Hopefully new rider in your city in 2015!

[Moorbs7]

Hi All,

I've been riding bikes on the road and track since I was 18 years old and I currently ride an 08 Yamaha R6 in the sunny (although not today) city of Perth, Australia. I was recently given the "Long Way Round" book to read where Ewan McGregor and his friend rode across Europe and Mongolia through to America. As a lover of travelling I embraced this as an opportunity to combine my love of bikes and travelling and plan my own motorcycle trip.

Roping in my travelling buddy Ben (yet to join this forum) we've set an initial date of mid 2015 to travel around China for 4 to 6 weeks and hopefully tick off 10,000km in this beautiful country! We're in the preliminary stages at the moment and I'll be doing plenty of research on this forum for information on places to visit, bikes to ride and bureaucratic nightmares to overcome!

Any advice, hints and tips are much appreciated and I'll be sure to try and catch up with as many people as we can as we travel. Pics of myself and Ben so you can point and laugh will follow.

Cheers
Adam

[oatesie12]

I've joined!

Yes it's a long way to go but I'm already getting excited about it.

Ben

[bikerdoc]

Just to get you started...

http://www.thegreatrideofchina.com/

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...vince-in-China

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/fo...s-and-Meetings

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...China-Cruising

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...CFMoto-650TR-s

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...p-Around-China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfQg6nqHn1g

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...highlight=pyle

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...highlight=pyle

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...-cross-Sichuan

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...to-%DCr%FCmqi)

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...engdu-to-Xi-an

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...nces-in-7-days

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...gshuo-Shenzhen

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...na-in-100-Days

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...unishment-tour

But you then need to consider that you cannot travel inside China on a IDP. You have to obtain a PRC Drivers Licence (PRC DL), which can be difficult to get if one is not on a resident & work visa in China (often referred at as a Z visa). If you have plans to ship your bikes in to tour on, think again as getting a motorcycle into China via a Carnet just to tour on, while not impossible is really bloody difficult, and you have to factor in that you've GOT to be accompanied by an approved tour guide - which you have to pay for all costs associated with that guide, their fuel, lodgings, food and their service. The route plan has to be submitted as part of the application beforehand, and must be approved before bikes are shipped. Getting yourselves into China is the easier part, just get a L visa (visitor visa). The problem then becomes, you land in PRC on a L visa, but that doesn't allow you to easily get a PRC DL. The L visa won't allow you legally buy and plate a bike & insure in your name in PRC either.

OK, so to get you started in the options route:

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/fo...-Making-Tracks

[Moorbs7]

Thanks Bikerdoc that is much appreciated. A lot of reading to go through there but that's why we gave ourselves 2 years to hopefully get through all the bugs!