Hi from Toronto, soon to be Kunshan

[jonpurdy]

Hi all!

I'm a Canadian who is about to move to Kunshan in the coming months. I've been riding for almost five years now. I started on a Hyosung 250 when I lived in Korea and moved up to a BMW F800R when back in Canada.

I'm looking forward to moving to China but am a bit worried about motorcycling options there. Big engine imported bikes are basically out of the question due to import tax reasons. And I'm worried about the quality of Chinese bikes.

I've got lots of questions and have been searching through the forums and other sites for information. Is there an FAQ located somewhere that goes into detail about the details and costs related to legally motorcycling in China?

Are there any other big bike riders who moved to something smaller when moving to China?

I look forward to interacting and contributing to the community here!

[Zorge]

Hello and welcome!

Please, don't be worried because no one has response all day. I responsibly claim that the reason for this is not that you're Canadian.

[euphonius]

Dear Jonpurdy,

Greetings and welcome to mychinamoto and greater Shanghai. The search window up in the corner sucks, but Advanced Search just below it works wonders. Trying searching for "Getting Legal" and other search terms that are of interest to you and you'll find a ton of answers in these forums. There's some very good threads about all aspects of motorcycling in urban and rural China. Not sure the rules for Kunshan, but hopefully you'll get really lucky and not only will motorcycling not be banned there yet but the city will offer bike plates for a fraction of what they cost here in Shanghai (over 100k rmb right now).

As for big displacement bikes, yes, the imports are expensive due to crippling import duties (and if they are NOT expensive, it's because they've been smuggled in or stolen and probably are not legally plated). But check out the threads on the Jialing JH600, the Qianjiang/QJiang/Benelli BJ600GS, and the Chunfeng/CFMoto 650NK and 650TR. There are plenty of MCM members who have downsized to 250s and are loving it.

The more you read in MCM, the more of a feel you'll get for the motorcycling life in China. Be sure to check out the ride reports.

See you soon!
Euphonius

[jonpurdy]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice! I guess I'll have to check the price of a license once I get to Kunshan. It's a country-level city and definitely allows gas motorcycles around.

I'm really worried about getting a Chinese bike. My first Korean motorcycle (a POS 2003 Hyosung) caught on fire and basically fell apart later on. My second (a 2008 one) was fine and my current BMW is flawlessly reliable. I wouldn't want to go back to cheap workmanship and bikes that fall apart. I'll have to do a lot more reading to see which Chinese bikes are the most reliable for some touring. Thanks for those recommendations; some of them look like downright beautiful bikes!

And I hope to add to the ride reports once I get there in August!

[SabineHartmann]

Welcome here down south!
Please send PM.
With greetings from Suzhou, we ride often around Kunshan

[jonpurdy]

I just read in another thread that Kunshan was one of the cities that doesn't allow or issue motorcycle licenses. Does that mean I have to a) get license somewhere else, b) ride illegally? Though you've rode through Kunshan with no problems?

I'll be living in West Kunshan on the outskirts so maybe not a problem? Very confusing, haha.

[ZMC888]

These 'bans' can be tiny, the odd road here and there sometimes just elevated roads and that aren't really even enforced except on a purge basis once a year (eg. Jinan Shandong), through to entire city areas with heavy restrictions and non-issuing of motorcycle licenses (eg. Guangzhou).

I subscribe to a 'be as legal as you can be' approach. So you'll be able to get a 250cc-600cc bike you might like from a dealer on order somewhere near you, maybe a neighboring city if not actually in your city. That bike can be legally plated and insured, however maybe not in your name, though still legal. You can at minimum get a car license and ride 'out of class'. Be aware I'm not saying you should do this, if someone, an adult has decided to do that knowing the risks, I couldn't argue, maybe the police could. If you used the bike to escape to the country and mountains at the weekend that would be a fair use. Gunning around a city for convenience is as dumb as the Chinese one kilometer congestion causing shopping, restaurant and school runs. Personally I think any journey under 5 kilometers should never be done in a fossil fuel burning vehicle, as I'm a hardcore cyclist.

[Lao Jia Hou]

I just read in another thread that Kunshan was one of the cities that doesn't allow or issue motorcycle licenses. Does that mean I have to a) get license somewhere else, b) ride illegally? Though you've rode through Kunshan with no problems?

I'll be living in West Kunshan on the outskirts so maybe not a problem? Very confusing, haha.

Welcome from a displaced West Coaster - prepare yourself for no Don Cherry in China.

To answer your questions, here are my two cents ...

1) Moving down to something domestic, in the 250cc class, is a wise idea for China. The Yamaha YBR & the Suzuki GW are intelligent choices for China.

2) As Euphonius notes, there are domestic bikes in the 600cc class that are also worthwhile. My personal preference is the Jialing JH600.

3) Sure, you can ride illegally, but it is an increasingly foolish idea, and reflects poorly on all foreigners when something happens. I'd suggest you make the effort, pay the price, and be legal (with driving license, legal plates, and insurance). There is always a way in China to be legal.

Good luck!

[euphonius]

To ride legally, you need License, Registration and Insurance. Full stop. Anything short of that and you are taking an increasingly untenable risk. How big? If you have an accident and are lacking any of the Big Three above, you can and will be assigned 100% of responsibility for the accident (assuming that others involved in the accident are legal). You can be jailed for 15 days by the police without any involvement by a court, and this is happening to Chinese and expat riders, though it's still rare for expats.

1) License: You can get a legal driver's license. Kunshan certainly issues licenses -- lots of them just like anywhere else in China because everyone thinks driving equals face. What you need to ride is a C1E (for cars+bikes) or C1D (cars+bikes+sidecars). Even if the city bans bikes in certain areas, it's likely they will still issue at least C1E licenses. You have to be persistent, because the prevailing presumption is that motorcycles are farm tools and foreigners have no need for such a license, and if they want one they are misguided. I'd be surprised if Kunshan won't test and issue for a motorcycle license. If not, you can do it here in Shanghai, and we can help. Do yourself a huge favor and make sure your Canadian motorcycle license is current and valid.

2) Registration: Some cities with motorcycle bans have stopped registering bikes on the premise that, well, they are banned here. Do your homework, and find a local place that still allows bikes and registration. This is probably a blue-collar district where migrant workers and farmers live, not the Emerald City downtown areas where bikes are considered a blight. Kunshan itself is largely a manufacturing suburb of Shanghai, so I tend to doubt there's NO local solution available. If you simply cannot get registered in Kunshan, get registered elsewhere. Huzhou is a popular choice a short ride away. To get the registration in your own name, you might need to create some evidence that you are residing in that town. This is typically a temporary residence registration issued by the police. You take a rental contract to a local police station, and get yourself registered, then go register the bike. Then you go back to Kunshan and do a fresh temporary residence registration there to make sure you are in compliance with your work permit and residence permit (visa).

3) Insurance: Ironically, you don't need a motorcycle license to insure a motorcycle. But the bike does need to be legally registered, and the registration up to date. The national law says new bikes must re-register every 2 years until they are 5 years old, then annually until the mandatory scrapping date, which is 11, 12 or 13 years, depending on where you register. But if you have an accident on a legally registered and insured bike, and don't yourself have a valid Chinese license, the insurance company can refuse to pay. That really sucks because you'll be assigned 100% of liability for the entire accident, even if it wasn't your fault.

Don't fret too much over all this. As LJH says, there's always a way to get legal.

cheers
Euphonius

[jonpurdy]

Thanks again for all of this excellent advice.

After browsing through the getting a licence threads here and on other forums I'll definitely go that route. It was very confusing at first because everywhere seems to have different rules and regulations. When I got my license in Korea it was bureaucratic but at least the rules were the same all over the country. I also got it when my Korean was good enough to do stuff like that; I'll by trying to get my license in China right when I arrive and barely have any Mandarin.

I'll bring my Canadian M2 license and get a C1E when there. I'm not going to worry too much about it until I actually get there because it seems that there's not much point figuring the details out since things can change, etc. I'll study the English question bank.

As far as the bike goes, I don't mind starting on a 125 or 250 cc Chinese bike. My intent is to ride out of Kunshan and into the country areas. I'm not at all interested in riding in the city or to Shanghai. I just want to get out into the "fresh" air and explore areas that are a day trip away, just like I did in Korea and Canada. I'll definitely get the bike plated/insured when I buy it.

Looking forward to arriving in a few months and getting out there and riding! Hopefully there will be track days so I can get the need for speed out of my blood, too. (Did some research on those and found a few tracks available; not sure how up-to-date the info is now. I'll worry about that when I arrive.)