details as the bike you are buying. Documents required and the procedures may differ between a new bike versus a used/second hand bike too.

If you are a complete novice to buying a motorcycle in China, may I suggest you spend some time reading the various threads that deal with this here on MCM (and elsewhere by using a search engine like yahoo/google etc.).

If you're prepared to look around, and are open to a few different types of rides, then look at buying new from a dealer... I can tell you that if you're into mid to bigger capacity motorcycles, then there are a few legal options from Chinese manufacturers, and I can tell you that I've had a few good rides from CFMoto and have a Jetmax that has done 37000km without any major issues, though I have added lots of farkles to make it what I want. CFMoto also manufacture a 650NK 650cc naked road bike and are taking orders for the new 650TR (touring model) being released after the Chinese New Year. Check out CFMotoClub

Good luck in your search, but just be careful.... very careful... alot of the Taobao motorcycle 'dealers' will tell you anything to get your money!

[Ekkicore]

i don't think you can get anything above 200cc registered..?

[bikerdoc]

i don't think you can get anything above 200cc registered..?

Absolutely not true in the slightest, you are definately misinformed. For imported motorcycles then the requirements are involved and costly... duties, taxes and approval. BMW, HD, Ducati, Benelli, Piaggio even Suzuki and Honda all import large displacement motos >250cc into China. A private person may also import a new motorcycle though there are restrictions e.g. no parallel importing of a new motorcycle already sold in China, used/second hand motorcycles are now excluded. Though it is possible to do so can be complicated, costly and must get prior approval from relevant authorities, and the person needs to have the right visa, employment type and even approval of the employer etc. As for locally manufactured motorcycles, only a few motorcycle manufacturers have the necessary certificates etc needed to legally manufacture >249cc and sell them inside China. Do some digging on this and other Chinese motorcycling websites/forums (many in Chinese) and you can find the info. Jialing (though you may want to read some of the threads about some stalling issues), Loncin, CFMoto all manufacture 600cc + motorcycles in China for domestic sale.

[Ekkicore]

what i said was not inclusive of imported bikes (since we're on my CHINA moto). also, after 国三 i thought it went from 250cc to 200cc?

[euphonius]

what i said was not inclusive of imported bikes (since we're on my CHINA moto). also, after 国三 i thought it went from 250cc to 200cc?

Dear Ekki,

Current rules require that any bike being registered in China meet the China3 (国三) emissions standards, regardless of their displacement or country of origin. This will get even tougher when the China4 standards come into effect in the next year or two.

This is why all manufacturers are feeling such intense pressure to shift to electronic fuel injection, which, if done well*, can be far more efficient than carburetion.

Yes, there is a strong official bias against motorcycles in some, perhaps even most, cities in China. But I think it's safe to say that the restrictions on registration arise primarily from emissions controls, not an effort to ban bikes. The bans on bikes are not being executed through registration, but through zone restrictions in cities and limits on numbers of plates.

The fact that there are not many mid-displacement bikes that can be registered is because the manufacturers have dithered on meeting China3 standards. All the imported bikes meet these standards because the China3 standard is similar to the Euro standards that already are in place back home.

Finally, there seems to be a correlation between the price of a bike and the owners' willingness to comply with local registration requirements. Someone who spends 35-45k RMB for a Jialing JH600 or CMoto 650NK, or three to five times that much for a BMW, Ducati, Harley or Suzuki, is far less likely to run the risk of confiscation at a traffic stop, whereas those buying el cheapo farmers' bikes are far more willing to take their chances and ride without plates and spew sub-China3 emissions with impunity -- and to put the public and themselves at risk fleeing routine traffic checkpoints.

Hopefully in another year or two we'll have many more China3-compliant choices reflecting a wider range of displacements.

*If not done well, as with the pre-2011 Jialing JH600, you may have nice low emissions, but you'll be stalling dangerously all the time and getting a cold shoulder from the ex-military bureaucrats and party hacks who run state-owned Jialing. It's an open question whether the 2011 and later JH600s will start showing the same symptoms as they reach higher mileages.

cheers!