Adventure Motorcycle Magazine Subscribe Now

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13
  1. #1 Defensive Riding in China (what to look for) 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Zibo, Shandong - Sometimes SW England
    Posts
    2,239
    Compiled this err small list of possible road hazards in China, if you can think of any more please feel free to contribute your own suggestions!

    1. red light running
    2. no lights or full beam at dusk
    3. man-hole covers missing or stolen
    4. cyclists (weaving/2 up/shoulder glance during maneuver)
    5. the divine right (vehicles turning right wrongly believe they have right of way)
    6. car doors random opening
    7. drunk driving
    8. cell-phone use - shouting into - distraction
    9. gravel/rocks/dust/coal/diesel/shit/urine/mashed crops etc on road surface
    11. piles of sand/gravel/dirt/logs on road surface
    12. drying crops, it's not a road it's the local farmer crop drying area
    13. speeding cars
    14. jay-running
    15. reversing onto busy roads (esp trucks)
    16. taxis, will kill for fare
    17. low quality tires
    18. slippery ornamental fake marble pedestrian surfaces
    19. not looking
    20. wet roads = brown water
    21. overloaded trucks
    22. not using mirrors
    23. not using signals
    24. street vendors selling crap 2 meters onto actual road
    25. stopping for no reason
    26. going very slowly for no reason
    27. the blame game (phone a friend)
    28. double lane-ing
    29. pollution/atmospheric dust/visibility
    30. poor signing, where's my gps?
    31. the cop cash-cow
    32. intersection flag people, white line fascism
    33. chinese logic on fault
    34. car window spitting
    35. hit-and-run
    36. to help or not?
    37. animals
    38. is it illegal to be a foreigner?
    39. getting your own back safely (avoid personal reaction)
    40. mad max vehicles
    41. 3 and 4 wheeled blue trucks of death
    42. mini people carriers (loaf of bread shaped van new driver, hasn't been trained adequately)
    43. "everyone drives like that so it's OK"
    44. corner straddling/left lane-ing
    45. cycle lane, when to use it when not to (lights and left turns = danger)
    46. inappropriate overtaking/overtaking on blind bends
    47. parking on blind bends/parking on intersections/double parking
    51. honking (pointless? or necessary?)
    52. burning crops
    53. bigger = better
    54. black car superiority complex
    55. oil slicks
    56. hot looking dongbei hooker distraction
    57. POS 20 year old car based on stolen blue-print for mid 80's Toyota belching blue smoke
    58. POS driver believes is a car, others are not sure, is it a motorcycle with too many wheels or what?
    59. belief that reverse parking is bad 'cos it doesn't look so pretty
    60. service station dirty kettle for motorcyclists dangerous insistence/annoyance
    61. disco bike dance music distraction
    62. electric bikes..the silent killers
    63. old vehicles with broken axles crabbing, which way is it actually going?
    64. black cars going 200kmh on a road that peasant farmers cross on bicycles without looking
    65. snow falls on road turns into ice, never cleared even in city
    66. car window refuse throwing
    67. chunks of rock/gravel/sand/boulders falling of overloaded tipper trucks
    68. not understanding major road / minor road right of way system
    69. never needing to say sorry
    70. next 50kms on highway a hole/mud-bath being repaired or being re-laid, no diversion suggested
    71. roadworks at night unlit
    72. going through industrialized areas without breathing apparatus
    73. lunar landscape roads
    74. i can drive! i can reverse around some sticks more like!
    Reply With Quote  
     

  2. #2  
    Administrator-tron CrazyCarl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    NoVA
    Posts
    2,540
    Wow man! That's pretty comprehensive!

    CC
    ---------------------------------------------------
    Subscribe to the hippest, most happeneing Adventure Motorcycle Magazine around!
    Adventure Motorcycle Dual Sport News Magazine

    Help support MCM!! Buy "The Return - Riding Western China" DVD! -

    http://www.motocyclops.com/buydvd/

    Personal China travel info, photo and video site:

    http://www.carlparker.com

    Reply With Quote  
     

  3. #3  
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Zibo, Shandong - Sometimes SW England
    Posts
    2,239
    The list could go on and on for well, err a long time. So anyone thinking of riding here really needs to be prepared for an insane list of dangers. I rode in Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Thailand. China is really the worst I've seen in Asia.

    To be fair I went to Beijing recently and it actually seemed pretty safe.

