Hi MCM boys and girls,

First: This is an awesome forum and I read a lot of useful things here! Thanks for that!

So now it's time for me to say hi, pop my forum-cherry and post something for the very first time ever. Anywhere!
So just let me know if I do something wrong or have to post somewhere else..
I'm from South Tyrol in the italian Alps and been in Shanghai for a bit over two years now. The being-trapped-in-the-
city-depression got me so far that I have to have a motorcycle again. My experience is limited, but I grew up with pimped up vespas , a few rides on BMW gs650 and Kawasaki z750 and two motorcycle trips through Vietnam and the Philippines last year got the fire burning again :)

I'm already prepared for the transfer of my italian licence and just need a chance to take a day off to do the test.. hopefully this or next week.

This Saturday my mate and I rode our bicycles (as in without engine!) down to the Knight Rider store in Pudong to check out their Shinerays. Thanks for the business card that I found here on the forum! I'm interested in the Shineray XY250GY-2 X2 and my buddy in the XY200GY-7 or XY200GY-5 X3

The shop is easy to find, looks professional and people there are very nice. Don't speak English though.
I'll post a few pics of the shop for those who are interested and haven't been there yet.

Sitting on the X2 felt good :) finally a bike that's tall enough for me. I was impressed with the quality! as far as I could tell from locking at it from every angle. It looks solid!
Asking for a test ride, the answer was "test ride only if you put cash on the table!" - so no test ride.

A quotation for the X2 with 沪C plates: 17.800 for the bike, 25.000 for the C plate, + various fees = 45.700RMB

As for the oh so beloved registration part:

We both live inside inner ring. But the 沪A with prices beyond 100k are off limit for us!
Getting a C plate could be arranged. Also having it registered in a friends name in Suzhou or Wuxi would be an option.
But I have a few questions about that:

I read a lot of times "C plates can NEVER enter inner ring area!" but somewhere else on shanghaiexpat.com somebody said "In Shanghai you can ride with plates from other cities after 8:00pm and on weekends."

Is that true? Or is it just big fat humbug? Does anybody know for sure?
And if plates from other cities could, could also a 沪C enter inner ring at a particular time?

I want to get this bike asap (and my friend as soon as he gets the driving licence).
Any helpful information to get us on the road for this nice spring weather?

Thanks and all the best,
Slenderman