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  1. #31 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    G'Day,

    We had to re-charge some ETC cards and our logistics manager tried very hard to apply for a ETC unit for my legal plated (Shanghai "A" ergo) motorbike, no go!
    Yes, they explained at length that a Ducati is quite capable to keep up with the traffic flow on the Chinese expressway system...........

    Working on the issue from every angle but only time will tell, we should try with a big group of legal plated bikes to enter the expressway one day!
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  2. #32 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Quote Originally Posted by soberpete View Post
    they set a minimum engine size to 250cc they'd cut out 99% of the other Chinese motorcycles and leave a clear road for the 1% of us who take riding seriously.
    In Taiwan, they have a change over point of 550cc.
    Why 550cc? No idea.
    Even there the highways are a no-go for big bikes, but many other roads, forbidden for anything below 550cc, are open for the big bikes.

    Indeed along the lines of thinking of Soberpete.
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  3. #33 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Quote Originally Posted by TB-Racing View Post
    Working on the issue from every angle but only time will tell, we should try with a big group of legal plated bikes to enter the expressway one day!
    From the entrance with the most number of entrance gates, and each try to enter from a different one!
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  4. #34 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    From the entrance with the most number of entrance gates, and each try to enter from a different one!
    Hmm... this could be an interesting idea. A protest of some sort.

    If we all banded together in the dozens, perhaps bringing along our Chinese motorcycle riding friends also, and all boarded our local expressways at say 12 noon (when they're all changing shifts for lunch).
    Not just one group in one area, but multiple groups in areas all over China simultaneously. It might even get on the news, especially if we had a friend or two who were reporters who came along for the ride.
    Oh dear, that could turn out to be messy. I've a feeling that if it did get on the news that hundreds of bikers all over mainland China simultaneously forced their way onto the expressways then it could get ugly quickly: Ahem!... Tien*nmen Squ*re. I need a smiley of a tank running over an innocent motorcyclist.

    Still, this isn't as sensible as TB-Racings idea of the legally plated group of big bikes who stop at the gate and ask nicely...
    'big goup of bikes' sorry not 'group of big bikes'.
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  5. #35 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
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    I think that trying to get onto the freeway is the wrong approach. Maybe a manufacturer Harley/Honda/Ducati/Yamaha/Benelli etc backed collaborative attempt at a different plate option for bikes over a certain size that can keep above minimum speeds on freeways, but PAY for the privilege, could be set at 150, 200, 250 500, or 600cc, even better could just be set over maybe 15-30KW engine power or something. I've long thought that a blue plate for bikes or even another color could be an option. Most people who use motorcycles a a cheap mode of transport would stay cheap with no plate or yellow plates, but if you were serious about riding you would pay for a more expensive blue plate and then be able to use main parts of roads and freeways and get better insurance because you have paid for this optional more expensive registration fee.

    This might work, because if you allow a bike onto a freeway they worry about letting old farmer Wang and his 100cc step-through plus vegetables on too, who would cause havoc. No blue plate, no go, simple enough to work and enforce. Plus extra revenue for the government, the idea has possibilities. Although I doubt that the demand amongst the locals is quite enough to make this happen yet.
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  6. #36 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Assuming you could ride the expressways legally, how would this change your riding? For example, what trips would you make if you were allowed on the highways that you wouldn't choose to make otherwise? I'm thinking it would be easy to cruise to Huangshan or 1000 Island Lake, heck even make it to the beautiful areas of south Zhejiang province from Shanghai.

    The expressways have the main advantage of fast traffic flow with little obstructions, and they are safer. The surface roads seems to take 1.5 times longer, even more, and there is more danger with more obstacles to avoid.

    Another way to look at it, would you still make the long-distance trips if restricted to surface roads? It seems that the majority of ride reports on this forum involve exactly that and it's a reality that most have accepted, however begrudgingly.

    On the other hand, there is practically zero risk of being stopped by the police with unplated bikes or fake plated bikes if taking surface roads. The tradeoff seems to be you can ride wherever you want illegally, but the expressways are truly off limits.
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  7. #37 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Good points Steve. The expressways would be mostly useful for a high average speed, convenience and 'safety' TIC but not much fun; I personally enjoy twisty mountain roads more than anything. Simply having access to the expressways would be a valuable thing though.

    I commute 160km from Zibo, where I work, to Mengyin, where my wife and baby live, almost every Friday then 160km back again on Sunday morning. The only reason I take the bus in the winter is because it's too cold to ride; in the summer I take the bike down the surface roads each time except on weekends with heavy rain. The ride isn't all great but I love to ride, it has plenty of fun parts, it costs less in petrol than the bus tickets do, it's faster than the bus is and it saves me from a coach often laden with things I find very annoying:
    -Beijing opera and Chinese comedy on the TV at full volume
    -People snoring, farting and burping as loud as the TV or louder
    -People answering their phones and talking so loud that you could hear from 100ft away.
    -People who's phones begin to ring and they just look at it for a while; they don't pick up or silence the ringing, they just stare at it while it rings with a really horrible ring tone for what seems like an eternity .

    This isn't my country. I respect most of the traditions here but the ones above and things that I'll never get used to.
    Basically, getting my motorbike on the expressway for this commute would be lovely; almost door to door even.
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  8. #38 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    It's good to have access to the expressways, if they can get you to the twisties faster. So you can spend more time in the enjoyable areas.
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  9. #39 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve_R View Post
    Assuming you could ride the expressways legally, how would this change your riding?
    While i'm doubtless that every recreational biker in china would appreciate the use of expressways, i think it would change some people's lives more than others. Eg:
    - For the shanghai bikers, being allowed on the Hangzhou Bay bridge would put zhejiang province's great mountain roads within a couple of hours' riding.
    - For us in Xi'an, we're 25km away from the base of the Qinling massif which i'm discovering to be an amazing playground. I'd have no use for expressways even if they were open to me.

    Still, it'd be nice to have the option...
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  10. #40 Re: Motorbikes / Expressways 
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    G'Day,

    Would be brilliant to be allowed on the expressways in greater Shanghai region and blast up to Beijing or over to Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, etc....
    Like today, had a lunch meeting in Suzhou and would have been great to go one way on the expressway and play around through the country side the other way.

    Now, around Kunshan area (country side - not city district) they restrict road use to Kunshan plated bikes.... what's next in this lovely country?
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