Adventure Motorcycle Magazine Subscribe Now

Thread: Hey there!

Results 1 to 2 of 2
  1. #1 Hey there! 
    C-Moto Noob
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Shanghai
    Posts
    1
    Hello all! I just moved to Shanghai from the States and am dearly missing my little Ninja 300 back there D=. I actually have a couple questions that google and the search function have been unable to help me with:

    - Around Shanghai sometimes I see people (all foreigners) on really nice-looking sports bikes. I mean they look like Suzuki gixxers, cbr600's, and such. Google told me that these bikes were banned?

    - I tried to look and all of them didn't have plates on them either. It wasn't even fake or illegal, there was just no license plate at all. I thought it was nigh impossible to ride around without legal plates?

    - Every resource I've seen quoting the price and difficulty of ascertaining legal plates are at least a year old; does anybody have reference to an up-to-date website detailing how hard it is to get motorcycle plates in shanghai for 250cc and up?

    - Is it possibly to buy fully-faired sports 250's here? The pics of the GW250s I see look naked/half faired.

    - Does anybody have recommendations for bikes similar to the ninja 300 or the new cbr 500? I'm looking for a sports bike like that. Maybe a kawasaki 650 or something too.
    Reply With Quote  
     

  2. #2 Re: Hey there! 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    mostly Shanghai, sometimes northern California
    Posts
    3,222
    Dear Mxl158,

    All the questions you've raised are discussed in great detail here in MCM. The good news is that you are in a city where motorcycles have not (yet) been banned. The bad news is that motorcycles are subject to absurd restrictions that beggar belief, logic and reason. Those sweet bikes have no plates because they cannot be plated. It's not because China forbids large displacement; it's because the manufacturers have not gone through the extensive process of getting them legally established in China. The Japanese in particular have been reluctant to jump into the China market for anything except small-displacement (250cc and below) strivers' bikes.

    How about a big Ducati or BMW or Harley? All legally available, but at extortionate prices relating to obscene import duties. There are a couple of mid-displacement bikes now made and marketed in China by Chunfeng/CFMoto, Qianjiang/Benelli and Jialing that are starting to show the way forward for recreational riding, especially for those of us who don't have trust funds or a means to fleece the public treasury.

    Coming to China is a bit of a cold shower for anyone who's accustomed to a market like the US, where motorcycles have a full and equal right to the road and are not subject to all manner of official and social discrimination. That said, China is still one amazing place to ride. It's just going to be a whole lot different from what you are used to.

    Get used to it.

    Welcome to MCM!
    euphonius
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
    Reply With Quote  
     

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
  •