    I started writing that list years ago, and some things have improved, people tend to look more at intersections than they used to...but still it ain't no picnic.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  4. #4  
    C-Moto Not-so-Noob MaRX8nka's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Chengdu
    Posts
    11
    Beijing was amazingly disciplined and nice traffic compared to few years ago, something good due to Olympics.
    Chengdu on the other had feels like wild west - really scary first time driving.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  5. #5 Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    Motorcycle Addict chinabiker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    near Vienna, Austria
    Posts
    809
    Quote Originally Posted by MaRX8nka View Post
    Beijing was amazingly disciplined and nice traffic compared to few years ago, something good due to Olympics.
    Chengdu on the other had feels like wild west - really scary first time driving.
    It has been disciplined from July through September, but they have to make up for every non-committed violation now.

    Andy
    Reply With Quote  
     

  6. #6 Re: Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    C-Moto Senior
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    111
    "3 and 4 wheeled blue trucks of death."

    Friends and I refer to them as "Blacka' Blacka'" trucks. They seem to run on used cooking oil because they are always collecting it in filthy barrels, or are they delivering it for use?

    Then there are those little 150cc 3 wheeled cars, I think if the vans are "mianbao che" than maybe they could be "baozi che"?
    Reply With Quote  
     

  7. #7 Re: Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Zibo, Shandong - Sometimes SW England
    Posts
    2,239
    Those blue three wheel trucks of death or 'blacka blacka' trucks run on liquidized coal or something, not sure. 'baozi che"? Pedalo cars isn't that what they're called, POS as I lovingly refer to them, or how to ruin a bad scooter.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  8. #8 Re: Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    motor maniac ShuBen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Beijing
    Posts
    847
    There is another really dangerous threat found in the Beijing mountains last years autumn several times.
    The villagers running around with 5 to 8m long bamboo sticks to hit whatever down from the trees.
    They carry it over their shoulders or at the rear of the 2/3 wheelers. You can nearly not see these sticks and when they turn somewhere into a side road the stick swing across the street and block it. I got nearly stabbed once. So watch out!
    SWM RS500R, R1200GS LC
    Reply With Quote  
     

  9. #9 Re: Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    C-Moto Guru
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Guang frigging Zhou
    Posts
    385
    Quote Originally Posted by Maux View Post

    Then there are those little 150cc 3 wheeled cars, I think if the vans are "mianbao che" than maybe they could be "baozi che"?
    They have versions of them around the suburbs of Suzhou, and in the smaller villages along the 318. I believe they were called xiao fei long, or dragonflies (sorry for spelling). A friend of mine once got hit by one while driving a scooter, then ended up getting surrounded by villagers until he could beat a hasty retreat. I detest the things.

    The 3 wheeled trucks ("Blacka blacka" another friend called them helicopters) carry coal in the northern provinces. I think they have only one cylinder and the transmission is belt driven. Unsafe at any speed comes to mind. Saw many accidents involving those. Worst part was how the coal came right over top of and into the cab...
    Reply With Quote  
     

  10. #10 Re: Beijing amazingly disciplined ? 
    C-Moto Guru MotoKai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Shanghai
    Posts
    418
    62. electric bikes..the silent killers

    I usually have to worry about these killers more so when I'm stepping off a curb then on my motorcycle, but nonetheless they are a nuisance in both cases.

    But this problem can EASILY be solved. For years I've been petitioning the Traffic Management Bureau of Shanghai and the Public Security Bureau to make it LAW that every E-Bike have a PIGEON WHISTLE installed.

    You don't know what a pigeon whistle is?
    A pigeon whistle looks like this (see below),
    and is attached to the foot of a pigeon. As the flock of pigeons fly thru the sky the whistle catches the wind and produces a beautiful sound - whistle sounds are available in different sounds and keys to suit your preferred tone.
    Pigeon_Whistle_Sale1.jpg
    Pigeon_Whistles_Fitted.jpg
    http://www.eaglehunter.co.uk/Equipme...Ch_Pigeon.html

    Now attach one of these to an E-Bike and problem solved! And think how beautiful the streets of Shanghai (or wherever you live) would be with the flocks of E-bikes producing music to your ears!
    _____________________
    嘉陵 JH600-A (Upgraded)
    Reply With Quote  
     

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Bookmarks
Bookmarks
Posting Permissions
  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •